Carcassonne Central

Carc Central Community => Reviews & Session Reports => Topic started by: Whaleyland on January 21, 2016, 08:08:39 PM

Title: The Castles & The Halflings I – Element Match-Ups #18
Post by: Whaleyland on January 21, 2016, 08:08:39 PM
It's a new year, and I'm blowing the lid off of the former match-up rules. Now ANY element from ANY expansion can be paired to really test the limits and compatibilities of Carcassonne. As before, Element Match-Ups remains 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 CASTLES (from Bridges, Castles & Bazaars [Expansion #8]) and THE HALFLINGS I (from Spielbox Magazine). Each of these does something really unique in Carcassonne. The Castles allows a player to take a 2-tile City and raise them above the tiles to create Castles which score for the next completed adjacent feature. The Halflings are triangular-half tiles that in this case feature 8 half-Cities which can be used for Castles. Now, when the power to create a Castle is literally in your hands, will you build one? Who knows?! Try out this pairing and see what results. You may be surprised.

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.