Completionism Poll #11 - Abbots

[danisthirty]

Just in passing - and OT here - I wonder how much a complete CarcII collection would cost over the coming years ...  I hate to think what my CarcI collection has cost me along with all the spin-offs!

If you buy it new, shortly after stuff is released, you'll end up with a Carcassonne 2 collection that cost you a fraction of what it will cost future players when they discover Carcassonne (new artwork edition of course) in years to come and attempt to collect everything for it via eBay or whatever. Spiel 14 and 15 tiles are going up in cost already...

[Decar]

The votes haven't been going very long, but there's already a sizable rift forming. The two highest voting groups are: "Dont care for them" and "yes but only in carc2".  There are however a small contingent of players that use them just for the monasteries expansions.  I can't wait to see where this goes during the week!

[asparagus]

The votes haven't been going very long, but there's already a sizable rift forming. The two highest voting groups are: "Dont care for them" and "yes but only in carc2".  There are however a small contingent of players that use them just for the monasteries expansions.  I can't wait to see where this goes during the week!

I think you need to add the 2nd and 3rd option since they amount to the same disposition. Then it's a three-way split.

[Christopher]

The votes haven't been going very long, but there's already a sizable rift forming. The two highest voting groups are: "Dont care for them" and "yes but only in carc2".  There are however a small contingent of players that use them just for the monasteries expansions.  I can't wait to see where this goes during the week!

I haven't tried using them with the Monasteries in the suggested way, i.e. as the only follower that can be played as an Abbot. Instead, I use them as a 'follower only' expansion for CI, like the phantom. I use their original rules, so essentially, it's a monk that can't be trapped. This is especially useful when playing with things like the Cult tiles or with Monasteries if you don't remove the base game cloisters, as it helps prevent follower shortage caused by all the cloister mechanisms available.

[Decar]

This poll is almost over and the community divide hasn't shifted.  Looking at all the Yes vs No Votes they're both very similar.

I can't wait to see what happens the first time a 2.0 expansion without meeple comes out, if meeple have done this!

I'm going to leave this poll open, like every other week; feel free to comment.

Tomorrow, the next Favourtism Poll is starting. We have a guest host to ask you the week's question, thanks dirk2112 for the topic!
I won't spoil the surprise any more , you'll have to come back tomorrow to find out - Regular service will continue next week 

[lomdr]

I'm curious what they're going to change in regards to the dragon while the big guy is in motion in its expansion (coming up next) and once The Tower comes into the mix.

[Decar]

The 'new' Princess and Dragon rules are available in German, the Abbot can be eaten by a dragon - there's no change in the rules except the Dragon's menu is contained.

HTH

[Meles]

Voted must have a grey abbot because that was close to my feelings, but probably should have voted other.

Now that the Abbots and Gardens have been around they do seem to be a fine addition to the game. In my case I actually ended up going C1 for my collection which started this Spring. My plan had been to try to print and play a C1 set of Gardens tiles and try to get the Abbot meeples, but even the meeples were proving problematic unless you start buying complete 19 piece sets (and Cundco does have these in the standard wood finishes for some colors for a great price - not including the shipping which is $50 for me.) So in short when I was able to snag two copies of the C2 base games recently for $12 each I did for the meeples and tiles. They blend well enough with my yellow-green C1 tiles so I've literally just got the Garden tiles pulled out.

The Abbot meeple front is kind of a Chinese finger trap:
1. The standard meeples have a colored varnish so even if I paint some of my meeples to match the light grey of C1 (and I have a purple set from Big Box 5), they will look like a cheap painted meeple.
2. With Big Box 5 not only do I have the grey from the C1 sets, but I also have purple and the new pink, but sadly that did not come with a lot of the other meeple types (I somehow got a set of C2 Messengers meeples with a pink messenger to go with my copies from Big Box 4.)
3. But in the end completing out these sets without stooping to a painted finish is quite difficult and let's not forget that the Big Top Expansion only came out in C2 which for me means pink and no grey to complete that set. If the shipping were not too expensive I might buy from Cundco; they have a six color set on Ringmasters very cheap that includes the grey (plus Purple) that would get me up to six players for Big Top if playing it with something like Abbey & Mayor (& wagon meeples) plus they have complete sets in pink, grey, brown, white and untreated. Here in the USA I don't trust the meeple source versions (there listings are quite shady with these with no zoom feature, but they do have a natural version with wood grain which I might finish myself.)

The holes for the various colors (the phantom expansion I'll ignore for now, but it only comes with six colors with room for two more meeples.):
1. Pink - no problem for a C2 collection, but C1 collectors would be advised to get the Cundco set. But due to the onerous shipping that is the case much of the time from Germany. Short of this you'd have to pick up a C2 or C3 big box (6 or 7) on the cheap to get most of these plus the messengers and robbers meeple in pink. You also have to purchase C2 abbey & mayor (plus Hills & Sheep if you don't have Big Box 5.)
2. Grey - best to get the complete Cundco set and if you must have the stained finish it is this or their set of six top hat figures.
3. Purple - I believe this is not possible with the colored stain finish (well it was before Cundco sold out of the complete purple set.) You either must paint some meeples purple to fill things out or you must switch to one of the other new colors, brown, white, or untreated. Orange probably was an option at some point as well since their Ringmasters set for Big Top has the following "grey, white, purple, orange, brown and sandy" (sandy is probably natural or untreated finish)

My copy of Mists of Carcassonne (which also plays as an expansion) has not arrived and it has a whopping thirty guard meeples in the current set of six standard colors, so it appears Cundco may eventually carry 24 meeple sets and so I probably wait and will suffer with paint until that day.