Poll

What's your favourite major expansion?

Inns and Cathedrals
29 (27.9%)
Traders and Builders
30 (28.8%)
The Princess and the Dragon
11 (10.6%)
The Tower
6 (5.8%)
Abbey and Mayor
7 (6.7%)
Count, King and Cult
0 (0%)
The Catapult
2 (1.9%)
Bridges, Castles and Bazaars
7 (6.7%)
Hills and Sheep
10 (9.6%)
Wheel of Fortune
2 (1.9%)

Total Members Voted: 103

Author Topic: Poll: What's your favourite major expansion?  (Read 22853 times)

Offline jungleboy

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Poll: What's your favourite major expansion?
« on: October 27, 2014, 02:57:59 PM »
Let's do a less complicated poll than the last one I tried.  8)

What's your favourite major expansion? You have nine to choose from - vote in the poll and discuss below.

For me, it's probably still a choice between the first two classic expansions, Inns and Cathedrals and Traders and Builders (with honorable mentions for Abbey and Mayor and the Tower and perhaps Hills and Sheep, though I've only played this once so far).

My final choice is probably Inns and Cathedrals. I really like the cathedral tiles and concept, I like it how inns make roads more important and valuable, and the big follower is a game-changer (though apparently not for Whaleyland! >:D). Plus, I&C has my beloved four-city tile with the little field in the middle.

Linkback: https://www.carcassonnecentral.com/community/index.php?topic=1192.0

Offline SRBO

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Re: Poll: What's your favourite major expansion?
« Reply #1 on: October 27, 2014, 03:12:36 PM »
I choose abbey and mayor. More wood. And i like the abbey

Offline Whaleyland

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Re: Poll: What's your favourite major expansion?
« Reply #2 on: October 27, 2014, 03:16:10 PM »
Just for that snarky comment, I added Wheel of Fortune to the list! Actually, I consider that a large expansion among the rest, which is why I added it. I feel that its status as a stand-alone game makes it probably the largest expansion, even if not the best.

That being said, I voted for Hills & Sheep. Though I've only played it twice and both times in two-player mode, I just love how clean the expansion is. Very much like Inns & Cathedrals. The Hills mechanic is mildly confusing but still a fun idea and I love the concept of removing tiles from circulation. That's one hit against the tile counters. I think the Vineyards are perfect and something that should have been introduced a long time ago. And the Shepherds are a fun mechanic that adds a bit of risk taking to the game while rewarding you for successful attempts. The fact that HiG clearly plans to enhance this expansion by adding its features to other expansions such as The River (III) and The Halflings II really underlines the point that this is a good expansion.

Offline Paul

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Re: Poll: What's your favourite major expansion?
« Reply #3 on: October 27, 2014, 03:35:59 PM »
It comes down to Traders and Builders vs Inns and Cathedrals for me.

The only reason I and C wins is because of the less city tiles. Trader's is filled with them overshadowing roads and cloisters.
  What makes I and C great is also that it's balanced. You don't rely much of this expansion to tip the scale in any favour dramatically. Instead you would enjoy the core game with a few more tile combinations.

And should you score big, it's because you had to make some effort to do so, with the Cathedral being quite risky.

Wheel of Fortune should be classified as a major expansion, at least in Big Box 5.  ;)
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Offline kettlefish

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Re: Poll: What's your favourite major expansion?
« Reply #4 on: October 27, 2014, 11:27:25 PM »
The first and the second expansions are parts of my "base game". I only play without these expansions when I teach new people to the world of Carcassonne.

This time I vote for the towers. The towers are great if you play the game with 3 or 4 people...
I can't remember if I ever played the towers with more than 4 people.
But to play the game with only two people - that is not much interesting.

Offline danisthirty

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Re: Poll: What's your favourite major expansion?
« Reply #5 on: October 27, 2014, 11:32:17 PM »
Nice poll jungleboy...  :(y)

I agree that Inns & Cathedrals seems to be a more balanced, carefully thought-out expansion but I just find that Traders & Builders tends to make games more fun so I voted for that. It definitely makes games a bit city-heavy but I like how the trade goods give you something else to go for even if it means giving points away every now and again. I love the idea of the builder (most of the time) and the pig can make a difference on occasions too.

If I could vote for "Inns, Cathedrals, Traders & Builders" as a single expansion then I would do as these two are usually played together anyway! Throw in a river, King & Robber Baron and, of course, The Phantom and you've got my favourite setup right there!

