Carcassonne Central

I managed to get hold of a copy of The Ark of the Covenant early this morning. I am having it shipped in from Germany as there is no stock I can find in the UK. This is due to the publishers of the game ceasing trading in April.

Following on from Matt's lead (and then from Scott, who produced a CAR for Hunters and Gatherers), I have set to work on a CAR for this game and although it will not be as complex as Matt's work (and indeed Scott's) because of the publisher issue, I felt it a good idea to collect together what we do know about it. We will then have a CAR for 3 of the major 'Carcassonne style' spin-offs.

Work is yet to begin on the actual annotations, but I have uploaded the first draft. I hope it is well recieved.

If you have any comments or anything that might be of use for this reference, please let me know by posting in this thread.

The Ark of The Covenant - Complete Annotated Rules (V1 draft) (http://www.john-warren.co.uk/carcassonne/files/AOC_CAR.pdf)

Nicely formatted!  Not having the game, I'm not familiar with the layout of the rules.  On page 8, there are the two sections, Game End and Final Scoring.  Then on page 9 there is a section called Scoring Fields, is this part of the rules or an annotation? If scoring fields indeed is part of the rules and sheep and fields are scored, then the Final Scoring section isn't really final scoring, left me wondering where the "real" end was.

They are the actual layout of the rules! The Scoring Fields subheading does come after the Final Scoring heading. I have put no annotations in that version as yet (except for the introduction).

I don't have this game either, but I noticed on page 2, section 4, that is says "gamplay", should be "gameplay"

Page 7, What Happens When a Completed City or Road Has More Than One Follower?
section 1, first sentence, shouldn't it say "... on a road or in a city"

.../Patrik

Thanks for that, my error.


It is exactly the same as how the rules have the sentence written. The only thing I have changed at the moment within the text of the rules is the spelling of colour (from 'color' to 'colour').

So you intentionally misspelled it?  :)

Well, I intentionally spelled it correctly ;)

 {up

Sure - next thing you'll be telling us is that the wagon has tyres instead of tires !  :)

Well, I'm TIREd of this spelling discussion...
Boys, BEHAVE!

Just a quick update to let you know how this is progressing.

Started the annotations yesterday... there's not many at the moment though. I have e-mailed one member of the English rules development team in the hope that I can have a list of questions 'officially' answered to tie up a few loose ends (not sure how this will go, seeing as the publisher has ceased trading, but it's worth a try). I am awaiting the tile scans, so I can get the tile distribution finished. I am also hoping to have translated the German rules to this game to see if it differs from the English rules (I understand that the English version was first, and so they are the rules the AotC CAR will follow, but I believe there were a few differences with the German edition). My German copy of the game has been despatched and hopefully when it arrives it should contain the German rules... would anyone be willing to translate them for me when they arrive?

Thanks to O.M.S. who sent me a scan of the second edition rules, a couple of the questions I sent for clarification have been answered within the rules. All changes between 1st and 2nd edition rules will be annotated.

I didn't realise that there are 2nd edition rules to AotC as well.  I'm looking forward to the document Joff :)

There was two rules releases. The 2nd edition contained only a few changes mainly clarifying some issues... and contained a wooden Ark, instead of a cardboard one. To be honest, I thought the rules to both editions were identical and the only change was a wooden Ark.

I would still like to find someone who can translate German... my German edition arrived this morning :) I'll post some pics later.

(http://www.john-warren.co.uk/carcassonne/images/ark_box_front.jpg)

The German Edition Box

(http://www.john-warren.co.uk/carcassonne/images/ark_contents.jpg)

What's inside

(http://www.john-warren.co.uk/carcassonne/images/ark_tiles.jpg)

The tiles. I absolutely love the artwork. It fits the theme well (below is a close up).

Those CCRR tiles with the roads going into the city are really strange. There's similar strangeness with the CRRR tiles as well.

