The galaxy needs guardians and today’s From Panel to Play is all about them! The Guardians of the Galaxy are a band of lovable misfits that are well known to somehow get the job done. As Marvel: Crisis Protocol has grown, so too has their affiliation. Today we are going to dive into the Galaxy’s Deadliest Affiliation Pack that supports the Guardians of the Galaxy. This box is one of two the affiliation is getting in the very near future!

This pack features four Guardians who excel at taking out opponents. First up is Drax the Destroyer! Drax has a packed Stat Card that fits the Titan Killer. This Threat Value 3 character brings standard defenses and movement stats, but he has many ways to take enemies down.

Driven by Vengeance is the key superpower on his card. This superpower allows him to mark an enemy who dares to damage him. While the mark persists, Drax the Destroyer is able to add 3 dice to any attack he makes against that character. This boosts his attacks substantially. The Vengeance token created by this superpower is removed after the attack is resolved so Drax will benefit from being in the middle of the brawl taking hits throughout the fight.

Drax comes with multiple Physical attacks from the fairly basic Blades attack that benefits from enemies suffering the Bleed special condition to the stunning Headbutt attack and finally the mighty Titan Killer attack that gets stronger the more damage Drax takes.

Tying this together is The Destroyer, a Short Throw superpower, and I Can Take It, an Innate superpower that reduces the damage Drax takes.

While Drax the Destroyer is able to deal damage very well, he does not have any extra movement abilities. Players that overcome this weakness will be perfectly situated to take down even the biggest and baddest of the enemies they face!

Next we have the two famous daughters of Thanos, Gamora and Nebula.

Gamora is an assassin with no peer. Her signature superpower is Deadliest Woman in the Galaxy. This Innate superpower allows her to change one die result to a Hit for each Wild in the roll when making an attack, adding consistency to her attacks that ensures she lives up to her title.

God Slayer is her basic attack that sports 6 dice and causes her target to gain the Bleed special condition. Cosmic Assassin has the Pierce rule and Rapid Strike which allows her to hit a second enemy near her target with a follow-up attack. These two attacks deal great damage, and when combined with Deadliest Woman in the Galaxy, allows Gamora to hit harder than expected for a Threat Value 4 character.

Gamora’s defenses are nothing special, so the addition of Stealth helps her get to where she needs to be, especially when combined with her Long Speed stat. For those moments when enemies close in to cross blades with her, Martial Prowess gives her extra defense and may damage her attacker. Finally, when her Long movement isn’t enough to close the distance, Gamora can use Assassin Leap to Throw herself Short. She won’t suffer damage from this throw, but anything she collides with will be hurting!

Nebula has been cybernetically enhanced by Thanos into an exceptionally strong killing machine. While she lacks the subtlety of the stealthy Gamora, she is no less effective in the assassin role. As a Threat Value 2 character she has some serious limitations to her abilities which are found in the Assassin Innate superpower. This superpower prevents her from Contesting, Interacting with, or holding Objective tokens. There is an upside, however. When attacking enemies Contesting or holding Objectives, she can reroll any number of dice in her attacks. This allows her to preserve her dice that have successful results while rerolling those that aren’t successes (but not Failures!). This superpower has the effect of supercharging her otherwise mediocre attacks.

Nebula brings three attacks. She has a basic Strike that has a Strength of 4 and may cause the target to gain the Shock special condition. She also has a short-range Blaster Pistol that can help her gain Power. Finally, she has her best attack, the Shock Sword Assault, which allows her to Place near the target while giving it the Stun special condition. As previously mentioned, none of these attacks have an impressive number of dice, but if properly leveraged, the Assassin superpower makes all these attacks extremely consistent, allowing her to deal substantial damage to all enemies.

Nebula’s Cybernetic Enhancements, while a source of constant pain, give her a number of Immunities as well as letting her reroll one defense die when attacked and will remove one damage when she activates.

Nebula’s inability to handle Objective tokens is a benefit in some situations since she will never spend Power to Interact with them. If she can get into the correct position during the first round of the game, she can open the second round with a Blaster Pistol attack to gain a Power and immediately follow up with a Shock Sword Assault. This combination of attacks has a high likelihood of Dazing many enemy characters and knocking loose an Objective token.

The final character in this pack is Ronan the Accuser. Ronan has aided the Guardians many times over the years and so has earned his place in their Affiliation Pack. This punishing character wields a formidable hammer and always goes down swinging.

