Since both of these mini expansions are played on the Score Board, and not on the actual Tile Map, we did not want to give the players on the edge of the table where the Score Board was, the advantage of a better view of the Messengers or Robbers.This project was started because we are in a 4 member weekly Carcassonne gaming group, and we wanted to start playing with the Big Box 2017 Mini Expansions; The Messages and / or The Robbers.
Since both of these mini expansions are played on the Score Board, and not on the actual Tile Map, we did not want to give the players on the edge of the table where the Score Board was, the advantage of a better view of the Messengers or Robbers.
So, we made a post on Carcassonne Central, Unofficial Rules, of an Image of a C1 Score Board Center Tile.
The first response was "it's a pity that the track is not in C2 version?"
This website is our response to that first response.
Do not print any of these images directly, they are only displayed at 33% size! Right click on the image, then select "Open Image in a New Tab", then use the image in the new tab as your printable Start Tile.
But First, before you waste a lot of ink printing an image that is not exactly 6 tiles wide by 4 tiles high, print the following test page!
Your printer will probably not easily print these images at the proper size, exactly 6 tiles wide by 4 tile high, and constantly reprinting the image until you get it right will waste a lot of ink. SO, here is an optional image you can print to save the ink.
NOTE: The biggest problem you will have is getting your personal printer to print an image that is 6 tiles wide. My personal measurements show that 6 tiles will be 10 5/8 inches wide which leaves only 3/8 of an inch for both margins on an 11 inch long standard letter sheet of paper. My personal combination of Microsoft Word and an HP OfficeJet Pro 6960 printer does allow for the printed page margins to be 0.15 inch. Your printer might not allow for the margins to be that small. Also, will your word processer of image printing software properly shrink or expand the image to the proper size?
This image is exactly the size of the custom start tiles, bot only includes the black tile lines, so it uses a lot less ink! If you are trying to use Microsoft Word, here are the steps to follow.
To print the image, after setting up the blank Word page with the "Proper Margins", right click on the website screen image, then select "Copy Image". Then, right click on the empty Word page and select the first "Paste Options", "Keep Source Formatting (K)".
Word will proportionaly shrink the oversize website image to fit within the Left and Right margins that you entered. Print the page and see if 6 tiles by 4 tiles fit in the spaces! If your printer is having trouble with margins that small, you might have to play with the margins again, and maybe change to 8 1/2 by 14 Legal Paper (with initial Left and Right margins of 1.65 inches.
Read this section BEFORE following the links at the bottom of this page for building your own personal Scoreboard Start Tile.
After creating your personal directory and editing your personal Tile1 HTML page and creating the image of your Start Tile, there is one serious problem that you will face. You cannot just click on the start tile image and copy it to a word document, BECAUSE, the image you are looking at is actually a combination of 17 separate images. BUT, at least in FireFox, there is a way around this problem.
After you click "Final Image" at the bottom of your screen so that the scoreboard expands to cover the full 6 by 4 tile image:
The screenshot will include the tiles that are under the transparent edges of the scoreboard image!
BYO.htm: This is the page that will tell you how to create a directory on your computer where you can create your own Start Tile.
Numbers.htm: This page will explain all of the numbers (Tile sizes, etc.) that were used in the calculations for building a Start Tile.