How we play in our Lunch-Hour

[weeone]

Here at work there are a few of us that like a lunchtime game (gets us away from the computers and the coding...)

We have two "mega" sets, both of which are basically 2 base sets, 2 Inns & Cathedrals, 2 Traders & Builders, 2 Towers and river I & River II (plus various tiles either found on the 'net or given from friends sets)

We play for a strict time-limit (usually about 45 minutes), and only have the following meeple: 4x small; 1 Big Meeple; 1 Mayor; 1 Wagon; 1 Barn; 1 Pig; 1 Builder.
We do not use the Abby, the King, or the Robber.

We believe that the basic premis of carcassone is that "once played a meeple can only be recovered by completing the feature" - so we do not play the Count; the Princess & Dragon; or the tower-stacks.

We also use 3rd edition scoring (2 points for a city, even if it's only 2 tiles; and each farm scores individually)

We tend to have 4-6 players, and are (as a rule) cooperative.... with the "as a rule" being important, as every rule has an exception 

Generally, we find that our scores tend to be close: we've had games where 5 players are separated by just 10 points, other games where players (OK, me) scored just 17 points!

One of the interesting facets is the effect of the barn - it has stopped Farm-Wars: there is now no reason to fight and struggle to bring another meeple onto a farm to wrest control (or regain an equal share)

[Tobias]

Yeah, the barn does change the farm-play quite a lot. I'm still undecided wheter it's for good or worse though.

[Gantry]

Do you actually finish a game in 45 minutes, or do you stop after that time?  That would be a lightning game in 45!

[dwhitworth]

We believe that the basic premise of carcassone is that "once played a meeple can only be recovered by completing the feature" - so we do not play the Count; the Princess & Dragon; or the tower-stacks.

That is an interesting idea. Using that concept to select the biggest allowable subset of Mega Carc might make an interesting "variant".

I assume the Abbey, and maybe King and Baron, could be allowed in a longer game, and the Count does not really contravene the rule either -you still have to complete something to get your meeple back. You obviously couldn't use cathars - or at least would have to prohibit escape and that would probably be awkward. And you could still allow the fairy - for points bonus only, and magic portals . . . 

But doesn't using the barn really break your rule as it allows early release of farmers?

[weeone]

Do you actually finish a game in 45 minutes, or do you stop after that time?  That would be a lightning game in 45!

We stop & count the scores.... where "stop" implies "there will be two more rounds, starting with person a bit before-hand"

[weeone]

I assume the Abbey

We've never introduced the abbey.... not sure why really

King and Baron

We stopped using them ages ago... mainly because they were a pain to keep track of

and the Count does not really contravene the rule either

Well, it allows one player to add meeples to a completing item, in contravention to the "you may not play on a feature that already has a meeple", so we don't play that
(unless we've mis-understood the rules, in which case tell me more )

And you could still allow the fairy - for points bonus only, and magic portals . . . 

Again, the magic portals are about breaking the rule of not playing on an occupied feature

ut doesn't using the barn really break your rule as it allows early release of farmers?

Yes, and no: Yes, you are placing on an occupied feature (but so does the builder and the pig); but also no, placing the barn completes the farming meeple already on the terrain, so they score their 3 or 4 points. The only controversial one is farmers that are joined to an existing barn, and we've aquired a tactic whereby you deliberately place a loose meeple close to a busy barn so that he scores (1 per city) when he is joined on.... it's a sneaky use for otherwise useless pieces :-)