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Izbushka - Baba Yaga's Hut breaking the limits...

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DIN0:
This rare tile is infamous for its extremely situational benefit, which more often than not, becomes unfulfilled.
The mechanics of Izbushka are inverse to those of a cloister. It works on the basis of the same "cloister radius", but you are rewarded for the absence of tiles instead of filling up all eight spaces. Since you need at least one tile for connection, this means a maximum of seven spaces can remain empty, translating to 7 points. Starting from 2015 version, the tile itself gives 1 extra point as well, bringing the total to 8 points.

While interesting it is clear that the Izbushka is, even in the best possible scenario, still inferior to the cloister:
-the maximum amount of points is 8 instead of 9.
-you need to trap your meeple for the rest of the game if you wish to get the most out of this tile.
-if completed, you only recieve 1 point.
-it is way too easy for other players to quickly devalue your Izbushka, especially in high player counts.
-the tile usually has to come near the very end of the game for it to be of any use, especially problematic in high tile counts.
-Izbushka is not considered a monastic building, meaning its point value cannot be improved by any of the monastic oriented game elements from various expansions (vineyards, abbot). Likewise, the meeple is not considered a monk, so there is no point gain from WoF Inquisition.
-cannot be used to escape a besieged city.

The few pros, do not make up for the cons:
-Izbushka cannot be challenged by a cult place, which would otherwise force it to either, complete it for a minimal point gain of 1, or it would not score at all.
-there is no need to protect the meeple from peasant revolt, for it cannot affect Izbushka.
-it is unaffected by Hermit Monastery scoring tile from the Land of Surveyors.
-cannot be invaded via City of Carcassone.

So looking at this, naturally the question is "How do I make a use of this tile?".
Up to recently, there has been only one legitimate way on how to do this. You can try to maximize the point gain by "score any meeple" messsage tile. Izbushka would be scored as if it were the end of the game, so chances are most of the spaces would still be empty, if you do this soon enough. If lucky, you could even do this multiple times with a well placed flying machine (the messages are, after all cycled through at a rapid pace).

But that's about it...
...OR IS IT?  >:D

The answer dawned on me today. The best way to place Izbushka is to the edge of a Carcassonne Map!
The edges of the map complete everything, yet are not considered actual tiles. We know this thanks to the way the cloisters work on map edges - they only gain points for actual tiles, not pre-printed stuff.
So you can actually place Izbushka in such a way that certain empty spaces can never be filled, thus maximizing points. There are several places on different maps where to do this effectivelly. This method also removes the downside of traping a meeple for the rest of the game.
You can get up to 7 points for a completed Izbushka on British Isles - only 1 point short of maximum 8.

But you can go further. You can break the the presupposed limits you were led to believe this tile had.
On Peninsula Iberica, you can actually get 9 points! More than previously thought maximum.
By placing Izbushka on one-tile island you get a situation where Izbushka is complete, yet all 8 spaces are empty. After adding a point for Izbushka itself, you arrive at a total of 9 point and get your meeple immediately back.  You need a bridge (Exp. 8 ) to do this, because the ferry road must be connected.
So the Izbushka is finally equal to a cloister = 9 points and no meeple hinderance. Due to the nature of the placement, you also get +4 points for the pennants and a scoring opportunity for a road with another pennant.

So in conclusion, the best way how to utilize Izbushka tile is to play with Maps and a select mixture of expansions which enable all the optimizations.
Play them on the edge with the least amount of surrounding squares and get the most out of this unique tile!


Linkback: https://www.carcassonnecentral.com/community/index.php?topic=4895.0

Meepledrone:
Nice analysis!

+1 merit from me  :(y) :(y)

DIN0:
Oh, thank you!
Although I am not sure that many people will make use of it, since not many play with Izbushka. Maybe I will change that a bit, who knows?

Meepledrone:
Time will tell... What if Hobby World releases a C2 version of the tiles?  >:D

Bumsakalaka:
From yesterday I have all of Russian promos so I can test it ;-D

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