Root: The Homeland Expansion is published by Leder Games, designed by Joshua Yearsley with the usual wonderful art by Kyle Ferrin. Leder themselves call it the biggest Root expansion they have ever released, and after opening the box I am inclined to agree. It brings three new factions to the Woodland: the Lilypad Diaspora, scattered long ago and now trying to come home and integrate peacefully while civil war rages around them; the Twilight Council, sickened by the endless fighting and hosting assemblies to end it; and the Knaves of the Deepwood, who reuse the Vagabond components and put three Vagabond meeples on the table at once alongside new skunk meeples.
What I find genuinely clever about the Homeland factions is that they are built to be influenced by everyone at the table. Any player can provoke the Diaspora into militancy by battling them, or push them toward peace by reconciling, and the Council’s assemblies are open to all comers. In other words, these factions let the whole group fight proxy wars through them, which is a very different feel from the more self-contained Riverfolk designs. The box also adds two new maps: the expandable Marsh map, which lets you size the play area to your group, and the Gorge map, a tight reinterpretation of the Autumn map built around chokepoints. Three new Vagabond meeples and character cards round it out, usable individually or as part of the Knaves.
Root has been on my table for years now, so if you want more of that universe you can look at my Introducing new players to the ROOT universe, my first impressions of the Marauder Expansion and the earlier what’s in the box piece, or simply browse everything gathered under my ROOT tag.
Below I am presenting the expansion components, giving also a quick overview of the new factions, maps, and key design features:
Enjoy the material!