Carcassonne Central

I have only the base game. In trying to decide what to buy next, I thought I'd ask what combinations of Carcassonne you most often play with?

Well, a game with a plethora of expansions will generate a plethora of 'correct' answers. It would also depend on what type of game you are seeking and the length of time you have to play.

I believe that most will say that the base game of Carcassonne should have included Inns and Cathedrals as standard. This would be my first suggestion for you.

Following this, Traders and Builders would be the popular next choice and plenty of players would vote this the best expansion.

My personal favourite is Abbey and Mayor, however.

All of those three expansions add a bit of complexity to the game without changing the game itself too much.

If you prefer a more aggressive game then you could check out Princess and the Dragon or The Tower.

Of course, there are lots of expansions to this great game. The best thing would be to read up on them and see what takes your fancy. My advice would be don't add more than 2 of the larger expansions expansions as this will lengthen the game somewhat.

I personally enjoy playing games with lots of expansions, but this takes a lot of time and effort to do so. My group of players usually enjoy princess and dragon and the tower because we enjoy destruction during the game. Some of the smaller expansions, such as king and scout and river (I and/or II) are small and cheap with few pieces, but they add much to the game play. The river is a different method of starting that gives much more diverse maps than when starting with the base tile, and the king and scout adds in a new way to score points at the end of the game (whoever completes the largest city, whether they own it or not, gets 1 pt. per completed city at the game's end. The same rules apply with the roads). I'd say research what expansions there are before you buy and to get those that seem like they would add to your group's likings. fairplaygames.com (http://fairplaygames.com) is a good place to buy carcassonne cheap, and if you order more than $125 worth of items the shipping is free.

We started with the base game which came with The River then soon after bought Traders & Builders. We have most of the expansions now but almost always play with the base game, The River, The River II and just one or two other expansions (usually Traders & Builders or Inns & Cathedrals) as we found that the games were getting too long & complicated for us otherwise. On occasion we'd add a few others, but to begin with I'd recommend keeping it simple with just one or two expansions - there's nothing worse than spending most of your time trying to figure out the rules rather than playing.

The Games Quarterly and the King and Scout expansions are good small expansions IMO :)

For the big ones, Traders and Builders and Abbey and Mayors are among my favourites.

IMHO, whichever direction you want a game to go, Inns and Cathedrals is usually a good starting point...

Other Main Expansions:
My other favoutites are Traders and Builders (trade and improvement focussed), Bridges Castles and Bazaars (some novel and interesting ideas), Abbey and Mayor (whole new tactics, and the abbey makes closing up holes in the game board easier) and the german expansion; Count King and Consort (a compilation of the mini expansions: river 2, count, king and baron, cult) in that order. Princess and Dragon also adds a few interesting concepts, but is better with more players.

The Tower and the Catapult are probably the most controversial expansions, particularly Catapult. If you like dexterity games (like Jenga) its good, but if not then I wouldn't recommend it. Tower promotes cut-throat and aggressive tactics.

Mini Expansions:
Games Quarterly is good, but expensive if you have to pay for postage from America (if you don't live there). There are also no new rules, which makes it easier to play, but less interesting than other expansions. Cult Siege and Creativity is also good. The cult places (5/6 are also in Count King and Consort) add more action to cloisters, sieges can prevent cities from gaining their full benefit but help farms, and there are also 2 blank tiles (creativity) that allow you to make your own expansion. Tunnels and Crop Circles (when it comes out) adds some interesting mechanics- roads can be linked from opposite sides of the board through tunnels.

Also la porxada, despite being unofficial and now unavailable unless you make it yourself, sounds like it could be very interesting and influential in a game situation.

Just my opinions...

My favorite Three is Inns and Cathedrals, Traders and Builders, and King and Scout.
If I want variety I also enjoy Abby and Mayor and the Tower.

My standard answer for this question is to go ahead and buy the Big Box 2.  You'll spend about the same money and get more for it.  True you'll get the base set over again, but you can use it as a gift to introduce the game to someone else or use it to make some of the custom expansions from our site (the extra meeples come in especially handy).  Aside from that, the GQ11 is a must IMO and River 1 & 2 are close behind.  You can add all the little expansions here and there when you've got 6 or 7 bucks in your pocket.

And remember, Big Box 2 includes "Expansion 6: Count, King & Cult" which is basically River II, Count, King & Robber, and the Cult (minus 1 tile available in Cult, Siege & Creativity). If you buy Big Box 2, to complete your set you'd just have to get the big expansions—Tower, Catapult, Wheel of Fortune, Bridges, Castles & Bazaars—and the small expansions—River I, Cult, Siege & Creativity, Games Quarterly. I'd personally wait to get Tunnels and Crop Circles until they are released in a duo mini set later this year (probably fairly soon now, actually).

Estimated cost in dollars for all those expansions (from online retailer): $80 give or take, although Games Quarterly will be hard to find. Buy them all with the Big Box 2 and you may get free shipping from some retailers.

I didn't realize the GQ11 was getting so scarce.  I couldn't find one.

a lot of game websites i frequent are out of GQ11, but you can get it cheap on ebay
http://shop.ebay.com/i.html?_nkw=carcassonne+games+quarterly&_sacat=0&_odkw=carcassonne+mini+expansion&_osacat=0&_trksid=p3286.c0.m270.l1313 (http://shop.ebay.com/i.html?_nkw=carcassonne+games+quarterly&_sacat=0&_odkw=carcassonne+mini+expansion&_osacat=0&_trksid=p3286.c0.m270.l1313)

For newbs I'd start with some easier expansions. The river is a perfect one to start with its small. Princess and the dragon is a really fun expansion. Our family loved playing that one.

I kind of echo what the others say.

Inns & Cathedrals would be a good second set.

Then I'd work on the mini expansions, The River 1 & 2, then King and Scout. 

From there, I'd just read the boxes and see what tickles your fancy.