Joff, are the meeples different from all the other meeples from other Carc games ?

Cheers
.../Patrik

No, the meeples are exactly the same as regular and large Carcassonne followers.

Joff, I'm wondering what's the AotC equivalent of the cloister, and is it possible to have a better image of it?

Here is the finalised Ark of the Covenant CAR: The Ark of the Covenant CAR (v1.1) (http://www.john-warren.co.uk/carcassonne/files/AOC_CAR_1_1.pdf)

The 'equivalent' of the cloister is a temple:

(http://www.john-warren.co.uk/carcassonne/images/AoC_temple.gif)

However, it is scored differently to a cloister. A player is not allowed to place directly to the temple, but may occupy a road or field on the tile. A completed temple is scored when all four edges are complete (a cross shape). The player who has the majority, scores 7 points for the completed temple. Have a look at the AotC CAR for a better description.

Can I put this in the Public Downloads section?

And thanks for the temple images.  I now see where the Tithe Barns rules (from Apothecaries and Tithes by meepleater) are coming from!

Yes, it is all ready.

If anyone finds any glaring errors please let me know, so I can update it.

It's ready for download at the Other Spin-offs (http://www.carcassonnecentral.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=50&Itemid=63) section of the Public download!

The next update (sorry, Nov) will just tidy things up a little; i.e. justified text, table of contents, a CC section. I have also changed the background to a lighter 'pinkish' shade to improve legibility when printing in black and white. Will release it just before Xmas.

I am also planning a few expansions to this. I know there is not much call for expansions to this over regular Carcassonne, but I have a couple of ideas that borrow from regular Carc and fit the theme nicely.

No worries about me.  Someone must really be hitting that merit arrow next to my name because it's rocketing up, which works, since that's what Gantry said I'll be paid in :)

We playtested AotC today. It was a two player game.

As i've mentioned previously, I love the artwork on the tiles.

(http://www.john-warren.co.uk/carcassonne/images/ark_in_progress.jpg)

The game in progress. 'Joff junior' is green and I am, of course, playing yellow.

(http://www.john-warren.co.uk/carcassonne/images/ark_3_way_road.jpg)

Here is a close up of the 3 way road tiles. There are plenty of roads which are designed to create smaller farms.

(http://www.john-warren.co.uk/carcassonne/images/ark_close_up.jpg)

Close up of the poorly designed 1st edition Ark piece. I like the idea of the Ark. If your tile draw is a poor one, at least you can gain extra points by moving the Ark. I am awaiting a Monopoly playing piece (Indiana Jones edition), that I bought on eBay very cheaply, to replace the Ark piece:

(http://www.john-warren.co.uk/carcassonne/images/monopoly_Ark.jpg)


(http://www.john-warren.co.uk/carcassonne/images/ark_temple.jpg)

Here is an example of the way a temple is scored. The temple is complete when all four edge pieces are filled (forming a cross). The temple is scored by majority, which is a much better way that scoring the cloister in regular Carc. In the photo green and yellow share the majority, and so both recieve 7 points. The followers are not removed after scoring for the temple. Players cannot deploy direct to the temple itself. The green disc is not included with AotC, but they are used so we know which temple has been scored. The followers are able to score for the features that they are on, but this scoring mechanic allows strategic finishing of other players roads and remove them before they can score for the temple. There are 4 temples in the game and all 4 are 'rrrr' configurations.

Farms are scored by the prescence of sheep in a shepherd's (farmer) field. The number of sheep in the field are totalled and then the number of wolves present in the same fields are subtracted, giving a final field total; a much cleaner way of field scoring. This mechanic is exactly the same as Hunters and Gatherers (except with different animals).

This was a very enjoyable version of Carc and i'm am very pleased to own it. There's much more strategy than regular 'vanilla' Carc, as reports suggested and the theme just fits well. I would definately prefer to play this version over the basic 'vanilla' Carc.

So, did you win or did Joff Junior?

