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Topics - CarcinFool

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1
General / How do you unlock AI opponent Frank on iOS Carcassonne?
« on: January 25, 2018, 05:20:00 AM »
There's a hidden AI opponent named Frank on the iOS version of Carcassonne. He's got a retro 8-bit avatar and an "I <3 Pixels" achievement associated with beating him.


Once upon a time I did unlock him (I remember doing it, playing him, and I have the achievement mentioned above), but now I'm on a different device now and I don't have him anymore.


Interestingly, a web search has turned up nothing -- does anyone know/remember how to unlock him?


CarcinFool

2
The Marketplace / GripMat -- DO NOT BUY!!!
« on: October 01, 2016, 06:58:46 PM »
Last year I made a post in the Marketplace forum asking about game mats and just wanted to follow up on it with some important information about my experience with a vendor.


A short while later I ended up ordering a GripMat from "Break from Reality Games," which I learned about on their Kickstarter page. Given my experience with them I would strongly urge anyone to NEVER DO BUSINESS WITH BREAK FROM REALITY GAMES!!


Without boring everyone with all the details...my order didn't arrive for months, when it did it didn't work anything like it was advertised (it didn't grip tiles at all), AND my repeated emails to them about getting a replacement mat have gone unanswered.

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The Marketplace / Game mats - what size?
« on: October 07, 2015, 06:54:36 AM »
I'm thinking of ordering a game mat (like the GripMat or something similar). Does anyone have something like this? Do they work well?

Do you have any recommendations as to what size(s) to purchase to support a wide range of Carc playing options? Is it better to get one larger mat or two smaller (or two larger?)

Any thoughts or experiences would be appreciated! Thx!


4
I haven't played much with Abbey & Mayor (live), but I played two games agains the AI recently and I think in both it forced me to play my Abbey tile in the middle of the game. The tile appeared at the top right as the tile that I need to place on my next turn.


Is this a rule that I've missed (I checked the CAR and didn't see anything)? I always thought the Abbey tile was used whenever you wanted? Maybe this is just a limitation of JCloisterZone at the moment?

5
The Marketplace / Count like the Wheel...
« on: September 03, 2015, 04:12:20 PM »
Have any of the game producers ever released a version of the Count of Carcassonne expansion tiles formed as a single large tile like the Wheel of Fortune?

Seems like it would be a lot easier/better to store/play with it that way, no?

6
General / Tuckbox for Die Belagerer / The Besiegers?
« on: August 23, 2015, 09:16:48 AM »
I searched around but wasn't able to to find a tuckbox for Die Belagerer / The Besiegers. Anyone know if this is available?

Thx!

7
Strategy Guide / Maximizing Use of the Abbot (Carcassonne II)
« on: January 13, 2015, 07:04:39 PM »
The Abbot is a new expansion that comes with Carcassonne II. In this expansion, the Abbot is a new special follower that can be placed on cloisters or gardens. His special ability is that you can take him back on any turn that you don’t place a follower AND score the uncompleted cloister or garden. You can read the full rules on the last page of the rulebook.

[photo of an Abbot on a cloister]
[photo of an Abbot on a garden]


NOTE: A different Abbot is also used in German/Dutch/Belgian Monasteries expansions, but that's not what is discussed here.

Abbot Math

In the Carcassonne II (CII) base game of 72 tiles there are six cloister tiles and eight garden tiles. There is one additional cloister and another garden on the 12 Carcassonne II River tiles, so that brings it to a total of 16 tiles with locations to place an Abbot.

In a CII game with or without the River about 20% of the game tiles are targets for this new follower and someone will draw a cloister or garden about every 5 turns. In a 2-player game you can expect to get half of these tiles, so on average you'll have seven or eight chances to deploy the Abbot. If you average even just four points per chance that's 32 points from your holy man!

Basic Strategy

I think everyone will agree that there is very little downside to placing the Abbot when you have the chance at any point in the game. You should always prefer to use him as opposed to a normal follower on a cloister, and in addition he can be placed on a garden.

The key to maximizing the Abbot’s potential, however, is not in the placement, but in returning him to your supply quickly. The Abbot has special training like a Navy SEAL so he can’t get trapped in a cloister (or garden), so you can send him on dangerous missions where normal meeples wouldn’t dare venture.

You should look to pull him back at your very next opportunity, especially early in the game when there are so many cloister/garden tiles left to draw. Leaving your Abbot on the board to eek out a few extra points over your next five turns is not the best strategy. This is because there is a high likelihood that you’ll draw another one of those cloister or garden tiles in those next turns, which would allow you to deploy the Abbot again. The next turn on which you expand one of your existing cities or roads (or for whatever reason don’t place a new follower) score your Abbot's points and take him back.

As the game progresses there is an increasing number of positions to place a cloister/garden tile where it will be immediately surrounded by four or more tiles. That’s big points for your Abbot and you haven't even tried to build anything for him yet! You want to avoid drawing a tile with an opportunity to place the Abbot when you already have him deployed.

