March 10, 2025
Description
Build your game board
Includes hexagon games tiles, borders, numbers tokens, resource and harbor markers, and player pieces. Cards are not included (see the "Other resources" link at the bottom), and a few items I did not model personally must be downloaded separately (but links are provided). You may not need to print everything here, if you already own appropriate Lego replacements. Most pieces are provided in both .3mf and .stl format — more than 60 files/30 individual models!
Designed in OpenSCAD and MS 3D Builder.
There's too much going on here to mark as a normal remix. To give credit where it's due, this project would not have been possible without the following designs:
LEGO 2x2-Round Used to create the number tiles and alternate resource markers.
Lego Tree Used both for the trees, and to help build the sheep and wheat.
Customizable Lego-like Bricks Used to help build the tiles and borders, and to generate the Road, Settlement, and City pieces. Most of my renders for this project were intentionally done to have a loose fit.
Regular Convex Polygon Generator Used to generate the initial hexagons for the tiles.
Lego Boulder Use this to mark the stone resource tiles.
Lego-like Minifig For the Robber. If you're going for a fully-printed game, this is the best option I've found. Personally, I recommend using an existing real minifig for the Robber.
Wooly Sheep Merged this with the base from the Lego Tree to make the sheep resource marker.
Catan Wheat Tile Merged this with the base from the Lego Tree to make the wheat resource marker.
There are 78 possible connections between tiles and borders for the standard base game. You do not need to print that many connectors. Six connectors holding the border together does a great job at keeping the whole game secure, and you can use existing real Lego 2x2 plates from your Lego stash.
Print 6 of these, preferably with blue filament. There are two options here. The border_with_base file includes a one or two layer (depending on resolution) flat section for the entire bottom. I found it difficult to get good layer adhesion for the regular border, and including this base layer was more effective than using a brim. However, this will add some extra post-print processing time with a razor knife, so it's worth seeing if you can print without this extra base first.
You will need to do some bridging even without the base, as you would for normal imitation Lego pieces, so make sure your printer is up to that task. Watch for elephant's footing on the inside of the connector cut-outs; it can make the fit seem much too small, but a minute with a razor knife and things are fine again. I included cutouts for all the possible connection points, but it is not necessary to open up all of these. You can save a lot of time by only preparing the two at each end of the borders. Just a minute or so for both sides of each of the 78 possible connection points really adds up.
I had to place these diagonally on my 220 mm print bed to get them to fit. Alternatively for smaller printers, or to work with some expansions, print additional hex tiles. Eighteen hex tiles will border the base game.
Print one each for Sheep/Wool, Grain/Wheat, Wood/Lumber, Ore/Stone, and Brick. Additionally, print four of either the 3:1 Question or 3:1 Benchy.
Print 19 of these. Do NOT generate supports. The supports you need are included as part of the piece; break them off on the edges when the piece finishes. As with the borders, some time with a razor knife will be necessary to expose the lego connector cutouts. However, I recommend only doing this work if you really need it. I may even consider uploading an alternative tile piece with these cutouts removed.
For stacking the tiles vertically, I experienced a very tight fit at first. However, it quickly worked loose with use and fits much better now.
Print one "Round2" tile, one "Round12" tile, and 2 of each of the others. I recommend painting the top of the number value, to help improve readability.
We need 60(!) of these, 15 in four different colors. I had no trouble printing them in groups of 15, for each player color. You can print with different color filament or paint them afterwards. You can save some print time if you already enough standard Lego pieces in any color.
We need 20 of these, 5 in four different colors. I print them in the same batch as the City pieces for each player color. Again, you can save some print time if you already have enough standard Lego pieces in any color.
We need 16 of these, 4 in four different colors. I print them in the same batch as the Settlement pieces for each player color. Again, you can save some print time if you already have enough standard Lego pieces in any color.
See the sources link. This is your Robber. I strongly recommend using a real existing minifig.
We need four of these, preferably in green. They will mark your wood resource tiles. Find this in the sources section above. Another option uses a few standard Lego pieces in green and brown to make a serviceable tree resource. There are examples of how this might look in the pictures.
Alternatively, for a flatter, easier to read game, print four of the Round_Wood files and paint the embossed icon.
We need three of these, and you want them in Red. These will mark your brick resource tiles. This is something you might easily be able to find in your Lego hoard.
Alternatively, for a flatter, easier to read game, print three of the Round_Brick files and paint the embossed icon.
We need four of these. They will mark your pasture resource tiles.
Alternatively, for a flatter, easier to read game, print four of the Round_Sheep files and paint the embossed icon.
We need four of these. They will mark your wheat/grain resource tiles. Recommend to print or paint with a dirty yellow. I found them difficult to paint well, so using a good original filament color for this will save some work.
Alternatively, for a flatter, easier to read game, print four of the Round_Wheat files and paint the embossed icon.
We need three of these, preferably in gray. They will mark your stone resource tiles. Find this in the Sources section above. I found it difficult to get a good scale from the original file. Somewhere around 27% is correct, but I'm still not sure of the exact number, and pieces I have all include some work with a razor knife so they will fit properly.
Alternatively, for a flatter, easier to read game, print three of the Round_Ore files and paint the embossed icon.
It is faster and easier to assemble if you first build the border, using a 2x2 Lego plate connector between each border piece, and then place all the hex tiles inside the border without using any additional connectors.
Once the board itself -- both border and hex tiles -- are in place, add a harbor tile at every other position around the border. Then place the resources.
For placing the resources, the original game rules recommend shuffling the tiles and placing them face down, to get an unbiased and random layout. That won't work as well with these thick hex tiles. Instead, I recommend drawing cards for each resource marker, and a development card for the robber. Shuffle these cards, and then draw one at a time to place resource markers, using the order on Illustration Q on page 13 of the Official Rules and Almanac for placing number tokens. Resources should be placed before the number tokens, to ensure there's no bias in selecting the Robber tile.
After the resource markers are placed, the number tokens can be placed using a blind draw, again using the order suggested in Illustration Q from the official Rules and Almanac. The board should now be set for play.
Lego Pick-a-Brick Shop Order standard brick types. For example, at the time of writing a complete set of player pieces for one player (Five 1x1 Settlements, Four 2x1 Cities, and Fifteen 1x4 plate Roads) costs < $2.50. Trees can be had for $0.49 each, and a complete minifig for $1.06. Prices will likely vary over time.
Game Cards These seem to be out of stock more than not, but with patience they will eventually be available.
I originally made this right before the big site redesign in March 2020. I was just getting ready to publish when the redesign went live, and Thingiverse became effectively unusable -- dangerous even for casual users, as the ad system would occasionally try to serve up malware. It stayed this way for several years. Thus, this is old now, and has been available on cults3d for some time. But things now seem finally stable and safe again, where I can finally publish this here.
License:
Creative Commons - Attribution
jcoehoorn
