Besiegers Cathars Siege (1st edition)
General info and comments
The Cathars (Die Katharer) originally released in Spielbox in 2004
Siege (part of Cult, Siege, & Creativity) originally released by Rio Grande Games in 2008
The Besiegers (Die Belagerer) originally released by Hans im Glück in 2013
During the 11th and 12th centuries, a new religion called Catharism developed in southern France. The Roman Church decreed that this religion was heretical. By the beginning of the 13th century Carcassonne had become a stronghold of the Cathar religion. After unheeded warnings and the murder of a church legate, Pope Innocent III initiated a crusade against the Cathars. The besieging of Carcassonne in 1209 marked the start of 40 years of continuous war.
The Cathars expansion of 4 tiles was initially released in Spielbox in 2004, and because of its rarity, it has become one of the most sought-after Carcassonne expansions. Copyright prevented The Cathars from being reprinted by anyone except Spielbox, so Rio Grande Games developed Siege to be able to publish tiles with the same function. The four tiles in Siege tiles have the same functional layout as the tiles in The Cathars, but the artwork is entirely new. Thus, Siege is effectively a reprint of The Cathars with updated artwork. The rules for Siege are also almost identical to those for The Cathars; the only difference involves escape from a besieged city (see rules below).
Ultimately, Hans im Glück recognized the popularity of The Cathars and published The Besiegers in 2013 to allow players to be able to obtain this element of Carcassonne again. The rules are identical to those of The Cathars, but the geography of the Besiegers tiles and the tile artwork are all new. Interestingly, the 2014 version of the Besiegers rules includes the note: “This mini-expansion appears in the 2004 Spielbox magazine under the name ‘The Cathars’ (with only 4 tiles).” This seems to indicate that this expansion is considered a reprint rather than a new expansion, even though the tile features are different between the two sets.
Contents
Rules
Tile distribution
Besiegiers
Total tiles: 6
Cathars
Total tiles: 4
Siege
Total tiles: 4