Crisis in the Sweetwater Debris Field

For a floating mass of gravel in space, the taxi service is pretty decent.

The Jimulthuan Quadrant campaign continues apace and since I, Stylus, still haven't gotten my head wrapped around 40k, we're settling this one with superheroes.

In this chapter, the forces of Chaos (that's me) are attempting to push out the Xenos (commanded by jhnlk - that's me) from the debris field that was once the shrine world of Sweetwater. Why this should be a key campaign objective, I'm not sure. But since I was the one who destroyed the planet in the first place, I'm taking a 'you break it, you own it' approach.

Hellfire Club (Chaos)

Emma Frost's Hellfire Club is composed of mad geneticists, daemonologists and unscrupulous mercenaries, so that's about right for Chaos.

This game was played in the wake of the Great MCP Update of 2026, and while almost every character got tweaked in some way, some of the biggest changes were for Mr. Sinister, Shadow King and Viper (all of them previously considered unplayable, to some extent). I'm very keen on the models, so can't wait to give their new versions a run-out.

And a side-bar: massive props to Atomic Mass Games, who gave away a massive rules update for free, just to keep models playable who were released as far back as 2019 (when they could have easily stuck two fingers up to the customer and, I don't know, moved all the old models to 'legends' or something).

Rounding out the squad is Omega Red, who I've always liked, and the White Queen herself, Emma Frost, who seems full of tricks.

This list seems weighted for mystic attacks, which is a novelty for me. It also likes displacement, since four of the five character have the ability to move opposing players against their will. So I have the potential to get onto scoring points, and generally be annoying.

Squad: Mr Sinister, Shadow King, Emma Frost, Omega Red, Viper

Tactics: My Hellfire Club, Carbonadium Synthesizer, Mind Transfer, Heavy Firepower, Sacrifice

Threat: 20

Cabal (Xenos)

The Cabal models have also received a tune-up - both Mysterio and Crossbones can now move medium (they were previously short movers, which is horrible immobile for a small base model). 

Extra health for Arnim Zola and Killmonger, and more efficient powers for Red Skull. Baron Zemo is the only model to be downgraded, but he's still very viable and has, to be fair, been dodging that nerf bat for years.

There's a fair bit of mystic defence in this squad too, which may blunt the Hellfire Club's attacks. But this list is mostly about aggressive power, and contains some absolute killers as well as solid support pieces.

I won't lie, while I continue to enjoy MCP, I still don't know who most of these are. I've spotted Zola in my kid's cartoons (much to Stylus' surprise) but that's about it. However, they look great, and I am keen to try out this larger band of low threat level deviants.

Squad: Mysterio, Baron Zemo, Red Skull, Arnim Zola, Killmonger, Crossbones

Tactics: Dark Reign, I Am A Baron After All, Usurp The Throne, The Grand Illusion, Cosmic Invigoration

Threat: 20

Mission and deployment

Extract: Surprise Assault! Mutant Homes Destroyed

Secure: Power Overload! Factory Goes Up In Flames

We're playing 20 Threat and, to cut down on the admin, the Extract (Red) Crisis had no extra rules to apply. There were some more rules with the Secure (Blue) Crisis but we forgot all about them (the pressures of Skypehammer), so this boiled down to a simple mission of either holding or securing objectives for VPs.

Cabal deployed first and set up (from the picture's perspective), left to right: Crossbones, Killmonger, Baron Zemo, Red Skull, Arnim Zola, Mysterio.

Hellfire Club set up, left to right: Emma Frost, Omega Red, Shadow King, Mr Sinister, Viper.

Cabal takes Priority and we're off!

Round 1

There are eight objectives to be had, so the scramble begins! Baron Zemo takes his home secure and sits tight. Viper runs up and grabs the right Extract.

Arnim Zola moves up the right flank, followed by Mysterio (using his newfound speed to grab the right Secure) while Red Skull observes matters from behind a car.

Mr Sinister walks up to challenge the right Secure, then hits both Mysterio and Arnim Zola with a Genetic Splicing beam attack. It does little damage (against the two characters with great mystic defence), but generates enough power and Genetic Sample tokens for his evil schemes. He immediately puts Root on both of them (making their superpowers more expensive) and then walks Arnim Zola back the way he came with Such Fun Little Playthings.

In the centre, Omega Red takes the plunge and grabs the furthest Extract, tempting Killmonger to come forward in preparation for next round.

With a goon to shield her, Emma Frost feels comfortable to walk up and take the nearest extract. Shadow King steps onto the back Secure, which is about as much as he'll exert himself all game.

Crossbones, also enjoying his regular human speed, takes the left Secure. That leaves the left Extract going spare, since it's on top of a building and all the flyers are on the wrong side of the board.

Which means the opening scoring is slow, but Hellfire Club have taken the lead.

