Cabal Archives - Page 5 of 6

From Panel To Play: Baron Mordo

CP64 Baron Mordo

Boy, if you can’t trust a Transylvanian baron who wields mystical powers granted by extradimensional demons, who can you? Today on From Panel to Play, we’re taking a look at the man who’s made it his life’s work to battle the Sorcerer Supreme, Baron Karl Mordo!

Karl Amadeus Mordo is the son of the Transylvanian magician Baron Nikolai Mordo. At a young age, he was sent to the Ancient One, the Sorcerer Supreme, to learn the ways of magic at the feet of its undisputed master. The Ancient One sensed a lust for power within Mordo but chose to teach him, in part to keep Mordo under the Ancient One’s constant scrutiny. Like his fellow student Stephen Strange, Mordo came to the Ancient One a damaged person. But while Strange’s damage was physical, Mordo was afflicted by a rage he could barely contain and his aspiration of greatness. When the Ancient One selected Strange over Mordo to become the Sorcerer Supreme, he turned to darkness.

Furious at this rejection, Mordo sought out a different route to power. During his studies, he had learned of Dormammu, a dread entity of immense power. Despite the Ancient One once forbidding him to research any further, Mordo made contact with Dormammu. The dread Dormammu chose Mordo to act as its pawn, infusing the man with immense, mystical might. United with the Master of the Dark Dimension, Mordo is a mortal enemy of Doctor Strange and is obsessed with seeing him destroyed.

As a former student of the Ancient One and recipient of the powers of Dormammu, Mordo hits the table with a suite of mystical powers appropriate for one of the most potent dark magicians in the world. Wielding the Staff of the Living Tribunal, he can batter his enemies and push them back, or he can call down the Bolts of Bishru, scorching rays that harm and hex his opponent. When he truly wishes to punish an opponent, Mordo can summon the Rains of Raggador for 4 Power. A rain of burning energy lance down from above, striking the target at Strength 7 and inflicting both the Incinerate and Poisoned conditions on the target.

As a Master of the Occult, Mordo can draw on a reserve of mystical knowledge. Once per turn, he can use the Master of the Occult ability to immediately gain 2 Power, the exact amount he needs to unleash some of his potent spells: Soul Barb, Ferocity of Cytorrak, and Vaulting Boots of Valtorr.

Mordo has studied the art of astral projection and manipulation, which he uses to perform the Soul Barb power. With it, he causes certain special conditions on a target character to cascade out to others. Targeting a character suffering from a special condition Hex, Incinerate, Poison, or Slow, each other enemy character within Range 2 of his target suffers your choice of condition. Paired with the Rains of Raggador, he can swiftly turn the opposing squad into a burning or poisoned mob.

The Baron can also invoke the name of the demon Cytorrak to infuse its fury into his allies. The Ferocity of Cyttorak power allows him to react when an ally within Range 3 attacks, adding 2 dice to the attack roll. The unbridled fury of the demon cannot be easily contained, though, and the allied character takes 1 damage after the attack is resolved.

Mordo is also tricky to pin down in combat, thanks to his innate Flight power and the Vaulting Boots of Valtorr, which allow him to move after his opponent attempts to dislodge him.

That’s all for our first look at this malevolent wielder of dark magic!

Be sure to check back for yet another installment of From Panel to Play, the series where we give you your first look at how your favorite characters transition to the tabletop in Marvel: Crisis Protocol. Pre-order your own copy of the Mordo & Ancient One Character Pack at your local game store or through our webstore today!

Until then, Atomic Mass Transmissions, signing off!

From Panel To Play: Cassandra Nova

CP53 Cassandra Nova

On today’s installment of From Panel to Play, we’re taking a look at the woman who proves the power of negative thinking, Charles Xavier’s sort-of-but-not-quite twin sister, Cassandra Nova!

