Remember when Kang The Conqueror was going to be the next big baddie for the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and due to real life controversy, instead of replacing the actor, they just extinguished the storyline?
Yeah, I do. And I’m still sad about it. Any kind of comic villain that messes with time is always up my alley, and now I get to add one to my roster in Marvel Crisis Protocol. Let’s take a look in the box.
What's in the Box?
Pepper Potts head! After years of writing, I finally get to make this joke.
Included with Kang are 3 other models including Rescue, the supporting character and love interest of Tony Stark, but armed to the teeth in her own suit of armor, Iron Lad, who is the adolescent version of Kang, who is also a Young Avenger, and Iron Monger, who some may remember was played by Jeff Bridges in the original Iron Man film!
These 4 models kind of don’t make sense as a pack, but each brings their own strengths. Also included in the box are the pre-requisite cards for the characters and their tactics.
How are the Models?
These models are crispy!
These are some of the nicest and also most frustrating models I’ve put together for MCP. Iron Monger and Kang are exceptionally easy and packed with tons of detail which will reward painters.
Iron Lad and Rescue both have tiny connection points and joints, which actually required me to pull out Sprue Goo in order to safely complete assembly of both models. Something I wish AMG would do is stop relying on small connection points for the bases.
If you’re having trouble assembling models, check out our handy guide for assembling and preparing miniatures for painting.
Alec Kozak
What’s in the cards?
I’ll call out some specifics. Kang’s character card and tactic cards rules. They are perfectly in line with the character, and in many ways, I feel like they’re a little overpowered. Let’s dive into the powers first.
He has Leadership for the Cabal, so that will help unite all of your villains, and his specialty adds an additional re-roll for attacks. Also, if your team is contesting or holding objectives, they can reroll fails.
Additionally, he has the power The Once and Future Kang, which allows him to roll any number of attack dice for 6 power, so build up that power with 30th Century Arsenal, which allows Kang to reroll attack dice on defenders within 2 movement, and for a wild on the dice roll, he can drop in a special condition. Mean!
For 3 power, Kang can throw terrain features size 3 or less, so if your table is loaded with Taxis, no, it won’t be. As a fan of lots of scatter terrain, I see myself using this power a lot.
Lastly, Kang can move for free every round along with removing 1 damage or a special condition with his Neurokinectic Chronal Armor.
All of this being said, Kang is not cheap. He does cost a whopping 6 threat, so that will take up a 1/3rd of your team. A good MCP team has balance of attack and defense, but the most important part is numbers. With teams costing 18 or 20 points, you can put yourself in danger by relying on too many large threat models.
Iron Lad is also a solid card, and is also a Kang, which will come in later with the tactics cards. You’ll see that his abilities resemble Kang’s, but they hit for less and cost less. His builders include Concussion Blasts, allowing him to roll 5 dice at 3 range or he can use Energy Blasts to build consistent energy. He can also reduce damage, toss terrain, and cause rerolls, but he only costs 3 Threat, making him a solid choice for any team.
On the “we either hate or love Iron Man” side of the character pack, we have Rescue and Iron Monger.
Monger costs only 3 threat yet his model is GIGANTIC. Seriously, the only model bigger than him in my collection is the Sentinel Mk 4. For all that size, he’s got some cool moves. Aggressive Acquisition allows him to attack someone within 2 range with 7 dice, which is heavy. Then after the attack resolves, Monger can take the asset or civilian token that’s being held for free.
His builder, Integrated Armaments, allows him to change the attack to physical or energy, which is really cool and fits into the lore of the character. He also comes with some movement, modification, and armor reduction powers, but that’s about it.
Rescue really lives up to her name. Her builder, Triage, allows her to heal an ally after she attacks. Her Sonic Force Fields allows her to give an ally or herself 2 additional defense dice, and Medevac allows her to remove 2 damage from an ally, provided she’s within a Large move.
She costs 3, and I don’t think there’s too many characters that really focus on heals like she does, so lots of great use there.
For the tactics cards, there’s a TON included with this set, which makes sense considering all of the abilities these models provide on the table. Here’s a sampling of the cards I like the most.
The artwork is solid as always
The Best Defense gives Pepper an additional attack called Pulse and Repulse, which leverages the Rapid Fire rule to give her double attacks.
Gun’s Blazing allows Monger to perform a 10 DICE attack for 4 power, including damaging allied enemies for 2 damage within 2 range. If I’m using Monger, this card is coming to the party.
Trust No One But Yourself is a card for either Lad or Kang, which takes advantage of using both characters. The card is complicated, but I’ll break it down. In the initial Deployment phase of the game, you choose a Round on the Mission Tracker, place a Timestream token, and then during the game in any Power Phase, you can deploy a Nathanial Richards from your roster. While right now, this means you can deploy Iron Lad in round 3 for 6 power, allowing him to immediately use his spender power…this means that more Kangs are coming. All Kangs, all the time.
Should I purchase this pack?
The details on Kang alone are excellent.
Even though this pack is kind of chaotic in terms of characters, powers, and assembly, this is a solid character pack.
I see a lot of strategic value in the characters, and the potential that exists with Kang and the idea of having multiple variations of him on the table could lead to some really fun battles in the future. Iron Monger and Rescue are necessary for fans of Iron Man, but Monger really brings some hard hitting powers to the table.
You can pick up the pack at Atomic Mass, or your local game store. We’ll be doing some tutorials on the models soon, and stick with Gaming Trend for all things Marvel Crisis Protocol.
