Getting into a wargame or skirmish game can be kinda prohibitive, from the overwhelming sense of "I have to paint ALL OF THIS?" to "I need to read all of these rules?". Even the general cost of a starter game can be scary. For example, the Skaventide Box set for Age of Sigmar, which runs for $225 on Amazon, comes with 74 models, some terrain, supplements, and is roughly 8lbs. Oooph.
Asmodee North America
If you want to get into Marvel Crisis Protocol, my current favorite skirmish wargame, it's easier. The Core set runs you roughly $150 USD, and contains 13 models, a ton of terrain, and everything else you need for 2 players to go forth ... but what if you don't care about playing Captain America vs. Ultron? What if you have a friend who has that set, and all you really need are some models, dice, and tools? And what if, for a moment, you grew up with the ripping guitar of 1990's X-Men on the Fox Kids programming block?
Atomic Mass Games sees you, and will hook you up with a series of starter sets. This review will focus on the X-Men starter set, which pulls together 10 classic characters, range & movement tools, tokens, dice, and all of the current cards for the models, all for under $100 USD.
The quality of the materials out of the box is stellar, and pretty much provides you with what you need to get a game going!
This is a banging discount on models that are hard to find. In the box, you get Cyclops, Storm, Rogue, Gambit, Wolverine, and Beast, plus classic villains including Sabretooth, Mystique, Toad, and my personal favorite, Magneto.
As to be expected from AMG, all of the parts of the box are pretty high quality. The tokens are your typical heavy cardboard ones, which even include special markers for Mystique and Gambit. The dice and tracking cubes are the same as you get in the core box, which are also high quality, and AMG even includes a few extra bags to help you sort the tokens.
The only downside to this set, and I suspect the other Starter Sets, is that the models are the original sculpts, which means that there are a few tiny pieces to glue. Namely, faces and head parts, like on Gambit and Storm, are not sculpted as complete heads, but pieces of face and hair. This isn't a show-stopper, but for folks with larger fingers, this can prove to be challenging to assemble. Keeping that in mind, if you were looking for alternate sculpts, you won't be finding those either. While this is fine for me, other folks should take advantage of having a second model, I've seen some awesome repaints and new paint jobs on social media.
Is this worth it? If you wanted these models, absolutely. If you've played Marvel Crisis Protocol and enjoyed it but can't find the Core set, this is a great way to get going on your journey into this game and its system.
Marvel Crisis Protocol X-Men Starter Set
Excellent
Marvel Crisis Protocol lowers the bar to entry through the X-Men Starter Set, and the result is a great value purchase that can easily get you into the game.
Pros
- Out of print models
- Includes everything a player needs to get started
- Great price for everything a player needs
Cons
- Some of the models are difficult to assemble
This review is based on a retail copy provided by the publisher.