Score - Cabal 2 : 4 Hellfire Club

Round 2

Omega Red and Killmonger begin the round with the same goal: smashing into each other. Omega Red comes off better in the encounter, having only taken a little damage (which he can heal) and giving Killmonger the Poison condition.

Shadow King then spends an action to deploy his Astral Fiend. This is a cool ability that allows him to place a Projection token within Rage 3 of himself, then measure attacks and abilities from there (it also allows enemy mystic attacks to target and damage it, which is a cool way of showing a duel in the Astral Plane). It basically doubles the range of his attacks, so he can stay safe and on the objective (and if all you've got are knuckledusters, there's no way to hit back).

Using this Fiend, Shadow King zaps Crossbones with a Mental Shackle, which also moves Crossbones into Nightmare Visions range (a reaction power that does a little damage, but adds more displacement). Poor Crossbones is sent reeling, and the Projection token stays there for the rest of the round, so he doesn't want to get near it. Crossbones instead opts for climbing the portakabin roof, grabbing the left Extract, and running the length of the building to flank Shadow King.

Arnim Zola waddles back into the action and zaps Emma Frost, who turns into her Diamond Form (which has no telepathic powers, but is much hardier) and repels the damage. 

This will be a common pattern for Emma, who can transform for free, access a completely different character card, then transform back to her original form (only to do it again when she's targeted again). Suffice to say, I'll struggle to keep track of her transformations, but they happen a lot and I think we got it right.

The now-diamond Emma walks onto the left Secure and throws a car at Killmonger (he dodges it), while Baron Zemo holds the back Extract and edges forward to charge next time.

On the other side of the battlefield, Mr Sinister's attacks barely damage Mysterio, but he does use Such Fun Little Playthings to walk Arnim Zola away again.

Mysterio responds with a double-dose of Hypnosis Gas that walks Mr Sinister and Viper back to their own lines.

Viper leaps back in, but gets hit by Mysterio's Tricks and Traps, who then flits away from the objective. She has another attempt, whiffs against Mysterio's single physical defence dice, but does at least inflict him with Poison.

Peeking over the top of the car, Red Skull hits Viper with a double Cosmic Blast and dazes her, sending the Extract skittering away.

Believe it or not, tactics were afoot here! I successfully lured Viper into Red Skulls range for a double hit. The fly in the ointment was forgetting that I had no capacity to move back onto the objective and score...

That comeback on the right flank stopped the Hellfire Club from running away with the points, but their dominance in the centre and left means they extend their lead over the Cabal.

Score - Cabal 4 : 8 Hellfire Club

Round 3

Omega Red starts by yoinking Mysterio towards him with his Ensnare (which doesn't trigger his Tricks and Traps). Omega Red is now in his happy place, as both Killmonger and Mysterio are close at hand, low on wounds and Poisoned, so he can finish them both with his Death Factor ability. 

Before that happens, I try and heal up some wounds (since Death Factor is so dangerous, it also hurts Omega Red) with a couple of Carbonadium Coils attacks. These massively over-perform and he dazes both Killmonger and Mysterio without having to resort to Death Factor!

Back to her human self, Emma Frost hits Baron Zemo with Hands Off, which dazes him before he can even be moved. So she sends a Psychic Spike at Arnim Zola and - you guessed it - sends him walking back).

Crossbones retaliates by jumping onto the left Extract (before any nasty Astral Fiends reappear) and dazes Emma Frost. Shadow King then throws out his Astral Fiend and dazes Crossbones with a Mental Shackle.

On the right flank, Viper throws her Poison Blade and her Viper's Strike attacks against Red Skull. He's left standing on a single wound, but is laden with Poison, Stun and Slow condition.

Red Skull attempts to Unleash the Cube against Mr Sinister, but a bad roll, combined with his use of Genetic Samples to reduce damage, means that he does no damage at all. Mr Sinister responds with a Genetic Splicing attack that dazes Red Skull and takes his Extract.

With five of the six Cabal members taking a dirt-nap, Arnim Zola is happy to walk onto the back Extract and count his blessings.

An exceptionally brutal round for the Cabal, who get a solitary VP. But with Emma Frost getting dazed, the Hellfire Club wasn't able to pick up any more objectives on the left flank. Still, they continue their steady pace of 4 VP and extend their lead.

Ouch! Looking like a morgue tended by Zola at the end of that round. I really needed Red Skull to perform better than that, may well have been wielding a Rubik's cube for all the damage dealt. 

At least the Cabal will wake up with a lot of power and Priority. Here we go!

Score - Cabal 5 : 12 Hellfire Club

Round 4

Sure enough, Killmonger goes first and, with a Black Ops strike, dazes Omega Red.

