Castles in Germany
General info and comments
Castles in Germany (Burgen in Deutschland) was released for the New Edition by Hans im Glück in 2019. This mini expansion was released for the 1st Edition in 2015.
This mini-expansion, featuring 6 well-known castles in Germany, allows the players to become lords and ladies, earning extra points for their famous estates.
This expansion has been developed for the Carcassonne basic game. All the basic game rules still apply in addition to the expansion rules below. You can combine it with other expansions - but at your own risk – that is, there will be no official rules for these combinations.
Contents
- 6 double-size landscape tiles depicting German castles
Rules
Preparation
Each player picks one castle of his choice. When you play as two or three players you can take 2 castles each. Alternatively, you may shuffle the castle tiles and deal them out. Then, you place your Castle tiles in front of you.
Gameplay
1. Placing a tile
2. Placing a meeple
Having placed their Castle tile, players are allowed to place a meeple. They may place the meeple on a road, city, or field or as lord in the castle.
3. Scoring a feature
Scoring of a completed castle
A castle can be completed and scored the same way as monasteries. As soon as the castle is surrounded by other Land tiles, you, the lord gets 12 points and take your meeple back to your stash.
At the end of the game all Land tiles surrounding an incomplete castle score one point. The Castle tile itself counts as 2 points.
Scoring roads and cities around a castle
If a road or a city which ends on the Castle tile is completed, players get bonus points. Each player who gets points gets 3 bonus points for each castle which is involved. [1] [2] It does not make any difference if the castle is occupied or not.
Additional clarifications
Roads: Roads looping back to a German castle will consider the two square spaces occupied by the double-sized tile separately.
Monasteries: Since monasteries are scored according to the occupied spaces by the monastery itself and its adjacent spaces, a German castle tile counts as the number of spaces it occupies: 1 or 2 depending of its placement relative to the monastery.
Question: Can we assume that monasteries A and B also score 9 points?
Game end
At the end of the game there aren't any bonus points for cities or roads.
Question: Does a German castle count for field scoring?
Answer: No, it doesn't count for field scoring. The German castle is on one tile, so its has less functions than a castle that sits between two tiles. (10/2015)
Other expansions
>> General considerations
- This section covers clarifications regarding the interaction of German castles with other expansions (from 10/2015, later updated in 1/2021)
Question: How should we consider double-sized tiles for towers and flying machines?
Answer: Even if it is a double tile, you simply count the spaces (areas). A double tile still consists of 2 spaces. Therefore it doesn't matter if you use double-sized tiles or normal tiles for the tower, flying machine or a dragon, the "range" stays the same. (1/2021)
Question: Should we consider that we should always count spaces (areas) and not tiles, and then consider any tiles in that space if more than one or part of one?
Answer: Yes exactly. For example, a dragon could walk 2 steps on a double-sized tile, but if it is a German castle, it would already eat the meeple on his first step on the tile. (1/2021)
>> Inns and Cathedrals - Bonus Points
- Scoring first takes place for roads with an inn or a city with a cathedral, and then the +3 bonus from any German castle is added.
>> The Princess & the Dragon - Dragon movement
- German castles do not protect meeples from the dragon. The German castle is on one tile, so it has less functions than a castle (from Bridges, Castles and Bazaars) that sits between 2 tiles. The function or the mechanics of the German castle is more like those of a monastery.
- The German castle tile is one single tile but it represents two spaces for the movement of the dragon. The dragon affects the whole tile when it lands on it, but it may represents to steps in its movement.
>> The Tower - Tower range
- German castles count as one tile for the tower, but they represent two spaces for the tower range. If at least one of the spaces occupied by a German castle tile is in range from the tower, any meeple placed on the tile can be captured.
>> Abbey & Mayor - Part 1: Wagon movement
- The wagon can be placed on a German castle.
- The wagon can be driven to a German castle after completing a road that is connected to the German castle - as long as the German castle is not finished and no other meeple owns it.
>> Abbey and Mayor - Part 2: Barn Placement
- The general rule states that the base for the barn has to be stable - that means that the corner of all four tiles have to touch each other and all tiles must have field in the corner for the placement of the barn.
- A German castle tile can therefore occupy one or two of the corners under the barn.
>> Bridges, Castles and Bazaars - Castles
- You can build a small city including the semicircular city segment on a German castle tile. If this small city is converted into a castle, neither the small city at that point nor the castle, if scored, will receive bonus points for the German castle.
