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“A miniatures game? I’m not sure. Isn’t it really expensive and difficult to play?” If you look at the wider market, it’s not an unfair response when you bring up miniature gaming. The idea can conjure up images of people in basements or mass amounts of plastic to be built and painted. While this can be the case, there are a lot of games out there that offer great opportunities to experience miniature gaming. Today I’d like to give you five reasons why that game for you is Atomic Mass Games’ Marvel Crisis Protocol.
1. A Familiar Setting
It’s possible you’ve never seen a single Marvel film or read a comic. Even with that being the case, I’d wager that if I asked you to tell me one thing about Spider-Man you’d be able to give me something! There are lots of Marvel superheroes that transcend their origins into regular pop culture and they’re pretty much all here already. Whether it’s the Web slinger himself, Iron Man or Hugh Jackman’s greatest role, they have all found their place in this game. Not only that, but a large chunk of them are available in the core set. That familiarity and understanding will be key later...
Now, if you are a Marvel fan, are you in for a treat. From Marvel Cinematic fans to comic book lovers, they might not have your favourite yet but they’ll definitely have a few to entice you. With lesser-known characters like M.O.D.O.K or the Crimson Dynamo available, it is entirely possible that one day your own favourite may feature!
“X-Force face off against the unstoppable Juggernaut!”
2. It's A Simple Game At Heart
Miniatures games are varied in their complexity. Some look to more realistic elements that players new and old may find off-putting. Others look to put down mass armies to simulate apocalyptic battles. Both of these styles can achieve exactly what they set out to do. For a more casual player or someone with knowledge, these are non-essential and provide context to the game as well as a threat value. Roughly translated this is the amount of characters you can bring, each having who’s looking to start their journey into miniature gaming and hobbying they can be daunting.
Enter Marvel Crisis Protocol! Each game centres around a particular story line from the comics their own threat value depending on how powerful they are. Iron Man for example is a 3 threat character but if you’d prefer to field him in his Hulkbuster suit, that’s 6 threat. Even in the largest value game you’re not going to be in control of more than 6 or so models but for an average game it’s closer to 4 or 5 which is easier to manage.
The rules themselves are easy to understand compared to other miniatures games. In short, each character activates every round and can do two actions. They can move, attack, and apply certain special abilities. The aim is to score the objectives that are selected at the start of the game. You might be trying to secure a fragment of the cosmic cube or trying to capture the secret Skrull agent!
Every objective plays a little differently providing a huge amount of variety. As to how each character acts and to what they can do, this is a great nod to Atomic Mass Games perfectly portraying these characters. If you’re familiar with a character, that familiarity will pay off here as they play and behave how you might imagine them. Spider-Man can swing across the board and Captain America protects his teammates whilst throwing his shield around! If you can wrap your head around who the characters are, you will have a great chance of being able to work out how they work in Marvel Crisis Protocol.
“Cap’ throws his shield at Red Skull and rolls a wild, allowing him to ricochet and hit Zemo!”
3. The Entry Ceiling Is Low
Miniatures gaming has long carried the perception of a high cost of entry. Whether it is the core set itself or the extra components required, it can get quite pricey.
Marvel Crisis Protocol’s core set is respectably around the £70 mark wherever you look. This will get you the rule book, terrain, dice, tokens, cards and 10 great characters to begin with. You can stick on your favourite super-hero film in the background, nab some clippers and glue and put everything together in a reasonable period of time. This set is well suited to your first few games as you navigate the rules and cards associated with the game. And whilst you’re able to add characters to your games, these 10 are all still viable in casual and competitive games three years on - another nod to Atomic Mass Games’ desire to maintain a balanced and enjoyable game.
On expanding your collection, you’ll find characters packs of your favourite characters ranging from roughly below £20 for a single character and their cards to the new affiliation packs such as Asgard one or Black Order around the £45 mark.
“The Core Set contents. Grab yourself a gaming mat like this and you’re all set”
4. There Are No Limitations On How You Play
It’s true, you’re beholden to no one when it comes to how you play your games. We can tend to follow what’s laid out in the rules. With Marvel Crisis Protocol, this is much less of an issue. If you like playing the Avengers but want to throw in Red Skull or Ultron? Go for it. Fancy having Thanos leading his Black Order alongside Spider Man? Done in a snap! You can pick the affiliation (currently at 19) for you and as long as over half the characters you play are affiliated you’re good to go. This potential allows you to explore combinations and new characters with ease, making a more varied experience.
“The Ancient One and Rocket join the X-Men in their mission!”
5. The Community Is Great
You might’ve noticed I’ve plugged the developers of Marvel Crisis Protocol a fair bit. To their final credit, they continue to support this game constantly. Providing weekly games or painting streams, they offer a chance to get tips and news through their owns blogs and videos. They also release organised play kits that offer unique variations like Separation Anxiety that sees you battling three other players whilst various Symbiot’s such as Venom attach themselves to your team! I have also experienced time and time again how welcoming and supportive the Marvel Crisis Protocol community can be.
When the pandemic hit, most tournaments shut down and a lot of people lost their ability to compete in these. A small community managed to digitally recreate the game in a system called Tabletop Simulator. Not only has this continued to thrive with Crisis Protocol leagues, but it’s also another great way to experience and try new characters.
The final part of the community that I would always champion is the variation and quality of the podcasts that are dedicated to the game. For the more casual shows that focus on characters, their history and how they play try Fury’s Finest. For the more competitive focused shows try Strike Better or Omnus Protocol. There will be a style and show for you.
And that about wraps it up. I hope you’ve found a great reason to give it a try and wish you all the best in your web slinging, world dominating, infinity gem questing matches!