Basic home setup with several desktops and a few laptops. No servers. No AD. But I want to use Group Policy to govern some minor desktop stuff like wallpapers, logos, etc. Can this be achieved without servers?
Is group policy and local policy the same thing? Does this apply here?
You could just set the policies you want direct via the registry, and skip all the policy editors altogether. An excellent laid out catalog of those registry settings here.
https://admx.help/
From there you can use anything form powershell remoting, ssh, or a myriad of patch management solutions, which on the lower count of endpoints in a home lab, would likely come out with a full functional free system. A good collection of those here on g2 for side by side comparison.
Obviously AD/GPO is worth learning, but so is the underlying structure of WHAT it does, so you can build bridges and better understand/support those policy systems as you move into that.