Why should you play the affiliation?
Guardians are a fan favourite from their movies (Guardians 1 and 3 being among my favourite MCU movies, too) and they are a cool team of space randos that are out to somehow do the right thing, which is great.
In the comics they are even far cooler than in their movies, especially in the initial Abnett/ Lanning run.
On the table Guardians are a long range, high damage output team, that has a few additional tricks on board their spaceship, including a bunch of awesome TTCs.
How to start the affiliation
You get the absolutely fantastic Guardians of the Galaxy Starter Set and combine it with the Adam Warlock, Quasar and Moondragon character pack. It's really as simple as that.
Down the line you can think about the Web Swinging Heroes Affiliation Pack for Agent Vemom and the Asgard Starter Set pairs extremely well with the GotG one.
What leaderships are available and what is the typical game plan
Winging It is an interesting leadership that rewards playing tall (fewer high threat models) instead of wide (more low threat models) which feels counter intuitive to the cheap core you can field with the affiliation. This absolutely is the place to make any high threat model you like shine.
Cosmic Awareness is plain and simply my favorite leadership in the entire game. It reads a bit more complicated than it actually is. What it boils down to is: once per turn (yours and theirs) you can replace a dice in your roll with what you have saved on the card. This is very powerful and you should aim to use it in every single turn. While it's cute to use it for banking wilds for triggers it's baseline is: rolled a block on offense or a hit on defense: change it out for the other one. It helps with dice consistency in a way a reroll (like Winging It) can not even dream of. Why would you not simply absolutely always use this leadership instead then? Because it is attacked to a 7 threat (that, as we'll see further down is mostly played as an 8 and could even be a 9) and costs a TTC spot.
Traditionally Guardians were a type 4 team that tried to murder you as fast as they could while they brought Crisis cards that scored as few VP as possible to not have the opponent score out before they could murder them. Nowadays they are often more of a type 3 where they bring some more control and scenario play with the likes of Beta Ray Bill, Agent Venom and most importantly Nova, who offer control on top of damage output.
(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? Most of the original (Comic) Guardians are in the game now with only Major Victory, Mantis, Cosmo and arguably Bug (that was before they called themselves Guardians) missing. That be a day one purchase 4 pack for me, thank you very much AMG 😉
The first 3 here could have some reasoning to be leaders (with Mantis having the least claim).
We could also potentially see new versions of Rocket and Groot on a single base (an example often used by Will Shick), that could be a leader as Rocket has done it several times.
There's also a laundry list of characters in the game that have been on the team in the 616 but not in MCP (not officially yet, the 317):
Tony Stark
Carol Danvers
Ant-Man
Ben Grimm (not yet in the game but seeing as 2027 is supposed to be a "Fantastic" year and MCA04 will come out during the year I'd be very surprised if that stays this way for too long now).
Rating every affiliated TTC and Character
Team Tactics (3+5)
Foreign Assignment
A. If you bring Agent Venom in your squad you should very strongly consider using the card in your 5. Every effect here is great and worth the two power but it's especially great if you can pay four to trigger both Star-Lord and Rocket which results in two free attacks and two free moves without costing a single action.
Galaxy‘s Greatest
A. While having your models dazed isn't exactly something you're planing to do it will happen regardless and them coming back with an additional dice for every attack and defense roll is very potent. The most difficult decision here is when to play the card.
Lovable Misfits
B+. An underloved card for the randomness of the effects but 7/8 effects here are good and even the AoE Stun can be OK if it gets Stun on some enemy models as well. It is also basically pure upside with Agent Venom who can just remove the Stun from himself with a power.
Unaffiliated cards that will be important to note here regardless:
Call for Backup
A-. You might have trouble fitting the card in the 5 but it is a great scenario control card for Nova.
Daughters of Thanos (updated TTC found on Jarvis or AMGs website)
B. You are never more likely to have both Sisters on the table than here and them now only paying one power each makes this more interesting.
Deadly Duo
A. Three actionless attacks are three actionless attacks.
Plundered Goods
B. Yondus card is pretty good with the problem being that he'd have to be in range 3 multiple enemy characters which he kind of never wants to be.
Veterans of the Annihilation War
B. You are also never more likely to have both Nova and Gamora on the table than here. The effect is very strong for Gamora and decent for Nova and it costs them nothing to play the card.
Characters (13)
Adam Warlock (7/8/9)
A. You have to factor in the Bonded Soul Gem he can take without increasing his threat. It makes him close to impossible to get rid off and probably the most survivable model in the game combined with his innate damage reduction to 0, Shields and on the Card Recall.
Adam is usually run with a second Gem as an 8 threat and my clear cut favorite second Gem for him is the Space Gem. While he does have a superpower Range 2 place on his card two is simply better than one and allows him to basically never spend an action on walking anywhere.
Possibly more popular is the Reality Gem for which he doesn't have to pay making his dice just straight better. It's also strong but in my experience making 2 attacks without Reality Gem is better than having to walk to make one.
Mind Gem gives him reliable Displacement which is also very strong.
