The Cathars


Released in 2004.
  • Pennants
  • According to the rules, a besieged city which is completed during the game earns only 1 point per city tile. Do you then add the extra 2 points for every pennant, or do those extra points fall by the wayside?
    Every city tile and every pennant (true, that could have been mentioned in the rules) earns 1 point, or 2 points with the cathedral.

    The word “only” is purely quantitative, referring to the points value alone. As such the change to the usual rules is as small as possible.
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  • Escape
  • Can I simply free a knight after a turn, if a cloister borders [a besieged city], or do I have to build onto that city or cloister [in the same turn]?
    Knights can escape when the condition (cloister next to a Cathar tile) is fulfilled. A player is not obliged to build onto the city, nor onto the cloister. He or she must simply have a knight in the city.
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  • If a knight is either already in a city… is that knight beseiged unless there is a cloister adjacent to the Cathar tile ? I have been told that normal rules apply in that a completed city removes all knights, but I feel that would defeat the object of the Cathar tile in beseiging the city.
    Knights will always be removed from completed cities, even from besieged ones. The cloister should just allow escape from a city that cannot be completed anymore, since an incomplete an beseiged city scores no points.

    [Thanks to canada steve for this! - Matt]
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  • If you have one knight in a besieged city, and another knight in another besieged city, and both besieged cities are adjacent to cloisters, can both knights escape at the end of your turn, or can you only choose to evacuate one per turn?
    I haven’t got the rules in front of me, but I seem to remember that only one knight can escape per turn. It’s irrelevant whether the followers are in the same city or different cities.
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  • To clarify an earlier question: Can a player allow a follower to escape a besieged city via a cloister, and place the same follower in the city of Carcassonne on the same turn? (When does follower escape happen?)
    The knight escapes at the end of the turn, and so cannot be re-deployed in the same turn.
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  • Cloisters, abbeys, shirines
  • Can a knight in a besieged city escape via an abbey, or only via a cloister?
    Yes: the abbey has all the characteristics of a cloister. In this respect more is on its way - in the next expansion (really just a collection of the mini-expansions) there will also be 'places of worship' which have a close connection to cloisters. We have to rule out various problems here…
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  • Can a knight in a besieged city from the Cathars escape via a shrine, or only via a cloister?
    The shrines are, for the most part, identical to cloisters. That goes for escape as well.
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  • If your city is besieged with a tile from the Cathars expansion, and there is an abbey adjoining, can the mayor or wagon escape?
    Mayors and wagons can also escape via cloisters and abbeys. (Although I'd find it quite amusing if the mayor went down with the ship, like an honourable captain :-)
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  • Barns
  • Does a player still score double points for a besieged city if it lies on a farm with a barn?
    Yes.
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