Marvel Crisis Protocol event - Uncle Ben's Special

 Get the rice cooking!

I, Stylus, am heading back to Bristol for a Marvel Crisis Protocol tournament - although this one is a bit more fun than official. We all play four games with tournament organisation, but the twist is... Uncle Ben!

Created especially for this event, Marvel's most short-lived character comes with a few rules:

• He's a Threat 1, but must be included in your squad for every game
• His stats are, as you'd imagine, fairly rubbish; he can only hold a limited amount of power and has to re-roll successful defence dice ('it's fated to happen')
• He can't hold extract objectives, and can't contest the same secure objective twice in row
• He comes with a free tactics card that flips both Uncle Bens (yours and your opponent's) to their injured side
• When KO (as he will surely be), he does not get removed, but stays on the table. Your leader loses their leadership ability and everyone within Range 3 pays an extra power for attacks and superpowers.

So basically, he's a liability.

Cry Uncle - Web Warriors

I don't usually play the same affiliation twice in a row (observe the list of characters I want to play with), but Web Warriors was too perfect, so I leaned into it.

Some changes to the roster: both symbiotes, Agent Venom and Gwenom, are getting a try-out. Spider-Ham is also a must-include. Black Cat is well regarded and pairs nicely with Spider-Man and Silk.

Regretfully, I had to drop Spider-Noir in favour of Amazing Spider-Man, because my display base has a medium-base gap and he's the only one that can fill it (that's the level of my tactical acumen).

Similarly, my choice of crises were the same: all the ones in the new Operation Zero Tolerance pack (the equivalent of this 'season' of MCP). Let's give them a road-test!

Characters: Amazing Spider-Man (5), Spider-Man 2099 (5), Agent Venom (4), Gwenom (4) Ultimate Spider-Man (4), Silk (4), Black Cat (3), Spider-Man Miles Morales (3), Spectacular Spider-Man (3), Spider-Ham (2)

Team Tactics: Web of the Spider-Verse, All Webbed Up, Spider-Tracker, The Cat And The Spider, Protégé, Great Power, Go Get ‘em Tiger, Spider-Men, Brace for Impact (R), Sacrifice (R)

Secure Crisis: X-Men Infiltrate Secret Weapons Facility (17) Assault Ships Make Sweeping Search! (16) Survivors Search for Safe Shelters (20) Lockdown! Security Systems Stymie Breakout (18) Power Overload! Factory Goes Up in Flames (19)

Extract Crisis: Evidence of Experimental Soldiers Exposed! (19) Surprise Assault! Mutant Homes Destroyed 16) Salvaged Supplies Fuel Resistance Efforts (18) Jailbreak Leads to Mass Mutant Escape! (20) Sentinel Schematics Sabotaged! (17)

Game 1 - Web Warriors vs Sentinels

Web Warriors: Ultimate Spider-Man, Silk, Spectacular Spider-Man, Black Cat, Spider-Ham, Uncle Ben

Sentinels: Bastion, Sentinel Mk4, Prime Sentinel (1), Prime Sentinel (2), Bob, Agent of Hydra, Uncle Ben
Crisis: Assault Ships Make Sweeping Search!, Sentinel Schematics Sabotaged!

Threat: 17

My first game was against Dave, who I last faced in with Hydra in March (didn't work out so well for me). I was already nervous about facing Sentinels, as their new leadership reduces characters from getting power when damaged and they have a few characters who can dish out Root (which makes superpowers more expensive). The one thing I know about Web Warriors is they have a delicate power economy and they like to use their superpowers.

But Web Warriors also have mobility, so I decided to use that to swing around and grab objectives, while focussing on just one side of the board.

Spider-Ham was nominated to lure away both Bastion and Sentinel Mk4, while Spectacular Spider-Man also pitched in to throw Bastion away from the action. Spidey also managed to daze the Sentinel Mk4 for good measure (my dice had been rolling incredibly well, in fairness).

On the fighting side of the table, Silk, Black Cat and Ultimate Spider-Man took on the Prime Sentinels, who were more problematic than I assumed, given the conditions they could dish out just by being near them.

Both Uncle Bens started the game cowering behind cover and Hydra Bob dazed himself with his bazooka (that's his thing).

