EDIT: This post is now obsolete after some clarifications from Christwart Conrad, the author of The Plague. Please check here for an updated version:
https://www.carcassonnecentral.com/community/index.php?topic=5432.msg87346#msg87346
This topic invited me to revisit the rules of The Plague and its clarifications. I put together the following images in order to see how the actions described in the rules match the turn sequence. I came across some surprises in the process...
Note: The images can be clicked to display them full size.
You can find here how actions are performed during the turn sequence. Actions like adding a place source tile (adding an outbreak) or eradicating an outbreak are located at specific points of the turn sequence. However, spreading the plague or fleeing the plague happen at the player's discretion.
Two surprises awaited here:
I) Players may not spread the plague at any momentSpreading the plague cannot happen during phase
1. Placing a tile, since you can only spread the plague once you know you have not placed a plague source tile with a new outbreak. Otherwise you would contradict the rules.
II) Double turns and spreading the plague: clarifications and contradictionsThe CAR indicates that you can only spread the plague once in a double turn. If you think this through, this ruling may lead to conflicts with the rules. Moreover, this ruling is contradicted by another set of clarifications provided by HiG. Let me elaborate starting from the available clarifications...
The clarification in the CAR (and in WICA as of today) about double turns and the plague was provided by Georg Wild in 11/2013 (
http://www.carcassonnecentral.com/community/index.php?topic=531.msg5636#msg5636). This clarification indicates that players can only spread the plague once in a double turn.
Additionally, there are a number of clarifications put together by Christian Hermann, mentioned at CarcF. His clarifications about the plague (last updated in 12/2014) indicate that players spread the plague each part of a double turn. This ruling contradicts the previous one and makes more sense than the previous one as we will see next.
Spreading the plague is an action that depends on the tile being placed in a particular turn once the plague is active. Some conflicting scenarios may show up if sticking to Georg Wild’s ruling during a double turn, for example:
* First part of the turn: you spread the plague after placing a non-plague related tile that grants you a double turn.
* Second part of the turn: you draw a plague source tile. You have to place this tile but you already spread the plague.
As a consequence, the spreading the plague action should be allowed to happen each part of a double turn, since each tile being placed will dictate if the action can be performed.
Any thoughts?
Additionally, you can find next three flowcharts that put together the logic of three more complex actions of the expansion, that you can find scattered throughout the rules:
(A) Adding an outbreak, covering all the actions related to placing a plague source tile and possibly merging active areas. It also covers the exception (special case) when adding an outbreak turns the previous one inactive if it had all the available fleas.
Notes:*
1. Place a new outbreak: This step is very straight forward.
*
2A. Eradicate previous outbreak (exception): If the new outbreak is isolated from the new one and it grouped all the 18 fleas, the rules instruct you to turn this previous outbreak inactive along with its fleas as a special case.
*
2B. Manage merged regions: As an alternative to the previous case, you may find out that the new outbreak tile may merge two or more plague regions in different states, so you will have to deal with them:
- Active regions with a previous active outbreak: You will need to keep active only the newest outbreak and turn any disconnected fleas to latent state.
- Inactive regions with latent fleas : You vill need to turn these fleas to active state.
(B) Spreading the plague, covering all the action associated with choosing and placing a flea, removing any cut-off regions caused when moving a flea token on the board and merging active areas.
Notes:*
1. Place new flea token: If there is room for a flea token to be placed, you'll have to choose the source of the flea token to place:
- 1. Pick a flea token from the supply, if any
- 2. Otherwise, you move a latent flea taken placed on the board
- 3. Finally, if only active flea tokens are available, move one of them
*
2. Manage cut-off active flea regions: If a latent or an active flea token was moved, any disconnected active flea region with no active outbreak will have to be turned inactive.
*
3. Manage merged regions: Same case as with the addition of a new outbreak above, you may find out that the newly placed flea token may merge two or more plague regions in different states, so you will have to deal with them:
- Active regions with a previous active outbreak: You will need to keep active only the newest outbreak and turn any disconnected fleas to latent state.
- Inactive regions with latent fleas : You vill need to turn these fleas to active state.
(C) Eradicating an outbreak, covering the case dealing with the removal of the oldest active outbreak when there are several active outbreaks and all the 18 flea tokens are active on the board.
Notes:*
1. Eradicate oldest outbreak: This action is quite straight forward. You just turn over the oldest active outbreak and all its connected fleas, if any. This action may affect no fleas but this is not an issue. If the situation persists, additional outbreaks will be turned inactive in subsequent tuns until only some fleas are turned to their latent state or only one active outbreak remains.
Let me know if this exercise helped you or need some additional clarifications.