Rebirth - Ireland map

Rebirth has a double-side map, one side being Scotland and the other being Ireland. For new players, the Scotland map is recommended. I only recently played the Ireland map for the first time. 

Most of the game is the same, with only a few differences. Firstly, there are no more cathedrals. Instead of spots where you get to build cathedrals, you have communication towers. When you place a tile next to a tower (just like how you do it next to a cathedral site), you gain some benefit. What benefit is given by each tower is randomised at the start of every game. Some towers let you take an extra turn. When you have tiles next to three specific towers, you score 13 points. These are two examples of tower benefits. 

One important difference of the Ireland map is many spaces do not restrict the placement of only farms or only power stations. This means the players have more flexibility. I can understand why most of the spaces on the Scotland map specify whether they are farm-only or power station-only. This works better for new players because they don't need to worry about too many possibilities. They can focus better on learning the game. After you are familiar with the game, the restriction is not a problem, just a feature. It is challenging and still fun to have to work within the restrictions. The Scotland map will continue to work well for experienced players. 

I did a two-player game with Chen Rui, so we used the red player pieces to block off sections which are not used in two-player games. 

No cathedrals on the Ireland map means no secret missions. Instead, you get public missions. Eight are set up randomly at the start of every game. The first player to complete a mission scores the higher number. Others who complete it later score the lower number. So there is a race element. One type of benefit from the towers allows you to double your score from one mission. 

The Ireland map is only slightly more complex than the Scotland map. Not by much. My biggest takeaway from this recent game was the importance of fighting for the castles. I lost to Chen Rui because she had significantly more castles than I did.