Offline jungleboy

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Re: Poll: What's your favourite major expansion?
« Reply #6 on: October 27, 2014, 11:41:06 PM »
Look Dan, two votes for the Tower already, and neither of them was my vote!  O0

Edit: And one of them was from kettlefish! That makes it virtually official!
« Last Edit: October 27, 2014, 11:57:32 PM by jungleboy »

Offline Tacita

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Re: Poll: What's your favourite major expansion?
« Reply #7 on: October 28, 2014, 03:17:20 AM »
Even though there are elements from other expansions that I like better, I will have to vote for I&C. It is the only big expansion from wich I nearly always use everything.
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Offline danisthirty

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Re: Poll: What's your favourite major expansion?
« Reply #8 on: October 28, 2014, 03:36:26 AM »
Look Dan, two votes for the Tower already, and neither of them was my vote!  O0

Edit: And one of them was from kettlefish! That makes it virtually official!

I can't think of a clever or suitably sarcastic response at the moment, so for the time being I'm just going to say:  :P

Offline jungleboy

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Re: Poll: What's your favourite major expansion?
« Reply #9 on: October 28, 2014, 08:55:43 AM »
Even though there are elements from other expansions that I like better, I will have to vote for I&C. It is the only big expansion from wich I nearly always use everything.

I think Inns and Cathedrals and the Princess and the Dragon are the only two major expansions where all elements work together perfectly. At the opposite extreme, King, Count and Cult is just a bunch of unrelated mini-expansions put together. To me, Abbey and Mayor, Bridges, Castles and Bazaars and even Hills and Sheep seem a bit like that too. Even Traders and Builders, which I love, doesn't flow together the way I&C and P&D do - i.e. what does the pig have to do with the builder, or the trade goods? And of course, the Tower and the Catapult have just one element each.

Offline jungleboy

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Re: Poll: What's your favourite major expansion?
« Reply #10 on: October 31, 2014, 12:06:52 AM »
Bumping this thread to give an update with 19 votes cast. Inns and Cathedrals leads with seven votes, one ahead of Traders and Builders. No other expansion has more than two votes. Four expansions are yet to receive a vote, which are KC&C, BC&B, the Catapult and Wheel of Fortune.

If you haven't voted yet, please do so above!

Offline Guy

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Re: Poll: What's your favourite major expansion?
« Reply #11 on: October 31, 2014, 12:55:14 AM »
Can't believe P&D only has two votes.  It adds a new dynamic to the game, makes you think more about tile placement to avoid being too close to the dragon, but also balances the likelihood of being eaten with the magic portals to allow you to claim incomplete, unoccupied features.  All in all a well balanced game which adds a lot to the original.  More P&D votes!
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Offline jungleboy

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Re: Poll: What's your favourite major expansion?
« Reply #12 on: October 31, 2014, 02:29:53 AM »
I like P&D but I see it as an expansion to be played occasionally rather than regularly, because of the aggressive nature of it.

In real life, I usually play two-player games and we often play three consecutive games in one session. We usually include an aggressive expansion only once, and even then we tend to favour the Tower more than P&D because it works better with two players (i.e. because the dragon can be fairly well contained with only two players).

Offline danisthirty

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Re: Poll: What's your favourite major expansion?
« Reply #13 on: October 31, 2014, 02:42:33 AM »
Can't believe P&D only has two votes.  It adds a new dynamic to the game, makes you think more about tile placement to avoid being too close to the dragon, but also balances the likelihood of being eaten with the magic portals to allow you to claim incomplete, unoccupied features.  All in all a well balanced game which adds a lot to the original.  More P&D votes!

I think the voting seems fair so far. I don't think there's anything wrong with Princess & Dragon, it's more about what's right with Inns & Cathedrals and Traders & Builders! I will concede that Inns & Cathedrals is probably the better of the two in terms of balancing out the game but I still think Traders & Builders can make the game more exciting, hence this is what I voted for.

Because it's a destructive expansion I don't take games played with P & D all that seriously, but they're certainly fun. Some purists might argue that it changes the game too much though, or that some of the changes introduced aren't entirely for the good. Personally I don't like that the idea that meeples can be removed (yes you can do your best to defend against this to some extent but if everyone else is against you they will almost always get what they want) as I think this undermines the fundamental strategic element of the game. But like I say, I do enjoy playing with it from to time in the same way as I enjoy using a Snakes & Ladders board instead of a score track!

Offline Paul

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Re: Poll: What's your favourite major expansion?
« Reply #14 on: October 31, 2014, 05:10:52 AM »
Can't believe P&D only has two votes.  It adds a new dynamic to the game, makes you think more about tile placement to avoid being too close to the dragon, but also balances the likelihood of being eaten with the magic portals to allow you to claim incomplete, unoccupied features.  All in all a well balanced game which adds a lot to the original.  More P&D votes!

It's a pickle, can only vote for one!  :@

I like Princess and the Dragon too, it's a lot of fun to play. Which is really what the game is about. Still, it was Inns and Cathedrals for me that won the poll.
  If it makes you feel any better, I own 10x copies of Princess and the Dragon. Or was is 11x...?  >:D


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