Cassandra Nova is a being known as a “mummudrai,” a parasitic form of life born incorporeal on the astral plane. The mummudrai that grew to be Cassandra was telepathically entangled with the mutant Charles Xavier. Xavier’s vast telepathic powers bestowed Cassandra with psionic powers herself, including the ability to create a physical body for herself.

Cassandra Nova is Xavier’s twisted shadow, bent on genocide and destruction in contrast with his benevolent and humanitarian beliefs. She believes that she and her psychic “twin” are the only true beings in the universe and has set her mind to eradicating all of the delusions her brother holds dear.

If you ignore the fact that she’s rocketing upward on a blast of mental force, Cassandra Nova might cut an unassuming figure on the tabletop. A slender woman wearing normal street clothing, Cassandra Nova’s menace is conveyed in her imperious posture and scowling expression.

On the tabletop, Cassandra Nova is a bundle of horrible things ending in “-kinesis” wrapped up in an unassuming package. The mummadrai has all the mental powers you’d expect from someone who gained their powers from a spirit link with Professor X.

Like Jean Grey, another potent telepath, Cassandra Nova has the Psionic Bolt attack, which can sap power from its targets and bestow it to her. But Cassandra Nova can use this extra power for some truly diabolical abilities that interfere with your opponent’s carefully laid plans. The Mind Possession Mystic attack costs only 1 Power to use, is Strength 6, and allows her to advance the target its Speed after dealing damage. Oh, I’m sorry, were you trying to hold that objective? Not anymore!

Of course, if Cassandra Nova wants to be a bit less subtle, she can always use her Flesh Manipulation attack. Using her biokinetic powers, she unleashes a Strength 8 attack that pushes and damages characters within Range 2. Oh, were you trying to gang up on little old Cassandra Nova? Not anymore!

That’s just the beginning when it comes to Cassandra Nova’s suite of abilities. She can use biokinesis to stop an enemy target in their tracks, telekinesis to protect herself from thrown objects, telepathy to distract her opponents and cloak her presence, and more! If you’d like to learn more about her powers and abilities, be sure to check out her full rules when they become available, and don’t forget to pre-order your own copy of Cassandra Nova from your local gaming store or our website. Until then, this has been Atomic Mass Transmissions’ first look at this psychic parasitic entity.

Atomic Mass Transmissions, signing off!

From Panel To Play: Omega Red

CP54 Omega Red

On today’s installment of From Panel to Play, we’re talking about the man who shows how, if you have some indestructible arm-whips and a bunch of death spores, carbonadium sickness doesn’t have to get you down. It’s Omega Red!

A figure with a mysterious past, not much is known about the origins of Arkady Rossovich except that he was a serial killer born in Russia during the Cold War. After his capture by Interpol, he was handed over to government officials who wanted to create a new kind of super-soldier: Omega Red.

Omega Red has two retractable carbonadium tentacles in his arms, a metal alloy developed by the government as a malleable form of adamantium. Using the metal appendages, he grabs targets and drains their life force. Without this ability, Omega Red would quickly die, as the carbonadium implants are poisoning his system. He needs to drain victims in order to sustain his taxed immune system, making him a prolific and dangerous killer.

Omega Red’s miniature showcases his innate weapons with a dramatic flair. Extending from his wrists, his deadly tendrils sweep around his body in elaborate, organic shapes. His outfit is a classic one, with all the pouches and straps you’d expect from a villain who first appeared in the early 90s!

Omega Red is a deadly opponent on the tabletop thanks to his signature metal tendrils and mutant abilities. He can reach out and touch someone with his basic Carbonadium Coils attack, which in addition to having a decent Range 3 and Strength 5, allows him to drain the life of his target, removing 1 damage if he inflicts damage on his target. Of course, he can also unleash the appropriately named Red Terror for 4 Power, a Strength 7 attack which he can choose to be either a Physical or Energy attack. Red Terror gets even scarier thanks to the Absorb Essence special rule. If Omega Red rolls a wild in his attack, he can change one of the defender’s successful defense dice into a failure and gains 1 Power for each die he flips in this way!