All of Ronan’s attacks have powerful rules to control opponents from his Strike’s chance to Throw enemies to Universal Weapon’s Shock and Push rules. His final attack, Kree Justice, damages enemies near the target and gives the target the Stun and Stagger special conditions.

What kind of Accuser would Ronan the Accuser be if he could not judge his enemies? When enemies damage his allies he can use the Judgment superpower, which causes them to gain the Judgment special condition that limits their ability to gain Power.

When Ronan the Accuser takes too much punishment and is about to be Dazed or KO’d, his force of will keeps him in the fight long enough to make one last push into his attacker before making an attack against them. This can be any of his attacks and will be able to spend the Power he gained from taking damage in case he uses Judgment before delivering a final Kree Justice!

One thing players will notice is Ronan the Accuser’s power generation is not always strong enough to fuel his abilities. To help mitigate that weakness he can carry the Power Infinity Gem so he can always judge his enemies while ensuring they feel the might of the Kree!

This pack also comes with two Team Tactic Cards for the Guardians. The first is Lovable Misfits, which gives random effects to each Guardian that spends 1 Power. These effects range from powerful to detrimental as you would expect from a team that wings it every battle.

The second card is Daughters of Thanos. This card recently saw a reduction to the cost to play it. This combo attack featuring Gamora and Nebula can result in a lot of damage on an enemy.

As the Galaxy’s Deadliest head out on their next adventure we close this From Panel to Play, where we introduce all of the galaxy’s mightiest heroes and villains! Pre-order your Galaxy’s Deadliest Affiliation Pack from your local gaming store or online at the webstore today!

Until next time, Atomic Mass Games, signing off!

The Milano lands here for today’s From Panel to Play, a throwback to the early days of Marvel: Crisis Protocol as we revisit its dysfunctional crew, the Guardians of the Galaxy. The original release of the Guardians was years ago and their crew has only grown over time. Now is the ideal time to re-introduce them in their own set of Affiliation boxes. These boxes take multiple previously released character boxes and combine them into one box, making them an easier pick up for players looking to boost their collection.

The Guardians have so many characters out now that they will be receiving two of these boxes. Today we will dive into the Guardians of the Galaxy Affiliation box which holds four characters, along with their Team Tactic Cards.

The first character is Peter Quill, a.k.a. Star-Lord, the leader of the team who hails from Earth. Peter left Earth by stealing a ship and soon found himself stranded and in need of rescue. He was saved and grew up traveling the galaxy, and despite his lack of the ability to develop and execute effective plans, he found himself to be the leader of the team in part due to his Plucky Attitude (brought to Marvel: Crisis Protocol as an Innate superpower that allows him to reroll attack and defense dice in certain situations).

Peter Quill is a Threat Value 3 character with moderate defensive stats. As the leader of the Guardians of the Galaxy he comes with the Winging It Leadership ability. This ability was changed a few years ago into its current form which grants up to three allied characters a Winging It token each Power Phase. These tokens are then used to reroll dice during attacks or while dodging, giving his squad some flexible reliability when dealing with their opponents. Peter’s rocket boots give him excellent mobility by granting him the Flight Innate superpower and can be used to perform stylish combat maneuvers. Hit and Run allows him to make an attack before moving, ensuring he is difficult to engage or able to move into position while still dealing damage to enemy characters.

Peter’s two attacks have the Energy type and solid range, perfect for a character like him. His Element Gun generates Power for him while Full Auto ensures opponents are left wounded and full of special conditions. Both of these attacks are Range 4 which dovetails nicely with Hit and Run’s ability to add distance between himself and enemies.

While Star-Lord doesn’t require the most Power to contribute to his team, players may opt to give him the Infinity Gem: Power. This card grants him 2 additional Power during the Power Phase which enables him to use his abilities earlier and more often in battle.

The second character in this pack is the diminutive Rocket Raccoon. Rocket has been a Guardian since the beginning of the team and is well known for the mayhem he can cause with his weapons and devices. Rocket’s attacks, the basic Plasma Rifle and impressive Hadron Enforcer, are both Energy attacks with a Range of 5. The Hadron Enforcer also comes with the Vortex, rule which will cause enemies near the target to be pulled into the target and damaged.

