How to start the affiliaiton
Your first and most important purchase is the big man himself. Apocalypse is the only way to play the affiliation and he comes with everything you need to play it, like the horsemen cards. After that it sadly gets a little bit more tricky and especially costly. There’s a lot of affiliated Servants and they kind of all tend to: not come in boxes together. The original Wolverine and Sabretooth pack is the only one where both members are affiliated here but the X-Men and Brotherhood affiliation packs are so much better value that you’re usually better of grabbing those. You kind of can’t live without Toad here so getting the Brotherhood pack which includes Sabertooth, Mystique (unaffiliated) and Magneto (unaffiliated) is probably a very good idea. Wolverine and Beast also come with Storm (unaffiliated) and Cyclops (unaffiliated) making in their affiliation pack making it another good pick up and finally Mr Sinister is in his single pack. Otherwise you should probably build your roster first and then figure out the best way to go. Starting out dualing SotA with one of X-Force, X-Men or Brotherhood seems like a very good idea until your collection has grown enough to play solo Servants. They are also by far and large the most complicated faction from a pure rules standpoint. You probably shouldn’t start the game with them but kind of build up into them if they interest you.
What leaderships are available and what is the typical game plan
Didn’t I say this was going to be complicated? The leadership is basically combined on the following 5 cards:
That’s a lot to get your head around right? But once you’ve understood how this all works it really makes sense and it becomes clear that this is a really good leadership. And never underestimate the power of using your Evolution tokens for rerolls. They are super flexible and a resource you shouldn’t be too precious with in my experience (only from the other side of the table so far, as I’ll get my own Apocalypse for Christmas). The game plan for Apoc will usually be a type 3 (murder with a scenario pivot) or full on type 4 (pure murder). You could maybe make an argument for type 2 (scenario with a murder pivot) but I think you do lack some tools for that in affiliation. Having been tabled by the team while leading the game 15:3 I definitely was on the recieving end of the damage potential this can bring to the table.
What characters could be added to the affiliation in the future, especially as leaders
It’s pretty obvious that there can’t ever be another leader here as the entire affiliation is build around Apocalypse and his leadership. As for characters: basically any new Mutant that gets released from now on has a theoretical chance to end up here. There’s no too good indicators of who should get in, because as far as I know not all of these characters really had something to do with Apoc in the comics.
Rating every affiliated TTC and character
Team Tactics (1)
Immortal Servants
A. This is either cheaper and more flexible version of Recalibration Matrix for Apoc or an AoE heal of two Damage for Apoc and his allies which makes it an auto take in every SotA game.
Characters (17)
Apocalypse (6) Master of the Horsemen
A. While without his leadership Apocalypse isn’t the most desirable 6 threat, inside it he is very good. Be sure to have a Famine character in every squad to give Apoc access to that sweet sweet Range 2 place which increases his action economy by a mile. You have to play him every game so it’s good that he’s good.
Archangel (4) Death and Pestilence
B. I know a lot of players are really high on him but I honestly kind of don’t see it. His attacks are certainly good but I don’t think he’ll live very long to make use of them. I honestly haven’t seen him in action from either side of the board so I might be missing something here.
He can be either Death, potentially making his attacks even better and giving you a consolation price when he inevitably goes down or Pestilence making a target for the feared “Pestilence Bomb” where you move your Pestilence character in the middle of your entire enemy team and give them all Poison, effectively leaves them stranded without power in round 2. He certainly has the movement to do it. Is it worth basically sacrificing the healthy side of your 4 threat? I don’t think so. I much prefer him with Death (and it just fits his fluff so much more obviously).
Beast (3) Pestilence and War
A-. Beast is a fast, somewhat durable, objective runner and can also play the secure game well with his two power throw. He is the cheaper target to be a “Pestilence Bomb” if that is something you’re interested in using. War isn’t as desirable for him I think as attacking and also being attacked aren’t his two favourite things in the game.
Cable (5) War and Pestilence
A-. The minus here simply comes from Cable not having the best synergy in the affiliation. He’s just very good on his stat card alone that including him in your roster won’t hurt you in any way. War is limited to range 2 where Cable doesn’t particularly wants or needs to be and Pestilence is much in the same vein. Good if you just need his long range damage potential and shields and either of those two horsemen isn’t assigned yet but also not my first choice for either.
