Why should you play the affiliation?
Asgard has a lot of cool usually high threat models with high damage potential and, most importantly, a ton of throws which is the most fun thing in this game.
Thor is also just a fan favourite character (for good reason) and you can play: Thor, Lady Thor, Horse Robot Thor, Thor's Step Brother, Thor's former lover(s), Thor's Sister and so on. A lot of them fan favourites themselves.
How to start the affiliation?
The Asgard starter set is insanely good value and comes with no less than 10 of the affiliated characters. It's an absolute no brainier to get if you want to start collecting Asgard. You have two of three leaders in there and a good mix of threats with:
Heimdall; Skurge ; Warriors Three at 3 threat
Enchantress; Valkyrie and Elendil; Lady Sif at 4 threat
Loki, Prince of Lies; The Mighty Thor; Angela at 5 threat
And Thor, Hero of Midgard at 6 threat.
There's only 5 more Asgard affiliated characters in the game at the moment and sadly they are all very hard to find. If you can find it for a decent price I'd definitely grab the older Asgard Affiliation pack with Thor, Prince of Asgard; Loki, God of Mischief; Valkyrie and Hela. And finally it has been said that Beta Ray Bill will be reprinted with his original box member Ulik (not affiliated) but we have not seen him back on the shelves for quite a long time.
What leaderships are available and what is the typical game plan?
The original Asgard leadership, Prince of Asgard, is a more durability, "anti-attrition" leadership. It keeps your models on their feet longer and makes them less vulnerable to Stagger and Stun which are Asgard's biggest enemy.
I come bearing gifts is a very good leadership you could use for every attack, defense and dodge roll. You also don't really loose the power spent and instead "pay" it to Loki. The biggest issue with the leadership is, that the Asgardians typically want to spent all their power for their abilities. Be also aware that Loki can't use the rerolls himself.
Renegade Thor of Asgardia is maybe the leadership with the lowest ceiling but has by far the highest floor as it is the only one without any power cost and not draining your power economy. You'll get the offensive reroll much more often than the defensive one typically because most of your models want to be in the thick of it but you won't ever be sorry to have a free reroll if you meet the conditions.
In terms of games plan Asgard is mostly a type 3 team regardless of the chosen leader but they can also shift to a type 2 with enough Displacement on their characters and also on the right crisis combination try all out aggression with a type 4 style squad.
Type 1: Pure Scenario team, as many VPs on the table as possible and try to win by scoring out as early as possible and with as little engagement
Type 2: Midrange Scenario team. Similar to Type 1 but can fight and chase if necessary
Type 3: Midrange Attrition team. Wants to be the beatdown but can shift to scenario play if the other side is clearly the beatdown.
Type 4: Pure Attrition team. Wants to murder you as quick as possible. Tabling is a possible and achievable goal here, but not the only way to win (they mostly score their points and deny yours by virtue of your models being dazed or KO'ed)
Who could be added to the affiliation in the future, especially as leaders?
With three leaderships out already I doubt we'll see a new one in the near future. Odin himself would be the most likely candidate if he'd ever make it into the game as a playable model.
For other characters I think Thors other brother Balder the Brave has an outside chance to come to the game.
Rating every affiliated TTC and Character
Team Tactics (9)
Deeds Worthy Of Song
D. There's four possible conditions to meet over the course of the game to fulfill and if you met two of the four you gain 2 VP in the next clean up phase. I actually would have gotten it off in my last Asgard game where four of my five characters were dazed in the same round and I KOed a 5 threat in return. But I won the game regardless of the card and playing to it will probably loose you the game. Absolutely flavourful and nothing else.
Doomed Prophecy
B+. This is a card that can both win and loose you the game if used at the right or wrong time and model. It takes some practice to figure it out.
For a Limited Time Only
C. Spending 3 power on Thor 2 is already a high price considering what he can do with it otherwise and it having to be played during his activation absolutely kills the card for me personally.
Freyja‘s Blessing
B-. It could help keep a key piece alive but defense dice can and will always betray you and you have nothing to unlock skulls.
Heart of the Worthy
B-. You'd only ever use the card if you can guarantee another Jane activation wins you the game as you won't usually throw away your 5 threat and most likely leader for a maybe.
Odin‘s Blessing
A+++. Arguably the best card in the game. Only play it when it saves an activation though.
Rainbow Bridge
A. Incredible movement tech. Don't try to be too smart with it though. If you have one good target for it use it.
Ride of the Valkyries
A-. Fantastic if you have both Valkyries on the table together. It's pretty expensive but a range 3 place and a free attack on both of them (which can trigger the additional dice for Valkyrie and Elendil) is nothing to sneeze at. Perfect as a comeback when both were dazed in the same round.
Trickster‘s Boon
B. Depends on what Splashes you bring of course but for example Bullseye can make a guaranteed VP from it when there's a target in his range that has 3 wounds remaining.
Warriors Oath
B+. Placing the Warriors Three and giving out Shock and Stun is a great deal for 2 power and you have two additional options for good effects. I'd seldom ever consider spending for multiple effects unless they are absolutely loaded with power anyway.
Characters (15)
Angela (5)
A. Angela had a fantastic glow up in the August 26 Updates and is now almost a lock for an Asgard list. It does get tricky with the amount of good 5 threats though and she is the only one without a leadership.
