Poll

How well do the Pigs and the Barns work together?

They are an excellent pair!
They seem to work well most of the time.
It really depends...
They don't seem to work well together.
They don't cooperate at all!
They don't appear to interact in any significant way.

Author Topic: The Pigs & The Barns – Element Match-Ups #19  (Read 3876 times)

Offline Whaleyland

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The Pigs & The Barns – Element Match-Ups #19
« on: January 30, 2016, 02:39:45 PM »
Element Match-Ups are a new series of weekly challenges for all members of CarcassonneCentral. These threads are intended for members to test these combinations without the interference of other elements or expansions. We want to know what you think about the pairing. Consider this a quasi-scientific survey in that you are only playing with these two elements and the base game — nothing else! New match-ups are released every Friday-Saturday (depending on time zone), but the old pairings will always be there so never hesitate to add your two cents worth to the discussion (even if the thread is over 180 days old!).

This week our elements are THE PIGS (from Traders & Builders [Expansion #2]) and THE BARNS (from Abbey & Mayor [Expansion #5]). This is a fairly obvious combination, but one that is in fact contradictory since a field cannot have a Barn and a Pig on it. A Barn replaces all Farmers on a field for a slightly higher-scoring permanent claim on the field. The Pigs, in contrast, boost the impact of a Farmer on a field, which means it gets removed when a Barn is placed. However, both Barn and a field with a Pig score the same points! Which is better? How did these two fair when played together? Let the world know!

The elements are set, the challenge is issued, and now it is for you to decide whether these elements work well together or are terrible companions. Summarise your experience below in however much detail you wish, and feel free to share any strategic advice you have for other players taking the challenge.

Linkback: https://www.carcassonnecentral.com/community/index.php?topic=2398.0

Offline Paul

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Re: The Pigs & The Barns – Element Match-Ups #19
« Reply #1 on: January 30, 2016, 03:49:38 PM »
Suppose one aspect to consider are which base game or other expansion is used in the game.

A good idea might be to start a farm and then put out the pig and build a field towards the barn while trying to complete cities and roads along the way.
  Can be a challenge if playing against savvy opponent(s).
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Offline jungleboy

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Re: The Pigs & The Barns – Element Match-Ups #19
« Reply #2 on: January 30, 2016, 11:43:41 PM »
For me, the key to this element match-up lies in this rule (from the CAR, p.66):

If the placement of a tile results in a farm with farmers being connected to a farm with a barn, the farmers are scored immediately. However, the player with the majority of farmers scores only 1 point for every completed city (with a pig: 2 points instead of 1).

And the related footnote (No 192):

Question: May the pig be placed on a farm that was just connected to a farm with a barn, i.e. on the newly placed tile (immediately before scoring)? Answer: Yes, the pig may be placed in already occupied features [and, as above, the normal “move wood” phase still happens].

I remember playing a fairly large game of Carcassonne (by my standards) with T&B and A&M (and a few other expansions) where I pulled this move repeatedly towards the end of the game: adding a farmer near the main farm with 10+ completed cities, and adding the pig on the joining tile for 20+ points. I did this 3-4 times and it was the difference in the game.

Offline Hounk

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Re: The Pigs & The Barns – Element Match-Ups #19
« Reply #3 on: January 31, 2016, 02:32:43 AM »
This is sure the aspect to go for. Connecting farmers to barn farms is a viable, though always a little risky strategy. Entering pig, you basically double the award for this approach, making it really powerful.

However, I also agree with Paul, if you can place a farmer early on a potential "barn farm", then have the option of placing your pig, you might take the risk of not getting it back for later connecting farmers. But even then, I would rather try to either place my barn there or score another barn farm with it. The difference is, that here the pig gives you only a +25% boost, instead of +50% later on.


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