A Game of Thrones Catan: Brotherhood of the Watch
Fantasy Flight Games announces a new game set in the bountiful world of Westeros; A Game of Thrones Catan: Brotherhood of the Watch. This will be a standalone game of resource gathering and trading that is familiar to those that know the classic game Catan, but will offer many differences inspired and adapted from George R. R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire series.
The Brothers of the Night’s Watch seek a new leader from among their ranks. Jeor Mormont wishes to promote one who can improve the infrastructure of the Gift, the bountiful and undeveloped area south of the Wall bestowed to the Watch by the Starks thousands of years ago. Drawing sustenance from the unforgiving landscape of the north offers enough challenges, but whomever takes up this task must also man and defend the Wall against the onslaught of Wildlings fighting their way into Westeros. Many brothers now compete to build, defend, and do what they can to protect Westeros, but only one shall rise above their brothers to become the new Lord Commander. But be wary—the north holds many dangers, and winter is coming.
The areas within the Gift are made of resources needed to supply the stalwart brothers of the Night's Watch. Players will build roads, settlements, and keeps; recruit guards for patrolling; and buy development cards. However, the areas surrounding the Gift are dangerous and must be managed in addition to gathering resources. Tormund Giantsbane, a wildling from the north, has crossed the wall and robs Brothers of their hard earned resources. Wildling forces gather in the Frostfangs, and each player may recruit up to seven brothers from the Westeros prisons to man a section of the wall. Finally, each player commands a unique hero, based on the order of play. These heroes (Jeor Mormont, Bowen Marsh, Samwell Tarly, and Othell Yarwyck) have a unique ability that can be used twice during the game. Other heroes are available to select once your hero's ability has been used.
At the start of their turn, a player rolls three dice: two to indicate which resources will be harvested from the Gift and one to determine which, if any, Wildlings advance toward the Wall. However, fortifying the Wall has consequences, as those comfortable settlements and keeps attract the notice of the Wildlings. Any time a player builds a settlement or keep, they reveal a number of facedown Wilding tokens in the Frostfangs, and further their inevitable advance toward the Wall.
Of course, the most important duty of the Night’s Watch is to defend the people of Westeros from the feral Wildlings that dwell beyond the Wall. The Wildling clans consist of Regular, Climbers, and Giants that gather and move southward toward the wall once revealed. Players must hire Guards and earn their loyalty by giving them goods in return for their protection. The protection of the wall must be delicately balanced with the gathering of resources and establishment of settlements, and in familiar fashion, the first player to 10 victory points wins. However, A Game of Thrones Catan: Brotherhood of the Watch has two forms of possibly victory. If the Wildlings breach the wall three times, the game ends immediately and the player commanding the most guards holding their posts at the wall wins. Look for A Game of Throne Catan: Brotherhood of the Watch at your local retailer in Q4 of 2017 and make sure to stop by the Fantasy Flight Games booth at Gen Con for a demo as well as the Catan Studios booth!