Rocket is not an imposing figure on the battlefield. He has a Size of 1 and only 3 Stamina, but he has a lot of ways to avoid taking damage. Anyone trying to get close to him will have to get past his Booby Traps before they can take a swing at him. These traps have the potential to damage any enemy ending a movement near him. This applies to any movement making it extremely flexible and in some cases can Daze opponents that don’t respect their potential.

The rest of Rocket’s survivability is found in his Personal Bodyguard superpower and his two Innate superpowers. Personal Bodyguard allows Rocket to redirect any attack made against him into his longtime partner Groot. His first Innate superpower is Nimble which prevents him from taking damage from collisions. This sort of immunity to a particular type of damage is rare in Marvel: Crisis Protocol and allows Rocket Raccoon to fully benefit from Groot’s presence. Opponents that attempt to squash the raccoon with the tree will instead see Rocket pop up from under Groot, Plasma Rifle ready and not a scratch on him. His final superpower is Small Statue, his last line of defense against enemy attacks. This superpower ensures he will always have the benefits of Cover. Taken together, these three superpowers make Rocket surprisingly resistant to enemies trying to remove him from the battlefield.

Groot is one of the flora colossi from Planet X and long-time friend and bodyguard of Rocket Raccoon. This Guardian of the Galaxy is perhaps most well known for his language, which consists of exactly three words always delivered in the same order.

Groot has one of the simpler cards in Marvel: Crisis Protocol. His Threat Value is 3, but he has a very high Stamina value and a couple solid superpowers. His best attack, I AM GROOT!, has a large dice pool and can Throw the target Medium distance. This Throw is not triggered by dice results like most Throws and is not limited to enemies of a particular Size. When Groot gets angry, his strength can move anything! Additionally, the target will gain the Stagger special condition after the attack, ensuring the target’s next activation is limited in usefulness.

Groot’s ability to take a beating is legendary and his Living Plant superpower ensures he can continue to do so. When he uses this ability he will remove up to 3 damage from himself. As this only costs 2 Power, it can do a great job of keeping him in the fight and allowing him to use his other superpower or his I AM GROOT! attack. His second superpower is Tangling Vines, which causes an enemy character near him to gain the Root special condition to reduce the efficiency of their Power use.

The final character in this pack is one of the newer additions to Marvel: Crisis Protocol, Cosmic Ghost Rider. This version of Frank Castle is a bit unstable, having been killed, remade, fractured, stitched back together, killed, drained, empowered, and brought back over and over. He has become, in his own vengeful way, a Guardian of the Galaxy, though he has not often been aligned with Peter Quill’s team.

Since his initial release, Cosmic Ghost Rider’s card has had a few changes made to it to help him be a bit more in line with the rest of the game. Those changes can be found in the FAQ/Errata document, however, this release brings his updated card to print.

Cosmic Ghost Rider earns his Threat Value of 6 with abilities like Interstellar Hellcycle, which allows him to Place up to Range 5 away! He can also punish enemies for Dazing or KO’ing his allies with Cosmic Justice on Wheels, which allows him to make an attack against them in retaliation. Finally, he has a new version of the Penance Stare, Power Cosmic Penance Stare. This Strength 12 attack denies the target any Power gain from the damage they take and can potentially deny them successes on their defense roll!

Taken together these abilities may make him very strong, but he also suffers from Psychosis granted by the Ready to Roll and I’m the Spirit of Vengeance, Bearer of the Power Cosmic, and Just a Bit Unstable which can disrupt his player’s plans for him by preventing him from interacting with the Crisis Cards in meaningful ways. Cosmic Ghost Rider has tons of mobility, battlefield control, and raw damage, forcing any opponent to carefully consider how to deal with him and the rest of his squad as what he loses to Psychosis may be made up for by everything else with good play and a little luck.

In addition to these characters this box contains the Team Tactic Cards that go along with them from the wild flurry of attacks that is the Deadly Duo card to the battlefield-altering It’s Time Travel… Don’t Ask. This pack has them all.

That’s all we have for this From Panel to Play. As the galaxy’s greatest take off in the Milano or on the back of a Hellcycle for their next battle, their foes need to keep in mind that while they may just be a group of big, dumb heroes, they get the job done! Pre-order your copy of the Guardians of the Galaxy Affiliation Pack at your local game store or through the webstore today!

Until next time, Atomic Mass Games, signing off!

