From a previous thread I started about the river I/II expansions it cam to light that you cannot place meeple in the river sections, for fairly obvious reasons
Anyway Gantry made a comment back about fishing and it got me thinking.
So here goes.
FishermeepleCan be used with either River I (remove extra scoring tile) or River II expansions or both.
As the river sections are laid, apart from laying the meeple on the land sections, it is now possible to place them on the river itself as fishermeeple (place them on their side to denote this otherwise they may get confused with farmers etc). The fishermeeple cannot fish the same side of the river as another meeple, from either your own team or not, unless it is seperated by a road/crossing/city/etc. However you can have a meeple placed on the opposite bank. The fishermeeple stay in place for the whole game. The fisher can be placed on a river tile either when the pulled river tile is placed or when a river tile is surrounded by a further 8 tiles later in the game, as per the cloister. This allows for the fishers to be committed later into the game and not have to be immeadiately placed on the river. To clarify when a river tile is surrounded by a further 8 tiles to form a 3x3 square then you have the choice to place a fisher on one side of the river on the center river tile.
ScoringScoring for fishermeeple is achieved by the following. For each section of riverbank that a meeple reaches, without any interuption, he recieves 2 points and then a further 2 points per city that is within 3 direct squares of any of its river tiles, on your side of the river only (unless the extra scoring tile is in place). Cities further away cannot be supplied by the fisher and therfore cannot be scored. If there are opposing fishermeeple supplying the same cities then the majority takes the points same as farming.
Extra Scoring Tile - Double Sided Capend City with Bridge Piece (cscs River II)This is a special tile that allows the player who lays it to fish both sides of the riverbank,in all four directions, no extra points are awarded but it does allow for greater point scoring. This tile does not mean that you own the city, so would not get the points for completing it unless you have a knight in there.
FAQPlacement of Fishers - Can a fisher be placed on a river tile later in the game ?
Yes a fisher can be placed later in the game on a river tile, providing the player placing it had just placed a tile that has completed the 3x3 square surrounding the river tile in question. And the player chooses which side of the river to place the fisher on, normal placement conditions apply.
Farmers v Fishers - Can farmers and fishers be in the same area ?
Yes as they are seperate trades then they can be placed in the same land area without any issue arising providing they are on the same side, remember normal placement conditions apply for same type trades and opponent trades, so no fisher from one team and farmer from another can be within the same area unless they were not connected when first placed.
Fishing the Lake - This allows the fishermeeple to supply any cities all around the lake, it does not act as a barrier, same as farming.
The Spring - No fishermeeple to be laid on this tile as it would be considered too shallow to fish but still counts for scoring.
The Branch - No fishermeeple to be laid on this tile as it is considered too fast flowing to fish but still counts for scoring.
The Count Expansion - If using this expansion then fishermeeple are the same as farmers in that they use the market section of Carcassonne City and are subject to exactly the same rules.
The Cathars Expansion - If any city within the three tiles of the river is under siege by the Cathars then the same scoring rule applies for fishing as farming in that for that city double points are scored. So for a player fishing two cities along a 4 tile river section, one under siege, they would score 8 points for the river then 2 points the normal city and 4 points for the siege city.
What are the limits of a fishermeeples range - Any bridge is an end point on the river, in that you cannot fish and provide any further than the bridge allows. The only difference is with the extra scoring tile, where you have the ability to fish both sides of the river in both directions, so a possible to score four times from this tile. If you can get past a tile then it is not considered a end piece, same as farming.
When placing a fisher on the extra scoring tile, city to city connected by bridge over the river, you can still place a piece even if another fisher is on one of the adjoining riverbanks as there are a further possible 3 riverbanks to fish from it. So "there" means ant other fishers on the riverbanks connecting to the extra scoring tile. However if a fisher is on the extra scoring tile you cannot then place a fisher on one of the banks leading up to it.
To score the extra scoring tile you must have a fisher placed on it. If no fisher is placed on it then scoring for the city of that tile would be in accordance with how many fishers reach it and who owns the most and if the city os actually complete. By riverbank I mean an entire section from one end point to another.
For clarification a fisher fishes along a riverbank from one end piece to another, bends, lakes, etc do not stop the fisher unless there is a physical barrier, such as a bridge in the way. The branch and the spring cannot be fished, which means that you cannot place a fisher on these tiles, they do not stop you from scoring though. So yes when counting along a riverbank you include the spring and branch tiles, even though you cannot place on them, it does not stop your fisher from supplying any cities along there.
So what do you all think ?
Thanks
