From Panel to Play: Angel & Archangel 

Soaring into today’s From Panel to Play is the millionaire, Warren Worthington III, better known as the hero Angel! This high-flying hero is a mutant and one of the founding members of the X-Men.

Warren’s best-known trait is his large white-feathered wings that allow him to ascend into the skies and perform feats of aerial acrobatics. He has been able to keep these wings secret thanks to their ability to fold up into a very small size, allowing him to hide them under his clothing. Warren began his superhero career rescuing people from peril and fighting crime on his own until discovered by Charles Xavier, recruited into the X-Men, and took the name Angel.

In Marvel: Crisis Protocol, Angel is a Threat Value 3 character with a fairly modest stat line of 5 Stamina on both sides and 3/3/3 defenses with Medium Speed along with the Flight Innate superpower. His Healing Factor (1) gives him a little extra survivability, but he is not intended to be a brawler.

Angel’s Flyby attack has him swooping through enemy groups and generating a little Power with each attack. This beam has a range of 3 and after the final attack is complete, Angel is Placed within Range 1 of the last target. This combines well with his Hostile Takeover Reactive superpower which triggers when he begins a move action as he will be in perfect position to trigger it after this attack. For 2 Power, Hostile Takeover lets him Push a nearby enemy character toward him a Short distance after the move action is completed.

His second Reactive superpower is Air Lift. This is another superpower that triggers when he begins a move action. Unlike Hostile Takeover, this superpower allows him to Place an allied character within Range 2 of its current location. This Place doesn’t have to be toward Angel’s final location either, giving him plenty of flexibility in repositioning his team.

Both of these Reactive superpowers can be used during a single move action, allowing tricks that can remove an enemy from an objective and put an allied character in their place or bring an enemy and an ally together to enable follow-up activations that can Daze enemy characters more efficiently.

Angel’s second attack pays homage to his original superhero name. Avenging Angel is a powerful attack with a Strength of 7, a chance to Stun the target, and the ability to Throw most enemies a Short distance.

Angel comes with multiple Team Tactic Cards including the Ultimate Sacrifice card. This Reactive card allows Angel to take attacks intended for nearby allies for 2 Power. If the attack proceeds to Daze or KO Angel, the character the attack was intended for will remove 3 Damage and all of their special conditions!

Battles don’t always go your way. Warren knows this very well, as he was defeated during a brutal battle and his wings were amputated. This took a toll on him and he eventually fell into the hands of Apocalypse, who molded him into an angel of death. Thus was Archangel born.

In Marvel: Crisis Protocol, this story is told with Warren’s second Team Tactic Card, Fallen. This card is played reactively when Angel would flip his card from his Healthy side to his Injured side. All nearby enemy characters are Pushed a Short distance away from Angel and gain the Bleed special condition as Archangel rises! Archangel’s card is flipped to the Injured side and he gains the same amount of Power Angel had.

Apocalypse’s machinations changed Warren Worthington III in profound ways. His beautiful white wings were gone, but in their place he grew metallic wings that are razor sharp and able to deliver a powerful neurotoxin to his enemies. The effectiveness of the new Archangel resulted in him gaining a new title: Death! He became one of Apocalypse’s Horsemen and led the Horsemen in battle.

As Archangel, Warren brings a new set of abilities to the battlefield. He retains his Flight and Medium Speed, but he is much more offensive in nature and delivers multiple special conditions. As a Threat Value 4 character his stats are enhanced to have 5 Stamina on his Healthy side and 6 on his Injured side to go along with better defenses of 4/3/4.

His attacks are also enhanced. Razor Wing Strike has a Strength of 5 and generates Power based on the damage it deals and has two triggered effects. The first is Toxic Flechettes, which gives the target the Bleed or Poison special condition when a Wild is rolled. If two Wilds are rolled, the target gets both! If a Critical is rolled, Overwing is triggered which forces Archangel to be Placed within Range 1 of the attack’s target.

Razor Wing Strike has the potential to combine well with his second attack, Avatar of Death. This attack costs 3 Power and has a Strength of 7 and features the Neurotoxin rule. When triggered, Neurotoxin will give the attack’s target the Stagger special condition. However, if the target has both the Bleed and Poison special conditions, Neurotoxin can give the target an Activated token instead!

Archangel is not the most durable character at his Threat Value, but he has some superpowers that help him get into the fight and stay in it. Charge is a well-known superpower that costs 2 Power and one action to give Archangel a move action followed by an attack action, which can be used to make either attack on his card if he has the Power. When he needs to defend himself from enemy attacks he can use his large metallic wings to shield his body from harm. Wing Shield triggers when he is targeted by a Physical or Energy attack or needs to make a dodge roll. For 2 Power, he adds 2 dice to his defense or dodge roll giving him a welcome boost to his durability.

Archangel is the Chosen of Apocalypse and this superpower shows it. When attacking, Archangel is able to change one die result to a Hit for each Wild he rolled, giving his attacks extra punch to deliver attacks befitting a character known as Death.

That’s all we have for Angel and Archangel! These two characters will fly onto your battlefields soon and herald the coming of Apocalypse! Check back later for another 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 Angel and Archangel Box at your local game store or through the webstore today.

Until next time, Atomic Mass Games, signing off!