Why should you play the affiliation?
Despite her rather bad D+ show She-Hulk is a cool character and the original (and much funnier) 4th wall breaker. And here she is the main star supported by a bunch of awesome strong women that will punch out anyone who dares stand in their way (in theory).
On the table A-Force are often focused around a bodyguard puzzle you create for your opponent.
How to start the affiliation
Starting A-Force is a bit awkward as She-Hulk, your only available leader nowadays comes in the "Captain America and the Avengers" pack alongside Sam Wilson, War Machine, Ant-Man and Wasp. While especially Captain America (Sam) is a super useful model to have in your collection, only Wasp is another A-Force affiliated model in the pack. Luckily there is a lot of overlap between Avengers and A-Force so it's probably a good start to have a roster using both.
Next up I'd recommend the Wakanda affiliation pack, if you can still find it. It comes with Okoye who is basically an every game model here, Shuri as an interesting affiliated 3 threat and useful splashes Killmonger and Black Panther. The dual with Wakanda is also easily done. From here on out you have a lot of choices:
The Asgardian Starter Set is probably an interesting option: it includes Angela, probably nowadays a core choice and The Mighty Thor (another great affiliated 5 threat). On top of everything you need to play it also includes theme and play style fitting Valkyrie and Elendil as well as Lady Sif. And of course also Loki, Prince of Lies; Thor, Hero of Midgard; Heimdall, the All Seeing (who could be an interesting splash for A-Force); Skurge, the Executioner; Enchantress and the Warriors Three.
Finally I'd look to pick up the Inhuman Affiliation Pack for Medusa and Crystal which also comes with Black Bolt and Lockjaw.
With these you have a very solid A-Force core and can branch out what ever way you like as well as having starts to Avengers, Inhumans, Wakanda and most of the Affiliation for Asgard.
Whichever lane you pick: be sure to use the updated Stat cards from August 26.
What leaderships are available and what is the typical game plan?
Defenders of Arcadia might very well be my favourite leadership in the game. As long as you can force your opponent to interact with you (which can be hard to do against type 1 teams) you'll gain a massive amount of extra power over the course of a game and that simply makes every character better at what they do, which in turn makes them more fun to play.
As for game plan A-Force are probably a type 2 most of the time but can, and sometimes have to, pivot to type 1 and play a super wide game without even bringing She-Hulk to the table.
If they bring her your typical style will be: go grab extracts early and then bunker up and force your opponent to come into your death zone.
The affiliated models do allow for a type 3 plan in focusing on murder first but you'll have to be prepared to loose your leadership rather quickly that way. The update to She-Hulk might make it more reasonable nowadays.
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?
Otherwise there isn't a clear pattern of who gets in or not here. Every new releasing female character has a chance to end up here. But A-Force doesn't struggle for good affiliated models. It does for tactical flexibility.
Rating every affiliated TTC and Character
Team Tactics (3)
A-Force Assemble!
A. A great card that you'll use in almost all of your A-Force games. Essential for playing a super wide squad that forgoes She-Hulk (and thus a leadership), which can sometimes be the best route to take.
Special Delivery
A. Out of action and even activation movement and an attack for She-Hulk is always worth it. Just be sure not to drop her into her certain doom. Despite it's super good effect not an every game card. Be sure to have an affiliated flyer when you pick it for your 5!
Stalwart Determination
A. This turns off a ton of control for an entire round. Maybe my personal favourite TTC in the game.
Characters (22)
Angela (5)
A. Angela is super fast and has good damage output with additional movement on both her free attacks and a Spender that gains additional dice based on the targets threat level. Nowadays probably your number 1 Special Delivery candidate and a natural safe grab on top of that. 7/7 health 4/4/4 defenses and no rerolls into her make her decently survivable but maybe She-Hulk or Okoye should take the occasional hit for her.
Black Cat (3)
A. Seeing how she didn't get an anything in the August 26 update you might be tricked into thinking she is worse now. You'd be wrong. Some characters have come closer to her but she is still super fast, has guaranteed Stagger on her Spender, a steal (which is less relevant at the moment) and an insane combination of defensive mechanics. You'll never feel bad for running her outside of a pure type 4 all out damage game plan to which she could not contribute at all.
Black Widow (2)
B+. She's a fast affiliated 2 threat with Stealth and Martial Artist.
Black Widow, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. (3)
B+. Maybe the best model you'll absolutely never play. Widow 2 is honestly pretty good with automatic rapid fire, stealth, a sizeless push on her spender, Interrogate and Parting Shot. Her biggest issue is being a Natasha Romanov of which you have two more in affiliation.
Captain Marvel (4)
B-. Classic Carol has a bit of a bad reputation but she's very good here where you can funnel her the power to use her great abilities. The biggest knack I have against her is that she feels nothing like the Carol you know from the comics and movies. Luckily there's a solution for that:
Captain Marvel, Cosmic Avenger (5)
B-. Cosmic Carol might not be the defacto better Carol but she feels very much like the one you know and love and she works nowhere better than here where you can all but guarantee she'll transform round 2. And using Special Delivery with her Charge is a ton of fun.