Zemo attacks Emma Frost, who again turns diamond to avoid harm. Emma Frost then attempts an unwise course of action (in other words: I wanted to see what would happen). Firstly, she uses the area attack Shatter to inflict damage on Crossbones and Killmonger. She then plays the Mind Transfer tactics card to move Killmonger's activated token to Arnim Zola. 

This means that Arnim Zola misses his turn (sorry Zola!) but Killmonger gets another one. My hope is that Emma's last attack can remove his last two points of damage and KO Killmonger before he gets that chance. 

Alas, her Psychic Spike only does one damage and I use the White Queen Pawns leadership to heal up Emma, so she can hopefully survive the deadliest member of the Cabal she inadvertently activated.

My blushes are spared when Killmonger activates for a second time and does not KO Diamond Emma (although she is left looking quite chipped by now). 

So very close to two downed by Killmonger in one turn, this is more like it!

Shadow King attempts to regain momentum, but his Astral Fiend and Mental Shackle whiff against Baron Zemo. The consolation is that, with the Projection token placed and having amassed a lot of power, the Astral Fiend does present a good control piece (no-one wants to go near it).

The downside is that it leaves Shadow King without a response when Mysterio sneaks up and hits him with Curtain Call, giving him Stagger and throwing him off the back objective. 

Both Crossbones and Zemo pile into Diamond Emma, but can't get enough hits through to take her out. They do hoover up fallen Extracts and keep the left Secure, so start to close the gap in VPs.

Viper declines to chase down Mysterio, as he still has enough power for Tricks and Traps, so she softens up Red Skull instead. Red Skull fails to hit back, and is KO with a single hit from Mister Sinister.

Sinister had to leave his objective to do that, which means I gave up the chance to score out a victory in order to do violence (yes!). For a final poke in the eye, Sinister once again forces Arnim Zola to move away.

Score - Cabal 10 : 15 Hellfire Club

Round 5

Priority is back with Hellfire Club, and Emma wastes no time in KO Killmonger.

Arnim Zola goes next (before anyone can move him away). He dangerously overcharges his Prototype Weapons with Experimental Enhancements. It does the trick though, and Emma is also KO. However, Zola's enhancements backfire and he keels over, dazed. Solid contribution, Zola!

Shadow King can do no more than shake his Stagger and walk onto the back objective. Omega Red is more productive and manages to KO Mysterio.

Baron Zemo scoops up a fallen objective then scurries to his own back point.

That just leaves Viper and Mr Sinister to take the last wound from Crossbones - but despite the volume of attacks, he's constantly able to reduce damage with his Inured to Pain and stubbornly stays on his feet.

That wraps things up, and the now-leaderless Hellfire Club chase the surviving half of the Cabal out of the Sweetwater Debris Field!

Score - Cabal 12 : 18 Hellfire Club

Back in the Debris Field

I've played 20 Threat games many times, but that was a bloodbath! The new updated characters feel really good, and the Hellfire Club worked well together for power generation, healing and displacement.

Shadow King was a fun character to play. I'm not sure he's doing everything to justify his 5 Threat, but he's hard to get at and his astral fiend is great at creating a zone of denial. Mr Sinister did well on a tough flank too, and was a menace to poor Arnim Zola (as the only slow mover, I did pick on him mercilessly, and he was pretty much shut out of the game).

It the first time I've tried Emma Frost, but I was very impressed. She did get KO (part of that was my pratting about with Mind Transfer), but basically held up an entire flank by herself. There's some clever play to be had from both her transformation power and the White Queen's Pawns leadership.

For the Cabal, I think the increase in speed has really helped Crossbones and Mysterio (both made it as far as my deployment - when has that ever happened?). Red Skull's tweaks have also improved him as a leader for the Cabal (and he has to compete with two other Red Skulls).

jhnlk mentioned that he felt he'd been too cautious at the start, and I'd probably agree with that. Once you get behind in VPs with Crisis Protocol, it's very easy to find yourself chasing the game. The Round 4 fightback was a solid one (another plus for MCP is getting that fightback round), but it was too much to catch up on.

I can't say I gave Stylus the headstart on purpose. I think this was definitely a case of user error! This is a really good team but probably set up in the wrong positions. I didn't fully appreciate or utilise Crossbones and Mysterio's speed until too late (which to be fair, further marks just how fast they are). As Stylus said, that slow start cost me. 

I think also there was some naivety in the opponents I tackled. Omega Red and Shadow King holding the centre was a formidable force and I probably should have ignored them in favour of focusing on both flanks. I also left Baron Zemo holding the back objective for too long - when that's clearly where Arnim Zola was trying to be for the entire game!  

Time for the Cabal to lick their wounds and find another way to rewrite this story on Mombassa, like this was planned all along. 

Great game, thanks jhnlk! Thanks Stylus!