As previously covered on SUN Random, I love Root. This masterpiece's asymmetric design, artwork and creativity create a beautiful world for everyone who plays. After the success of Root, several expansions have been released, including the latest main one, the Marauder Expansion which introduces two new factions, the Lord of the Hundreds and the Keepers in Iron, as well as a host of hirelings and new setup mechanics.
What's in the box?
The Marauder Expansion comes with 57 new wooden warriors for each of the new hirelings and factions, 2 new faction boards, extra pieces (score markers for older printings and extra Vagabond Relationship markers), new cards for each of the new factions and hirelings, and a new Advanced Setup System.
New Factions
Lord of the Hundreds 🚩
As the Lord of the Hundreds, you enter the forest with the goal of total control. You score Victory Points per each clearing you rule with no enemy pieces. The Lord of the Hundreds is led by one warrior called the Warlord, whose constantly changing mood grants you special abilities. To gain more actions per turn you must grow your hoard of items. To aid you in this quest, you can Incite clearings by placing a mob token. Once your next turn comes around all enemy pieces are removed and the item is added to your hoard. While this may seem easy, simply crafting items and inciting clearings, can become a thorn in your side, as once certain items are in your hoard you lose access to some moods that limit your special abilities and severely weaken you. The Lord of the Hundreds is a powerful faction when mastered, and in some games can become virtually unstoppable, but put against the Vagabond or any other faction that can recruit quickly, it can become much more challenging.
Keepers in Iron ⚔️
The Keepers in Iron are a faction of knights who are returning to the woodland in search of relics from past conflicts. Their actions are built up in a way like that of the Eyrie Dynasties, except that their Retinue is a lot more flexible. The Eyrie's Decree is resolute, and breaking it results in turmoil, whereas with the Keepers in Iron, the Retinue does not have to be fully completed, and cards in it can be shifted to suit the player's needs. The Keepers earn points by recovering relics scattered in the forests around the map. Getting all relics around the map may seem hard, but the Keepers get points exceptionally quickly, they are also powerful in battle, soaking their first hit when carrying a relic. The Keepers are an extremely intricate faction. They are most likely the hardest factions to play and can be hit hard by several large factions, especially the Underground Duchy, but once mastered and played correctly, they can become unstoppable.
Hirelings
The Hirelings are miniature factions that can be added to games with fewer players to add a new layer of strategy. Once a player reaches a certain number of points they roll the hireling die and get to keep them for a certain number of turns.
Each hireling in the Marauder Expansion represents a faction from the Root base game. If a game only has two players, there will be three Hirelings. However, if there are three players, you must demote one hireling. Demoting removes the hireling pieces from the board and replaces them with special effects that you can unlock instead. The more players are in a game, the more hirelings are demoted!
The Hirelings are a great addition to Root, adding effects here and there to the board. The only negative I see is that the Vagabond Hireling (The Bandit) can become very powerful if given enough items, but overall, they are a good way to spice up the game.
Advanced Setup
Also included in this expansion is a new way to set up games - no, I'm not joking. With so many new factions and different combinations, it would have been impossible to continue with the old form of setup. The new Advanced Setup adds much more options and customisation to setting up, allowing you to choose your starting clearings and have more control of your starting hand. But it also completely changes how factions are chosen.
Whereas in the old setup, you could choose your faction, Advanced Setup gives your group a bank of factions to choose from which can lead to much more varied and interesting games.
Overview
The Marauder Expansion is a solid new expansion to Root, adding two powerful new factions, Hirelings and a new Setup. So is it worth it? 100%. While both new factions have some issues, they are both incredible once mastered and add so much to the game. While the Hirelings are small enough additions, they can turn the tide of the games with the extra actions they provide and Advanced Setup is a great way to spice up each game. Overall I rate the Marauder Expansion...
9.5/10
About the Expansion
Root: The Marauder Expansion from Leder Games. Expansion Design: Nick Brachmann Cole Whehrle Patrick Leder Art by Kyle Ferrin Board Game Geek page 👉 Click Here (Base Game Required)
Written by Tom Conmy My LinkTree 👉 Click Here
Great review Tom, I like the sound of The Keepers in Iron.
Great review. Thanks Tom.