Possible names for expansions:
* Walls of Jericho
* Crossing the Red Sea
* Pillar of Cloud and Fire
* Quail and Manna
* Mount Sinai :)

Sounds fun to create one's own expansions.  Are there any elsewhere online, e.g. at BGG or something?

I don't want to talk about it... ok, I lost... but only by 10 points! :(


No there appear to be none.

Here are the ideas I have thought about so far:

The Walls of Jericho ... this one will probably be similar to the Siege/Cathar tiles. We have both thought of the same Biblical event here ;)

The Angel of the Lord... this is easy. It is simply the Princess and the Dragon (without the princess). The 'fairy' piece is the Angel of the Lord, offering bonus points to the Israelite followers and of course protection from 'the dragon', or Satan (Rev 20:2).

I saw an idea mentioned on BGG called 'Moses and the Golden Calf'. I did not like the mechanics (that was fairy and dragon) but the idea would be better as the Ark in reverse. The Golden Calf deducts points from the followers it passes. However, the Golden Calf cannot occupy the tile that the Ark is currently residing upon; neither can the Golden Calf occupy the scoring area of a temple (an orthogonal cross with the temple in the middle). The Golden Calf is seen as idolatry among the Israelites as they worship the Golden Calf instead of God.

The Judge of Jerusalem (judge being the only 'j' word that fit ;) ). A Count of Carcassonne rip-off. 12 tiles depicting Jerusalem... same mechanics as Count.

The above will be my January expansion projects after The Leper and The King are finalised for regular Carc.

I envisage Crossing of the Red Sea, being the River 1 expansion, with Crossing the Jordan as River 2 :)
Mount Sinai could be just a new landscape feature, aka mountains.  Let's hope it doesn't end up as a 150 tile expansion like Forests.

That is interesting... crossing the Jordan river could well be when the Ark comes into play. Biblically when Joshua entered the Promised Land with the Israelites, they crossed the river Jordan, the Ark being carried across with them... the Ark could be moved freely once the crossing of the river had been accomplished. This could be a way to get the Ark in play early on, without awaiting the completion of the first city, in a similar way that the Volcano/Lake tile works for the Dragon.

Well, I'll leave it up to you to develop the tiles and the expansions.  I don't have it to begin with (although, thanks to you, I've actually ordered it when I ordered my sheep, cows and pigs from Mayfair games, so...) ;D

This got me thinking... the crossing of the red sea (very loosely interpreted of course) could entail a river crossing that allows connecting of farms. Could either be via a new special river tile, or else a when the ark comes into play. Or something like that... clearly needs work hehe

I know you were going for alliteration, but Judge of Jerusalem doesn't really make sense. Judge makes me think of the book of Judges. How about the "Count" equivalent being the High Priest?

For King and Robber Baron, you could do something about Saul and David, though that's a few hundreds years after the time period of the game.

For Walls of Jericho, don't forget Rahab's scarlet cord!

I had no idea there was a 2nd edition of this game. The completionist part of me is starting to feel inclined to get this if I can find it at my local Christian bookstore. Good job making a CAR for it; seems you got lucky doing a game that started in English.

This is the only Carc game that got started in English right?  Besides a few expansions (GQ11, CS&C), everything else started with HiG.

I know, it did not really fit well... but sounded good ;)


I don't think the time period is too much of an issue. The idea would be to implement Biblical events from the OT. Players who have this game will no doubt be mainly religious folk and keeping to that theme would serve to remind players of the events depicted. Moses and the Golden Calf is an idea that, although in the OT, predates Joshua's entering into the Promised Land, in fact, Moses was dead when Joshua entered into the Land... but the reminder of the event could be in the game.


Again, timing is a non-issue.


How to implement? If a player held the 'scarlet cord' card, if they find that they are in the city of Jericho when the walls come down, they would be allowed to score for the city... others occupying at the time do not score... something like that!


