Here at BGQ, we love Clans of Caledonia. So much so, in fact, that it was our Game of the Year in 2017. Don’t ask us, though. It’s printed right on the side of the game box!

So with an expansion recently released, we were itching to whip out our Clans of Caledonias and bolt trains onto them. For Science! Clans of Caledonia: Industria, from Juma Al-JouJou and published by Karma Games, is the first expansion for Clans of Caledonia. “First expansion” is in bold text in the English rulebook, so perhaps Juma is cooking up more content.

Expansion Overview:

Clans of Caledonia – our Game of the Year in 2017! Juma apparently hadn’t heard about the rebrand before going to print with the new edition.

Industria adds 4 optional modules to the Clans of Caledonia base game. All four modules can be used individually or in any combination. There is also a new Automa solo opponent that replaces the Beat-Your-Own-Score (BYOS) solo mode included in the base game. Additionally, there are some new rules and variants that can be used. Finally, the new combined edition features a Big Box-style storage solution. The box itself is quite reasonably sized and fits nicely in a Kallax with plenty of room to spare.

The new modules are:

• Export Contract Refill Board – A small new board, where you set a queue of the contracts that are upcoming. This helps with planning your turns ahead.
• Award Tiles – A set of goal tiles that grants points in Final Scoring to the player who meets the objective.
• Farmers Markets (#SoFresh) – New tiles that are placed on the board during setup and provide an alternative to the Neighborhood bonuses.
• Train Module – An entirely new game mode, including a new board, where players deliver goods to towns and cities for big bonuses, and big points.

Of the four add-ons, the first three are almost promo-level minor changes. Trains is the meat of this sandwich, and (spoiler alert!) it is delicious.

Mid-game, with an unfulfilled Farmer’s Market tile in the distance. Much like my kids, they demand Milk and Cheese.

Game Experience with the Expansion:

The Export Contract Refill Board is a nice quality-of-life improvement. It sits near the Export board and shows players which contracts are coming up next. This allows for some additional turn planning. It does add a bit of extra admin, as when contracts on the Export board are refilled, players must move them from the Refill board to the Export board, then fill the Refill board back up.

Award Tiles are scored only in the final scoring of Round 5. The players who meet the goal get a sprinkling of extra points at end game. Only one is used per game. This is the most “promo” feeling of the added modules.

Player boards are unchanged in the new edition.

Farmers Markets are an interesting new way to sell goods for a bit of extra cash. They are placed randomly during setup and will block a space off from player expansion until both their demanded goods have been fulfilled. Once the unwashed masses have had their fill and posted their artisan-crafted (and definitely not bought at the store that morning) junk goods to whatever the 19th-century Scottish version of Insta was, the market will pack up and leave the board. This frees up space for players to expand. The markets add a nice twist and are a mini-goal to work towards.

Trains is the star here. These include several new player pieces (Train, mini-Train, Train Station, and some Milestone tokens) and a whole new board that is about the same size as the full Clans Map. Bust out that table leaf!

Trains score players’ points by delivering goods to cities around Scotland. Cities demand various goods, and once a player delivers goods there, they nab a milestone token. Once specific criteria are met (like having all 8 Worker meeples placed, or having seven different Processed Goods in stock), a milestone can be placed on a city. This unlocks some more of the train board for use by that player, and grants an extra turn immediately.

I think I can… right after this nap.

Players can only make one delivery and only claim one milestone per round. After the delivery is made, the train meeple must be placed on its side because it is soooo sleepy. So much for “I think I can!”

The more you deliver, the more points you unlock. Each milestone marker removed from the board grants progressively more points.

It’s well balanced, too, as I’ve seen wins using the Train module that have completely ignored the Train piece and focused only on the base game board.

Finally, the Automa. Personally, I don’t mind a BYOS solo. Let me do my thing and try to optimize as much as possible. Great! However, there is a contingent of solo gamers out there that can’t stand ‘em.

So here comes Juma off the top rope with The Automa! This is a card-driven solo bot that does a great job of simulating a (really good) Caldonia player.

The solo bot runs via an ever-changing deck of action cards.

Running the bot is simple… ish. There is a separate rulebook for the bot. None of the added rules are overly taxing. At its heart, the bot just flips card, does an action. The most complex piece is choosing where the bot will do it’s expand action. And by the second or third round, it’s easy to determine from the iconography.

I played the bot three times. Even on Easy, I was challenged. It has a knack for nabbing spaces that I want, taking the contract I had my eye on, buying the good that I was just about to. It even competes well for final awards. The only thing it lacked from a real player is the gloating table talk. Which is a long way of saying I would be perfectly content to play Clans of Caledonia against the bot every time from here on.

My only gripe with this new edition is that the new icons and pieces introduced in the expansion are only in the expansion rulebook. I found myself flipping between the solo rulebook, base game rulebook, and expansion rulebook, just looking for an icon definition or goal tile explanation. A separate glossary with all icons and tile explanations would be immensely helpful.

The mighty Train board. It’s nearly as large as the entire hex tile board of the base game.

Final Thoughts:

Industria takes a near-perfect Euro and adds trains. Yes.

The added storage solution is a nice touch, and helps speed setup a bit.

Hits:
• Train module is great
• The Automa is excellent
• Big Box-style storage makes setup simpler

Misses:
• A separate Glossary would be helpful