By the start of the third round, I had built up quite a convincing lead, and I only needed four VP to take me over the line. But this was the moment the Sentinels played Directive One - a tactics card that denies Stealth and defensive re-rolls. My team's survivability depends on the spider-sense re-rolls (and Stealth), so it was a bad time for my dice to desert me at exactly the same time.

When the dust had settled on the third round, we were back to level pegging, but most of my team were on the ground.

I didn't really have enough to come back by the fourth round, as I had been intent on grabbing points and avoiding trouble, and the Sentinels just had more bodies, and more firepower, than me. We finished up on 19-15 to the Sentinels.

I was really fun game, and in the first two rounds I was surprised at how much of a lead I'd gained. Dave was a very good opponent, and ended the day in the top spot with four wins in a row, so I was just the first of the Sentinels' scalps.

Game 2 - Web Warriors vs Dark Dimension

Web Warriors: Ultimate Spider-Man, Silk, Spectacular Spider-Man, Black Cat, Spider-Ham, Uncle Ben

Dark Dimension: Dormammu, Beta Ray Bill, Nick Fury junior, Uncle Ben
Crisis: X-Men Infiltrate Secret Weapons Facility, Salvaged Supplies Fuel Resistance Efforts

Threat: 17

The next game was a new affiliation for me to face: Dark Dimension. This is a single-character affiliation (like Mephisto and Dracula), and in this case, the leader is Dormammu, a Threat 8 demigod that my wee spider-people were not equipped to deal with.

The terrain set-up was a challenging one - a raised 'X'-shaped platform that covered most of the board and would require a lot of climbing for characters without fly or wallcrawler (in MCP you never go beneath terrain, always on top of it). It also mean that pushes and throws would be limited as we got crowded into corners.

On top of that, we drew particularly difficult crises: the Secure involved directional searchlights that could move in the Clean Up phase; the Extract required two characters to pick up and hold. So there was going to be a lot to keep track of.

With all that, I was sticking to the same team as before (I also wanted to keep the threat as low as possible, so Dormammu had fewer minions in his team).

The game started with the Web Warriors getting immediately bullied off the Extracts (Nick Fury and his Agents could easily double-team one, and I wasn't shifting Dormammu and Beta Ray Bill off the other). But with the speed of the spider-folks, I was able to swing around and flip the Secures.

The scores were keeping more or less level, and I stuck to my plan of attacking everyone but Dormammu. I was able to daze Beta Ray Bill, Nick Fury, the SHIELD Agents and Uncle Ben, and Silk even managed to snatch an Extract and run for it.

While this was happening, I kept feeding my team to Dormammu (Spider-Ham, Spectacular Spider-Man, Ultimate Spider-Man all got tapped), but as the rounds ticked by we were still neck-and-neck. When our time was about to run out, I was ahead a few VP and only Dormammu was left to play.

The ruler of the Dark Dimension was not to be gainsaid. With some teleportation, and a little more violence, he was able to hold onto one of the Extracts and flip two more Secures to draw level (even when slowed, that big base of his gets him around).

The game ended 15-15, which was my first draw in MCP (they don't seem to come around often) and very hard-fought. My opponent, dixhuit, was an absolute gentlemen in getting me through all the various rules layers without my brain melting.

Game 3 - Web Warriors vs Cabal

Web Warriors: Amazing Spider-Man, Agent Venom, Gwenom, Spider-Man (Miles), Uncle Ben

Cabal: Red Skull Master of the World, Baron Helmut Zemo, Ultron Metal Tyrant, Winter Soldier Operative, Uncle Ben
Crisis: Sentinel Schematics Sabotaged!, Super-Powered Scoundrels Form Sinister Syndicate

Threat: 17

A change of pace for Game 3. This was the first MCP tournament for my opponent, Andy, so I was in the unusual position of being on top of the rules. He was playing the Cabal models from the Core box set, and I was reasonably familiar with them, to help where I could. For myself, I switched around my entire team, to give the other Web Warriors in the roster a run-out.

With four Secures and five Extracts, my plan was to grab what I could, displace the enemy characters off their points and avoid the biggest threat (in this case Ultron). The plan began brightly, with Winter Soldier being thrown into no-man's land and the Ultron Drones getting scrapped. But Agent Venom was dazed when Zemo and Red Skull double-teamed him, and Amazing Spider-Man took a whack, plus a couple of conditions, from an Ultron blast.

