Let me first disclose that I love Carcassonne and all the expansions thus far. Carcassonne could be considered my “gateway” game. It was one of the first games I played as I discovered this hobby. I will assume that anyone reading this is familiar with the base game.

Bits

Three new wooden pieces: wagon, barn and the Mayor with Vanilla Ice pants (ok, they’re MC Hammer pants but I’m trying to be original).



Courtesy of Andres Ruberg (Drez)

6 new special tiles: the abbey one for each player.



12 new tiles:



Courtesy of Toni Serradesanferm Palà (Ternal2)

I will review each component separately, as they each add a unique aspect to the game.

Wagon



Courtesy of 00.08 (KSensei)

A simple wood piece that adds plenty to your quiver, the wagon is fairly straightforward. It allows the player to place on a road or a feature directly connected to a road. When the feature is finished, the wagon is able to travel along the road, to an unfinished and unoccupied feature, except a farm. Strategically this is a great piece to place at a four-way road intersection. It allows you to score a feature move the wagon to a new feature and still place a new meeple or piece down on another feature.

Barn



Courtesy of Rafal Szczepkowski (cnidius)

The barn looks just as it should, a beautiful wooden barn. In play it becomes a powerful piece and needs to be placed with care. It can only be placed where three sections of farm intersect. The barn must be placed on the fourth section of farm. The picture above provides a good visual of this. The farm can be placed where there are meeples already; I believe this is the only Carc piece that is allowed this freedom. All the meeple farmers that are on farms where the barn has been placed are scored and returned. If any farmers connect to the barn they are scored and returned. The barns cannot be removed. They are scored at the end of the game and earn 4 points for every finished city connected. Strategically the barn needs to be placed to maximize points. This is harder than it sounds, because the barn could be used early to prevent meeples being placed on farms, no guarantee there. Another thought would be to place the barn after having a large farm that a player has control of. This would be the best option, but not always guaranteed. The barn adds the hardest challenge to the game of this expansion.

Mayor



Courtesy of Andres Ruberg (Drez)

The Mayor as others have said already looks like he’s wearing MC Hammer pants. He is aptly named as when he is placed in the city he only counts when there are shields in the city. The picture above shows a Mayor that counts as 2 meeples. 3 shields in a city and the mayor counts as 3 meeples, no shields the mayor counts as nothing, sorry. The strategy with the Mayor is pretty straightforward. Place her with a city piece that has a shield. Hope or actively make sure the city has many shields in it.

Abbey



Courtesy of Rafal Szczepkowski (cnidius)

Each player receives one abbey. The picture above actually shows the abbey placed illegally. It needs to be covered on the four main sides. It scores the same as a cloister, although it does so much more. Any feature, except a farm, is finished on the side the abbey is touching. This single tile gives hope to the stranded meeple. The key is figuring out when to play it, because you are only given one in your supply. If you play against players who are good at blocking this should help you.

New Tiles

Believe it or not even though this expansion has given so much to the Carc game so far there are still 12 new tiles. I will highlight a few here.



First up the road ending, farm extending tile. This tile does just that; it could help in both finishing a road and/or extending a farm. When you draw this tile you are hoping you already have a farm that needs extending and/or a double point road that needs finishing.



Speaking of finishing roads, this new tile is a tough one to finish. It has three sections of road that need to be closed. This is a thief’s dream. Assuming you draw this early, and are playing with the King and Scout expansion, should guarantee the thief bonus. It also has possibilities for extending a farm, although that is an option on any of the 3 pronged road tiles. The strength of this tile is the huge road it could create.



This tile has great possibilities. The best use for it is to block farms. It also gives the bonus shield for the city. So while you are blocking your opponents, you are either starting or adding on to your city.



This tile has mayor written all over it. Really makes sense that this tile is included with the mayor. This tile makes the mayor even with the big bully meeple and the mayor only needs one more shield in this city to overtake big bully.



This is the last tile I will review. It is unique and has the potential to finish a city and set up a steal of another, assuming you are in the right position. Every game I have played with this tile, it has provided a nice move for the player who has drawn it.

Overall I give this expansion a out of . I have not yet found any flaws with any aspect of the new pieces. They all add a lot to the game play of the base game. They are well designed, both for game play and aesthetically. Well thought out. I would recommend this for anyone who enjoys the base game or is looking to add something to his or her Carc experience.