If you're crazy enough to do it you can leave the Bonded Soul Gem at home and take two of the other ones and make him a 9 threat. I would not recommend it but it is technically possible and makes him the single highest threat model in the game.
Agent Venom (4)
A. One of the most fun models to play in the game and here might be his best home, too.
Angela (5)
A+. After her Update Angela is very very good. She's a natural safe midline extract grabber and a menace in offensive output.
Beta Ray Bill (4)
A-. Bill is your surviver and control 4. His damage output isn't especially great but that is also simply not his job. He helps you keep up with the VPs before your attrition takes over the game.
Cosmic Ghost Rider (6)
A-. CGR got toned down a lot with his nerf and is now fine. He has good, mobility, damage output and control in exchange for often not being able to play the scenario game at all. If he rolls into a bit of power and/or has taken some damage he can still place up to range 5 and then shoot range 4. No one on the board is safe from him.
Drax the Destroyer (3)
B-. Drax' biggest problem is his lacking mobility. He has a great throw and decent attacks while being rather survivable.
Gamora (4)
B+. Gamora is the most glass cannon 4 available here but she has very high damage potential and is pretty fast. With 7/7 now she might be worth another look.
Groot (3)
B+. Groot has the single best spender in the game with really no competition at all. He'll usually won't get to use it much is the problem. He's rather slow but has good reach on his builder and can heal himself. He does struggle against teams with a lot of Energy attacks and those are pretty popular at the moment making it a tough world for poor old Punk Rocker Groot (seriously read the comics, Groot even wears a Mohawk as a regrowing teenager).
Moondragon (3/4)
A. Moondragon is fast, tanky in close range and is a good support piece. She's way stronger with the Mind Gem but here in Guardians I prefer her without it as the options at 4 threat are among the best in the game while at 3 it's pretty slim pickens.
Nebula (2)
B+. Nebula can't play the scenario herself but is excellent at chasing an extract carriers.
Nova (5)
A. Richard Rider is a great damage output affiliated 5 that brings good control on top of the damage. He's also by far my favorite character in all of Marvel!
Quasar (4)
B+. Phyla-Vel is rather tanky, middeling fast and has good attacks. She's your best option for a midline brawler 4.
Rocket Raccoon (2)
A. Range 5, 5 dice Energy attacks from a 2 threat. Don't feel locked into always bringing Groot with him.
Ronan the Accuser (4)
B. Ronan is a great tech piece when size 4 characters terrorise you as he controls them very good. But Bill does that too while being more survivable. Ronan has much higher damage output though.
* Star-Lord (3)
A. Peter is excellent under his own leadership which is great because you're playing him a lot. He also likes Cosmic Awareness and is usually your first 3 threat even under Adam Warlock. Never think about giving him the power stone. It's a waste of threat.
Yondu (4)
A. Yondus brings another range 5 energy shot often with a reroll and his in-built mission objective is very strong too. He does more of the same of what you're already doing but he furthers the game plan with it.
Popular Splash Characters for the affiliation
It depends on who you plan to be your main leader or if you want to bring both. A pure Star-Lord list makes great use of a single Kaiju like Hulkbuster or Gladiator. Adam Warlock prefers models with important triggers. Neither absolutely needs any splash characters at all to be sure though. Nova and now Angela do most of the heavy lifting anyway.
Example Roster
This roster uses only the Starter Set and the Adam Warlock, Moondragon and Quasar character pack.
Characters (10)
* Adam Warlock (Bonded Soul, Space) (8)
Drax the Destroyer (3)
Gamora (4)
Groot (3)
Moondragon (3)
Nova (5)
Quasar (4)
Rocket Raccoon (2)
* Star-Lord (3)
Yondu (4)
Team Tactics (10)
Call for Backup
Cosmic Awareness
Deadly Duo
Fall Back (R)
Galaxy‘s Greatest
Indomitable (R)
Lovable Misfits
Power Couple
Plundered Goods
Veterans of the Annihilation War
Secure Crisis
Assault Ships Make Sweeping Search! (W, 16)
Guardians Save Shi‘ar Empress in Style (M, 17)
Lockdown! Security Systems Stymie Breakout (S, 18)
Survivors Search for Safe Shelters (Z, 20)
Wedding Party Targeted in Terrible Attack! (R, 20)
Extract Crisis
Surprise Assault! Mutant Homes Destroyed (U, 16)
Alien Ship Crashes In Downtown! (C, 17)
Sentinel Schematics Sabotaged! (AC, 17)
Inhumans Deploy Advanced Weaponry (O, 18)
Evidence of Experimental Soldiers Exposed! (AB, 19)
Comic recommendations:
Annihilation and Annihilation: Conquest are fantastic and see the original formation of the modern Guardians. You should also read the Abnett/Lanning Marvel Cosmic run in its entirety and even if it doesn't reach those highs the Bendis Guardians run is also decent and brings in Angela and Agent Venom which is fun.
That's it for today.
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Thank you for reading and Cheers from Germany 🍻
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