Today’s From Panel to Play starts with a wedding between Ronan the Accuser and the Inhuman, Crystal. As the ceremony begins, the Shi’ar teleport in, led by the mighty warrior Gladiator and the Imperial Guard! As the leader of the Imperial Guard, Gladiator’s surprise attack heralds the beginning of the War of Kings, a cosmos-consuming conflict led by the Inhumans and Kree against the Shi’ar!

The War of Kings is a new type of product in the Marvel: Crisis Protocol portfolio. In addition to introducing Gladiator (more on him in a bit), ten new Crisis Cards will be added to the game! These Crisis Cards are evenly divided between Extractions and Secures and are designed to tell the story of the War of Kings. Additionally, they interact with each other in new ways while being completely compatible with the rest of the Crisis Cards.

As you can see from the Ship Security Breached in Royal Rescue and Guardians Save Shi’ar Empress in Style Crisis Cards above, some of these new Crisis Cards interact with their counterparts to provide extra effects to characters that engage with them. For example, a character holding a keycard will gain Power after Interacting with a Secure objective token and Interacting with a Security Terminal while holding an Extraction objective token grants a reroll on the Interact’s dice roll. None of these effects require specific Crisis Cards to be opposite of them to activate, ensuring all of them are easy to use with any existing Crisis Card. These are only two of the 10 Crisis Cards in this pack, however. Look out for more previews of the rest of them as we get closer to their release.

Now that we’ve discussed the Crisis Cards, let’s focus on the new character in this pack. Gladiator is an immensely powerful being, earning him a Threat Value of 6 that boasts 9 Stamina on both sides of his card along with defenses of 4/5/4. He has excellent mobility with the Flight Innate superpower and Medium Speed.

Gladiator is an exceptional combatant and he knows it! The Majestor’s Bravado Innate superpower grants him the ability to Interact with Confidence tokens. Whenever Gladiator deals damage with Praetor Punch he will gain one Confidence token. He can hold 5 of these tokens and they come into play whenever he makes an attack. Each Confidence token will add one die to the attack roll and these tokens are not consumed by the attack. When he takes damage, however, his resolve will be shaken and he will lose Confidence.

Given its relationship with The Majestor’s Bravado, we should look at Praetor Punch next. This attack is a medium range attack with a Strength of 6. It generates Power and comes with the Suppressive special rule. Suppressive removes Power from the target based on the number of Wild results in the attack roll. This happens after the attack resolves, stealing some of the target’s Power gained as a result of the damage taken. Gladiator also brings an Eye Beam attack. Unlike the Eye Beam attacks of other characters, this one is a Beam with a Range of 4 that will leave targets with the Incinerate special condition.

Gladiator’s final attack is the mighty Majestor’s Might. This medium range attack sports 10 dice and two very powerful special rules to make it worth its 5 Power cost. The first special rule is Stagger, which ensures the target of this attack will gain the Stagger special condition. The second special rule is Throw. Throw does not have a Size limitation, making it exceptionally powerful at relocating enemy characters.

Gladiator also comes with a couple powerful Active superpowers. The first is For the Empress and Empire! Superpowers that grant movement along with an attack are always good due to their two-for-one nature. This one costs 3 Power and allows Gladiator to make a move action and a Praetor Punch attack. If this attack deals damage, Gladiator will gain one Confidence token. This will work with The Majestor’s Bravado to give him a total of two Confidence tokens—an excellent way to begin a brawl.

Gladiator’s Imperial Authority is his second Active superpower. He uses his immense strength to Throw terrain features of Size 4 or less a Long distance. If you’ve never been on the receiving end of one of these throws, it hurts.

Both of Gladiator’s Active superpowers cost 3 Power. To support these hefty costs, he has the Alpha Strontian Physiology Innate superpower to grant him additional Power during the Power Phase.

Gladiator comes with two Team Tactic Cards highlighting his power and authority. Praetor of the Imperial Guard allows him to spend 4 Power to give 2 Power to a number of allies equal to the number of Confidence tokens he has. If he can hold onto his Confidence tokens, this can give the squad a lot of Power through a display of undeniable authority.

When an enemy character strikes down an ally, Gladiator can charge in with a powerful Praetor Punch to avenge them by using the Protector of the Empire Team Tactic Card. This card functions as a Reactive version of his For the Empress and Empire! superpower with a move followed by an attack and the potential for a bonus Confidence token. Enemies will have to think twice before attacking Gladiator’s allies when he is nearby!

