The Watchtowers
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The Watchtowers mini expansion contains 12 tiles featuring watchtowers that you can build in and around Carcassonne. Each tower watches over different things and is more valuable the more it watches over.
 Promotional image of The Watchtowers in C3 |
This mini expansion features watchtowers that you can build in and around Carcassonne. Each tower watches over different things and is more valuable the more it watches over.
General info and comments
 Expansion symbol |
The Watchtowers was released in C2 (the 2nd edition) by Hans im Glück in 2016. A C3 (the third edition) version was released in 2024, which has cities with clipped buildings. This expansion was never officially released for C1 (the 1st edition).
Contents
- 12 new land tiles showing watchtowers
Tile with a watchtower in C3
Tile with a watchtower in C2
Rules
Preparation
Shuffle the 12 land tiles showing the watchtowers together with those from the base game.
Gameplay
1. Placing a tile
When you draw a land tile showing a watchtower, place it according to the known rules.
2. Placing a meeple
After placing a land tile showing a watchtower, you may place one of your meeples on the tile according to the normal rules. You may place it on a city or a road, or in a field as a farmer. You may not place it on the watchtower itself.
3. Scoring a feature
When a completed road or a city contains a tile which features a watchtower, and there is a meeple on the feature (city, road) on that tile, the watchtower is scored first. The completed road or city is scored afterwards. [1] [2]
This does not apply to farmers. Farmers do not trigger scoring for watchtowers. [3]
For scoring the watchtowers, the 8 directly adjacent tiles and the tile with the watchtower itself are considered, as in a monastery scoring. You can see on each watchtower what scores you points:
| C3 | C2 | Action |
|---|---|---|
 |  | 2 points for each meeple |
 |  | 2 points for each coat of arms |
 |  | 1 point for each tile showing at least one road segment |
 |  | 3 points for each monastery |
 |  | 1 point for each tile showing at least one city segment |
The following examples show how watchtowers are scored:
Final Scoring
Watchtowers do not provide points after the game. [4]
Other expansions
This section contains additional information about the interactions with other Carcassonne expansions.
Receiving the watchtower bonus
A meeple placed on a completed feature (e.g. a monastery) on an adjacent tile to a watchtower will not receive the watchtower bonus. The watchtower bonus is only received by a meeple on a completed road or city placed on the watchtower tile. Majority does not apply to the scoring of watchtowers. If multiple meeples are placed on completed features on a watchtower tile, each meeple will score points for the watchtower.
Question: Several meeples in the following example are placed on roads on the watchtower tile. Does each meeple on this tile score 5 points for the watchtower?
Answer: Yes, there is no majority rule for the watchtowers, so each meeple gets the points. (4/2025)
Note that:
- Several meeples may end up on the same watchtower tile when playing with:
- Magic portals (
Exp. 3 - The Princess & the Dragon) - Wagons (
Exp. 5 - Abbey & Mayor) - The Count of Carcassonne (
Exp. 6 - Count, King & Robber) - Flying machines (
Mini #1 - The Flying Machines) - Crop circles (
Mini #7 - The Crop Circles) - The Add Meeple and Place Meeple actions (
20th Anniversary Expansion) - Drawbridges (
The Drawbridges) - Statues (
The Spring, 
The Summer, 
The Autumn) - Phantoms (
The Phantom) - The Plague, when fleeing from it (
The Plague)
- Magic portals (
- Watchtower tiles may have several segments connected to the same completed feature. So a completed road or city may contain a tile contributing with several segments to the same feature, each of them with zero, one or more meeples.
The scoring of a watchtower does not trigger the scoring of a neighboring castle. A watchtower grants a bonus to a meeple on the watchtower tile, but it is not a bonus associated to the completed feature (road or city). The watchtower bonus and the feature scoring are separate scoring events (see 
Mini #2 - The Messengers), and the castle will only receive points for the completed feature (any watchtower bonuses will not affect the castle).Watchtowers scoring for roads, cities and monasteries
When playing with tiles occupying more than one square space, each space is counted separately when scoring for cities or roads:
- Double-sized tiles: each half tile is counted separately:
- German castle tiles (
Castles in Germany) - Leipzig tiles (
The Markets of Leipzig)
- The long road segments count as two squares.
- The Leipzig city quarters count as city segments.
- The double-sized river source (
20th Anniversary River)
- German castle tiles (
- Wonder tiles: each square is counted separately (
The Wonders of Humanity) - The 2x2 tiles: each square is counted separately (
Exp. 11 - Ghosts, Castles & Cemeteries)
Question: Do watchtowers scoring for roads or cities consider each half of an adjacent double-sized tile separately? If so, the red meeple in the following examples would score 4 points for each watchtower.
Answer: Yes, each half is considered separately. (4/2025)
The watchtower scoring for monasteries will consider all monastic buildings:
- Monasteries
- Abbeys ( Exp. 5 - Abbey & Mayor)
- Shrines ( Exp. 6 - Count, King & Robber)
- Special monasteries, where the position of the meeple is irrelevant (as a monk or as an abbot/claustral prior):
- German monasteries (
Monasteries in Germany) - Dutch & Belgian monasteries ( Monasteries in the Netherlands & Belgium)
- Japanese buildings ( Japanese Buildings)
- German monasteries (
- Darmstadt churches (
Darmstadt Promo)
The watchtower scoring for monasteries will not consider:
- Gardens (Base Game -
The Abbot) - German cathedrals (
German Cathedrals)
The outer tiles of the city of Carcassonne (marked with white lines) count as city segments for any adjacent watchtower scoring for city segments. A meeple on a wooden bridge placed on a watchtower tile can also trigger the scoring of a watchtower if the bridge is part of a road just completed. Wooden bridges should be taken into consideration for the watchtower scoring for roads, since wooden bridges are considered the same as printed road segments.