Of course, Omega Red’s carbonadium coils aren’t just for whipping people and draining away their life. They’re also useful for snaring targets and pulling them in close! And close is a terrible place to be when you’re talking about Omega Red thanks to his Death Spores innate power, which Poisons characters within Range 2 of him when he ends his turn, or characters who end their turn within that range.

We can hear you saying, “Poison isn’t great to have, but I can deal with losing 1 Power!” Ah, but that’s before you consider Omega Red’s active power Death Factor. For 2 Power, once per turn Omega Red can inflict 2 damage to all Poisoned characters within Range 2 in the order of your choosing. No fancy martial arts or defensive dice can protect them, either!

If you’d like to learn more about the menace of Omega Red, be sure to check out his full rules when they become available, and don’t forget to pre-order your own copy of the Omega Red Character Pack from your local gaming store or our website. Until then, this has been Atomic Mass Transmissions’ first look at this deadly and dastardly villain.

Atomic Mass Transmissions, signing off!

Team Tactics Talk: Mister Sinister

CP46 Mister Sinister

Nathaniel Essex brings sinister new Team Tactics to Marvel: Crisis Protocol in the upcoming Mister Sinister Character Pack. His rather… aggressive views on evolutionary theory and sample gathering are front and center with the two new tactics Mister Sinister will bring to your game.

The first tactic, Forced Extraction, demonstrates how unethical this scientist can be in pursuit of a breakthrough. Sinister forcibly takes genetic samples from members of his own crisis team in order to fuel his research. For 1 Power, this unaffiliated card lets Sinister claim a Genetic Sample token from up to three allied characters within Range 3. Such a vigorous extraction is going to leave a mark, however, so the chosen characters each take 1 damage.

Genetic Samples fuel some of Mister Sinister’s most potent abilities, but getting them usually requires him to get up close and personal with the opposing crisis team. This tactic lets you work around that limitation. You can play this tactic early on, loading Sinister up with a stack of samples to empower a powerful Recombinant Disintegration in his first activation! Although the good doctor might have an even more terrifying use for these samples…

Using his talent as a master geneticist, Sinister has created numerous clones throughout the decades. Now he brings the power of his engineered clones to the tabletop with the Cloning Banks tactic. While the petty battles of mortals play out during a crisis, Sinister patiently collects the samples he needs to produce his next genetic masterpiece!

Cloning Banks is an unusual tactic that an allied Mister Sinister can play during the Cleanup Phase. Rather than being discarded, the cloning bank is placed to the side. During each Cleanup Phase, Sinister can place Genetic Sample tokens from his card into the cloning bank, amassing material for a new creation.

During a Power Phase, Sinister can use those banked samples to put an unused character from your roster into place fresh from the cloning vat! The character can have a Threat Value equal to half the samples used or lower, is placed within Range 1 of Sinister, and begins with 3 Power.

Combining Forced Extraction with Cloning Banks can let you get a Threat 2 character like Black Widow or Nebula into play in a short amount of time. Or you can build up your creation over the course of the game, unleashing an even more dangerous clone in the endgame to help you clinch a victory!

That’s it for our look at the Team Tactics in the Mister Sinister Character Pack. Don’t forget to preorder a copy at your local gaming store or right here on our website! Until next time, this is Atomic Mass Transmissions, signing off!

From Panel To Play: Mister Sinister

CP46 Mister Sinister

For this outing of From Panel to Play, we’re talking about a doctor who definitely neglects his Hippocratic oath but never fails to keep his collection of menacing capes freshly laundered. It’s Mister Sinister!

Originally a physician in the 19th century, Nathaniel Essex was transformed by the mutant Apocalypse into the ageless and terrifying Mister Sinister. A master of manipulation and a potent telepath, Mister Sinister has been a shadowy presence throughout the centuries. He is a hidden hand behind many of the world’s events and is responsible for orchestrating the fates of countless people, always to his own benefit.

