Opening Traps

[PapaGeek]

The first section in Chapter 8: Advanced Strategy in The Book of Carcassonne is "The Art of the Trap".

The book also talks about some complex strategies to avoid traps, and I do know of two expansions that are good for undoing traps: The Abbey tile which is a complete 4 sided trap removal, and the Halflings that alter the 4 sided trap into a 2 sided trap.

Are there any other expansions that help to defend against traps?


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[fbinstant]

The first section in Chapter 8: Advanced Strategy in The Book of Carcassonne is "The Art of the Trap".

The book also talks about some complex strategies to avoid traps, and I do know of two expansions that are good for undoing traps: The Abbey tile which is a complete 4 sided trap removal, and the Halflings that alter the 4 sided trap into a 2 sided trap.

Are there any other expansions that help to defend against traps?

Expansions that allow the removal of Meeples like Princess and Dragon, The Tower, The 10/15 Anniversary, etc.

[danisthirty]

Hey PapaGeek.

Although we covered most of the major expansions, the main focus of a lot of the book (and especially this chapter) was on the basic game only, as few competitive tournaments/ championships (that I'm aware of) include any expansions.

You're quite right though, the inclusion of expansions does undermine the usefulness of trapping your opponent's meeples. Not just because expansions bring new tile configurations to the game which can rescue a previously trapped meeple simply through a fortunate draw that allows you to complete the feature your meeple has been occupying, but because, as you say, of various expansions and expansion components that can be used or exploited to get your meeple back into your hand.

I'm sure others will remind me of anything I've missed, but off the top of my head:

- Princess
- Dragon
- Towers
- Festival
- Abbeys
- Corn Circles (option to remove a type of meeple exists)
- Cult Places (do we still call them this? or are they "Shrines"?)
- Cathars/ Siege/ Belagerers (where your knights can escape from a city that has been attacked as long as there's a cloister somewhere nearby)
- Festival

Anything else? It's probably worth pointing out that Bridges can often be useful in helping to avoid a trap as well as you can alter what tile might be required to rescue your meeple and place a field against a road under the correct circumstances.