Expansion#6 The Count, The King and The Robber

[asred37]

Ok people i just bought this expansion last week. I haven't for the life of everything holy, been able to understand how to play the count of Carcassonne part. Literally i have searched for a week straight with no success. Can someone please explain how this expansion works!!!  I understand that there are 4 sections in the city which coordinate with roads, cites and so on. I understand you can put someone in the city if you help someone get points and receive none on that turn. a also understand that the count stops people from moving out of carcassonne. I dont understand when the count is moved  where and why you are taking people of of the city .  IM SO CONFUSED!!

Linkback: https://www.carcassonnecentral.com/community/index.php?topic=834.0

[asparagus]

You are correct in everything you have understood so far. I would forget about the count for a second. The basic idea is as follows:

1.) You get followers into the city (as you described).
2.) You move followers from the city to a feature just before it is scored. That way you hope to share in its points or even get  its points all to yourself.

So first obviously there are rules that clarify what order people move from the city to the scored feature.
A more serious twist is that when you place a follower in the City (step 1), you have to decide what sort of feature the follower will end up in. So you have the mapping:
blacksmith -> road
Cathedral -> monastery
castle -> city
market -> farm

The final serious twist is that you can block one of those four mappings. You get the chance to block one mapping as you place your follower in the City of Carcassonne, It is this blocking that the Count marks.

I hope that helps.

 

[asred37]

Ok that helps a lot. so when do you move your follower out of carcassonne?

[asparagus]

Ok that helps a lot. so when do you move your follower out of carcassonne?

Supposing you put your follower in the Castle, made sure the Count was not in the Castle, and supposing noone has moved the Count back to the Castle, you wait until you see a nice big juicy city that you would like a share of and you move your follower there after the city has been completed but before it has been scored.

[asred37]

What really? so you can just do it whenever someone is about to score points for something?

[asparagus]

What really? so you can just do it whenever someone is about to score points for something?

Well a qualified yes. There are two restrictions meaning you have to predict ahead of time what is valuable and that other people get a chance to block you.

1.) You need to have put your follower in the correct place to get the best scores.
2.) Other people have a chance to block you using the Count.
3,) Other people also have a chance to counteract by having their own followers in the City of Carcassonne.

[asred37]

Ok people i just bought this expansion last week. I haven't for the life of everything holy, been able to understand how to play the count of Carcassonne part. Literally i have searched for a week straight with no success. Can someone please explain how this expansion works!!!  I understand that there are 4 sections in the city which coordinate with roads, cites and so on. I understand you can put someone in the city if you help someone get points and receive none on that turn. a also understand that the count stops people from moving out of carcassonne. I dont understand when the count is moved  where and why you are taking people of of the city .  IM SO CONFUSED!!

[Whaleyland]

The Count is my least favorite expansion, but some people love it. It lets you move into features that are being scored, possibly by other players. When a feature is completed, but before it is scored, players, in clockwise order, may place any/all Followers from that feature's quadrant (Castle for City tiles, Cathedral for Cloisters, etc.) onto the just-completed feature. The majority of Followers is only determined after everyone has moved anything they want from the City. Followers in the City after final scoring score no points.

The Count keeps Followers locked in a specific quadrant until it moves away and he also locks players out of placing new Followers into that quadrant. The Count is moved optionally when a player places a Follower into the City.

I hope that helps some.

[MrNumbers]

he also locks players out of placing new Followers into that quadrant.

It's worth to add that this rule is seen only in RGG Big Box 2 edition of the rules (see footnote 98).

[Whaleyland]

And the new Zman rules, which is where I read it from.

[Carcking]

...
Cathedral -> monastery
...

We should be careful with the use of the word "monastery" as it now has become its own feature, separate from the "cloister". The more accurate statement here would be:

Cathedral -> cloister (or monastery that has been employed as a cloister).

Now, after I wrote this, I am curious if the Abbey has ever been clarified with regard to the City of Carcassonne...

[jungleboy]

This seems like as good a thread as any to discuss the Count in general. I was really looking forward to getting it a year or so ago, but I've only played it a couple of times. I like the tiles (and the look of Carcassonne is very important to me!) but I haven't found the gameplay to be very good, playing with only two players and without other expansions.

My impression is that it would be better with 3-4 players and with more expansions (i.e. more tiles and a longer game) which would give more opportunities for the Count/City to play itself out. I suppose Traders and Builders would go particularly well with the Count because they both give you a potential advantage for finishing other people's features.

Does anyone have any other tips for enjoying the Count?

[obervet]

...
Cathedral -> monastery
...

We should be careful with the use of the word "monastery" as it now has become its own feature, separate from the "cloister". The more accurate statement here would be:

Cathedral -> cloister (or monastery that has been employed as a cloister).

Now, after I wrote this, I am curious if the Abbey has ever been clarified with regard to the City of Carcassonne...

I don't think there is a specific footnote regarding the Abbey in reference to the City. However, there are multiple other clarifications stating that an Abbey has all of the characteristics of a cloister (e.g. footnote 217, p. 73, CAR 7.0), so this would hold true for moving followers from the City as well.

[obervet]

And the new Zman rules, which is where I read it from.

Where do the ZMG rules say about blocking the placement of followers into the quadrant? They mention multiple times that followers can't be removed from the Count's area, but I didn't see anything about blocking placement into an area.

[Whaleyland]

For those following along: http://zmangames.com/rulebooks/Carcassonne_Exp6.pdf

And it appears you are correct, obervet. I just re-read it and realize that it is talking about moving out, not in. Since they had already stated that earlier, my brain just drew an incorrect conclusion.