If you draw another cloister/garden tile (or magic portal, see below for more on this) that will provide you with another chance to get him deployed and earn more quick points. Even if you are only earning 2-3 extra points when you take back the Abbot having him back in your supply will pay dividends over the course of a game. He essentially enables you to wring out extra points of the move wood stage of your turn when you otherwise wouldn’t move wood.

The Abbot and the Portal

When playing with Princess and the Dragon, a magic portal can enable you to send the Abbot through to a garden/cloister (NOTE: I didn’t not see this in the CAR, so this is unconfirmed, but the rules and CAR indicate that he is a follower). There are almost always uncompleted cloisters/gardens on the board, so sending the Abbot on an inter-dimentional ride through the portal is a great way to boost your point total. And since the Abbot doesn’t have to stay on the board until the cloister/garden is completely surrounded you can grab him back shortly and take the points.

8
Strategy Guide / Joining Fields
« on: January 13, 2015, 06:26:54 PM »
Introduction

Joining fields is a big part of Carcassonne strategy. A single field is often worth a big 9 or 12 points in the base game. If you are playing with expansions that means more tiles, more cities, and possibly field-related bonuses from the pig, pig herd, Cathars, etc. In games with expansions one or more fields can easily be worth upwards of 20 or 30 points. And don't forget those smaller fields -- those are important as well. At the end of a game placing your last meeples on a few small 6-point fields can make all the difference between who wins.

But just as roads and cities can be joined to increase your score or decrease your opponent's, so too can fields be joined with similar results. This article is all about the why and how of joining fields.

Why would I want to join fields?

In your quest to have your farmers supply the most cities (and keep your opponent from supplying very many), there are several scenarios in which you might want to join two or more fields. You might want to...
  • Join a field you own to a field your opponent owns (if his has more cities).
  • Join two fields that you own to increase the likelihood that you’ll score all the cities on each individual field since you’ll have multiple meeples on the joined field.
  • Join two of your opponent’s fields to prevent him from scoring field points twice for any cities that border both fields (See "Being Kind to be Cruel" for an example).
  • Pre-emptively join your field to an adjacent unclaimed field to prevent your opponent from using it to steal your field.
  • Spoil your opponent’s attempt to join a field she owns by setting up your own join that necessarily occurs when your opponent joins his field (include photo)
How can I join fields?

The most common or obvious ways to join fields include connecting fields around the corner of a city and using a cloister with a road to join fields on opposite sides of an existing road.


Using a FFxx tile joining two fields (left) and a cloister with road to join fields on opposite sides of an existing road (right)

But you can also join fields by looping roads, with cleverly placed road curves, or with any tile that has a field that connects opposite sides of the tile. This can take a little practice to spot, but once you see a few examples you’ll be able to identify more opportunities to join fields when you need to.


Joining using a road loop (left) and a tile CFCF with a crosswise field (right)

[add photo of curves like CFRR, CRRF tiles]

Tiles with fields on opposite edges can be used to build multi-tile field “bridges" to connect two separate areas of the board. This situation is less common, but you can sometimes mount a sneak attack by stretching a field over several tiles to join with another field.

[photo of FFFF + FCFC connecting fields on two separate areas of the board]

How can I block my opponent from joining fields that I want to keep separate?

Conversely, if you are concerned about your opponent joining fields you can block him. You don’t always need to create a space where no tile will fit, you can also block field-joining by forcing a 3-way road tile (preventing a loop) or placing a city edge adjacent to another city edge.


Forcing a 3-way road tile to prevent joining with a road elbow (left) and closing off a field with a city (right).

Sometimes blocking your opponent may take two moves, but if the cost would be losing a valuable/critical field (say one worth 30+ points!) it is often worth putting your other projects on hold to focus on blocking your opponent’s field-joining attempt.

How should I choose a spot to join fields so my opponent is less likely to block me?

Try to join fields where your opponent can't place a single tile to restrict or block your attempt. Compare the two situations below. The first attempt can be foiled easily with any tile that has a road while the second cannot. Of course your opponent can place a tile that would allow them to block you on their next turn. If they do, try to ensure your joining attempt can be successful. If you get a helpful tile place it to force the most common tile remaining into the spot where you are joining fields.

[photo of easily blocked field join]
[photo of better field join attempt]

Other related strategies

Another helpful strategy in the early game is to choose where you build your projects to protect any fields you’ve captured early in the game. The opposite also holds true as you can weigh your options for tile placements to help attack a field your opponent has already captured; just make sure the field is worth it.

As the game winds down, be aware of the pieces that are remaining that can help or prevent you from joining. Are there any cloisters with roads left? What about FFxx tiles like FFRR or FFCC? Are there any 3- or 4-way roads that can prevent a looping join? Don’t forget the 4-way double curve road.  Also use your knowledge of the remaining tiles to your advantage to block or minimize the chances that your opponent can join fields where it’s advantageous to him. This is pretty apparent when playing on iOS with the option to have the remaining tiles visible, but is much harder in a live game or where this option is disabled.

9
General / CAR links on Carcassonne Central home page out of date
« on: January 12, 2015, 02:09:27 PM »
Forum admins...Looks like the link on the home page points to a 7.0.x version of the CAR, but the most recent one available is 7.3. I didn't check the Winter or other edition links, but they may be out of date as well.

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