From Panel to Play: The Wrecking Crew

There’s a storm on the way! Dirk Garthwaite and his boys, Dr. Eliot Franklin, Henry Camp, and Brian Calusky, have escaped from Ryker’s Island and recovered the enchanted crowbar that contains the trapped power of Wrecker, a power that Dirk previously held. All four men hold fast to the crowbar and raise it into the sky! Lightning strikes! The mystic crowbar, Enchanted by Karnilla, Queen of Norns, disperses its power into the four men holding it, transforming them into the Wrecking Crew!

Every member of the Wrecking Crew has been enhanced with superhuman strength and durability. Their powers give them the capability to demolish anything in their way, and they enjoy doing just that. As career criminals, the Wrecking Crew have no qualms selling their services to the highest bidder, and there is no shortage of customers willing to pay top dollar to get access to super-powered muscle. Because of this, the Wrecking Crew end up doing odd jobs that other super-powered individuals might consider beneath them, but the Wrecking Crew doesn’t let that stop them from cashing in on their unique talents. The Wrecking Crew won’t let the law or Loki, who wants to reclaim the Asgardian power in their crowbar, stop them from getting what they want.

Dirk Garthwaite is the Wrecker. He leads the Wrecking Crew and wields the enchanted wrecking bar. Ulik taught him to throw his weapon so that it returns to him after smashing through its targets with mystically empowered strength. Dr. Eliot Franklin is Thunderball. He is a brilliant physicist with a deep understanding of gamma radiation and a chip on his shoulder that the Wrecker is the head of the Wrecking Crew. He wields a wrecking ball that can be empowered by the Wrecker’s crowbar to become almost indestructible, and he can use it to smash the ground and cause minor quakes that can knock enemies off their feet. Brian Calusky is Piledriver. His grip has been enhanced beyond even the other members of the Wrecking Crew, making him a ferocious grappler that can easily manhandle his opponents. Henry Camp is Bulldozer. He wears a special metal helmet that reinforces his upper body so that he can ram through any obstacles in his path. The Bulldoze superpower represents this capability as well as the exceptional demolition capabilities of the Wrecking Crew. Bulldoze can help line up a great Wrecking Bar Fling that catches multiple characters and interactive terrain pieces; creating a massive storm of shrapnel to overwhelm their opponents.

The Wrecking Crew are formidable alone, but a coordinated assault by all four can bring even the strongest foe down. Let’s Take ’em Down Boys! allows the Wrecking Crew to make 3 attack actions on their activation. They can Bulldoze into position, hit with Indestructi-ball to give their target Stun, follow up with Piledriver to give Stagger and Push the target Away, then throw their magic crowbar and Throw the target. Finally, they can play the Stronger Together Team Tactic Card to once again Throw the target long. That combination can move an enemy character far enough that they might not even get back with an entire activation of moving. That full string is very unlikely to happen with all the required triggers, but it’s truly spectacular when it does, and it brings a massive amount of excitement to their activation when they go for it.

Mystic Menace is a much less spectacular effect, but don’t let that fool you into thinking it’s not very effective. With Piledriver, the Wrecking Crew are quite good at moving enemy characters away from secures. If they do that on a round where Mystic Menace is up, they often leave enemy characters with the bad choice of staying away from that objective or gaining Hex and losing their extra dice from crits.

CP162 contains both The Wrecking Crew and Abomination, and both characters are great options for adding muscle to the Criminal Syndicate Affiliation. With their easy access to additional moves and attacks, the Wrecking Crew makes an excellent addition to a Criminal Syndicate squad led by Shadowland Daredevil (CP79). Wrecking Bar Fling can be extremely powerful when it’s targeting multiple characters that qualify for the rerolls from the Shadow War leadership, and they are one of the few characters that can reliably get 5 or more rerolls from Shadow War on their turn.

The Wrecking Crew also joins the ranks of the Asgardian villains in the Cabal Affiliation, and they make a fantastic addition to a squad led by Malekith, the Accursed (CP93). With Bulldoze and the additional move and power from Malekith’s leadership, The Dark Council, the Wrecking Crew have no problem getting across the table before attacking, which makes it more likely that they can Daze or KO their targets and trigger The Dark Council on their Turn.

More generally, any roster might want to include the Wrecking Crew to get access to their flexible attack suite. Indestructi-ball is one of the easiest ways to give out Stun, so it can be used to stifle any character that regularly tries to gain large chunks of power. Piledriver is a stupendously powerful attack for 0 power with 6 dice, Push on damage, and the possibility to Stagger if the target is stunned. Both effects of the attack give the Wrecking Crew great options to control enemy characters. Wrecking Bar Fling is insanely powerful when there are lots of Size 1 and 2 terrain features around the objectives, so having the Wrecking Crew in your roster for those situations can give you a situational massive advantage.

That’s all we have for today! 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 these characters and more at your local game store or through the webstore today.

Until next time, Atomic Mass Games, signing off!