From Panel To Play: Red Skull & Hydra Troopers

CP74 Red Skull & Hydra Troopers

The eyes might be the window to the soul, but when the person you’re looking at has a literal red skull for a face, maybe you don’t need to look that close to know something funky is going on? This time on from Panel to Play we’re looking at an oldie but a baddie, the Red Skull!

At the height of his power, the Red Skull had an army of dedicated Hydra troops at his beck and call. With them, the man formerly known as Johann Shmidt waged a campaign of terror across the world. His specialty is sabotage and espionage, and as the sworn archenemy of Captain America, there is no line the Red Skull will not cross in his evil war on the rest of the world.

Red Skull brings more than just a handful of Hydra troops to the battlefield, thanks to his vast array of terrifying powers. As the Master of Hydra, Red Skull leads a vicious Blitz Strike against his enemies, a rapid physical attack that hits at Strength 6 and can force his target back while Red Skull follows up for another attack. When he has an opponent at his mercy, Red Skull commands his enemies with Kneel Before Me! Though it costs 5 Power to use, this devastating Strength 9 attack is your choice of Energy or Mystic and can throw characters as large as Size 4 a Medium distance away!

All of Red Skull’s power and rage are directed at his goal for domination. This comes in the form of a new leadership for the Hydra affiliation called, appropriately enough, World Domination. Skull rewards his underlings for following his orders to the letter, so allied characters gain 1 Power during the Power Phase if they are holding or contesting objectives during a crisis.

While his allies worry about objectives, Red Skull himself can go toe to toe with the heaviest hitters on the field. Outfitted in the supreme armor of Hydra, Skull can rely on his Empowered Gauntlets to hit hard. Costing 2 Power, this active power lets him add blank results to his next Blitz Strike attack roll. If he lacks the Power to use it, Skull can rely on his All-Consuming Obsession, which lets him trade 1 damage for 2 Power once per turn.

You might think being stuck in against meddlesome heroes might be a problem for Red Skull, but his Leviathan Armor offers him superior protection against many attacks. This innate power lets him choose a type of shielding during each Power Phase. He can activate a Dispersion Field, which gives him three extra dice when defending against energy attacks and prevents him from being pushed or advanced by the enemy, or he can rely on a Null Field to deaden the power of Mystic attacks and render him immune to collisions!

Red Skull is a terrifying foe on his own… but he isn’t alone on the battlefield. The Master of Hydra brings a squad of Hydra Troopers into battle, which he can reinforce with the Cut Off One Head... innate power. Hydra Troopers are grunts outfitted with energy weapons who secure objectives in the field and are willing to lay down their lives for the cause of the Red Skull! This is evident when you look at their Hydra Assault power, which lets them rush in and lay down fire with their energy weapons, rerolling any number of attack dice—and being KO’ed after the attack. Those that don’t go rushing into battle lock down any objectives on the battlefield, thanks to the Occupation Force innate power. While they aren’t able to interact with Extract objectives, the ability to hold Secure objectives without paying power makes them an efficient tool for controlling those objectives.

That’s it for our first look at the terrifying commander and master of Hydra. 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. Red Skull & Hydra Troopers arrive at your local game store on October 14. Pre-order your own copy at your local game store or through our webstore today.

Until then, Atomic Mass Transmissions, signing off!