Marvel Crisis Protocol X-Men Preview

Published: December 15, 2020 4:33 PM /

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Marvel Crisis Protocol X-Men

The X-Men have arrived for Marvel Crisis Protocol. After the Core Set, the X-Men have been a highly requested release for the tabletop skirmish game set in the Marvel universe. The first X-Men to land on the tabletop are Magneto and Toad, Cyclops and Storm, Mystique and Beast, and fan favorites and bitter rivals, Wolverine and Sabretooth. As with our other MCP coverage, in this article we'll look at the contents of each pack, and what those characters bring to the game.

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You can buy all the Marvel Crisis Protocol products from our Tabletop Sponsor, Firestorm Games.

Marvel Crisis Protocol Magneto and Toad.

Magneto and Toad

Magneto comes in a pack with his regular henchman, Toad. Magneto also comes with 2 pieces of twisted metal terrain for use with his abilities. Toad is perched on a piece of shattered wall, ready to leap and Magneto is in his infamous floating pose, with metal gathering around him.

The Magneto and Toad pack comes with a miniature for both and 2 metal scenery pieces, their stat cards, a Crisis card, the Brotherhood of Mutants Affiliation card, and 4 Team Tactics cards.

Magneto is a unit, and at 6 threat, you would expect as much. His base attack is a range 3, 6 dice attack and has a 2 power ability that lets him use his 6 mystic defense for any defense. Each turn he gains power from the 2 metal terrain pieces that come in the box, and if there are less than 2 on the board, he creates a new one, which offers some great control opportunities. At the cost of power, Magneto can throw terrain pieces indiscriminately and when terrain is destroyed anywhere on the map, once per turn, Magneto’s affiliation ability lets him give a number of Brotherhood of Mutants characters equal to the size of the terrain, 1 power point each.

Marvel Crisis Protocol Magneto and Toad.

Toad however is very different from Magneto, and rather than a high threat flexible character, Toad is a mobile objective carrier. He can interact with objective tokens at a longer range, and for 2 power, can take objective tokens off allied characters at range 2. If Toad is attacked and survives, for 2 power, he can use his Slippery superpower to move Medium, putting some distance between him and the attack for any potential follow up attacks.

Magneto and Toad come with 4 Tactics Cards. The first is Magnetic Crush, a 5 power tactic card for Magneto. It gives him a range 4, 6 dice attack that he can increase by destroying scenery near to the target of the attack. Magnetic Refraction is a reusable Tactics Card for the Brotherhood of Mutants that gives Magneto and any allies within rage 3 cover. Asteroid M is a Brotherhood of Mutants affiliated card, costing 2 power from 2 characters, and allows one of those characters to move within range 1 of the other, from anywhere on the battlefield. Heave Ho lets 2 characters link up to throw a terrain piece. The included Crisis Card requires finding a senator from 3 possible safe houses.

Marvel Crisis Protocol Cyclops and Storm.

Cyclops and Storm

Cyclops and Storm are 2 leaders of Uncanny X-Men teams. Their miniatures feature their signature poses, with Storm rising off the ground as she prepares to bring the rain, and Cyclops getting ready for an optic blast. Cyclops comes with 2 different head options.

The Cyclops and Storm pack comes with a miniature for both, their stat cards, a Crisis card, the Uncanny X-Men Affiliation card, and 3 Team Tactics cards.

Storm and Cyclops are leaders of 2 different X-Men teams, both with the Uncanny X-Men affiliation. 

Storm’s weather control means that she can’t be attacked beyond range 3, and her leadership ability means that any allied characters targeted by enemies beyond range 2 have cover. She also has an area of effect attack that doesn’t harm allied characters, ignores line of sight and cover, and does guaranteed damage to enemy characters with flight.

Marvel Crisis Protocol Cyclops and Storm.

Cyclops’ well known basic attack, Optic Blast is a range 4, 5 damage attack that can push enemies. Cyclops’ leader ability lets affiliated characters share power to help each other pay for abilities. He also has the ability to move allied characters around for better positioning, and a move and attack superpower himself for 2 power.

