Rebirth Scotland vs Ireland: Setup, Missions & Tower Rules
Scotland and Ireland are two maps in the Rebirth box. Both use tile placement, farm clusters, settlement influence and castle control. Ireland changes the setup and mission competition and adds round-tower bonuses; it is not simply Scotland with different city names.
Researched rules guide. Checked September 12, 2026. Publisher English rulebook 1.2b, second edition. Strategic implications below are editorial reasoning. No hands-on testing is claimed. Editorial standards.
On this page: The setup differences are substantial · What stays the same · Ireland replaces the ordinary cathedral mission race · Each tower can activate once per player · Doubling requires both matching tower activations · Sprawling settlements have four hexes · The maps have different final tiebreak landmarks · Which map should you learn first?
The setup differences are substantial
| Setup item | Scotland | Ireland |
|---|---|---|
| Two-player blocked hexes | 32 yellow-marked hexes | 24 yellow-marked hexes |
| Four-player tile reduction | Return the specified nine tiles | Same nine-tile reduction |
| Random private set-aside | 2 tiles, not used | 4 tiles, available through tower effects |
| Initial mission system | Private deck; cathedral visits draw cards | 8 public missions visible |
| Special board bonuses | Cathedrals and ports | Round towers and offshore farms |
The nine-tile reduction applies at four players on both maps: three energy, three food and settlement values two, three and four. Each player has 34 regular placements on Scotland at two/three players or 25 at four; Ireland has 32 or 23 regular placements plus any eligible reserved-tile bonuses.
Do not take Scotland’s two removed tiles and assume they are Ireland’s bonus supply. Ireland specifically sets aside four random tiles that tower effects can access.
What stays the same
Farm clusters still count connected matching farm types of your own color, including the newly placed tile. Settlement influence still adds printed values, and completed-settlement ties still disadvantage the active completing player before the clockwise comparison.
Castles still compare adjacent occupied hexes, then adjacent farms, then the active-player tie rule. They still score five each at the finish. Ireland adds offshore farm spaces that give an immediate one-point placement bonus where indicated.
Use the Scotland teaching guide for the shared foundations, then apply the Ireland setup and special spaces from this comparison and the rulebook.
Ireland replaces the ordinary cathedral mission race
Scotland’s first personal visit beside each cathedral draws a private mission. On Ireland, eight public missions are available from the start. The first player to achieve a public mission earns its higher award; later qualifying players earn its lower award. Each player can score each mission once.
Public information changes timing. You can see which requirement other players may approach and whether its first-completion reward is still available. A later lower award may still be worthwhile when it fits placements you wanted anyway.
For connection missions, use a connected chain of your occupied hexes satisfying the card. Castles and towers are landmarks, not occupied connector tiles that automatically bridge a gap. Check the exact mission text and mark achievements rather than relying on memory.
Each tower can activate once per player
The first time you place adjacent to a particular round tower, take its indicated benefit and mark your activation. Another player’s earlier activation does not prevent yours. Repeat adjacency to the same tower does not repeat your bonus.
The fourteen bonus tiles include immediate points, linked-tower rewards, extra-tile placements, a three-tile choice, a private mission and doubling-marker opportunities. Read the tile’s specific effect: there is no universal “every tower gives three points” rule.
For an extra-tile effect, randomly draw one of your four set-aside tiles and place it immediately, following ordinary placement and scoring. The extra-tile bonus can happen at most once per turn; that extra placement cannot chain another extra-tile placement just because it reaches a second such tower.
The three-tile draw effect is different. At the end of the turn, draw three regular tiles for your next choice, select the one to hold and shuffle the others back. It does not authorize three immediate placements.
Doubling requires both matching tower activations
Activating both designated doubling towers lets you place your doubling marker over a public mission you have not yet completed. When you later achieve it, double the award available to you at that time: higher if first, lower if someone has already claimed first place.
The marker does not immediately complete the mission, does not double every future mission and cannot be added to one you already scored. Account for the travel and placement needed to reach both towers before treating the eventual bonus as certain.
Sprawling settlements have four hexes
Ireland’s four-hex sprawling settlements award 12, 8 and 5 to the first three influence ranks when completed. A sole owner receives all three awards, totaling 25. With two owners, the leader receives 12 + 5 = 17 and the other receives eight.
With three or more owners, rank the combined influence totals and apply the completion tie rule. Do not award 12 to everyone with a tile or confuse occupancy count with influence.
An incomplete settlement still pays each player their own printed tile values at the finish. The larger completion award introduces an opportunity; it does not guarantee that the remaining hexes will be filled.
The maps have different final tiebreak landmarks
Scotland checks whether a tied leader controls Edinburgh. If none does, the current rules name Stirling’s controller as winner, even if that player was not originally in the highest-score tie.
Ireland first favors a tied leader controlling Blarney. If none of those leaders controls it, the player with most tiles adjacent to the Hill of Tara wins, even if outside that original tie. A further Hill-of-Tara tie is shared.
These are specific map rules. Neither map uses a generic final comparison of total castles or farm-cluster size.
Which map should you learn first?
Scotland is the clearer teaching starting point because its special-space system asks you to manage fewer different tower effects. This is an assessment of rules overhead, not a measured statement that it plays faster for every group.
Choose Ireland when your group understands the shared rules and wants visible mission races and more conditional bonuses. Before starting, teach the extra-tile anti-chain limit and the doubling prerequisites: those are easy places to accidentally grant too much.
Continue learning
Sources and scope
Checked September 12, 2026. Examples are original illustrations; use the rulebook for card-specific wording and edition differences.
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