Sinister observes and manipulates mutant children to become his minions later in life or chess pieces in a great game of his own devising. A master geneticist, he has been able to clone some of the most powerful individuals alive for his own purposes. By incorporating the mutant DNA of one of these subjects, he has rendered himself able to control his body at the cellular level allowing him to shapeshift, regenerate damaged tissues, and be all but impervious to injury. If something does bypass his natural immunities, Mister Sinister has prepared several “conditioned” hosts. Should he fall, his Cronus Machine will activate his genetic code in these hosts. Thus, Mister Sinister has assured that he will forever be a shadow cast across the world.

Mister Sinister steps onto the tabletop with a miniature that portrays all his menace and gravitas. Stepping out of the smoldering wreckage of a genetic engineering chamber, Sinister cuts an ominous figure with his layers of ornate capes and sneering expression of self-assurance. He is a larger-than-life villain and looks every inch the part.

Genetic engineering is a tool Mister Sinister wields like a scalpel: when he wants, he can use it for precision results that enhance his subjects. Or, if he chooses to, he can use it as a deadly weapon.

On the tabletop, Mister Sinister’s attacks and powers make use of a unique resource: Genetic Samples. These tokens track the amount of DNA he has collected from his opponents, which he can integrate into his own body or use to fuel his powerful offensive abilities.

But to use the samples, he’ll have to get them first. The Genetic Splicing attack is his primary method of doing so, a mystic Range 4 beam attack. After each attack is resolved, Mister Sinister gains one Genetic Sample token, up to his maximum of 3, as he plucks the samples of his target to add to his DNA Database.

When he has a Genetic Sample to manipulate, Mister Sinister can sacrifice it to restore his body to health, cripple one of his opponents, or simply unleash the samples he’s collected in a devastating shockwave of Recombinant Disintegration. Corrupting the DNA he holds, Mister Sinister unleashes a Strength 6 mystic attack that hits multiple targets. This area attack has a range equal to the number of Genetic Samples Mister Sinister currently has. If the attack roll produces a combination of results, each enemy character within range suffers 1 damage – this can really add up against large groups!

If you’d like to learn more about how Mister Sinister puts his Genetic Samples to use or how his powerful telepathy manifests in the game, be sure to check out his full rules when they become available, and don’t forget to pre-order your own Mister Sinister Character Pack from your local gaming store or our website. Until then, this has been Atomic Mass Transmissions’ first look at this malevolent, mutant manipulator (and manipulator of mutants)!

Until the next time, this is Atomic Mass Transmissions, signing off!

From Panel To Play: Viper

CP61 Viper

This time on From Panel to Play we’re taking a look at someone with a really toxic personality: Viper!

Ophelia Sarkissian was one of twelve girls taken in for a special Hydra project, an orphan raised by the notorious Hydra agent Kraken. During her rise, she frequently combatted both Captain America and S.H.I.E.L.D., eventually earning her place at the top of Hydra as one of its leaders.

Sarkissian cut all ties with Hydra, setting out on her own course of villainy. Along the way, she assassinated the supervillain Viper and assumed his identity. Under her new name, she has been a toxic thorn in the side of S.H.I.E.L.D., the Punisher, and more, while employing her deadly skills with groups such as H.A.M.M.E.R. as a professional terrorist-for-hire.

The posture of Viper’s miniature captures her as she springs into the battle, her toxic blade at the ready to cut down her target. She embodies swiftness and danger, ready to leap like a coiled snake at the first victim within reach. Viper’s bodysuit is a great place for painters to work with texture and looks great with some strategically placed scale motifs.

As fits a woman of her skills, Viper is a fast-moving and stealthy character. She has several tricks that allow her to move across the battlefield and land powerful, venomous attacks against her opponents.