Storm and Cyclops come with 3 Uncanny X-Men affiliated Tactics Cards. To Me, My X-Men! Lets any X-Men Leader pay 1 power for each character they want to advance short towards them. First Class gives X-Men affiliated characters a free interaction with an objective and Children of the Atom lets you remove all conditions from a character, gaining 1 power for each removed. The included Crisis Card sees characters battling over control of traps, and using them against their opponents.

Marvel Crisis Protocol Mystique and Beast.

Mystique and Beast

The Mystique and Beast pack is an interesting combination. Beast clings to a metal structure and has 2 different head and hand options. Mystique stands atop some rubble, from damage that she has probably caused.

The Mystique and Beast pack comes with a miniature for both, their stat cards, and 3 Team Tactics cards.

Mystique is an interesting character. Her basic attack has rapid-fire, allowing her to fire again if the first attack scores a hit. Her affiliation bonus allows an allied character to gain 1 power after interacting with an extract objective, and also offers the ability to place a counter on a secure objective, which remains in play, meaning that the character can leave and still counts as securing the objective. She can destroy terrain features using her Expert Sabotage superpower, damaging nearby characters for 3 power. Mystique can’t be targeted beyond range 3, and enemies cannot use reactive superpowers or tactics to target her during her activation.

Marvel Crisis Protocol Mystique and Beast.

Beast is a mobile attacker. His basic attack is range 3, which allows him to move to within range 1 on a wild. Beast also generates power for himself when he rolls failures, on any roll, spending them to reroll other dice, throw terrain pieces, or on his range 2, 6 power attack that causes bleed and lets Beast move medium afterward.

Mystique and Beast come with 3 Tactics Cards. The Books of Truth lets a Brotherhood of Mutants character reroll all attack or defense dice for 2 power. Deception is a Mystique only card that lets her draw an enemy towards her. Advanced R&D lets a character spend up to 5 power, to give up to 5 other friendly characters 1 power each.

Marvel Crisis Protocol Wolverine and Sabretooth.

Wolverine and Sabretooth

Wolverine comes in a  pack with his Weapon X brother and nemesis, Sabretooth. Wolverine features his famous pose, claws out, welcoming combat, and comes with 2 head options. Sabretooth is in a very dynamic pose, leaping into battle.

The Wolverine and Sabretooth pack comes with a miniature for both, their stat cards, and 3 Team Tactics cards.

Wolverine, as expected, is a combat monster. His toolset is limited, but direct in its purpose. For 3 power, he can use his The Best At What I Do superpower to make a move followed by an attack, and his power attack is a range 3 attack, that lets Wolverine move up to within range 1 of the target. He also has Healing Factor 2 which removes 2 damage at the end of his activation to keep him around for more carnage next round.

Marvel Crisis Protocol Wolverine and Sabretooth.

Sabretooth works slightly differently from Wolverine. He has a longer movement range and can make a free short move towards any enemy that deals damage to him. He also has a counterattack superpower that can be used against any attacks that target him within range 2. For 3 power, he can also boost his attacks by the number of damage counters he has on him, which you can manage with his Healing Factor 1. 

Wolverine and Sabretooth come with 3 tactics cards. Weapon X can be used by either Wolverine or Sabretooth, and for 3 power they are thrown Short and don’t take damage from collisions. X-Ceptional Healing lets you reduce all damage from an attack against a character with healing power to 1 and One-Two Punch allows 2 nearby characters to gang up, adding 2 dice to an attack.

Marvel Crisis Protocol X-Men.
(Source: Atomic Mass Games).

The Marvel Crisis Protocol X-Men character packs ad some great options for players. We're looking forward to seeing the X-Men expand, as well as getting Magnetoa to the tabletop for some control play.


The Marvel Crisis Protocol X-Men Packs used to create this preview were provided by Atomic Mass Games.

 

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A Potts TechRaptor
| Senior Tabletop Writer

Adam is a Tabletop Specialist for TechRaptor. He started writing for TechRaptor in 2017 and took over as Tabletop Editor in 2019 and has since stood down… More about Adam