• One factory token in each player colour.

For my factories I use the wooden handwerks-betrich (craft area) pieces from the 1999 Die Siedler von Nürnberg..

• Each person receives one factory to play in their colour
• The cost of building a factory is one of each of the five resources.
• Factories can be built at any interesction point that a settlement could be built on.
• If built on an intersection of three hexes when any number from an adjoining hex is thrown, the player may choose to take the resource of the number thrown or instead take a single resource of either of the other two adjoining hexes.
• If built on an intersection of two hexes, then the player can choose from either of the two adjoining hexes.
• A factory cannot be ugraded to a city in my customised version of the original Factories

For the Robber there are two options:

• The Robber has no effect. - Factories are stronger and have a security force which can withstand the Robber; or
• If the Robber is on the number rolled then that factory does NOT produce and if one of the other numbers are rolled then the factory may NOT choose the resource which the Robber is on.

Victory Points

• Building a factory does NOT add any Victory Points to your score. The reason for this is that the benefit of the factory offsets the need to give a VP. Also no VP means that sometimes a settlement with a VP and upgrade capability is still a more preferable option. In the original scenario a factoriy was woth 1VP and this is an acceptable variation if the table agrees.)

• The original Factories in Catan by Edwin Ruschitzka is in the fantastic "Das Buch zum Spielen" by Klaus Teuber.