Having the out-of-print edition of Carcassonne makes wasting money on unnecessary expansions both harder and easier. Fortunately, some expansions are more about the concepts than the components, so there are plenty of opportunities to enhance your game on the cheap with some pick 'n' mix accessories and intellectual property theft.
The Count of Carcassonne
- Carcassonne Start Tableau
- Purple mega meeple
The city tiles from the old expansion were more recently reprinted as a physically and thematically satisfying slab to give players yet another optional starting point for their games. That was the main reason I bought it (slapped down after The River, for historical accuracy), but I thought I might as well add a substitute no-frills Count figure while it's there.
The expansion mechanic that rewards self-serving favours done for your rivals might prove to be an interesting twist when I'm finally tired of the regular game, but this early on, it's mainly an annoying distraction in a game that's already battling analysis paralysis as it is.
King & Robber Baron
- Orange messenger meeple
- Orange robber meeple
- Pen and paper
Encouraging epic city and road building with the lure of bonus points, this was one of the more desirable mini expansions out there, unfortunately only available at unreasonable prices and bundled with other mini expansions I already have or don't want.
The official release includes some unique tile configuations that presumably contribute to its mechanic and would have been nice to have, but I just gave up and ordered some cheap, unrelated pieces based on lesser expansions to stand in for the character tiles.
You could use anything, but it's handy that they released a completely unrelated robber token. The messenger doesn't really look like a king, so maybe he can be called the duke or something. 'King' seemed a bit too grandiose anyway.
Minor as it is, this is the add-on I most wouldn't want to play without. It also makes note taking necessary to keep track of city and road sizes, and that makes the whole thing look more sophisticated.
The Apprentice (The Phantom)
- 6 x mini meeples
The Phantom expansion seems potentially game-breaking to me, but its minimal components are inviting DIY abuse. You can buy unofficial hollow meeples, but even those are pricier than I'd like for such a basic add-on, and they're too similar to the teacher anyway.
Since it only needs a token that's identifiable as yours, but distinguishable from your other pieces, I gave the theme a rational rewrite and made it your young apprentice, represented by a 12mm mini meeple (16mm regular and 19mm big follower pictured for comparison).
It balances out the big one quite nicely. I don't know why they didn't just make it like this in the first place. I suppose they are a bit fiddly.
Updates 2024
- I donated the Start Tableau to simplify things, I only used it as landscape filler anyway.
- The 'Apprentices' are too fiddly to bother with most of the time.
- The Monasteries in Germany, etc. mini expansions are almost entirely cosmetic, but have a nice rule about lying a monk on their side to score vertically and horizontally rather than in the square that can easily be adopted for standard cloisters/shrines.
- I don't like most of the house rules out there, but a free turn if you close a gaping hole in the map seems like a fair reward.
