Author Topic: Carcassonne Travel Set (Read 24628 times)

jungleboy · « **on:** July 04, 2015, 01:21:04 AM »

I recently bought the rubber scoreboard from the CarcassonneShoppe because it's much more portable than the regular scoreboard. Since I've done a lot of backpacking in the past and hope to do more in the future, that got me thinking about creating a Carcassonne Travel Set - a minimalist set that you could travel with but (unlike the Travel Edition) which still gives you some expansions to switch up the game a bit.

I thought it might be fun if we all gave our thoughts on what this Carcassonne Travel Set might contain. Here are my basic parameters to get us started:

- Maximum of 100 tiles
- Attempt to limit extra pieces/tokens where possible (i.e. no Traders and Builders). I would probably bring a maximum of four sets of meeples with a phantom for each.
- No rare expansions as they might get lost or damaged while travelling

OK, here goes!

My set:

Base game (72 tiles)

The Besiegers (6 tiles): I love the siege expansions and the four tiles of Cathars or Siege would be more economical, but they break my 'no rare expansions' rule. So, Besiegers it is. It's still only six tiles and it doesn't come with any extra pieces.

German/Dutch Monasteries (6 tiles): Another small expansion that I like that doesn't come with extra pieces. It's very powerful in a small game but maybe there could be a limit on how many abbots each player could place.

Abbey and Mayor (12 land tiles plus only 4 abbeys - 16 tiles): A 'controversial' choice because it adds a lot of wood (barns, wagons and mayors) but I think it's worth it for the many elements that A&M offers.

That brings me to 100 tiles exactly to complete my set. Other expansions that I strongly considered were the Flier, King and Robber Baron, and Mage and Witch.

What would you include in your Carcassonne Travel Set?

Linkback: https://www.carcassonnecentral.com/community/index.php?topic=1925.0

Decar · « **Reply #1 on:** July 04, 2015, 01:37:16 AM »

I've been thinking about asking Basically Wooden if they may be able to construct something to help with this.

A Carcassonne travel box. A single tower for tiles (maybe two short ones) and a small box for meeple attached at the bottom. Maybe the score track could bo on the back of the box.

quevy · « **Reply #2 on:** July 04, 2015, 01:53:48 AM »

I think I could bring the basic set, gq11, River 1 or 2, and 5 tiles Shrine.
Are 101 tiles, but if we remove the tiles initials, those are only 98 playable.

I would bring in addition to the normal set of followers small (taken from the travel version) a follower normal in every color (which in this case would be the large follower and a phantom.

jungleboy · « **Reply #3 on:** July 04, 2015, 02:26:53 AM »

Quote from: Decar on July 04, 2015, 01:37:16 AM

I've been thinking about asking Basically Wooden if they may be able to construct something to help with this.

That would be cool if they could find a small scoretrack solution. Personally I wouldn't need my 'travel set' to be in a beautiful wooden case, but if they make one that looks good and is purpose-built to be as compact as possible ... why not?

Quote from: quevy on July 04, 2015, 01:53:48 AM

I think I could bring the basic set, gq11, River 1 or 2, and 5 tiles Shrine.

How interesting that not only did we choose completely different extra tiles, but it seems that we had a completely different thought process. I ruled out GQ11 and any river straight away because I think they just add tiles but not extra elements, and I was trying to create as many different combinations of gameplay as possible. I thought about Shrine but didn't think it added as much as Besiegers or Monasteries.

quevy · « **Reply #4 on:** July 04, 2015, 02:39:47 AM »

I put in the river because it provides a large variety at the start of the game.
I have not included expansions to a thought that I did, traveling could happen to play with someone who does not know the game, too many rules can be hard to remember.

aenima · « **Reply #5 on:** July 04, 2015, 03:30:51 AM »

Base game (72)
Inns an catedral (18)
The school (2)
The robber (8 ) or the flyer because it adds only a dice.

Not really much to teach to someone who don't know the game, just something to make more point or to steal

I think all can fit in the blue bag from cundco... And maybe thr scoreb oard can be cut in 2 or 4 pieces

jungleboy · « **Reply #6 on:** July 04, 2015, 04:13:23 AM »

Quote from: aenima on July 04, 2015, 03:30:51 AM

Base game (72)
Inns an catedral (18)
The school (2)
The robber ( or the flyer because it adds only a dice.

Nice choice!

Quote from: aenima on July 04, 2015, 03:30:51 AM

I think all can fit in the blue bag from cundco...

I would prefer to have everything in a hard case to guard against damage.

Quote from: quevy on July 04, 2015, 02:39:47 AM

I put in the river because it provides a large variety at the start of the game.
I have not included expansions to a thought that I did, traveling could happen to play with someone who does not know the game, too many rules can be hard to remember.

You are so generous

I was only thinking of myself!

danisthirty · « **Reply #7 on:** July 04, 2015, 04:03:51 PM »

Great post jungleboy, it's been really interesting reading people's thoughts on this.