Every one of Viper’s three attacks has the potential to inflict special conditions on her target. Whether she attacks with her compact Assassin’s Pistol, a poisoned dagger, or her signature attack, Viper Strike, she leaves a lingering debility on her target to remember her by. The most potent of her attacks, Viper Strike sees her leaping or dashing forward near her target to land a Strength 6 toxic strike with the special Venom rule that inflicts the Slow and Stun conditions if she rolls a wild.

Viper Strike pairs well with some of her other abilities. After using it, she can activate her Displacement Ring to teleport away from an enemy counterattack. The Displacement Ring active superpower costs 2 Power to use and allows Viper to be placed anywhere within Range 2 of her current location. This movement is often just far enough for her Stealth innate superpower to take effect, forcing her opponent to use an action to close the distance before they can target her with an attack.

On days when Viper isn’t feeling like teleporting and hiding, her top-tier martial talents can help her out too. She is an experienced fighter and able to strike with blinding speed when she needs to, often fast enough to counter an enemy strike before it can land. Coiled Serpent represents these lightning reflexes, a reactive superpower that allows her to roll 5 defense dice instead of her usual 3. If she manages to block all the incoming damage, Viper responds with a quick counterstrike, inflicting 2 damage on her hapless opponent after the attack is resolved.

That’s it for our first look at Viper. How will you use Ophelia, the ophidian villain? And who’s next to make their transition From Panel to Play? Be sure to check out Atomic Mass Transmissions to find out!

From Panel To Play: Sin

CP61 Sin

I guess she has a thing for people with skulls where their faces should be? This time on From Panel to Play, we’re checking out the daughter of the Red Skull and partner to Crossbones, Sin!

The vile legacy of the Red Skull lives on through his daughter, Sinthea Schmidt. Indoctrinated from childhood with her father’s beliefs, Sinthea began her criminal life with the Sisters of Sin. An effort by S.H.I.E.L.D. to deprogram Sinthea failed when the mercenary Crossbones freed her from captivity. Together, she and Crossbones embarked on a campaign of terror and violence. As Sin, Schmidt seeks to do what her father could not manage: control the world and, as was once done to her, twist it to fit her father’s contorted vision.

Sin’s miniature is a study in violence and madness. Her expression is not suggestive of a stable personality, as she menaces her foes with a dagger. Plus, the skull on her torso suggests that she’s not the sort of person you’d want to mess with. Standing atop the rubble, she captures the menace of a born killer.

Sinthea Schmidt is a complicated woman with a lot of anger issues. For one thing, her dad is an unremitting villain with a face like a spooky Halloween decoration and aspirations of world domination. Working to uphold her family legacy, she has many tricks and powers to make any hero’s day a little bit worse.

Sin fights dirty. When she isn’t spraying bullets with her automatic pistol and keeping score on how many more targets she takes down than her partner Crossbones, she gets up close and personal with her opponents. The Make It Personal physical attack hits her target at strength 6, and if she’s lucky enough to score a critical and wild on the attack roll, she can add Insult to Injury. This rule lets her follow up with a second Make It Personal without paying its Power cost, and switches the attack type from physical to mystic, as she assaults her target in a psychotic rage.

But the daughter of the Red Skull is more than just violence and insults. As the heir to the throne of Johann Schmidt, she has also developed a keen ability to lead her underlings into battle. Like her father, Sin has a Leadership ability for the Cabal affiliation. But where Red Skull’s leadership is straightforward, hers is complex.

Red Mayhem is a chaotic leadership befitting Sin’s psychotic personality. Screaming orders at her Cabal companions, she directs them into position on vital objectives while forcing her opponents to give ground. During each Cleanup Phase, after tabulating Victory Points, Sin gets to roll a die for each objective contested by a friendly character. If the roll produces a Hit, wild, or critical result, she can push each enemy character contesting the objective a Short distance away. Red Mayhem also forces enemy characters holding Assets within proximity of Sin’s allies to drop their Assets for the Cabal to scoop up!

