It’s time to go shopping at the Hornhelm Wasteland Market, the sixth, and so far final map pack for the fantasy flip and draw board games Cartographers and Cartographers Heroes
When we picked this expansion up we were warned it was the most complicated Cartographers expansion. It adds more than just a new map, with brand new aspects like journaling points and the ability to spend your gold at market.
Disclosure: Thanks to Thunderworks Games for hooking us up with a copy of this expansion. Some links in this post are affiliate links, using them costs you nothing extra and helps support this website. As an Amazon associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
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What do you get with the Hornhelm expansion for Cartographers?
Cartographers: Map Pack 6 – Hornhelm: Wasteland Market was designed by Jordy Adan and John Brieger, the same team that brought you the original game. This expansion pack does require you to own a copy of either Cartographers: A Roll Player Tale or Cartographers: Heroes and works equally well with either base game.
This expansion keeps the original game’s player count, age recommendation, etc. but may take a bit longer to play because of the added weight. We found the game to have quite a bit of AP during the ‘shopping’ phase, especially with anyone brand new to the expansion.
Physically, Cartographers Map Pack Six consists of one-hundred and fifty double sided map sheets with a new map on one side and a market featuring nine items on the back. Note that this is the same amount of new playable sheets as the other expansions in this series, which normally have seventy-five double sided sheets with the same map on both sides.
In addition to a map pad, Hornhelm also includes a small deck of six merchant cards, unique to this expansion. Of course, there’s also a two sided instruction sheet on how to use these new things.
One this has changed since we originally reviewed this expansion on The Tabletop Bellhop Gaming Podcast Episode 248. While you can still pick up this expansion on it’s own it’s now also included in the Cartographers All In Bundle (which is only available direct from Thunderworks).
Playing Cartographers with the Hornhelm Wasteland Market Expansion
When playing either version of Cartographers with Cartographers: Map Pack 6 – Hornhelm: Wasteland Market each player will take two sheets off of the included pad. They will use the map side of one and the market side of the other. Note it is not recommended to combine the market with other Cartographers maps, but we aren’t going to stop you.
The game starts off just like any other Cartographers game, with you playing through spring using your existing cards. After spring scoring the market enters play. You draw a random market card and place it face up so everyone can see it. This card will indicate which three stalls in the market are open this season.
Next, each player gets a chance to purchase an item. Items are purchased with gold which is earned the same way it always has been. This means that players are spending points they would earn every round to buy these items.
Each item gives players a way to earn Journal Points, which are tracked on the bottom of the market sheet. In future rounds, each time a player fulfils the requirement for an item they own, they get to tick off diamonds on the journal track.
For example the Spiked Boots lets you tick off two journal points every time you surround a mountain space, while the Bedroll gives you one point whenever you draw a village next to an existing village on your map.
At the start of each remaining season, a new card is drawn from the market deck changing up which items are available to buy. The way this system works it is very possible that every item will not be available every game and some items may be available multiple rounds. Note you either own an item or your don’t, no need to purchase multiple copies.
At the end of the winter season, players score their map as normal. Then players get additional points based on how far they have progressed on the Journal Track. A perfect score, for having a completely filled track, earns a player a whopping 55 points.
All other rules and systems from Cartographers or Cartographers Heroes are still in play. There are no changes to the core game rules, just new additions for this expansion.
The Hornhelm Expansion for Cartographers adds a whole new level of play to the game.
The most important thing to talk about in regards to Hornhelm Wasteland Market, the sixth expansion for Cartographers, is the significant impact of the market and the importance of the Journal track.
Having a way to spend your gold is a big change for Cartographers and adds a new level of decision points to the game. The new Discovery track can be worth a lot of points, but buying the items to get those points means losing out on points that you would earn every round from having gold. The randomness of the deck also plays a big part, as you could buy an item and then never have the right type of terrain come up. This leads to a strong risk vs. reward feel.
Once players do buy items they will find them impacting their future play as well. When a new terrain card is flipped up you now have to consider your items when drawing your pattern. You need to look at the season scoring cards as well as opportunities to get Journal points. This can impact the game both in the moment and as part of long term planning.
The rule sheet included with Hornhelm could have been clearer. We messed up two things on our first plays which I want to point out so you don’t make the same mistake. The first is that the market doesn’t open until the end of the first spring season. You don’t flip up a card at the start of the game, it’s not until the start of Summer that the market comes into play.
Second we were letting people purchase available items at any time. While this did make things much easier, and it let people buy things only once they were actually useful, this made some items way more valuable than others and broke the games balance. It also lead to a lot more thinking and made AP an issue. The proper rule is, you only get one chance to buy one thing at the very start of each season after the first.