Beta Ray Bill (4)
A. Bill is a point scoring machine. Even if 6/6 is nowadays below the 4 threat average his paid for damage reduction means he needs to take far more damage than that to actually go down. Don't usually expect a lot of damage output from him but his two Spenders are descent on the right targets.
Enchantress (4)
B+. She has a decent beam, always on Bow, a good terrain throw and a steal. She won't typically live through a lot (though the increase to 7/6 certainly helps) but she'll have scored and/or denied a ton of points before that.
Heimdall, The All-Seeing (3)
C. Heimdall's kit simply doesn't work outside a power building (or discounting) leadership. Since he even has to pay for two of the three on offer here he sadly doesn't really fit in the affiliation as is.
Hela, Queen of Hel (4)
B-. She probably deserves a new look after getting buffed to 7/5 health, which es especially relevant on her back side. I would have loved the Soul mechanic to get more interessting but she is a decently fast damage dealer at least.
Lady Sif (4)
A. Fast, reliable, durable and offers some displacement. She's a staple here.
Loki, God of Mischief (4)
A-. Classic Loki is such a pain in your opponents butt and he's got a fantastic team up card with classic Thor in Sibling Rivalry (which should have been called Get Help). The roster is kind of cramped and he does fight against a leader version of himself so in reality he'll seldomly find his way into an Asgard list but you should at least consider it.
Loki, Prince of Lies (5)
A-. Loki 2 is a good model with a good leadership. He needs the crisis combination to be rather narrow though or he will struggle. Importantly his own activation will seldom feel impactful at all. It's what he does in your opponents turns what makes him strong.
Skurge, The Executioner (3)
B. You can look at Skurge in two ways: He's a bodyguard that is not tanky or he's a good damage dealer that is able to take an important punch unto him even if it kills him.
The Mighty Thor (5)
A-. Jane is a very good character overall being tanky, relatively fast with her charge and she adds a good leadership. Her spender is a bit dangerous for your own models and she lacks guaranteed control.
Thor, Hero of Midgard (6)
A. Thor 2 is back to being a good but not overtuned 6 threat again. He is basically a pure damage machine, but the top end has been reigned in a lot through the collision damage changes.
Thor, Prince of Asgard (5)
A+. Thor 1 is awesome. He kind of does everything: damage, control and being very tanky. For me still the best affiliated model in Asgard.
Valkyrie (3)
B+. Valk is fast, has decent attacks and some control. In return she has no defenses outside a 6/6 health pool. She's still the affiliated 3 threat of choice most of the time.
Valkyrie and Elendil (4)
A. One of the most fun models to play in the game. The duo is pure offensive killing power and little else (they can also place a friend which can be huge for for example Thor 2). Getting updatet to 7/7 health has made their biggest weakness less of an issue and it gives them more chances to trigger their heal.
Warriots Three (3)
B+. Probably now challenging Valkyrie for the affiliated 3 threat spot the most.
Popular Splash Characters for the affiliation
Being as they already very tall and covered for 4+ threats splashes in Asgard will usually be of lower threat.
Wong (2)
A. While I personally simply can't play Wong well even in his affiliated places there's an undeniable synergy between him and many of the Asgardians needing exactly one extra power to have access to their best abilities.
Rocket (2)
B+. Rocket is super cheap long range firepower and back point sitting. He's also harder to bring kill than you'd think.
Luke Cage (3)
A. Luke isn't exactly a spicy pick here either of course as he's simply the best 3 threat bodyguard and can protect an important activation of your Thor (which ever flavour you like, Prince, Hero or Lady).
Example Roster
This one uses the fantastic starter set and forgoes the hard to find older Asgard minis. It's more of a starter roster than a fine tuned competitive one. It can probably hold it's own anyway though.
Characters (10)
Angela (5)
Enchantress (4)
Heimdall, The All-Seeing (3)
Lady Sif (4)
* Loki, Prince of Lies (5)
Skurge, The Executioner (3)
* The Mighty Thor (5)
Thor, Hero of Midgard (6)
Valkyrie and Elendil (4)
Warriors Three (3)
Team Tactics (10)
Doomed Prophecy
Giant‘s Blood
Meet My Executioner
Odin's Blessing
Rainbow Bridge
Ride of the Valkyries
Warriors‘ Oath
Patch Up (R)
Sacrifice (R)
Heart of the Worthy
Secure Crisis
Wedding Party Targeted in Terrible Attack! (R, 20)
Mutant Madman Turns City Into Lethal Amusement Park (B, 18)
Lockdown! Security Systems Stymie Breakout (S, 18)
X-Men Infiltrate Secret Weapons Facility (X, 17)
Deadly Meteors Mutate Civilians (I, 17)
Extract Crisis
Surprise Assault! Mutant Homes Destroyed (U, 16)
Sentinel Schematics Sabotaged! (AC, 17)
Inhumans Deploy Advanced Weaponry (O, 18)
Evidence of Experimental Soldiers Exposed! (AB, 19)
Skrulls Infiltrate World Leadership (J, 20)
Comic Recommendations:
I enjoyed the War of the Realms event quite a bit and the current Immortal Thor run is also very good.
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Thank you for reading and Cheers from Germany 🍻
Thank you! Looking forward to reading the other updated overviews!
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