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Marvel United's Tale of Asgard set has to be my most favourite expansion to the Marvel United, Season 1 series. I could not understand why Thor, one of the original Avengers had not been included in the core set with Ironman, the Hulk and Captain America. It did not make sense to me so this set was a must have on my list of expansions. It absolutely delivers and adds to the Marvel United Series. Keep in mind with all Marvel United expansions you need one core set as a minimum in order to use the expansions.
Here’s what is brought with this expansion:
New Heroes.
Thor!!! That’s it and I’ll move on….
The Asgardian god of thunder and my first reason for picking this set up. He completely brings it to this game and on our table, has been the hero that has turned a game that looked to be a loss into victory, he is that powerful. He is very mobile and with that hammer, Mjolnir, at his side the villains have to be wary of him when they become vulnerable to hero strikes.
Valkyrie, introduced to the MCU in Thor Ragnarök. The Valkyrie is all about heroism and has a lot of additional heroic actions over movement and attack. She will bring those threats down quickly on location as well as saving a lot of civilians along the way.
Korg. I loved Korg in the film, some welcome comic relief. He is tough and full of attack. But he struggles to move so will need support from other heroes in getting him around. This makes sense as he is a rock.
Beta Ray Bill – I’d never even heard of this character before. Will he show up down the line in the MCU, only time will tell. What I do know is he is incredibly fast and gets around the board very quickly as he is all about movement. If anything, too much movement, but other heroes will benefit from this.
The team of 4 here is so well balanced as a squad and integrates very well with all other Marvel United.
Loki
Yes, it is Thor’s brother Loki, the villain we hate to love. The god of mischief himself. He comes with a couple of frost giants as back up henchmen as part of his threats that deal additional damage to heroes in their location, if he BAM’s. Time is of the essence against Loki, it is even more critical against him to not be knocked out as this allows him to play a master plan card (face down) meaning 1 turn quicker until the game is over. Equally, if civilians and thugs cannot be deployed on locations and overflow, he gains health, making him harder to take out in that final phase. There is no time to mess about against him as he creates trouble and mischief in this tale of Asgard.
The Traitor.
The challenge that can only be used in games with 3 or 4 players, not heroes, but players. All players are dealt an allegiance card and given a mistrust token. Players secretly look at their allegiance cards, and if they are the 1 with the traitor card, they are in fact working for the villain against the heroes, having a chance to win, if the heroes lose to the villain.
A player can choose to play their card face down in the story line in order to get rid of their mistrust token. When the 2nd mission of 3 is complete in Marvel United: Tales of Asgard, everyone simultaneously points to the player they believe is traitor and then all reveal their allegiance card. Every loyal player guessing the correct traitor earns a bonus multi action chip to use, but loyal heroes still with a mis trust token, get KO’d. At this point the traitor now removes their hero from play and takes the role of villain, looking at the top two cards of the master plan deck and picking the card going forward, which could be brutal for the heroes.
This additional rule adds a lot of player engagement to the game and a lot of additional jeopardy. It doesn’t feel like the heroes have a lot to gain from this, particularly if someone is secretly working against them. It is pretty good fun though and some entertaining variation of play.
Additional Locations
You guessed it, 6 new locations all centred around Tales of Asgard. From the Bifrost bridge to Odin’s throne room, some fine art work with fun new location benefits when threats are completed by the heroes.
Final Thought.
As I’ve already said Marvel United: Tales of Asgard is my favourite addition to the series. It was a necessary addition to include Tales of Asgard to the Marvel United universe and deservedly gets its own set. It has completely delivered on my expectations. They are some of the biggest characters from the franchise included within. The new rule is spectacular, and makes complete sense to include a traitor rule, you can see how it can also be integrated with the other characters around the game. You get 4 heroes within this set, also, which is pleasing. There is a lovely balance to this expansion. I would make this my first expansion to Marvel United if you are looking to expand on the basic core set.
