The Castles of Burgundy · Expansion

The Castles of Burgundy: The Shields

Depends on your group

Our take: Players disagree. In a BGG thread one group found shields #16 (change one die to any value) and #17 (enlarge every area like an inn) 'too impactful', and a player with 150+ plays said 'shields are broken', they never use them, and 'if shields didn't exist, no one would miss them'. The original poster, after 11 games, said they were 'leaning more towards the they actually seem fine and pretty nice camp' and described shields as a catch-up mechanism that is not unbeatable. Meeple Mountain's reviewer says the shields' advantages are 'beefy', rules overhead is low, and 'there's really no reason NOT to add this expansion to all of your games'.
What you need first: Just the base game

What it adds: 18 shield tiles set face down on the goods spaces of the six depots (1 or 2 per depot depending on player count; the rest go back in the box). When you roll doubles you may take the shield from the matching depot instead of your two actions and place it on a castle in your duchy; each shield grants a power, and you pay 1 silver per shield at the end of every phase (before mines pay out) or lose it.
What it fixes: Gives a trailing player a way to pivot or catch up, and an alternative use of turns that would otherwise be poor.

Sources

Last checked 2026-10-09. Spot a mistake? Tell us.