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these Chronicles might interact with each other. But I have already found my favorites. Since there were already additional Chronicles for sale in Essen, and there seems to be extra space on some of the boards, it seems reasonable to assume that
more will be added.
Often underestimated are
the simple Chronicles, like the boat race on the river that starts at a random point
and earns a lot of points for the one in the lead. Instead of a Scotsman, you can instead move your boat clockwise, away from your own territory, along your neigh- bor’s river. Whoever manages to circle all the way around this way, scores. So you will add tiles to the left of the river as soon as your own boat passes by in order to make the journey for your opponents longer. Also clever is
the little Highlander Chroni-
cle created by Carcassonne author Klaus-Jürgen Wrede:
A mountain is added to the rondel. In order to cross it,
you have to pay money or a good. However, if you stop on the mountain – and there can only be one – you collect the jackpot.
In more challenging Chronicles, we can store whisky and let it mature step by step; hire a Brit who moves for us; or take on landmarks that we can activate and use separately. All these elements change the basic idea only slightly, but enough
to open a new path to score points.
al months, I can’t speak to how
Even after se
ev
ve
er
ra
ety, was exhausted for me. The new ver- sion remedies this.
Through the dramatically improved components, which is to be expected at the price point, handling, building, and moving is a joy. Therefore, it might come as a surprise that now only four clan lead- ers, instead of five, take part. I think this is a good restriction. With all the new
ideas, one should plan for two entertain- ing hours in a game of four. More would have not been better here. Even though the amount of landscape tiles hasn’t changed much, there are now four scor- ing phases instead of three. The first scoring round especially surprises as it takes place at a time when hardly any tiles have been placed. Additionally, now four categories are scored. Besides whisky casks and landmark cards, victory points are awarded for Scotsmen in the home castle. This means that you no longer have to remove your own workers from the display. The fourth area of scoring is
the collecting of “person” tiles, which are not placed into one’s own area. They allow you to place a, sadly
too small, token on the clan board and, therefore, trigger
a unique one-time effect or earn addi- tional goods.
The tactical clan board gives food for debate. Some might see it as unnecessary or not organically fitting in with the rest. I see it differently: Here I have the chance to get the extra something that is other- wise hard to come by. Or I can save up for a huge victory point blessing. Perhaps it would be received better if the editors added a short overview of the clan board symbols in the otherwise extensive and well done rule book. It would have helped to avoid the many clarifying questions that seem to slow the game flow.
I A lot to discover
Otherwise, Glen More II moves won-
derfully fast. There are a lot of new things to discover. The kicker is the no less than eight Chronicles in the game: mini expan- sions in beautiful cardboard boxes that sometimes change the game quite sig- nificantly. Thankfully, the game manual shows how much time each chronicle adds to the game and if they are
easy, medium, or difficult.
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