Catan Being Conquered

Y'all probably know I'm a pretty big Settlers of Catan fanatic.  We have a weekly group that plays.  And we were excited to find a new scenario released this week called "Oil Springs".  Basically, there are 3 hexes that now produce oil. Oil can be used to buy 2 resources or build a metropolis (not the same as C&K metropolis). The metropolis lets you collect 3 resources and protects you from flooding (see below). Or...you can sequester the oil for conservation, which permanently removes it from the game. Doing so 3 times gives you the "Environmental Champion" card and 1 VP. Using oil, however, causes the environmental disaster calendar to tick forward (like the Barbarians in C&K). When the token reaches the end, disaster strikes and either one hex is PERMANENTLY REMOVED from the game or a flood takes out all settlements along the coast (same effect as volcano). If disaster happens 5 times, Catan becomes uninhabitable and NO ONE WINS THE GAME. WHAT??!?


Of course with new rules comes some challenges and we had some hangups along the way, but I think we've worked out the kinks after a couple rounds.  It was clear that some chose to use the oil to build for themselves, no matter the cost or ramifications.  Not many were in to conserving the oil.  And sure, there are parallels here to reality.  I think that's the point of this scenario.  The guys had fun and we'll play it again!  Hoping for rules to combine with Cities & Knights soon!