• Build Knights and Perform Actions with Knights
• Commodities: City Expansion
• Expansion Level and Metropolis
• Barbarians
• City Wall
• Special Victory Points

Build Knights and Perform Actions with Knights

There are no Development Cards in "Cities & Knights," which is why no Knight cards can be played. Instead, knights in the form of game pieces are used that can be placed directly on the free intersections of the game board. Each knight comes in three levels: basic (1 strength point), strong (2 strength points), and mighty (3 strength points). You can use a knight to drive away the robber, displace a weaker foreign knight from an intersection of your own continuous road, or interrupt a foreign continuous road. You also need knights to protect your own cities from the barbarian attack (see below).

Build knight:

A knight costs 1 wool and 1 ore. Open the Build Menu and click on the button "Build Knight." Place the knight on a free, marked intersection (one of your roads must lead to this intersection).

Open Knight Menu:

To promote, activate, or move a knight, or to drive away the robber, click on one of your knights on the game board.

Knight Menu – Promote knight:

Click on the button "Promote Knight" (costs 1 wool and 1 ore). For each promotion, the knight receives one more strength point. You may promote a knight to level 3 only if you have performed the third city expansion in the area "Politics" (see below).

Knight Menu – Activate knight:

Click on the button "Activate Knight" (costs 1 grain). You can perform actions only with activated knights. Only the strength points of activated knights count for the defense against the barbarians.

Knight Menu – Drive away robber:

If an activated knight stands next to the robber, click on the icon "Drive away Robber." Move the robber. Your knight is now deactivated.

Knight Menu – Move knight:

You can move knights only along your own roads and place them only on free intersections. A knight must be activated to be moved. Click on the icon "Move Knight." After you have moved your knight, he is deactivated.

Important:
Each knight may only be used for one action per turn. If you have used one of your knights for an action during your turn, you may activate him on the same turn but must wait until your next turn to perform another action with him.

Commodities: City Expansion

The income you receive for a city adjacent to pasture, mountains, or forest is one resource and one commodity.

The cities can be expanded in three different areas. The commodity "paper" is used for expansions in the area "Science" (1), "cloth" for expansions in the area "Trade" (2), and "coins" for expansions in the area "Politics" (3).

The city expansion is carried out and indicated in the three City Expansion Windows at the bottom left.

You need paper for expanding the green area "Science" (1), cloth for the yellow area "Trade" (2), and coins for the blue area "Politics" (3). To expand an area, click on the corresponding Expansion Window in the bottom left corner. The required commodities are automatically debited.

The first expansion costs one commodity (in the example on the left: one paper for the first expansion in the area "Science"), and two dice appear in the City Expansion Window. Each further expansion costs one commodity more, and another die appears.

Let's assume that you made your first expansion in the green area – as illustrated above. With the dice roll shown on the left (green city gate and "1"), you would receive one Progress Card. Each further expansion level adds another die to the City Expansion Window and thus increases the probability for you to get a Progress Card.

Expansion Level and Metropolis

As soon as you have expanded an area to the third level, you get an advantage.

Third level "Science" (paper):

If you come away empty-handed during a production roll, you receive any one resource of your choice.

Third level "Trade" (cloth):

You may trade 2 commodities of the same type for any one resource or commodity of your choice.

Third level "Politics" (coins):

You may promote your knights to mighty knights (3 strength points).

Metropolis:

If you are the first player to expand an area to the 4th level, you may convert one of your cities into the metropolis of this area. A metropolis is worth a total of 4 victory points. You can lose the metropolis to a game partner if he expands the area of the metropolis to the 5th level before you.

Barbarians

The barbarians threaten Catan. The players must fend off the barbarians together and confront the enemies with a sufficient number of activated knights. The Barbarians Window informs about the distance and strength of the barbarians as well as the combined strength of Catan's knights.

At the beginning, the barbarians ar 7 hexes away. Each time the barbarian ship is rolled, they come one sea hex closer to the island of Catan.

• The status indicator "Distance" shows how many sea hexes the barbarians are still away from Catan.
• The status indicator "Strength of Barbarians" shows the barbarians' number of strength points. Each city and each metropolis on Catan counts one strength point for the barbarians.
• The status indicator "Strength of Knights" shows the strength points of all activated knights together.

When the barbarians land on Catan, fighting breaks out. The party with the most strength points wins. If the players and the barbarians are tied for strength, the players win.

The players win:

The owner of the knights with the most strength points receives a hero point (victory point). If various players contributed the same number of strength points for victory, they each receive one Progress Card of their choice.

The barbarians win:

The player who contributed the fewest strength points for the battle loses a city, meaning that the city is downgraded to a settlement. If various players are tied for contributing the fewest strength points, each of them loses a city.

Important:
Metropolises are not destroyed. If you do not own a city but have one or more metropolises, you do not lose anything if you contributed the fewest strength points for the battle and the battle was lost. In this case, the player who contributed the second fewest strength points loses a city, which is also something that may affect various players.

Progress Cards

If the Event Die reveals a green city gate, all players whose green City Expansion Window shows the number of the red die receive a green (Science) Progress Card.

If the Event Die reveals a yellow city gate, all players whose yellow City Expansion Window shows the number of the red die receive a yellow (Trade) Progress Card.

If the Event Die reveals a blue city gate, all players whose blue City Expansion Window shows the number of the red die receive a blue (Politics) Progress Card.