Cassandra Nova (5) Famine and Death
A-. If you’ve read yesterday’s article on Sentinels you know there’s a place that makes Cassandra shine and it is right here. Famine gives Cassandra the much needed action economy and using the Evo tokens to reroll on her potent attacks is also very valuable. This gives her the play pattern of comfortably shooting out of her super stealth range and hop to where she needs too. Death does increase her damage potential but at the cost of the action economy so like her much more with Famine.
Colossus (4) War and Pestilence
B-. Colossus is a decent scenario piece and can help protect Apoc. War in combination with Taunt is cool to reliably collect Evo tokens.
He is almost as fast as Archangel (only size 4 terrain slowing him down) for the Pestilence Bomb but once again spending 4 threat when you can do it for 3 with Beast.
Deadpool (3) War and Famine
A. Deadpool is already a good character on his (updated) stat card alone and both War and Famine offer him good additional superpowers and he’ll be able to generate you Evo tokens easily. He’s just a very easy inclusion in the roster if you can stomach his (real world) price tag.
Gambit (3) Death and Famine.
C+. In a polar opposite to Deadpool Gambit is just lacking on his stat card. At least here he can play his best asset which is his TTC Dark Past, which can come in clutch. Both Death and especially Famine make him better at what he does so if you love Gambit (and who doesn’t?) and want to play him this is his best home. From a purely competitive standpoint you can do better with your 3 here though.
Honey Badger (2) War and Death
B. Gabby makes it possible to have all four horsemen active from 16 threat upwards and she is a decent candidate for both War (especially with her Taunt) and Death.
Iceman (3) Death and Famine
A. I simply love Bobby on the table. He creates such an annoyance for your opponent. He’s probably my favourite Famine carrier but Death can be OK for him, too.
Magik (3) Famine and War
B-. Magik is a totally fine 3 threat. She doesn’t really get too much out of being a horsewoman I think. Decent if you want to play her, but not standing out as an instant pick either.
Mister Sinister (4) Famine and Pestilence
B-. Mister Sinister is one of my favourite characters in the lore. He is decent here and another fast character to Pestilence bomb with the same movement as Archangel but the potential to be more resilient. Famine is cool for him but that also by far the most hotly contested horseman card in my opinion. Everyone loves action economy in the end.
Psylocke (4) Death and Famine
A-. Psylocke is a fast and flexible killing machine. Since she already has an action less movement on her card Famine isn’t as big of an increase as it really is so Death, which she is good at dealing out, is probably her stronger pick. Which is good since it is a lot less contested.
Sabretooth (4) War and Pestilence
B. Sabretooth is a very decent War target. You basically throw him into your enemy and dare them to attack him, giving you Evo tokens and the option to clap back with him. It is of course much less reliable than with Colossus or Honey Badger who can taunt attacks into them. Leaving Sabretooth alone in your lines is more dangerous though. For Pestilence he’d probably be my last pick, only getting the card if no other constellation would be possible.
The Blob (3) Famine and Pestilence
B. Fred Dukes has been unfairly disrespected for most of his MCP live but has gained a lot of respect recently. He is the slowest of the 3s here but very tough and a great secure player. He is a decent but probably not the first choice for either if his two available horseman cards. Probably doesn’t make it into a pure murder plan list though.
Toad (2) Death and Pestilence
A. Toad is generally regarded as the best overall 2 threat (rightfully so) and it’s no different here. You’ll probably stick Death on him just to have it since it feels like the least impactful in terms of the active superpower. He’ll probably won’t trigger the tokens for taking out someone himself but getting three tokens for he himself dazing is a great consolation prize and a deterrent for your opponent to do so.
Wolverine (4) Death and War
B. Wolverine has high damage potential that he can increase even higher with both options. He’s probably better as Death simply because there’s more interesting options for War.
Example Roster
Characters (10)
- Apocalypse (6)
Archangel (4)
Beast (3)
Cassandra Nova (5)
Deadpool (3)
Honey Badger (2)
Iceman (3)
Mister Sinister (4)
Psylocke (4)
Toad (2)
Team Tactics (10)
Immortal Servants
Brace for Impact (R)
Battle Bound
Mental Domination
Patch Up (R)
Recalibration Matrix
Survival
The First One
Warpath
Joint Effort
Secure Crisis
Infinity Formula Goes Missing! (B, 17)
Deadly Meteors Mutate Civilians (I, 17)
Intrusions Open Across City As Seals Collapse (C, 19)
Extract Crisis
Alien Ship Crashes In Downtown! (C, 17)
The Montesi Formula Found (E, 18)
Deadly Legacy Virus Cured? (C, 19)
That’s it for today. Next up: SHIELD
Cheers from Germany 🍻
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