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Marquise de Cat

Industrial empire builders who control the woodland through economic might and military force

Beginner
Base Game
Military Control
Economic Engine
Building Strategy
Complexity
2/5
🎯 Win Condition

Score 30 points by placing buildings (VP based on track position) and crafting items

⚙️ Crafting Method

Craft during Daylight by activating workshops

🎲 Starting Position

Keep in one corner clearing, 1 warrior in each clearing except diagonally opposite corner, 1 sawmill, 1 workshop, and 1 recruiter in keep clearing or adjacent

Overview

The Marquise de Cat is the perfect faction for new players. They start with the most pieces on the board and have a straightforward strategy focused on building and protecting their industrial engine. The Marquise wins by establishing sawmills and workshops across the woodland, generating consistent victory points through building and crafting.

Faction Board

Faction Board
Official player board reference from Root Wiki • Hover over phase sections for details
Marquise de Cat faction board
Hover to learn about each phase

🎓 Step-by-Step Walkthrough

Marquise de Cat Walkthrough

Setup & Control Region

Establish your starting position and identify your control region - clearings you can reinforce with a single move from your keep. This is your core territory that you can actually defend throughout the game. You are NOT the table police - focus on YOUR scoring engine. First 3 turns are your window to build before opponents establish engines.
•Place keep in corner clearing
•Identify control region (clearings within 1 move of keep)
•Plan first 3 turns - critical window before opponents come online

Early Game Engine (Turns 1-3)

Build your economic engine quickly during your critical 3-turn window. Turn 1 template: Build sawmill + Overwork + Build recruiter. Focus on sawmills for scoring (not recruiters). Only need 3 recruiters total. Build within control region for defense.
•Turn 1: Build + Overwork + Build (sawmill + recruiter)
•Sawmills score points, recruiters just make warriors
•Only need 3 recruiters TOTAL in entire game
•Consolidating on turn 1 wastes time and hands half map to opponents

Passive Policing

Use passive policing instead of active fighting. Place warriors between opponents and their goals, making THEM spend resources to move you. This is far more efficient than actively battling, which benefits other players. You have weakest action economy - can't afford to police actively.
•Passive policing = placing between opponents and goals
•Active policing benefits other players
•Build recruiters in strategic locations to maintain presence
•Against Woodland Alliance: control their turn 2 revolt, remove starting sympathy early

Mid Game Building

Continue building sawmills to increase VP per build. Each new building scores more points than the last. Protect your sawmills - losing them cripples your economy. Craft high-value items for VP and benefits. More buildings = more VP per build (exponential scoring).
•Build sawmills consistently (each build scores more VP)
•Protect sawmills with multiple warriors
•Crafting ability is actually bad compared to other factions
•Don't pursue dominance - progress resets every turn

End Game Cat Ball

Consolidate your forces into a defensive cat ball - a concentrated mass of warriors protecting your core buildings. Focus on crafting and building in safe clearings. Use Field Hospitals aggressively to maintain presence. Field Hospitals can turn losses into advantages.
•Consolidate warriors into defensible positions
•Protect core sawmills and workshops
•Craft items for final VP push
•Sacrifice outlying buildings to protect core
•Cost of shutting down opponents accelerates - should have tripped them up early

💡 Tip: Hover over highlighted game terms to see detailed explanations and related mechanics.

Mechanics & Strategy

Unique Mechanics
Special abilities and rules that define this faction

The Keep

Only you can place pieces in the clearing with the keep token. Other players cannot place pieces there. If the keep is removed, there is no way to place it again. (3rd Printing Clarification)

Law of Root 6.2.2

Field Hospitals

Whenever any Marquise warriors are removed, you may spend a card matching their clearing to place those warriors in the clearing with the keep token. This applies to warriors removed from battle, cards, or any other effect. (3rd Printing Clarification)

Law of Root 6.2.3

Wood Economy

Generate wood from sawmills each Birdsong. To build, spend wood from the target clearing, adjacent clearings you rule, or clearings connected through clearings you rule.

Overwork

Spend a card matching a sawmill's clearing to place one wood token there. Useful when you need extra wood but have no sawmills producing in the right locations.

Bird Card Bonus

During Daylight, spend bird cards (not as part of an action) to gain +1 action per bird card spent, beyond your base 3 actions.

Turn Order
Actions available in each phase

Early Game

  • Build 2-3 sawmills quickly for wood income
  • Place buildings to score increasing VP (later buildings score more)
  • Protect your keep at all costs
  • Get 1-2 recruiters for warrior production

Mid Game

  • Maximize VP by placing buildings (each new building scores more than the last)
  • Craft items for VP and benefits
  • Maintain military pressure
  • Control key clearings with multiple buildings

Late Game

  • Score VP through building placement and crafting
  • Craft items for final VP push
  • Maintain board presence
  • Defend against kingmaker attacks

Strengths & Weaknesses

💪 Strengths
  • +Strongest starting position with most pieces on board
  • +Consistent VP generation through building placement (more buildings = more VP per build)
  • +Straightforward, easy to understand mechanics
  • +Field Hospitals provide resilience in combat
  • +Strong military presence throughout the game
  • +Can build multiple buildings per turn with enough wood
⚠️ Weaknesses
  • -Vulnerable to guerrilla warfare (Woodland Alliance)
  • -Predictable strategy makes you a target
  • -Limited mobility compared to other factions
  • -Heavily dependent on protecting buildings
  • -Struggles in late game against established factions
  • -Losing sawmills cripples your economy
  • -Must control clearings to protect buildings and wood supply
🤝 Synergies
  • • Works well in games with passive factions early
  • • Can leverage Riverfolk services effectively
🛡️ Hard Counters
  • • Woodland Alliance (guerrilla warfare)
  • • Lizard Cult (rule stealing with gardens)
  • • Vagabond (surgical strikes on buildings)

🎬 Video Guides

Watch & Learn (3 videos)
Expert tutorials to master Marquise de Cat