The Home link was previously just taking you to the same place as the "New Posts" link. If you prefer that, you can just bookmark that page and go directly there. I think it's nice to have alternatives. Personally I prefer the simpler list without all the other info.
I think a Home page ought to be a bit more oriented toward new users as that's where they will wind up when navigating to bostonreefers.org for the first time. Plus, I imagine we're going to add some widgets above the Latest Posts block on the home page (featured threads, tank of the month, etc.) so the Latest Posts on the home page will get pushed down below the fold making it less ideal for seeing the new posts.