Author Topic: First game with Ark of the Covenant  (Read 4939 times)

Offline jungleboy

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First game with Ark of the Covenant
« on: February 07, 2015, 01:00:03 AM »
Last night I finally played Ark of the Covenant for the first time, after buying it in a BGG auction a couple of months ago. It was a 2-player game and I enjoyed it despite losing by 34 points. The general consensus is that Ark is a better game than vanilla Carcassonne, and I'd have to agree with that (although the truth is that I never play vanilla Carcassonne unless I am teaching somebody the game or unless danisthirty forces me to play it with him  >:D).

Here are some random observations of the different features of Ark of the Covenant, and the end-game board is attached (I am red).

- The Prophet really is a huge key to the game (obviously). I played it early on as part of a glom-on attempt, which was not a good idea in hindsight. My opponent stated that preventing me from claiming that city was now her biggest goal, and she was not only able to do this, but managed to sneak her Prophet in as well. So she scored 44 points from this city and I never really had a chance to win the game after that. I later managed to complete an even bigger city so if I had saved my Prophet and had been able to add it to this city then I could have won the game.

- Farm scoring can also be quite significant. We ended up tying the biggest farm which had 19 sheep and two wolves for 34 points - the equivalent of more than an 11-city farm in regular Carcassonne, which you would rarely get with just the base game. But there are also opportunities for large secondary farms. My opponent got a really tiny but nice 12-point farm, that didn't contain any cities at all! So the way you think about building farms is obviously completely different from regular Carcassonne and that will take some getting used to.

- The temples didn't have too much impact on the game. Actually I think only one (or possibly two) were completed during regular play. The fact that the temples are often (always?) RRRR tiles can make it difficult to find good spots to place them. But I like this feature so maybe we'll learn how to take advantage of it a bit more in the next game. What's good and interesting about it is that you can double-score with temples - i.e. that you can strategically place a follower on a road next to a temple for the purpose of trying to score the temple points, but that that follower also remains on the road and can score the road as well. So you don't have to commit a follower that you might never get back like you do with a cloister in regular Carcassonne.

- The Ark didn't have much of an impact either - we saw it as being like 'fairy points' where you can score a point or two if you tile wasn't useful, but that you'd rather draw a desired tile and place a follower as your first choice. I guess you could strategically place many followers close together and then just go to town with the Ark as a strategic play - again, something else for next time.

So, I like the Ark and I hope that we continue playing it when we want a quick game. Hopefully we can play a 3+ player game with it at some point too to see how that goes.

Linkback: https://www.carcassonnecentral.com/community/index.php?topic=1509.0

Offline Hounk

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Re: First game with Ark of the Covenant
« Reply #1 on: February 07, 2015, 02:23:30 AM »
although the truth is that I never play vanilla Carcassonne unless I am teaching somebody the game or [...]
When I have been tough Carcassonne by friends and on the few occasion I tough it to family members, we always included I&C right from the beginning. We only excluded the farm rule, when we tough it to a 7 years old nephew of me. (The friends, who introduced me to Carcassonne also used the tiles of a bunch of other expansions, but sticked to the rules of vanilla + I&C.)
Quote
It was a 2-player game and I enjoyed it despite losing by 34 points. [...] (I am red).
You told me before, you always want to play green.

Offline jungleboy

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Re: First game with Ark of the Covenant
« Reply #2 on: February 07, 2015, 03:22:58 AM »

You told me before, you always want to play green.

Yes but my regular opponent also likes green so usually I let her have it. I guess green is just my jungleboy/online personality!

Offline MrNumbers

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Re: First game with Ark of the Covenant
« Reply #3 on: February 08, 2015, 10:44:47 PM »
Nice review, jungleboy!
My 7-years old son also likes Ark of the Covenant more than basic game. And yes, farm making is really different from basics, but more understandable for my son :)
"I never lose. Either I win or I learn." (Nelson Mandela)


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