A watchtower scoring for cities will not consider castles. Castles are are not cities but a different feature type.Watchtowers scoring for meeples
A watchtower scoring for meeples will consider all meeple types:
- Normal meeple (
Base Game) - Abbot (Base Game - The Abbot)
- Large meeple (
Exp. 1 - Inns & Cathedrals) - Meeple on a tower (
Exp. 4 - The Tower) - Wagon ( Exp. 5 - Abbey & Mayor)
- Mayor ( Exp. 5 - Abbey & Mayor)
- Meeple on bridge (
Exp. 8 - Bridges, Castles & Bazaars) - Ringmaster (
Exp. 10 - Under the Big Top) - Guard meeple ( Exp. 11 - Ghosts, Castles & Cemeteries)
- Phantom ( The Phantom)
A watchtower scoring for meeples will not consider any special or neutral figures:
- Special figures:
- Neutral figures:
- Fairy ( Exp. 3 - The Princess & the Dragon)
- Dragon ( Exp. 3 - The Princess & the Dragon)
- Count ( Exp. 6 - Count, King & Robber)
- Bridge ( Exp. 8 - Bridges, Castles & Bazaars)
- Big Top ( Exp. 10 - Under the Big Top)
- Ghost ( Exp. 11 - Ghosts, Castles & Cemeteries)
- Big Pink Pig (
The Wheel of Fortune) - Ferry (
Mini #3 - The Ferries) - Gold ingot (
Mini #4 - The Goldmines) - Mage (
Mini #5 - Mage & Witch) - Witch ( Mini #5 - Mage & Witch)
- Teacher (
The School)
- Fairy (
A watchtower scoring for meeples will consider all the meeples on double-sized tiles adjacent to them, even if one of their halves is not actually adjacent:
- German castle tiles ( Castles in Germany)
- Leipzig tiles ( The Markets of Leipzig)
- The 20th Anniversary double-sized river source ( River)
Question: If a watchtower scoring for meeples is adjacent to only one half of a double-sized tile, does the watchtower consider those meeples on the half adjacent to the watchtower or all the meeples on the tile?
Answer: The watchtower will consider all the meeples on the double-sized tile. (10/2022)
A watchtower scoring for meeples adjacent to the city of Carcassonne will not consider any meeples placed on city districts. The inner part of the city of Carcassonne is a special area out of the normal game.
When scoring a watchtower bonus for neighboring meeples you will also count any neighboring castle lords. This would be similar to how the big top considers castles in its vicinity. See Exp. 10 - Under the Big Top. A watchtower scoring for meeples adjacent to the Wheel of Fortune will not consider any meeples placed on the wheel crown. The inner part of the Wheel of Fortune is a special area out of the normal game. A watchtower scoring for meeples adjacent to the city of Leipzig will not consider any meeples placed in the city quarters. The inner part of the city of Leipzig is a special area out of the normal game.
A watchtower scoring for meeples shall consider all the meeples on an adjacent wonder tile (except the marker meeple placed on the wonder itself), if we apply the same principle used for double-sized tiles. An official clarification hasn't been provided yet.Clarifications for new landscape tiles
There are some differences between C2 and C3 in the field configuration of a few tiles. The watchtowers in C3 are thinner, and the bushes next to them do not separate fields -they are just decorations. This change affects 4 tiles: [5]
| C3 | C2 |
|---|---|
2 fields |
3 fields, one of |
| C3 | C2 |
|---|---|
1 field |
3 fields |
| C3 | C2 |
|---|---|
1 field |
2 fields |
| C3 | C2 |
|---|---|
1 field |
2 fields |
Tile distribution
C3 Edition
×1
×1
×1
×1 ×1 ×1 ×1
×1
×1
×1 ×1
×1C2 Edition
×1
×1
×1
×1 ×1 ×1 ×1
×1
×1
×1 ×1
×1Footnotes
For Icons explanation and licensing please visit Icons page.
- ↑
This means watchtowers are scored independently from cities or roads, so the resulting score is not part of the feature. Therefore watchtowers score first as an event triggered by the completion of the neighboring city or road but it is actually a scoring associated to the meeple placed on the watchtower tile. Note that the meeple on the watchtower tile may belong to a player who doesn't have the majority in the feature being scored, so:
- The player with the meeple on the watchtower will score their meeple first.
- The player with the majority will score the feature afterwards.
- ↑
The rules describe the simplest case (one completed feature with one watchtower). However, if several watchtowers are triggered by the same tile placement, it is necessary to score all these watchtowers before removing any meeples from those features to be scored. This is especially important when the scoring involves watchtowers scoring points for neighboring meeples. This way, the players will avoid scorings leading to different results depending on the order the features (and their watchtowers) are scored and their meeples removed.
- ↑
Monks placed on completed monasteries on adjacent tiles would not trigger the scoring for watchtowers either, as indicated in the rules for the C1 conversion of this expansion approved by HiG.
- ↑
This statement, not included in the original rules, is inferred from the rules, since watchtower scoring can only be triggered by completed roads or cities.
- ↑
The difference in design of the watchtowers featured in C2 and C3 is not merely aesthetic. It directly affects the configuration of 4 tiles, where the number of fields changes. The thinner watchtowers in C3 have some bushes next to them that do not separate fields, so they are not completely equivalent to their C2 counterparts.
Question: Do watchtowers in C3 separate the fields in the same way as their predecessors in C2? In C3, the towers are thinner but they have some bushes next to their bases that should split the field to provide the same effect. Is this correct? Is there any exception?
Answer: There is an intentional change because the previous watchtowers separated the fields too much. The fields are different on 4 tiles now, since the bushes next to the watchtowers do not separate fields. (7/2024)