Marvel Crisis Protocol – Earth’s Mightiest Core Set

Atomic Mass Games released the first core set for its Marvel Crisis Protocol miniatures game in 2019. Since then, there have been a lot of characters added to the line-up and the tabletop game has gained lots of fans who love to play and paint the models. Now Atomic Mass Games have updated their core set with ‘Earth’s Mightiest‘.

Lead Game Designer, Will Shick, said in a post on Atomic Mass Games’ blog: “Earth’s Mightiest brings our new best when it comes to sculpting, engineering, and art to create a Core Set for the future of Crisis Protocol. We looked at everything from the token designs, to stat cards, to crisis cards, even the assortment of terrain. But personally the most exciting aspect for me was getting to go back and reimagine those core set characters with the current state of Crisis Protocol in mind. Getting the chance to make sure Earth’s Mightiest was a full introduction and ideal launching point for players to the experience of Crisis Protocol. Now new players will get hands-on experience with transforming characters and grunts right out of the gate, letting them really enjoy the full breadth of what MCP has to offer in bringing superpowered showdowns to the tabletop.”

Go Get ‘Em, Tiger

The first thing you see when you open the box is a Core Rules booklet, which features an overview of the game, key concepts for new players to get their heads around, a section on preparing a squad and battlefield ready to play, and explanations of the game mechanics like the phases, movement, and attacks.

Underneath this are two large grey sprues featuring all the unassembled parts for the miniatures, one for the heroes and one for the villains. Along with updating all the characters that were included in the original core set, ‘Earth’s Mightiest’ also adds a new version of Winter Soldier. There are 32mm bases included for most of the models, and a few 50mm bases for Doctor Octopus, Ultron, and the Ultron Drones. As well as having new models, there are also fresh roster-building synergies for some of the characters, as the new Baron Zemo now has Hydra Leadership, Doctor Octopus has Spider-Foes Leadership, and Iron Man has S.H.I.E.L.D. Leadership.

Another thing inside the box is a number of large sprues featuring all the bits to make 26 terrain pieces, enabling players to build thematic battlefields. These include a crumbling Roxxon station crawling with Ultron Drones, streetlights, cars, dumpsters, and barrels.

The rest of the items included in the box are a bag of dice, cubes, range tools, movement tools, mission tracker, and two large boards full of colourful tokens to punch out. There is also a pack of Stat cards, Grunt cards, Crisis cards, and Team Tactic cards.

Mini Heroes

There are thirteen miniatures included in the Earth’s Mightiest Core Set. The seven heroes are Captain America, Iron Man, Spider-Man, Black Widow, Winter Soldier, Captain Marvel, and Captain Marvel in her Binary Form. The six villains are Doctor Octopus, Red Skull, Baron Zemo, Crossbones, Ultron, and Ultron Drones. The poses are all a lot more dynamic than the initial set, with many of the characters blasting off their bases or captured mid-motion.

As is the case for most of Marvel Crisis Protocol’s recent releases, the instructions for building the models are all online, with PDF guides to view on a screen instead of paper booklets included in the box.

There are few options for building alternate models. The only choices you can make are whether to have Captain Marvel with long hair or short hair and whether to give Winter Soldier a mask or not.

Most of the miniatures are made up of around ten parts. Understandably, the Ultron Drones model (which features a group of five drones) has a lot more, with a total of thirty parts. This model is the only one I had a bit of trouble putting together, as the drones are quite fiddly to place in the right position. All of the others were relatively easy. I like that the Marvel Crisis Protocol models have shaped attachments and slots so you can feel confident that you’ve fitted them together correctly.

Mighty Good

The Earth’s Mightiest Core Set is a great box that shows how far Atomic Mass Games has come in just a few years. The dynamic sculpts are a treat for painters and look awesome being moved around the tabletop.

Message us on social media @ZatuGames to show us your painted Marvel Crisis Protocol miniatures and tell us who your favourite hero is.