Crystal (3)
B+. Crystal is a fast affiliated flyer, so good for Special Delivery, she has decent attacks but tended to die quickly. Now at 6/6 definitely worth another look.
Domino (3)
A-. A fantastic single target damage dealer who is deceptively tanky herself. She does struggle to keep up with the rest of the team but that isn't a super big issue.
Gamora (4)
B+. Gamora is fast and deadly. At 7/7 and with her Stealth she could now finally stay on the board longer to be more impactful.
Gwenpool (4)
A-. A terrible character in the comics but an incredible ball of stats in the game. She also comes with an amazing TTC in They Say Keep Your Enemies Close (also useable by Squirrel Girl). Her update gave her a bit of extra help and the ability to drop an objective to use her range 3 place making it easier to use when you want it.
Medusa (4)
A. Strong offensively, offers control, is tankier than you'd think at 7/7 and turning off rerolls against her and has a way of moving allies which is especially nice for She-Hulk.
Okoye (2)
A. Is basically stapled to She-Hulk. I still think you'll never play Jen without her if you have any way to make it work.
Rescue (3)
B+. Rescue has very hard ups and downs between games. She can quickly explode herself and sometimes you don't get the triggers for her healing, but when you do it can absolutely drive your opponent up the wall.
Scarlet Witch (5)
B-. I love Wanda but she struggles to fill a role here. She's showing her age a bit. She has big damage potential but so little action economy that it can be hard to reach that potential.
She-Hulk (6)
B+. She-Hulk got a very important buff in the August 26 update which was 4 physical defense. She also now is 10/10 instead of 20/0 which I still think is mostly better but can sometimes be worse because she isn't always healthy anymore which is import for securing objectives. She's your only leader and you should train to play her well, otherwise you won't see a lot of success with A-Force.
Shuri (3)
A-. A great back point sitter that offers secure control and a reroll bubble. She won't contribute to any attrition herself though.
Spider-Woman (4)
A. Jess is fast, strong, super durable and brings an objective steal on her spender.
Squirrel Girl (4)
B. Squirrel Girl is an interesting and very unique character. She is fighting with a lot of good 4s here but I'd not fault anyone for including her. She has good attacks with her rerolls and has a built in "I don't die" mechanic which can be clutch late in the game. Her spender is great too.
Storm (3)
B+. Often overlooked when she's not leading the X-Men, Storm is a good 3 threat in her own right. And here you can funnel her the power to more often throw and Eye of the Storm.
The Black Widow (4)
A-. One of the best characters in the game to run onto the midline and grab an extract and simply not die or at least not having the opponent take it.
The Mighty Thor (5)
A. Jane and Jen were the last dream team. No other affiliated Flyer will be able to charge earlier in the game. A top of round 2 For Midgard Charge that has a She-Hulk Special Delivery'ed into the enemy face sounds rather nice. But she has probably lost her role to Angela nowadays (though having both in the list can also be good).
Valkyrie (3)
B+. Valkyrie is fast and has a high damage potential and some control. She will die rather quickly though, is even after getting updated to 6/6.
Wasp (3)
B+. A super fast, cheap flyer with more damage output than you'd think between her awesome tiny form spender and the size 3 terrain throw. She can now finally hold extracts when tiny making her even more useful.
Popular splash characters for the affiliation
Basically every character that is designed around not having enough power to use it's full kit loves this leadership. Some of my favourite here are:
Sabretooth, Apex Predator (4)
A. Apex has a fantastic kit including a pounce, a throw and great attacks. And here is able to use it constantly.
Frankenstein's Monster (4)
B-. I love Frank but he really struggles to pay for his abilities. This leadership turns him on a lot more.
Abomination (5)
A. ABomb is fantastic on his stat card alone. He's based around having Gainers so once again the leadership increases his ability to use his full kit.
Spectacular Spider-Man (3)
A. Notice a trend here? Spectacular is based around having awesome superpowers and Gainers making him super reliable but usually unable to use everything on his card.
Example Roster
Characters (10)
* She-Hulk (6)
Angela (5)
Black Cat (3)
Crystal (3)
Medusa (4)
Okoye (2)
Rescue (3)
Shuri (3)
Spider-Woman (4)
Wasp (3)
Team Tactics (10)
A-Force Assemble!
Patch Up (R)
Pym Particles
Special Delivery
Sacrifice (R)
Stalwart Determination
The Best Defense
Warpath
Recalibration Matrix
Double Agent
Secure Crisis
Lockdown! Security Systems Stymie Breakout (S, 18)
Mutant Madman Turns City Into Lethal Amusement Park (B, 18)
Power Overload! Factory Goes Up in Flames (Y, 19)
Survivors Search for Safe Shelters (Z, 20)
Wedding Party Targeted in Terrible Attack! (R, 20)
Extract Crisis
Inhumans Deploy Advanced Weaponry (O, 18)
Salvaged Supplies Fuel Resistance Efforts (AA, 18)
Evidence of Experimental Soldiers Exposed! (AB, 19)
Skrulls Infiltrate World Leadership (J, 20)
Jailbreak Leads to Mass Mutant Escape! (T, 20)
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