That did make it so much easier!

Edit: The second edition is not worth getting if you have the first. There are no actual rule changes (just clarifications of existing positions, and even then faqs had to be asked to gain further clarification), the only main difference being a wooden Ark piece, which is not really that good anyway.


I think so. It was authored by KJW, the rights were from HiG, but it was first published in English 2003, the German version following 2004.

I have started a new thread to collect these ideas together. You will find it here: http://www.carcassonnecentral.com/forum/index.php?topic=620.0 (http://www.carcassonnecentral.com/forum/index.php?topic=620.0)

Here is the tidied up v1.2 Ark of the Covenant CAR: The Ark of the Covenant CAR (v1.2) (http://www.john-warren.co.uk/carcassonne/files/AOC_CAR_1_2.pdf)

I presume that update is ready for public downloads?

Yes, all ready, Nov.

Public downloads page updated!

(http://www.john-warren.co.uk/carcassonne/images/plastic_ark.jpg)

I got my Monopoly Ark piece today. Here is a mock up of how it looks with the meeples. It is much better than the cardboard Ark supplied.

Which Monopoly set is that from?

Indiana Jones

Thanks scotty!  You've got new merit :)

Thanks

I recieved this game just before Christmas and mine came with a wooden Ark.

Played it a few times now and really enjoyed it.

Have not compared Joffs rules with the rules in the box yet, but planning to see if theres any differences.

 
I agree. It really is a great version of Carc. I prefer the temple and farmer mechanics than the original Carc.


You have the second edition of the game.


Great stuff. Any discrepancies, please post them for me. The second edition changes are mentioned in the annotations.

Time for some thread archaeology...

I'm reading through the AotC CAR to refresh myself on the rules, and quickly noticing that the main text is first edition with the second edition changes in the footnotes. I'm thinking this should be the other way around: main text as second edition and changes from first edition in the footnotes.

Well, a friend of mine managed to get a copy for me for Christmas.  Do you still have the CAR available at all?  Have played it once and enjoyed it so planning on playing again soon.

Yes. You need to access the Downloads section of the site. Go to the Home Page and hover over the 'Downloads' button. From the drop down menu that appears, click on the 'Other Spin-Offs'. The 'Complete Annotated Rules for Ark of the Covenant' are accessible from this page.

Thanks Joff

Praise the Lord! I just got the German version of the Ark in my mail  ;D

Pun intended, right?

If anyone interested, I can offer a original sealed(!) German version of the game ("Die Baumeister des Königs"). The box doesn't show any damages. It is like 'fresh from the shop'.

When it first came to my mind, it wasn't. And then when I thought about it, I was like ..... that's a nice pun  8)
And then I decided to write it anyway. So eventually .... pun intended, yeah  ;D

How much are you asking for it ?

PM sent.

Is this game rare?  I saw one at the gaming store I went to a few weekends ago and grabbed it because it just looked like a variant of Carc.  I got it for like $22 or so.  I kind of like the subtle differences in scoring.  We have yet to play it, but I think I will like the farming with the sheep and wolves.

Nevermind, I see the CAR is the super set of rules...I'll be quiet now.

Yes, it is rare. It went out of print almost three years ago now. I believe the company closed down.

BUt you can still get it for little money. Last week 2 copies were sold on eBay Germany for about less than €10. Check this item 320640633353.
And I also bought a new in shrink copy from a publisher for about €23 including p+p.

Oh.  I ignorantly assumed it was by the same people that did Carc.  Interesting. 

Well, if I ever see another I'll snag it I suppose; maybe try to get it to somebody on here who would want it.  I'll keep my eyes open now.

It was published by a company called Überplay Entertainment under their Inspiration Games imprint (which specialised in games for the religious market). It was still designed by Klaus-Jürgen Wrede. I personally think that AotC is the best version of vanilla Carc there is. For those that haven't acquired it, if you see a copy, do get hold of it.