Russian Promos (1st edition)
General info and comments
The Russian Promos, known as Russian Fairy Tales promos, were originally released in 2013, and extended in 2016.
The original two tiles were created by the Russian distributor of Carcassonne (Hobby World) and were given to local tournament participants (2013) and top-6 tournament finishers (2015). In 2016 two new tiles were added and it was a present for the participants of the Russian national Carcassonne league in 2016.
They are actual printed tiles (unlike the stickers on tiles used for La Porxada). However, they were not produced by HiG, and they have an extremely limited distribution. Thus, at this time they are considered a “semi-official” expansion.
Contents
2013 release
- 2 new land tiles (Baba Yaga's Hut and The Choice of Bogatyr)
- A drawstring bag with a scoreboard on one side
2016 release
- 4 new land tiles (the 2 tiles from 2013 plus Solovei Razboynik and Vodyanoy)
Note: No drawstring bag was included with this re-release.
Rules
Preparation
Mix the 4 new tiles with the rest of the Carcassonne tiles.
Playing the Game
The normal rules of Carcassonne remain the same.
Baba Yaga’s Hut
This tile from 2013 represents Izbushka, Baba Yaga the witch's legged hut.
The person who places this tile may place a follower on Baba Yaga’s hut. That follower becomes Baba Yaga! This tile acts as an “anti-cloister.” At the end of the game, the player scores 1 point for each empty tile space surrounding Baba Yaga’s hut. [1] The hut itself is worth 1 point. [2] If Baba Yaga’s hut is completely surrounded, the follower is returned to the player’s supply and the player scores only 1 point.
The Choice of Bogatyr
This tile from 2013 represent the hero Bogatyr at a crossroads. He stands before a stone that reads:
- Go to the left, and you will find death
- Go to the right, and you will lose your horse
- Go straight, and you will lose yourself
This tile contains 2 distinct roads. One road is a continuous road with 3 branches and no junctions. The other road terminates in a junction at the stone. [3] This tile contains 4 farm segments.
Solovei Razboynik
This tile from 2016 represents Solovei Razboynik "Nightingale the Robber" from the Russian folktale "Ilja Muromez".
If followers [4] occupy a road that goes through the Solovei Razboynik tile [5] [6] (or they occupy roads that are connected to that tile later on in the game [7]), players must move them onto the tile. [8] The followers then remain on the tile until the end of the game. [9] [10] Nevertheless during his/her turn, instead of placing a follower, the player may return 1 follower from the Solovei Razboynik tile into his/her supply in a subsequent turn.
Vodyanoy
This tile from 2016 represents Vodyanoy, a kind of ghost, that lives in water.
When a player places this tile adjacent [11] to one or more tiles on the board, all followers [12] [13] [14] [15] from the adjacent tiles are moved onto the Vodyanoy tile. All followers placed on any tile adjacent to the Vodyanoy tile in future turns will also be moved onto the tile. [16] [8] Followers remain on that tile until the end of the game and get -2 points each during final scoring. [10] Nevertheless during his/her turn, instead of placing a follower, the player may return 1 follower from the Vodyanoy tile into his/her supply in a subsequent turn. [17]
Tile distribution
The back side of the tiles of this expansion show a "K" instead of a "C" reflecting the Russian spelling of "Carcassonne".
Footnotes
For Icons explanation and licensing please visit Icons page.
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Note that there must be at least one tile adjacent to this one, so the maximum number of empty spaces is 7.
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In 2013, the maximum number of points available for this tile was 7; the tile itself did not give a point. This was changed for the 2015 rules. Thus, the maximum number of points that can be scored is now 8.
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A wagon may move past the stone from one of the roads, when completed and scored, to the other road, if unoccupied and incomplete.
Question: Does the stone in the Bogatyr tile allow the wagon to move between the two road segments (the 1-legged and the 3-legged ones)?
Answer: Yes, it does. (07/2020)
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The rules allow the Solovei Razboynik tile to trap only followers on roads (normal follower, big follower, wagon, ringmaster, guard meeple and phantom). However, special figures placed on roads, such as the builder, can also be trapped. Additionally, the builder will be removed and returned to the player's supply if its last supporting follower is trapped. Neutral figures are not affected. Note that all the followers and special figures on the road connected to the Solovei Razboinik tree are not captured right away, only those closer to Tree each time the capture is triggered.
Question: Can Solovei Razboynik trap a builder placed on a road connected to the tree or is it just removed after the follower supporting it is trapped by Solovei Razboynik?
Answer: If there is more than one player figure on a road where the Tree tile is attached, Solovei Razboynik usually captures one follower (or special figure) that is closest to the Tree. However, if there are two equally distant followers or special figures, both of them are captured. (11/2021)
Question: So, this capture would happen when placing the Solovei Razobynik tile or when extending the road with the Solovei tile (for example, when connecting other roads to it). It is correct?
Answer: Yes, we have these two cases:
- After attaching the Solovei Razboynik tile, if there are any followers (or special figures) on the road, the closest one (or several if at the same distance) is/are captured.