As the smoke clears around the ruined wedding, Gladiator and his forces withdraw, having made their point. The War of Kings is on, and the galaxy will never be the same. As the Inhumans and the Kree take stock of their losses and begin planning their response we head home to prepare for the inevitable.

Be sure to check back later for yet another installment of From Panel to Play, the series where we give you your first look at how your favorite characters and Crisis Cards arrive at the tabletop in Marvel: Crisis Protocol. Pre-order your War of Kings Crisis Card Pack today from your local gaming store or online at the webstore today!

Until next time, Atomic Mass Games, signing off!

If you’re a merchant moving goods through space, you’ve learned to avoid the haunts and regions hunted by the Ravagers, led by Yondu Udonta. Yondu is a notorious pirate and combatant, known for his Centaurian weaponry giving his piracy a lethality that can’t be seen, but you can definitely hear it. Yondu has run across various heroes and villains in his life of space piracy, eventually finding a common soul in the lonely, young Peter Quill. Yondu almost executed the young Terran, but in his audacity at requesting to join his crew, Yondu saw himself, alone in the galaxy and unable to return home. Yondu might be a greedy pirate, but he can still find the time to fight for the downtrodden and defenseless (and find an angle for profit while he’s at it!)

With his traditional Centaurian Yaka Arrow, Yondu can fire off an arrow and direct it via sound waves, enabling him to target enemies and ignore cover at an exceptional range 5, gaining power for each damage dealt. Additionally, if you whistle a Wild result, Yondu can target the enemy’s legs and inflict the Slow special condition. This attack helps Yondu generate power, but at an exceptional range few characters can compete with. When a single Yaka Arrow isn’t enough, Yondu can also unleash his Whistle While You Work attack, giving him one additional die and the pierce special condition. Most importantly, Whistle While You Work can also generate an additional attack on another target within 3, and as long as you are targeting a new character you can continue making attacks on the targets if you successfully hit the Wild and hit triggers. Most similar abilities cap you at a single extra attack, but this one is only limited by the number of victims Yondu hasn’t yet impaled. Since Yondu is centered around long distance energy attacks, it makes perfect sense that he also has the Hit and Run superpower, so he can make an attack action then move action. This can enable him to move farther away from an enemy while still being able to attack with his long-range Yaka Arrow.

A very unique ability Yondu has is Ravager Code: Steal Everything. This reactive superpower allows Yondu to pay one power when a character is going to drop an objective token and take it for himself! Ravagers steal anything that isn’t nailed down, and sometimes the nails too, and this rule expresses their code to take anything they can, taking advantage of whatever comes at hand. Yondu isn’t about to let a Victory Point out of his fingers, although with his long-range attacks and the range 2 restriction, many players might choose to use this ability more to ensure other allied characters don’t lose an objective more than taking them from Dazed enemy characters.

With all the ranged attacks Yondu will be making, Quickdraw acts as an impressive defensive ability to show how Yondu is attacking even in the face of oncoming fire. When he uses it, he rolls five defense dice instead of his normal amount, and if he suffers no damage from the attack he deals 2 damage in retaliation. Further aiding his attack and defense is The Pirate Way. This rule allows Yondu to reroll one attack or defense die as long as he is holding an objective token or Contesting a Secure objective.

Yondu Udonta has more experience liberating possessions from their owners than most, and the Team Tactic Card Plundered Goods perfectly encapsulates the moment he calls out an object he sets his eyes on for his crew to free. By paying 2 power Yondu can activate the card and essentially calls out the targets. When an allied character attacks any enemy character within 3 of Yondu holding an objective token, they may now reroll 2 attack dice! Yondu knows what he wants and will use any ally to get it. But that’s not all; additionally whenever Yondu attacks an enemy character holding or Contesting an objective token, he gains 1 power. If he gets off an optimal chain of Whistle While You Work attacks, Yondu can easily end up gaining more power than he spent on the card.

With impressive ranged attacks, defense abilities to protect what he’s stolen, and a focus on gaining objectives from your opponent, Yondu brings a lot to the table for any cosmic squads players are trying to build that can steal anything in reach.

That’s all for today’s installment of From Panel to Play. Be sure to check back for the next preview of your favorite characters and how they interact on the tabletop! Nova & Yondu are available for pre-order at your friendly local game store or through our webstore.

Until next time, Atomic Mass Games signing off!