Carcassonne Central

Hi all, I'm new around these parts - been lurking for a little while though  :)

I'm just wondering if anyone has any suggestions as to what we should add to our Carcassonne set next?  Currently we have:
-The basic base set (with no extras included as far as I can tell  :()
-Inns and Cathedrals
-Traders and Builders
-The River II

I and my girlfriend play most often just the two of us - although we have a number of friends who also play.  We've been playing a heck of a lot more since getting Traders and Builders - I really like the way the builder works, especially when cathedrals are brought into it too, so we've decided we'll probably buy one expansion each for Christmas.  Which ones though?

I'm also looking forward to making some of the custom expansions from this site, it really is a great resource.  I'll hopefully be able to get access to a colour laser printer, so I'll report back on how it goes!  I'm looking around for a cheap base set to use as donor tile backs.

I would suggest Abbey & Mayor, or princess & dragon. Realy love them. I think that they are a must have expansions.

If we are talking about fan made exp I would recomend wells for a first thing to do. In original game roads are lame and when we have wells they are worth scoring.
Don't know If making customs from original tiles are best way. I have done it all by myself and cost  of all exps that I have done were something like 12 Euro, and I have materials for one or two exps left. You can get a glymps in http://carcassonnecentral.com/forum/index.php?topic=1730.0 (http://carcassonnecentral.com/forum/index.php?topic=1730.0). You can see also in http://carcassonnecentral.com/forum/index.php?topic=1352.0 (http://carcassonnecentral.com/forum/index.php?topic=1352.0) for some advices.

I also would highly recommend Abbeys and Mayors.  I really like the mechanics of the abbey tiles and the barns in that expansion.  The wagons and mayors are decent additions (but wouldn't be worth getting the set for without the abbey tiles and barns IMO).

I suppose my 2nd recommendation would be Bridges, Castles and Bazaars, unless you (specifically your girlfriend) like the aggressiveness of other expansions (Princess & Dragon, The Tower, Count of Carcassonne, Cult-Siege-Creativity, possibly Catapult although I don't own it).  BC&B adds castles, which are a nice addition; the bazaars work better with more players than 2, and I seldom end up deploying the bridges.  Princess & Dragon does add one of my favorite mechanics (the portals), so I would recommend that set if you both like to play on the aggressive side.

I think Abbeys and Mayors is a must have, but I'd be interested to hear if others don't enjoy that expansion.

I definitely have to agree, either Abbey & Mayor or the Princess & the Dragon should be your next set to add. If you are interested in getting P&D expansion, I will be selling the "Watermark" edition very soon... Along with spare standard tiles for making your own expansions  ;D

Watermark edition? Whats that?

It's the same P&D expansion tiles but with a special watermark (fairy icon) printed on each one to help differentiate from other tiles. I prefer to separate all tiles after every game so I can pick and choose which expansions to play next time, this makes cleanup easy  ;)

I would agree - Abbey & Mayor and then Princess & Dragon are must-haves, in that order.

I agree with Abbey & Mayor.  It's the next, most logical expansion.  I like Princess & the Dragon except for the Dragon part.  It's my least favorite anyway.  I agree that the magic portals are a very nice feature.  I believe the GQ11 expansion is a must have.  It is getting increasingly rare, but you can still get it HERE (http://www.fairplaygames.com/gamedisplay.asp?gameid=5555).  The Phantom is also a very nice little expansion you can get for a few bucks.  If you have the River II, you'd probably enjoy adding River I to it.

When it comes down to it, any more expansions you get will only add to the fever.  You may as well give in.  ;D

The GQ11 add any new rules? I thought that there were only 12 new tiles, and only 2 of them were quite nice: Spring tile (thats a nice tile just because the road), and the whole field tile (with pig herd, but pig herd is a house rule for now, but probadly 90% of players goes with it). Still I am interested in GQ11, I would like to see it compiled in an official expansion from HiG. Maybe to a next BigBox...

I got P&D with watermark I didn't realised that there were editions without watermark. I got watermark on every expansion except River I, and Cult, Siege & Creativity.

And I agree with CKorfmann, if You have River I, the River II exp is something very nice to play with.

I got Inns and Cathedrals, Traders and Builders, Princess and Dragon and the Tower together as a package deal, but only I&C and T&B came with watermarks (so I was a little disappointed). I must have bought them when they were just coming out with them and got some of the last non-watermarked ones (but at least P&D and the tower have distinguishing marks on all of the tiles).

As to what to buy next, I know Corn Circles, Plague and Tunnels isn't anywhere near release yet but it looks a lot better than some of the newer expansions and I for one can't wait to get it...

There are no new rules and you are correct that there are only 12 tiles (two river tiles).  These were meant to provide new tile configurations to the base game.  A few of them have been repeated in newer expansions, but I would miss them if they were not included.  I'm a fan of the pig herd tile too. 

I think that it would be greate to go with paper sign by hundrets of Carcassonne gamers to make a pig herd rule official.

You are right Corn circles, tunels and plauge got greate rules. Didn't have chance to play with plauge, but realy want.

Cheers guys, that's really helpful - it looks like the way to go is Abbey and Mayor and Princess & Dragon then  :)  We've played with some of those pieces as we know some people with a big box - I quite enjoyed the dragon, which I wasn't expecting.  The barns were left out in that game - and reading some reviews I can possibly see why!  :o

What's the 'unofficial' pig herd?  Is it different to the one in River II?

The rules for River II says that pig herd give a bonus +1 point for majority of farmers. The BigBox rules don't say that, so the pig herd rule gone unofficial.

For the barns. It get a while to see the beauty for early farm scoring and strategy that can be utilized. Since I play with one of my friends a duel like Carcassonne, we have own strategies for some types of games. When we play with barns we try to overmanouver each others for the largest farm or gain points from opponents barn.

It's been covered in it's own thread, but quickly, here's the deal with the pig herd tile.  The one from the River II is not really in dispute.  It is an official pig herd meaning that it has the +1 effect on farm cities.  The one from the GQ11 "officially" does not grant the bonus.  HiG deferred to Jay from RGG for the ruling because it is his expansion and not theirs.  For some unknown reason, Jay said that the tile is merely a FFFF tile and grants no bonus.  This is inexplicable and pretty silly.  There are a few hold outs, I'm sure, but just about everyone plays it with the bonus.  Of course, what you choose to do is up to you.

@CKorfmann. You know how the ruling for the pig herd tile (fro River II) is treated in BigBox rules? Can't get hold of the BigBox ruling.

I think it's safe to assume that the rule would be the same as the original rule set.  I don't believe it was anyone's intention to change the rules for the big box editions.  If they did, that's just silly.  Of course, you can play it however you want.

When we say that the pig herd tile in GQ11 doesn't give a bonus, we are winking at the same time. ;) It means that we say what is official but do the opposite.

Back to the original topic, I would recommend either A&M or BC&B for your next expansion, but my recommendation is based on what I enjoy playing. I'm not a big fan of expansions that cause my opponents grief.