Watering Holes in Safari - Clarification by Cundco - 10 02 2023

[Meepledrone]

@Drodo contacted Cundco about Water Holes in Safari and received the following clarification on February 10th 2023..

Following Kettlefish's tradition...

Question in BLUE

Answer in GREEN

Still open in RED

My own comments in MAROON

Linkback: https://www.carcassonnecentral.com/community/index.php?topic=6276.0

[Meepledrone]

[Q1] The rules say that you can start a Watering Hole at the empty savanna corner of a tile. However, once a Watering Hole has started, can a player place a tile with Bush segment next to the Watering Hole? See the picture below.



If a player places a Bush segment there, the Watering Hole can never be completed, and the meeple is stuck for the rest of the game. Is this allowed?

[A1] The rules doesn't forbid this, so it should be allowed.
But of course it's not a very nice move.

It is valid to place a tile so that it blocks the Water Hole and traps the meeple in there.
The rules for the Watering Holes make it very unsafe to start one with only 1 or 2 tiles laid down, since it can be either blocked by a Bush tile, trapping your meeple.
If you start one with 3 or 4 tiles already laid down, it is safe and cannot be blocked, but any player can invade the Watering Hole by placing an animal tile on the opposite corner.