Short story long: I was in a stationary shop recently. My wife was looking at something or other so inevitably I got bored and wondered off to see what I could see. And what did I see on this occasion? Lots and lots of little boxes! I ended up buying one which looked like it would be good for storing Carcassonne tiles when I'm away from home (not that this happens very often but still). So, whilst I'm knowingly violating the rules that you set out initially (the 100 tile rule anyway), I thought I'd post about it anyway.

I can just about squeeze the following into my little box:

Basic game (72 tiles)
River 1 (12 tiles)
Inns & Cathedrals (18 tiles)
Traders & Builders (24 tiles + replacement trade tokens in wood)
King & Robber Baron (5 tiles + 2 tiles + score track markers for size of largest city/ longest road)
Abbeys (4 tiles)
50/100 score tiles (6 tiles)
7 x normal meeples + large meeple + builder + pig + phantom + tiny meeple (for score track) in blue, red, green and yellow

Everything fits inside the box (just) and the box fits neatly inside one of the smaller tile drawing bags.

The only thing I'm missing is a scaled down score track but I'm sure I'll get round to producing one of these some day...

Koremu · « **Reply #8 on:** July 06, 2015, 01:25:22 AM »

The easiest thing to do for a travel set scorecard would be to use a Cribbage board.

Halfling · « **Reply #9 on:** July 07, 2015, 11:39:15 PM »

The Halflings I (no surprise there!) because they are only half tiles will weigh less. (12 tiles taking up the space of 6)
I'd use the base tiles from Wheel of Fortune because there is a better spread of tile types and I'd want as much variety as possible on my travels. (72 tiles)
The Wheel itself would be taken as the start tile instead of a scoring track - I'd go old school and use a pencil and a piece of paper.
Darmstadt (3 tiles)
La Porxada (1 tile)
Corn Circles II (6 tiles)
The Plague (6 tiles) +Fleas and outbreaks

An eclectic mix which would certainly test the old grey matter.

jungleboy · « **Reply #10 on:** July 08, 2015, 01:18:03 PM »

Quote from: Halfling on July 07, 2015, 11:39:15 PM

The Halflings I (no surprise there!) because they are only half tiles will weigh less. (12 tiles taking up the space of 6)
I'd use the base tiles from Wheel of Fortune because there is a better spread of tile types and I'd want as much variety as possible on my travels. (72 tiles)
The Wheel itself would be taken as the start tile instead of a scoring track - I'd go old school and use a pencil and a piece of paper.
Darmstadt (3 tiles)
La Porxada (1 tile)
Corn Circles II (6 tiles)
The Plague (6 tiles) +Fleas and outbreaks

Interesting ideas!

Thinking about your options for my own set: the Plague is intriguing because even though you'd need to bring the flea tokens and the outbreak tokens, it's an expansion that's well-suited to being played with just the base game. I'd seriously consider it. I love the halflings but for some reason I didn't really consider them - I guess I just thought I'd stick with regular-size tiles. But you make a good point about 12 for the 'price' of 6. I thought about Crop Circles II but personally I don't think it adds enough gameplay to make the cut. The Wheel from WoF would add to the size of the set so I probably wouldn't consider it. Finally, I have a rather intense and possibly irrational dislike of Darmstadt, so it definitely wouldn't be on my list! (And I don't even own it anyway.)

Halfling · « **Reply #11 on:** July 08, 2015, 03:00:25 PM »

A copy of the Wheel of Fortune start tile would of course be made and then cut in quarters and then using sticky tape it will open out like the board for Lords of Waterdeep.

Decar · « **Reply #12 on:** August 02, 2015, 07:10:44 AM »

Basically Wooden has shared some prototypes of a travel case: using the existing tray and dividers

I see two small areas for improvement - I think the box could be a little smaller; so the trays move around less.

I'm also wondering about some type of lid for the trays.

Thoughts and suggestions welcome!

jungleboy · « **Reply #13 on:** August 02, 2015, 09:23:40 AM »

Oh cool, it's great to see this, thanks for posting it. I agree that the width of the box should be shorter to hold the trays more snugly. Maybe they thought they needed the extra space for the scoreboard? I think the scoreboard is great, by the way.

I've bought everything Basically Wooden has produced for Carcassonne and I'm interested in this too. I also expect to be doing some long backpacking trips in the coming years, so I have to decide if a travel set is a luxury I can afford to bring with me!

Decar · « **Reply #14 on:** August 02, 2015, 10:12:17 AM »

Quote from: jungleboy on August 02, 2015, 09:23:40 AM

I also expect to be doing some long backpacking trips in the coming years, so I have to decide if a travel set is a luxury I can afford to bring with me!

I think you meant to say: "I have to decide if a travel set is a luxury I can afford to NOT bring with me!"

The logic on sizing was there's finger room. Perhaps a foam spacer, or wooden chock, would keep it snug.

Any thoughts on vertical height? I dont really want to tile to drop when I turn the box over. I feel like the trays need a snug lid, but still suitable for the dividers.