In this installment of From Panel to Play, we’re checking out the man with enough firepower to make the Punisher blush. It’s War Machine!
James “Rhodey” Rhodes was a United States Marine Corps lieutenant and combat pilot. Rhodes was an early ally of Tony Stark, eventually accepting a job as his personal pilot. Rhodes grew to become Stark’s one of Stark’s closest friends and most trustworthy companions.
When Stark was unable to serve as Iron Man, Rhodes suited up in his place. Having proved his ability to use the armor, Stark went on to construct a new suit of armor, the Variable Threat Response Battle Suit, Model XVI, Mark I, which he nicknamed “War Machine.” It was a more heavily armed version of the Iron Man armor, designed for all-out warfare. Donning the armor, Rhodes now fights as War Machine, a walking arsenal attached to a powerful suit of battle armor.
War Machine is poised for battle. His miniature bristles with armaments and lifts off the base on twin jets of fiery exhaust. War Machine’s classic color scheme is an excellent opportunity to use true metallic paints and the complex detail of his armor allows painters to pick out panels to place spot colors.
Rhodes brings a walking (and flying) arsenal to your roster. The Variable Threat Response Battle Suit is outfitted with heavy weaponry suited to almost any situation. When absolutely every opponent on the battlefield needs to take some damage, accept no substitutes.
War Machine has two heavy weapons, his shoulder-mounted minigun and his multiple-warhead firing rocket pods. These weapons can damage multiple targets with each attack, either blazing a line of bullets through his opponents or dropping an explosive barrage on them. When War Machine needs to focus-fire on a single target, he can dump his entire arsenal in one dramatic shot—but not without a cost. Empty the Clip is a Strength 8 physical attack that allows War Machine to roll two additional dice for every critical result instead of one. Still, in return, War Machine suffers 1 damage for each critical in the attack roll.
Fortunately, the battle suit Rhodes wears can shield him from all manner of enemy damage. Its durable armored plating can withstand bullets, bombs, and beams of all descriptions. The
Titanium Armor Plating innate superpower lets Rhodes reduce the damage caused by enemy effects (attacks or otherwise) by 1, to a minimum of 1.
That’s all for our first look at this walking, one-man arsenal. Be sure to check back for more installments of From Panel to Play, as we take a look at your favorite characters and how they shape up in Marvel: Crisis Protocol.
Until then, Atomic Mass Transmissions, signing off!
© 2024 Atomic Mass Games All rights reserved