Topics

1

Anything Else / Merry Christmas and a good new Car year

« on: December 23, 2014, 05:04:19 PM »

I would like to thank you all for your participation and contributions to the forum. This forum is really inspiring. Lots of fan made expansions, member who helps other members to get hold of hard to get items, and of course the CAR - our bible!
I wish you all a merry Christmas and an inspiring new year.

2

Official Rules / A maze of rules

« on: November 27, 2014, 08:17:28 PM »

The multiple expansions of Carcassonne have made it very hard to keep up with all the rules and how the different expansions interact. The CAR helps a lot. But even this document doesn’t have all the answers.

The CAR is, in my opinion, too big to be practical to use when you play the game. A lot of players are not so geeky as me, and don't sort the different expansion after each game. They play with what they have of expansions each time, and don't know in which expansion for example the Barn belongs. For a player, who don't are familiar with which element who is included in which expansion, it can be quite frustrating to find what you are looking for in the CAR.

This inspired us to make our own “rule-book” who is sorted after the different elements. As we play with some of our own and fan-made expansions, we have also included these in our “rule-book”. Over the years we have edited the “rule-book” every time we introduced a new expansion and when we discovered that some issue wasn’t addressed. We have also included our house rules for those rare instances when the CAR doesn’t provide an answer.

We have made our “rule-book” as an interlinked PDF-document, which we use on an iPad. This has made the game more enjoyable for us and it’s very rare that we have a discussion concerning the rules when we play. We just look it up.

Our “rule-book” - unfortunately in Norwegian.

Maybe it’s an idea to make a smaller version of the CAR for players who knows the basics of the game? This will not exclude the big CAR as the ultimate reference, but an interlinked small version that works on a tablet is very handy during a game.

I realise that it would be a huge task to make this, and I am unfortunately not up for the job since my English is not that good. Besides I already have this in Norwegian. But maybe someone else will be up for the task? If not, maybe this will inspire some of you to make your own “rule-book”, with the expansion you have and your own house rules.

PS: This is not intended as a criticism of the CAR. The CAR is the ultimate resource for Carcassonne and I am one of those who are really looking forward to the next version!

3

Reviews & Session Reports / Hunters & Gatherers

« on: November 24, 2014, 07:39:04 PM »

Recently I got hold of the Hunters & Gatheres.

In my opinion this is a more interesting game, when you want a quick small game, than the traditional Carcassonne. And I really love the artwork.

My girlfriend and I have been playing it a lot recently, and I have been winning almost every time. But yesterday we introduced the Scout expansion, and everything changed.

We had two games.

She won the first game with 236 point against my 142. I was further humiliated after the game was finished, when we discovered that she had been playing with only 4 follower and I with 5. 

In the second game I was really focused and pleased with my play. But it ended with a tie - 202 point for each of us.

I don't think I like the Scout expansion - my girlfriend loves it

4

Official Rules / Haflings II: The Crop Circle

« on: October 22, 2014, 07:06:12 PM »

Have anybody noticed that the Crop Circle on Haflings II is just a Circle? Not a Pitchfork, Club or Shield!

How do we play this new Crop Circle? Is it the intention that we shall choose which type of segment it shall affect?

5

Official Rules / The Flyer and the Magic Portal when you play with the German Monasteries

« on: September 05, 2014, 03:37:07 PM »

The German Monasteries with an abbot don't score during the game, but score at the end of the game, like the farms. With this in mind, we have used the same rules for the German Monasteries with an abbot as with the farms when we play with the Flyer and the Magic Portals.

With the Flyer a follower can fly to an unfinished structure even if it’s already occupied. The Flyer can’t fly to a field, even if there is not a farmer on the field. We practice that the flyer can’t fly to a German Monastery and occupy it as an abbot, a flyer can only occupy it as a monk.

With the Magic Portal a follower can portal to an unfinished structure that is not already occupied. The original rules for the Magic Portal are not so very informative. But in the footnote 147 in CAR 7.0 it is stated that: “A follower cannot be deployed to the City of Carcassonne or to the Wheel of Fortune via a magic portal. The magic portal only allows followers to be deployed to tiles that can be legally occupied according to the usual rules, as if the player had just placed the tile in question. The City of Carcassonne and the Wheel of Fortune are occupied according to different rules.” As I understand this, a follower can (in addition to city/road/monastery/shrine) portal to an unoccupied field and occupy it as a farmer or to an unoccupied German Monastery and occupy it as an abbot (or a monk if he choose to).

A German Monastery, who has been scored with a monk during the game, can be reoccupied with an abbot if you use the Magic Portal, but not with the Flyer.

What do you think? Is this correct?