Root year 3 saw an introduction to advanced setup as the default format. Of 15 games played, only 1 heat was not played using advanced setup. I greatly appreciated players willingness to try out a slight setup difference and to explore some factions they had not otherwise tried before.
This proved true in the data as The Lord of the Hundreds were picked all 8 times, they were available in the faction draft. The Lizards and Otters however were rarely picked. The Lizards appeared in 3 drafts and were picked once. The otters appeared only twice and were not picked at all. Other popular picks were the Cats who were present in 11 of the drafts and were selected 10 times.
Faction Diversity |
Faction |
Times Available |
% Picked |
Rats | 8 | 100% |
Vagabond | 8 | 100% |
Cats | 11 | 90% |
Moles | 8 | 88% |
Woodland | 10 | 80% |
Badgers | 8 | 75% |
Birds | 8 | 75% |
Crows | 6 | 67% |
Lizards | 3 | 33% |
Others | 2 | 0% |
The base game Militant factions of the Cats and Birds really struggled. Cats were played 10 times and won once, while Birds were played 6 times and were winless. The Rats however saw a huge win rate winning 6 out of 8 times played.
Faction Win Rates |
Faction |
Wins |
Times Played |
Win % |
Rats | 6 | 8 | 75% |
Badgers | 2 | 6 | 33% |
Moles | 2 | 7 | 29% |
Vagabond | 2 | 8 | 25% |
Woodland | 2 | 8 | 25% |
Crows | 1 | 4 | 25% |
Cats | 1 | 10 | 10% |
Birds | 0 | 6 | 0% |
Lizards | 0 | 1 | 0% |
The Final table was a tight game with all players a turn away from a win. The game was played on the Mountain map. Eric Moffit started the draft selecting the Adventurer Vagabond. Bradford selected the Cats in the third seat. Eventual winner Nick Henning selected the Badgers and Felicia Alfieri wrapped up the draft selecting the Rats.
Items were crafted early and often with Felicia crafting root tea on her first turn to get an extra prowess action for the duration of the game. Not too long later, Bradford’s Cats crafted the other tea. The Vagabond failed to aid the Cats however and the Rats were able to loot the cats to get the second root tea. All the while, Nick jumped out to an early 4 point lead controlling the pass.
The Rats handled some badger extermination to oppress a considerable amount of the board while the cats slowly built up a considerable army. The game featured a mutually beneficial relationship between Vagabond and Cats. The Cats were quick to craft items while the Vagabond handed over card after card for them.
Tension was building as after turn 6, all factions hovered in the 15-20 VP range. Felicia attempted a push on her next turn getting up to 22 VP. Nick followed up with a considerable jump to 27 VP after crafting the only coins gained in this game but was very vulnerable and had little presence. The Cats retaliated with some attacks and builds getting up to 25 VP. Vagabond was fully stocked on swords but every other item was damaged, getting himself up to 22 points after killing some Cats. The Rats final turn came up just a couple points short reaching 28 VP. Nick, with a single badger and an empty clearing, managed to encamp, recruit, delve and then recover for his final 3 points.
Leder games sponsored the event offering players who made the final table credit to their webstore. Players completed the round to reach an equal number of turns to produce the final order:
- Nick Henning - Badgers: $100 credit
- Bradford McCandless - Cats: $75 credit
- Felicia Alfieri - Rats: $50 credit
- Eric Moffitt - Vagabond: $25 credit
Thank you to everyone who helped run the event, specifically my assistants Jared Boyce, Felicia Alfieri, and Joel Tamburo. Next year I hope to have even more players attend, another prize sponsored by Leder games, and to remember to pass out the abundance of Root stickers my wife made for me to give away.
|
|
|
Early stages in Root Heat. |
What should my next move be? |
|
|
An intense game of Root. |
Finalists posing for picture with GM Luke McKinnes. |
|