The Green (Science) Progress Cards

	Alchemist (2x) This card allows you to determine the die roll result for the red and the white die. A menu appears where you can select the red and the white die.
	Building Crane (2x) On your turn, a city expansion costs you one commodity less. Let's assume you have expanded a blue City Expansion Window (Politics) up to the second level. You need 3 coins for the next level, but you only have 2. The Building Crane substitutes the missing third coin. If you want to use the Building Crane, click on the Building Crane card first and then on the respective City Expansion Window.
	Foundry (2x) Play this card to receive 2 Recource Cards "Ore" for each mountains hex adjacent to which you own at least one settlement or city.
	Irrigation (2x) Play this card to receive 2 Recource Cards "Grain" for each fields hex adjacent to which you own at least one settlement or city.
	Printing Press (1x) This card immediately increases your victory points account by one victory point. Unlike in the Basic Game, Victory Point cards are not secret in Cities & Knights.
	Inventor (2x) You may switch two numbers, but never the "2," "12," "6," and "8." You are asked to click on 2 terrain hexes whose numbers you want to switch.
	Master Builder (1x) You may immediately build a city wall around one of your cities.
	Doctor (2x) You pay 1 grain and 1 ore less for upgrading a settlement to a city.
	Smithy (2x) You may promote two of your knights by one level, free of charge (promotion to level three is only possible if you already reached level three of the blue city expansion). Mighty knights (level three) cannot be promoted further. If you play this card, click on the two knights (or the one knight) you want to promote.
	Road Building (2x) You may immediately build 2 roads (in combination with Seafarers, also 2 ships) free of charge.

The Yellow (Trade) Progress Cards

	Merchant (6x) Play this card and click on a terrain hex where you have a settlement or city. From now on, you may trade the resource produced by this terrain at a 2:1 rate. Owning the merchant game piece is worth 1 victory point. You lose these advantages as soon as a game partner plays a Merchant card and moves the merchant game piece.
	Large Harbor (2x) Offer one of your Resource Cards to each of your game partners. They must give you a commodity for the resource if they have one.
	Trade Fleet (2x) Until you end your turn, you may trade a resource type or a commodity of your choice at a 2:1 rate as often as you like.
	Trade Master (2x) Click on the avatar of a game partner who owns more victory points than you. His resources and commodities are displayed. You may steal 2 resources or commodities from him. Click on the symbols to take the resources or commodities.
	Commodity Monopoly (2x) You are asked to determine a commodity. Each of your game partners must give you a card of this commodity type if he has one.
	Resource Monopoly (4x) You are asked to determine a resource. Each of your game partners must give you 2 cards of this resource type if he has them.

The Blue (Politics) Progress Cards

	Bishop (2x) Move the robber to a different terrain hex. Draw one Resource Card or one Commodity Card from each player who owns a settlement or city adjacent to this hex.
	Diplomat (2x) Click on any open road of your choice; it is removed. If you click on one of your own roads, you may place it again as provided for in the rules.
	Commander (2x) Play this card to immediately activate all your knights.
	Wedding (2x) Each of your game partners having more victory points than you must give you 2 cards of his choice (resources and/or commodities).
	Intrigue (2x) You may displace any one foreign knight of your choice from an intersection if you reach this intersection with one of your own roads or ships.
	Saboteur (2x) Each of your game partners having more victory points than you immediately loses half of his resources and commodities.
	Spy (3x) If you play this card, click on a game partner's avatar. His Progress Cards are displayed. You may select one of these cards.
	Deserter (2x) Click on a game partner's avatar. He must remove one of his knights. You may place this knight on one of your free intersections (one of your roads or ships must lead to this intersection).
	Constitution (1x) Diese Karte erhöht Ihr Siegpunktekonto sofort um einen Siegpunkt. Die Siegpunktkarten sind bei Städte und Ritter nicht geheim, wie sie es beim Basisspiel sind.

City Wall

Building a city wall costs 2 brick. To build a city wall, open the Build Menu, click on the button depicting the city wall and then on the city you want to protect with a wall.

You may surround up to three cities with walls. City walls protect you from the robber. A city wall lets you get away with 9 resources when a "7" is rolled. Each additional city wall increases the resource limit by two resources.

Special Victory Points

As in the Basic Game, each settlement is worth one and each city two victory points. Two victory points for the "Longest Road" are awarded as well. The "Largest Army" is not applicable. Additional victory points are given as follows:

A metropolis is worth a total of 4 victory points.

You receive a special victory point if you contributed knights with the most strength points for the battle against the barbarians. The hero points are shown in the opposite status indicator.

If you draw the Progress Cards "Printing Press" or "Constitution," you immediately receive one special victory point.

If you play the Merchant card, place the merchant game piece on one or your terrain hexes. You may trade the resources of this terrain at a 2:1 rate. Owning the merchant game piece is worth 1 victory point. If another player plays a Merchant card, he receives the merchant and, thus, also the victory point.

Important Tips

Place knights:

The barbarians won't be long in coming. Therefore, you should place an activated knight as soon as possible and thus protect your city.

Make sure you receive commodities:

City expansions are only possible with commodities. This is why you should try to build your first city at a forest, pasture, or mountains hex with good production prospects.

City wall:

In "Cities & Knights" you are often forced to juggle with a larger resource inventory. Hence, you shouldn't underestimate the value of one or two city walls.

Protect productive terrain hexes:

Try to place your knights in such a way that they protect your best terrains from the robber or drive him away, respectively.

Use the harbors:

In "Cities & Knights," the habors are even more important than in the Basic Game, particularly because you can also use a 2:1 harbor to get one commodity for 2 resources – a very favorable trade. This gives you a better chance to win the race for a metropolis.

City lost – game lost?

Not at all! Before you build your city again, you could first build a lucrative settlement; also, you could utilize the harbors for trading purposes. There are many examples where players were still able to score victory, despite the initial loss of a city.