Villages

[CKorfmann]

This is an intriguing idea.  The thought of losing that many points for my farm makes me cringe, but that might be a good thing.  It might really appeal to those who complain about farm scoring.  I'm not sure about doubling the penalty for barns though since barns don't typically double the farm value, but I don't have another suggestion.  The interesting thing about this method though would be timing.  If the yellow player has a majority of a farm when the road through the village is complete and the red thief steals points from the farm (through the village), what happens if the yellow player loses the majority later in the game?  I guess they'd just be out of luck!  Could make things interesting.

[Carcking]

The robber scoring could be tempered some by not allowing the Thief player to move forward the cummulative amount of points. It could just be a penatly to the Farmers with no additional plus for the Thief. The Thief then would gain no advantage over any neutral player.

Also, the Barn could be reduced to just a 1 point penalty like Farmers. I wasn't sure what to do with Barns. They potentially score more at game-end so a more strict penalty seems in line here. Not sure if 2 points per tile is correct. It could stand some game testing.

This might work: Farm with no Barn gets the penalty with no plus scoring for the Thief, while a farm with Barn gets the penalty while the Thief does get the plus.

It would behoove the Farmers to get the road completed quickly so it doesn't grow large. And, interestingly, it might cause a player to "throw" the control of a farm by removing a Farmer perhaps (as in WOF, etc.) Or maybe delay deploying his Barn until the Village tiles have been played. The overall affect could potentially temper the scoring for farms, or rather make it more precious.

Also, I would say if the road is completed with no affect to Farmers or Barns then the player earns 3 points for having the Village on his road. So the Village is worth a base of 3 points.

There could be some interesting game play strategies.

[loganmann1]

This is a real thought for the village.  A negative to the farms but a plus to the road.  I like that idea as roads get played down so much and farms are so powerful.  While it looks like a rather lengthy description, most of that is clarification examples and such and the principle is quite basic.

More power to the thieves!!!

I like it though.  Its different from just being a suped up well or something, which is a good thing.  I'm also a fan of something that lets you negatively affect farms.  Siege does it for cities...villages could do that for farms.

I would keep element of the robber getting more points...roads need the help I think, and its still based on road size which encourages them to build a longer road.

[CKorfmann]

There could be some interesting game play strategies.

Agreed.  Do you think the thief should be deployed to the road on the village tile, or could it be anywhere on the road?

[Carcking]

Anywhere on the road. The Village tile could be added to a road with Thief already present.

[Carcking]

My feeble attempt at some crossing tiles.

[CKorfmann]

Not so feeble.  I think they look nice.

[loganmann1]

Very nice!  Not so feeble at all.  Do you feel you could complete a set of 12? (2 with mountains, 2 with rivers, 2 with forests?)

[Carcking]

I believe I could...and will get to work on it.

For now I will try to work in some cities, and perhaps a cloister.

[loganmann1]

If the village is going to have the cloister bonus I don't think we should have any villages with a cloister already on it.  Otherwise there is one tile in the bag that happens to be a 12 point cloister and its just luck of the draw who gets it.  I think roads are a necessity, cities are fine either way and cloisters should be left off.  But thats just my opinion.

[Carcking]

First crack at a Mountain tile.

I get your point regarding the Cloister/Village tile. I'll nix the idea.

[loganmann1]

Ooh very nice.  Very nice indeed.

[CKorfmann]

If the village is going to have the cloister bonus I don't think we should have any villages with a cloister already on it.  Otherwise there is one tile in the bag that happens to be a 12 point cloister and its just luck of the draw who gets it.  I think roads are a necessity, cities are fine either way and cloisters should be left off.  But thats just my opinion.

I agree, cloisters aren't necessary.  I don't think cities are either, but maybe one would be OK.

[Carcking]

Mountain tile #2.

[Whaleyland]

Except for the strange size ratio of building to mountain, I really like these village tiles. I don't use the mountains expansion, but the villages may get some use, as long as the rules aren't too complex.