>> The Flier (Flying Machines) - Flier distance and placement
- The German castle counts as 1 tile occupying two spaces. The flier considers spaces for its movement. If the flier lands on a space occupied by a German castle, it can choose any feature on the whole tile, that is, the flier has the choice of 3 roads, 1 city or the German castle (the function or the mechanics of the German Castle is more like those of a monastery.) The flier can only land on one of these features if it is not yet finished.
- If the flight of the flier is diagonal, all steps must be in a straight line in the direction the arrow shows from the flying machine tile. The angle cannot change but it would if it had entered via one corner of the German castle tile, and exited via the opposite corner. If the flier lands on the German castle tile then the flier has the choice of 3 roads, 1 city or the German Castle. The flier can only land on one of these features if it is not yet finished.
>> The Plague - Plague spreading
- A German castle counts as 1 tile for the plague tokens, but two spaces for its movement. See the example with the dragon above.
>> German Monasteries and Japanese Buildings / German/Dutch and Belgian Monasteries - Scoring with a meeple placed as an abbot
- Double-sized tiles will be considered as two square spaces when scoring of the abbot on a special monastery. Special monasteries will count those square spaces in the columns and rows starting from the monastery tile.
- Depending on the position of a German monastery tile overlapping any of those rows or columns, only one or both square spaces of a double-sized tile will be taken into consideration for the scoring. [3]
Tile distribution
Total tiles: 6
The castles in detail
Königstein Fortress (Saxony)
This castle is one of Europe's biggest hilltop fortresses. It is situated in Saxon Switzerland in the Elbe Sandstone Mountains near Dresden. The fortress was built on top of a rock plateau 240 meters above the river Elbe. Over a period of more than 750 years, this place became an impressive ensemble of buildings of the late gothic period, the renaissance, the baroque and the 19th century.
http://www.festung-koenigstein.de
Konradsheim Castle (North Rhine-Westphalia)
This water castle is situated between Cologne and Bonn and is one of the few castles of the late Middle Ages in the Rhineland still preserved. The knight Arnold von Buschfeld is said to be the builder of this castle. First mentioned in a document in 1337, the castle is nowadays private property and can be rented for events.
http://www.burg-konradsheim.de
Rieneck Castle (Bavaria)
This castle was built around 1150 near the town of Rieneck above the river Sinn in Lower Franconia in Bavaria. Today, the castle serves as a scouting facility and is owned by the German Christian Guide and Scout Association. Particularly well known – and the centrepiece of the castle – is the “Thick Tower“ built in the 12th century with his romantic wall chapel constructed completely enclosed by the keep's wall.
http://www.burg-rieneck.de
Eltz Castle (Rhineland-Palatinate)
It is considered the paragon of German castles. It is situated in the Eltz river valley near the Eifel. It was built in the beginning of the 12th century and has yet never been destroyed. Eltz castle has a history full of myths, luminaries and distinguished art.
http://www.burg-eltz.de
Wartburg Castle (Thuringia)
The Wartburg (Burg: german castle) is situated above the city of Eisenach in Thuringia. Built around 1067 under Louis the Springer ("the Jumper") the castle is – since 1999 – a UNESCO World heritage site. Between May 1521 and March 1522 Martin Luther, who had found shelter inside the Wartburg, translated the New Testament into German.
http://www.wartburg.de
Bentheim Castle (Lower Saxony)
This is a castle complex in the middle of the city of Bad Bentheim in Lower Saxony, which has been built in the Early Middle Ages. First mentioned in a document in the 11th century it is believed to be one of the largest and most beautiful castle complexes in north-western Germany. Nowadays, the castles museum can be visited year-round.
http://www.burg-bentheim.de
Footnotes
For Icons explanation and licensing please visit Icons page.
- ↑ Thus, a road that had each end on a different castle tile would score 6 bonus points. A road that began and ended on the same castle tile would receive 3 bonus points. (4/2015)
- ↑ These bonus points are added to the feature score after modifications from inns or cathedrals. (10/2015)
- ↑ This approach is based on the clarifications provided for The Markets of Leipzig (see FAQ boxes here).
- Editor Manual - Old numbered parameters - RulesPlacingTile
- Editor Manual - Old numbered parameters - RulesPlacingMeeple
- Editor Manual - Old numbered parameters - FAQ
- Editor Manual - Old numbered parameters - RulesScoring
- Editor Manual - Old numbered parameters - Tile
- Old template
- Old template - FootnoteIconPara en
- Second Edition
- Second Edition Minor Expansion