Not that they're as important, but Big Box 5 also left out the FeMeeple and Robber from CarcMinis. I think they should have included Abbey & Mayor in the expansion regardless. It seems each Big Box has been getting smaller than the previous. There was room for Abbey & Mayor.
What about the femeeples and robbers?
Well, I think, it's a little bit of musing over spilled milk. But probably, what was suggested by whaleyland and Paul, would have been the best way of addressing this problem: adding A&M completely (all wood, all tiles) to BB5, probably even with 2 extra Abbeys. Because I can't do anything then repeat myself: adding just the 2 extra colours of Mayors, Wagons and Barns would have been really awkward.
I've always seen the Big Boxes as a good starting point for new players.
I don't know how they choose which expansions go into each box, or whether there's consideration for which expansions work best together (BB5 seems to suggest that there is) but I suppose there has to be a limit somewhere and you can't just pack everything in.
The idea of putting exclusive expansions into Big Boxes is a confusing one, but isn't the official line that it's just a slightly modified version of River 1 that comes with BB5 rather than an actual new expansion? It's only the completionist sickos like us who would consider buying an entire Big Box just for a slightly different set of tiles that we already have!
I argued very early on that Big Boxes should be companions to each other.
To be honest I do not have a high opinion of any of the mini expansions though I do agree that for completeness those meeples should be included but the Abbey and Mayor ones are essential.
Started by Frans0
Started by Decar
Started by Willem
Started by caincarcassonne
Started by SRBO