Having a market, a new scoring track and a way to generate points, ups the difficulty and weight of Cartographers. As you can read in our Cartographers Heroes Review, the game was already heavier than we expected. To me this means this expansion is best left to experienced Cartographers fans looking for something more from their games.
I don’t include this expansion when bringing Cartographers out to any of our public play events, but I do include it as an option with playing with friends and family who have played the base game many times. For people that are long time fans of the series this expansion is great for adding something totally new to the game.
Now that’s not to say it’s too heavy. The basics of Cartographers is still there, and you aren’t adding that much on top, I just wouldn’t use this expansion when introducing the game to new players or ones who are still figuring out strategies for the base games.
While Hornhelm Wasteland Market works with both the original Cartographers A Role Player Tale and Cartographers Heroes (which is what we have) there is some wonkiness with one of the items when using this expansion with Heroes.
The Compass item gets you points based on not covering ruins spots on the map. This is much easier to do in Cartographers Heroes as that version of the game does not include ruins based season cards. This makes earning Journal points with that item relatively easy. I don’t think it’s unbalanced really, especially since, if the Compass is in play every player can buy it, but it feels off.
The other thing that felt a bit odd to me is that you have to use the market with the new map included in this expansion. When we got this Cartographers expansion I expected it to be a pad of market sheets that could be used with all existing maps, and that’s not the case. Reaching out to Thunderworks we were told that the market was only actively playtested with the new map (which was designed to make getting gold a bit easier).
My biggest complaint about the Hornhelm Expansion for Cartographers is one of brightness and contrast. The map pads in our copy of the expansion are printed significantly darker than the other map pads I have. They are dark enough that parts of them are hard to read. This is especially true for the terrain icons for each item and the points awarded by the discovery track.
In slightly dull light these are almost impossible to read and even in bright light I can’t make out some of the terrain symbols. Thankfully the sheet is in colour and the terrain colours are clear enough we were able to determine what was what.
Overall, I still think Cartographers (either version) is one of the best flip and write games ever published. As a Cartographers fan, I was very impressed by the Wasteland Market Expansion. I’ve found I’m attracted to any expansion that offers me more options within a game I enjoy, without changing up the basic gameplay, and that’s what this does. Though I do worry that this expansion adds a bit much for casual fans of the original game.
If you are a long time Cartographers fan I strongly recommend picking up the Hornhelm Expansion. This small pack adds a lot of punch and adds an entirely new level to a game you already enjoy. If you used to like Cartographers but got tired of always playing the same game on the same map, this is a great way to return to the game as it makes it into something more than it was.
If you are more of a casual Cartographers fan or someone who’s still new to the game, you may want hold off on picking up this expansion. If you are still discovering new things in the game and having fun figuring out new strategies, you don’t need the added layer that Hornhelm adds. While there’s no requirement to pick up and play through the Cartographers expansions in order, I really do feel that this one is probably best left for last.
FAQs
Is Hornhelm a Stand Alone Expansion?
No. You need to own a copy of either Cartographers A Role Player Tale or Cartographers Heroes in order to use this expansion.
Can I use The Wasteland Market with other Expansions?
While no one is going to stop you from combining the market from this expansion with other Cartographers expansions, it was only designed and playtested to work well with the included map.
Why is the sixth expansion for Cartographers twice as much as the previous expansions?
Hornhelm Wasteland market requires players to use two sheets per game, a map sheet and a market sheet. Due to this, it comes with an extra thick pad of two sided sheets, twice as many as the previous expansions. It also includes a set of cards, and not just a new map pad.
Do I need to have played/own the previous map pack expansions to use The Wasteland Market expansion?
While the various Cartographers expansions can be played in any order, this sixth and final expansion is the most complicated of the bunch adding in some totally new mechanics. While you don’t need to have played the other ones, you may want to save this one for last.
That’s it for our look at the Hornhelm: Wasteland Market Expansion for Cartographers, the sixth and (so far) final map pack expansion for this fantasy flip and draw game. Are you a Cartographers fan, someone who’s tried all of the expansions? What’s your favourite so far? Which map pack or packs do you prefer to play with and which do you leave in the box?
Let us know by commenting below!
- EXPANSION: Hornhelm, Wasteland Market is an expansion compatible with Cartographers and Cartographers Heroes.
- 150 DOUBLE-SIDED SHEETS: This map features a new, challenging layout on one side. The other side introduces purchaseable upgrade items with ongoing effects and a journal scoring track!
- NEW CARDS: Meet six new traveling Merchants! At the start of summer, fall, and winter, encounter one random merchant. They display market stalls where players can purchase items that provide special abilities and points.
- EXPLORE NEW REALMS: Deep in the barren wastes lies the famed Saurian market at Hornhelm, where merchants sell specialized gear to improve a cartographer’s tradecraft.
