Why should you play the affiliation?
Asgard has a lot of cool usually high threat models with high damage potential and, most importantly, a tonne of throws which is the best thing in this game. For both fun and winning games.
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?
While there is an affiliation pack I would probably not start with that but with the newer four character pack that includes Jane Foster, Thor, Hero of Midgard, Lady Sif and Loki, Prince of Lies. It includes two leaders in Jane and Loki 2, a very good affiliated 4 threat and your very own (possibly slightly overtuned) Kaiju in Thor 2. Next you'll probably want to get Beta Ray Bill and Ulik (unaffiliated). Ulik will probably not make your Asgard roster as it's already loaded with affiliated 5s but he's a great character to own anyway. And Bill will be one of your most played models in the affiliation.
After that I'd grab the original affiliation pack. It comes with Thor, Prince of Asgard (leader), Valkyrie, Loki, God of Mischief and Hela. Be sure to get Thors and Helas updated stat cards from Jarvis or the AMG website. Both got a nice glow up on 2023.
Heimdall and Skurge should be next on your shopping list even though Heimdall sadly doesn't really function under any of the available leaders here.
And lastly you can consider my absolute favourite Asgardian in Enchantress (updated stat card) and another affiliated 5 in Angela.
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.
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 the Warriors Three are by far the most likely to get released and it would surely be on a 50 to maybe 65mm base with one combined profile like the Howling Commandos or the Wrecking Crew.
Rating every affiliated TTC and Character
Team Tactics (7)
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.
Trickster‘s Boon
A-. 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.
Characters (13)
Angela (5)
B-. Angela, like in basically all her affiliated places, is struggling to make it into lists because of the other in faction 5 threat choices. Here all three other options are also leaders leaving her very much dead last on that list. She does bring an affiliated safe grab which is at least something but in the end that usually isn't what you really need here.
Beta Ray Bill (4)
A+. Some might say he is too good and while I wouldn't agree with that as his average damage output is far below 4 threat average but his defenses are also pretty far above the standard. He's a point scoring machine with some added control. Loosing Eyes on the Prize is also a big blessing in disguise for Bill as using the card with him was almost always the wrong play. He is usually just fine on the midline and has his Throw online while being somewhere relevant without it.
Enchantress (4)
A. Unironcally Amora is fantastic. People that have known her pre her nerf might not see much in her anymore but are plain and simply wrong for it. She has a decent beam, always on Bow, a good terrain throw and a steal. She won't typically live through a lot but she'll have scored and or denied a tonne 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-. In stark contrast to Bill, Hela absolutely hates the rotation of Eyes. She was by far the best user of the card, especially here in affiliation. Nowadays she kind of struggles for a role. She's a fine 4 threat with decent long range fire support and some added mobility. But seeing what Mummy does with his Souls makes Helas mechanic with them just sad.
Lady Sif (4)
A. Fast, reliable, durable. She'd be a staple here and should be played more even as a splash if Baron Zero and Shang-Chi wouldn't do her job either cheaper or more efficient. Personally I frequently run her over Bill and have basically never regretted the decision but your milage may vary heavily 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. I absolutely wouldn't bother sticking a stone on him though even if that makes him a safe grab. He's already weak defensively for a 4, as a 5 this gets completely out of hand.
Loki, Prince of Lies (5)
A-. Loki 2 is a good model with a good leadership. But just like Klaw he is absolutely based around having his leadership available to him. He'll be a disappointment under the other leaders but he's very good under his own.
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. He's not as much a staple of the list for me as he was before the new box but he still has his uses.
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 the single highest damage output model in the game. It's not unlikely that he will be touched soon. I think making his Builder a Gainer to avoid having him easy access to the Pounce and the Throw each round could be one way of touching him without overcorrection. He is Thor so he should be good. Just maybe not that good.
Update: the nerf has happened and he's down to A- level. Which is obviously still very good but not any longer too good.
Thor, Prince of Asgard (5)
A+. Thor 1 is awesome. He kind of does everything and is the single best model on Major Fisk, a crisis often claimed to be an Asgard counter. Erich from Austria and I always loved him and he never left our Asgard rosters and it seems that he becomes more popular again with the wider community as well as he has answers to some situations Thor 2 just doesn't. Thor 1s biggest issue was and is his dice consistency. Thankfully you have two leaderships that help with that now. He is the factions second strongest model behind his own 6 threat version and maybe the reason we haven't seen something of a multiverse TTC or something that allows you to take multiple characters with the same alter ego in the squad. Spoilers!!!: Even though that is exactly what Thor did to defeat Malekith in War of the Realms.
Valkyrie (3)
B+. Valk is fast, has decent attacks and some control. In return she has no defenses outside a 6/5 health pool. She's still the affiliated 3 threat of choice most of the time.
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. Evergreen always good characters wherever you put them like Baron Zemo and Shang-Chi work well here because of course they do.
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
Characters (10)
Beta Ray Bill (4)
Enchantress (4)
Lady Sif (4)
* Loki, Prince of Lies (5)
* The Mighty Thor (5)
Thor, Hero of Midgard (6)
* Thor, Prince of Asgard (5)
Valkyrie (3)
Luke Cage (3)
Wong (2)
Team Tactics (10)
Doomed Prophecy
Heart of the Worthy
Odin‘s Blessing
Rainbow Bridge
Giant‘s Blood
Heroes for Hire
Brace for Impact (R)
Patch Up (R)
Recalibration Matrix
Warpath
Secure Crisis
Deadly Meteors Mutate Civilians (I, 17)
Guardians Save Shi‘ar Empress in Style (M, 17)
Mutant Madman Turns City Into Lethal Amusement Park (B, 18)
Extract Crisis
The Montesi Formula Found (E, 18)
Deadly Legacy Virus Cured? (C, 19)
Scientific Samples Found in Discovered Universe (D, 17)
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 🍻
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