Of all the Cabal members, the one you can almost guarantee will join Sin in battle is her worse half, her partner in crime, the skull-masked Crossbones. This gruesome duo work in tandem to ruin the day of everyone they encounter. In game, her reactive superpower Partners in Crime represents their bond, letting Crossbones activate immediately after Sin if he is within Range 4 and doesn’t already have an activation token. Perfect for kicking an opponent when they’re already down!

Of course, Sinthea has several other tricks to spring on her enemies, but we’re out of time. Be sure to check back for another installment of From Panel to Play, where we’ll take a look at yet another character who makes the jump into the ranks of Marvel: Crisis Protocol.

Until then, Atomic Mass Transmissions, signing off!

Team Tactics Talk: Deadpool & Bob, Agent Of Hydra

CP45 Deadpool & Bob, Agent Of Hydra

The Deadpool & Bob, Agent of Hydra Character Pack brings some weird and wonderful new Team Tactics to Marvel: Crisis Protocol. Which is appropriate, if you think about who is going to be using these tactics: the Merc with a Mouth and his friends.

This character expansion comes with three new Team Tactics: one for the X-Force affiliation and two Unaffiliated cards.

Let’s talk about the tactic for the X-Force, Pretty Sneaky, Sis. Leave it to Deadpool to reference a commercial from the 80s to describe a tactical maneuver. This tactic allows the X-Force to infiltrate deeper into hostile territory before their opponents even know they’re on the prowl. Any member of the affiliation can spend 2 Power, and for the rest of the round members who spent Power have a kind of “super stealth,” preventing enemies further than Range 2 from targeting them with attacks.

You can play Pretty Sneaky, Sis during any Power Phase. You can use it to get a round of breathing room early on, as an opportunity to rest and recharge mid-game, or in the last push of a game to help you clinch victory. Forcing the other player to close the gap if they want to put damage on your team eats into their total number of actions during the round, which reduces their potential damage output, and it pairs nicely with the X-Force members who can heal from their injuries like Deadpool and Wolverine.

Next up is a part of any balanced breakfast, Chimichangas. These deep-fried staples of Tex-Mex cuisine are more than just a hearty meal, they’re also a powerful asset in Deadpool’s hands. By scarfing down a piping-hot chimichanga, Wade Wilson is more than mere man or mutant. He is unstoppable. When you use this tactic, a chimichanga asset is added to the game in Deadpool’s hands. At the end of a character’s activation, if they have the chimichanga they devour it to gain 1 Power and either remove 1 damage or one special condition.

Deadpool is a gracious host, though, and he can hand off his pack lunch to someone else thanks to the Interact: Chimichanga action, allowing any character to pick up the token.

Last, and certainly weirdest, is the Yoink tactic. Deadpool is known for his bizarre shenanigans and how… frustrating he can be to his closest friends and allies. This tactic puts his odd behavior front and center. After spending 2 Power to use this tactic, Deadpool has his pick of four different unusual effects. He can glom on a friendly Cable within Range 2. He can borrow a bit of Domino’s unusual luck to bounce a grenade at the enemy. He can pick the pockets of a friendly side of Canadian bacon and take a token held by Wolverine. He can even empty the magazine of Bob, Agent of Hydra (if Bob is foolish enough to be fighting for the other side).

This tactic is as wild and unpredictable as Wade Wilson himself, giving you a host of different tactical options based on the characters you—or your opponent—bring to the table. When Deadpool is on the field, expect the unexpected.

That’s it for our look at the Team Tactics releasing with the Deadpool & Bob, Agent of Hydra Character Pack. If you want to get your hands on a chimichanga hot out of the fryer, don’t forget to pre-order your copy at your local gaming store, or through our webstore today!

Until next time, friends, this is Atomic Mass Transmissions, signing off!