Random Update: I Finally Played Banker of Catan

I have a confession.  I'm 48 years old and up until this past weekend, I'd never played Settlers of Catan.  Yes, I'm a gamer who never played the game what is considered by some to be one of the gateway games for the hobby.  Instead I went the Ticket to Ride route for introducing people to the hobby (see what I did there?), so I've never even thought of buying Settlers.  The question is, how did it measure up?  Was it worth the wait?  Did it live up to its legendary expectations?

Well, as the title for the post says, I've finally played the Banker of Catan.

Our friends (who are both experienced Catan players) introduced us to the game and it was fun.  It's great to hang out with friends, and I think I can see the allure of Settlers.  Then again, by the end of the game I had a total of two settlements and either three or four roads.  And yes, that's including the two settlements and two roads that I started with.

What went so horribly wrong that I started and ended the game with the same two victory points?  The dice.

With a background in Warmachine, I'm very aware of the bell curve inherent to something involving two d6.  My starting locations weren't prime real estate, but they weren't horrible either.  Unfortunately the die were stuck on a total of 5 for what felt like most of the game, so most of my "gameplay" consisted of handing out and taking back resources that everyone else was getting and spending.

Compared to something like Ticket to Ride where there is almost always something happening on your turn, this might sound pretty dull.  Well, it actually was kind of dull from a gameplay point of view but I think that I just happened to get stuck in the perfect storm that is bad dice luck.  This is nature of that ephemeral mistress that we call Lady Luck and I don't begrudge the game for that and I really had a great time hanging out with my friends and family, which makes it all worth while.  Hopefully we can play it again in the future, and then maybe I too can break out of the financial business and become one of the settlers as well.  Until next time...