Although we'd hoped to get a 5-player game in, we didn't quite manage to find a time that all 5 of us could make (although Halfling was very much a "maybe" rather than a "no"). In any case, monwil, ny1050220, Chuck and I did manage to get together this evening for a game:
Although it was a very tough game for all of us, it wasn't quite as chaotic as I'd been expecting despite everything that was happening. monwil and I were definitely much more eager to capture than ny1050220 and Chuck, but I certainly had my fair share of meeples captured too!
In the end it was a 32-point city that won it for me, and this was purely down to good luck as there was only 1 cccf left in the deck and I was the one who drew it. This single tile was worth 31 points to me, plus 6 more for the farmer I placed. Crazy. However, I was the first to place farmers on either of the more valuable farms and in both cases they got kidnapped so I still felt it was a moral victory!
Thanks for the game everyone!