- If at any time later in the game, there is another road attached to the Solovei Razboynik tile, look for the closest follower(s)/special figures(s) again. One or several of them are captured again. (11/2021)
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The road passes behind the tree uninterrupted. There is one single road segment on the tile.
Question: Does the Solovei Razboynik tree divide the road into two separate segments?
Answer: No. It is still considered a single road. (07/2020)
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You may place the follower on the road with a magic portal (see Exp. 3 - The Princess and the Dragon), a flying machine (see Mini #1 - Flier, The (Flying Machines)), a crop circle (see Mini #7 - Crop Circles), or by deploying a follower from the City of Carcassonne (see The Count of Carcassonne) before scoring or by moving a wagon after scoring (see Exp. 5 - Abbey and the Mayor).
Question: If you don't extend the road with the Solovei Razboynik tile but you manage to place a follower on it, does this action trigger the follower capture automatically?
Answer: Correct, if there is a meeple appearing on a road, the Solovei Razboynik tile is triggered and you resolve the capture again. (11/2021)
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Roads can be connected not only by tile placement but also by:
- Ferries placed or moved during the Move Wood phase (Mini #3 - The Ferries)
- Tunnels connected by tokens (The Tunnel)
Question: If you extend the road with the Solovei Razboynik tile by moving a ferry or you complete one of its ends with an abbey tile, do these actions trigger the follower capture automatically?
Answer: Only a follower within a newly attached part of the road would trigger the Solovei Razboynik tile.
So, if there is a follower within the road extended by a ferry, then yes, the follower capture is triggered. This is not the case when completing a road with an abbey tile, so the follower capture does not happen there. (11/2021) - ↑ 8.0 8.1
The Vodyanoy tile is stronger than the Solovei Razboynik one. In case of conflict, Vodyanoy takes precedence.
Question: If both the Solovei Razboynik and Vodyanoy are activated affecting the same follower, which tile should trap it? Is Vodyanoy stronger than Solovei Razboynik in case of conflict (both tiles could be placed together)?
Answer: Vodyanoy is definitely stronger than Solovei Razboynik, so Vodyanoy captures the follower in the given example. Reminder: you may release your captured follower during your next turn if you're not placing a new one. (11/2021)
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A follower trapped by Solovei Razboinyk is neither a thief nor a farmer, so it will not participate in the scoring of the road passing through the tile or in the scoring of any adjacent farm.
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Followers trapped by Solovei Razboynik or Vodyanoy can be eaten by a dragon or captured by a tower.
Question: Can any followers captured by Solovei Razboynik or Vodyanoy be eaten by the dragon?
Answer: Yes, the dragon eats everyone. (11/2021)
Question: Can any followers captured by Solovei Razboynik or Vodyanoy be captured by a tower?
Answer: Yes, a tower can capture followers from the Solovei Razboynik tile or the Vodyanoy tile. (11/2021)
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Adjacent means next to the tile horizontally, vertically or diagonally.
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The rules allow the Vodyanoy tile to trap followers only (normal follower, big follower, mayor, wagon, ringmaster, guard meeple, abbot and phantom.) However, special figures (builder, pig and shepherd) can be captured. The barn (since it is not placed on a particular tile) and all neutral figures and not affected. Additionally, builders and pigs may be returned to their player's supply if the last player's follower supporting them on a feature is trapped. The Vodyanoy tile will affect any player figures eaten by the dragon, and will follow the same restrictions (i.e. areas not affected) as well.
Question: Can Vodyanoy trap special figures on adjacent tiles such as the builder and the pig, and the shepherd? We assume that Vodyanoy should not be able to capture barns since they are not placed on a particular tile.
Answer: Correct. After placing the Vodyanoy tile, it captures all of the figures on adjacent tiles, except for the neutral ones (such as the fairy). The tile designer said that you can refer to the rules for the dragon on this one. (11/2021)
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Followers on certain features not located on a specific tile cannot be trapped: castles (see Exp. 8 - Bridges, Castles and Bazaars), the interior of the City of Carcassonne (see The Count of Carcassonne), the crown of the Wheel Of Fortune (see The Wheel of Fortune) and, by extension, the interior of the City of Leipzig (see The Markets of Leipzig) for the sake of consistency, although the districts are located in specific tiles.
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There is a potential issue with the interaction of Vodyanoy with The Barber-Surgeons: A bathhouse adjacent to the Vodyanoy tile would be forced to be always empty, as all the followers sent there would be trapped by the Vodyanoy tile. In a limit case, it would be possible for all the followers in the game to end up trapped in the Vodyanoy tile. So players would have to spend more turns than usual removing trapped followers. The game can become very tedious as a consequence.
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Players may agree that followers in bathhouses -as a water-related feature- are not affected by the Vodyanoy tile, in order to avoid the bathhouse-Vodyanoy chain reaction.
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A follower trapped by Vodyanoy is not a farmer, so it will not participate in the scoring the surrounding farm.
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Some translated Vodyanoy rules available online are generally missing the following two details:
- All followers placed on adjacent tiles to the Vodyanoy tile are trapped too in future turns.
- Players can remove one follower from the Vodyanoy tile instead of placing a follower, the same as with Solovei Razboynik.