I then realised that I could build a lot of power by picking on the weakest member of the team, namely Uncle Ben. So Amazing Spider-Man picked up an Extract, web swung over towards Ben, delivered a kick that dazed his uncle (sorry Ben!) then placed on his objective, used Go Get 'Em Tiger to heal all his wounds and remove one condition, shrug the other condition and score two points. Amazing!

Elsewhere, things were more level: Zemo and Winter Solider were dazed when Agent Venom woke up and played All Webbed Up, aided by Gwenom. Ultron dazed Spider-Man (Miles) without much of a sweat. 

Between the Cabal's attrition and my objective game, we were dead level in scores for the first three rounds, which made things very exciting. It was round 4 where the Web Warriors were able to punch back hard, KOing Ben and Zemo, with Miles chasing down Red Skull to steal his objective and put the game beyond reach.

We ended 19-15 in my favour, and it was a real humdinger of a game. Lots going on everywhere and plenty of bodies dropping on both sides.

Game 4 - Web Warriors vs Thralls of Dracula

Web Warriors: Amazing Spider-Man, Spider-Man 2099, Gwenom, Black Cat, Spider-Ham, Uncle Ben

Thralls of Dracula: Dracula, Loki Prince of Lies, Venom, Baron Zemo, Okoye, Uncle Ben
Crisis: Sentinel Schematics Sabotaged!, Wedding Party Targeted in Terrible Attack!

Threat: 20

(no pictures for this one as we ran seriously over time)

My final game of the day was against Matt's Thralls of Dracula (an affiliation I've never beaten). At 20 Threat, it would be a nice change from the 17 Threat I'd been playing all event, and it allowed me to play both Amazing Spider-Man (who I was warming to) and bring Spider-Man 2099 off the bench.

The Wedding Party crisis is an interesting one, as it's only two Secure objectives, but they're worth double, so you can quickly find yourself falling behind. I resolved to not even try and contest both, but to flood one objective, forget the other one, and rely on my team's manoeuvrability to keep me in contention.

Accordingly, when Zemo, Venom and Thrall Ben went for the left Extract, I sent Amazing Spider-Man, Spider-Man 2099, Gwenom and Black Cat after it. The other Extract attracted the bigger hitters of Dracula, Loki and Okoye, so I sent Uncle Ben and Spider-Ham over there to keep them honest.

I'd already worked out that my best tactic was to target Uncle Ben with Amazing Spider-Men (I'm not proud of this!), so Spidey landed an early hit that gave me enough power to play All Webbed Up early in the second round. This made Venom, Zemo and Thrall Ben vulnerable, so they were quickly dazed, then subsequently KOd by my team (although Venom didn't go quietly, and dazed Gwenom on his way out, justifying my making him a priority target).

Meanwhile, Spider-Ham was having an absolute blast - Web Yoinking Dracula out of position, threatening to take the objective from Okoye, and even dishing out the Slow condition to Dracula, which really inconvenienced him. For the first half of the game, the Thralls' biggest hitter was having difficulty making an impact, although Black Cat and Uncle Ben were dazed when he did get his act together.

Loki threw a spanner into the works when he wandered into my cluster of Web Warriors, then played Giant's Blood to leave again, after giving them all Root and Slow. This took the wind out of my game, since all my characters needed to be fast, with access to superpowers.

However, time was ticking on, the score was level, and we were going to have to wrap up the game before the event ended. With bare minutes in the fifth round, neither of us could bring about anything dramatic, so we scored what we could and a very exciting game ended 18-18 - another draw!

Back in the locker room

That was four very different, and really enjoyable games. Not only did I draw twice, but my VP difference was perfectly balanced (as all things should be).

The Uncle Ben mechanic added a huge dollop of chaos to proceedings (and doubtless added to the fact that three of the games were pushed for time), but I also learned a lot about Web Warriors and am really enjoying them. All Webbed Up is usually a big nitro-boost for the team, so choosing when and how to use it is important. And the new 'source extract' crises (where objectives are taken off characters and returned to their starting positions) takes away a Web Warrior tactic of grabbing an objective and heading into Stealth range (which is only fair, I suppose).

Having a game plan that doesn't hinge on beating up all the opposing characters is very novel for me, and makes for some very interesting gameplay. In terms of characters, Amazing Spider-Man stood out for me in a way I wasn't expecting (glad I included him last-minute!) and my MVP has to be Spider-Ham - his distracting annoyances on both Bastion and Dracula were priceless.

That's all folks!