Geeking Out – Mini (and more) Monday
Lots to cover this week folks, and another fantastic giveaway for you thanks to our chums at Asmodee UK – we’re looking at the newest Marvel Champions campaign expansion, Mad Titan’s Shadow, which you can snag for yourself! Continuing with the Marvel madness, we’re also taking a look at the latest wave of magic-wielding Marvel Crisis Protocol goodies (and baddies!) and accompanying thematic scenery. Plus, we have some ideas on how to expand your Deadzone 3rd Edition forces with the snazzy new boxsets… oh and of course, we’re announcing the the winner of our Deadzone contest!
MARVEL CRISIS PROTOCOL
The latest release wave for Marvel Crisis Protocol will really get your attention, as the Sorcerer Supreme and masters of magic both malign and benign hit the table this month!
We get a new version of Dr Stephen Strange, this time partnered up with the daughter of Darkness herself, Clea. Whilst Strange is good – it’s neat to have a version of him as a magical Leader – I can’t help but think I still prefer the original version, both in terms of sculpt (contentious I know) and utility. However, if you’re running a full force of mystics, he’s going to be your go-to. Clea, on the other hand, is a rock-solid addition for 3points, with a potent array of combat spells and ridiculous amounts of movement shenanigans:
I freely admit I’m a sucker for teleportation and rapid movement in-game – she’s going straight into my hyper-mobile Web Warriors team – but adds real utility to slow moving teammates also: pair her with core set Crossbones for an almighty beat-down.
The other boxsets in the release follow the not uncommon pattern of Hero and Villain. The Ancient One and Baron Mordo.
I will say that Mordo is flat-out one of the most exciting sculpts I’ve ever seen for any game, bar none – and is surprisingly easy (and stable) to assemble. It walks the line perfectly between comic and MCU versions of the character in its aesthetic, and his ability to duplicate special conditions across multiple characters means that he synergises well with a lot specialist teams (I’ll be honest, I’m thinking webheads again… I have a one-track mind). The Ancient One’s calm pose is certainly fitting, if not massively exciting, but their ability to bypass defences is staggeringly powerful in-game, more than justifying their 4-point cost.
Doctor Voodoo and The Hood are perhaps a bit steep at £50, but boy do you get some impressive sculpts for your money:
Doctor Voodoo is a very impressive, evocative sculpt – though some more candles and skulls (maybe a rooster?) wouldn’t go amiss. A fun figure in game, but Hood is what we’re really interested in. Hood’s two different forms are very well realised, and his innate ability to heal his allies is incredibly useful – native healing being such a (relatively) rare superpower in game. Couple of him with Mordo, and transfer that Bleed token onto all your opponent’s for a whole lot of grisly fun.
Finally, there’s two big-box, big-budget items for this release wave, The Sanctum Sanctorum and the lord of the Dark Dimension, the dread Dormammu! Clocking in around £70 each, they are both serious investments – so are they worth the money? Well, honestly, that‘s a tricky one.
Dormammu is undoubtedly a stunning sculpt, with extensive special scenario rules and objectives, as well as rules and cards for playing him in the main game (8 points! That’s half a team!) but I really do baulk at the cost. To my surprise however, despite the lack of detailed interior, I’m really sold on the Sanctum:
It’s an iconic building rendered beautifully in hard plastic and makes a magnificent centrepiece to any board. It also comes with a good variety of extra scatter terrain (which is not apparent from the box) so it really does help populate your board. I would go so far as to say it’s my favourite terrain set available for the game thus far, and whilst not an essential purchase, it certainly has Xmas written all over it… Just sayin’.
MARVEL CHAMPIONS
Continuing our Marvel theme, the latest campaign release for Marvel Champions, The Mad Titan’s Shadow, has been tearing up the bestseller lists – and for good reason.
First of all, you get two brand-new and mighty powerful heroes on the table, Adam Warlock and Spectrum. Now I know that many folk will be jumping up and down with glee at Adam, but for me it’s Spectrum that I want on the table.
I’m a huge fan of Agents of HATE (any time Marvel doesn’t take itself seriously is good in my book) and likewise really enjoyed her Wandavision incarnation – roll on The Marvels, I say.
With her ability to flip between +2 Attack ,Thwart or Defence, with a whole raft of new Leadership cards, she brings a lot of damage output with a huge boost to Avengers teams old and new.
Still, I know most people will be more hyped for Adam Warlock, especially with the recent GotG3 announcement. Adam follows in the footsteps of Gamorra and Spider-Woman allowing you not just to splash into other aspects but requiring you to play all 4 in balance. It’s thematically excellent, and will lend itself to hours of agonising deckbuilding (though out of the box he’s excellent also).
As for the campaign mode, it takes the challenge rating of Guardians and dials it up a further notch: if you thought Ronan the Accuser was brutal, wait till you get to the big purple dude. Ebony Maw takes Dr Strange’s invocation shtick and fires it right back, whilst Proxima Midnight and Corvus Glaive are a double threat that need to be dealt with simultaneously. Thanos is, of course, a massive and terrible threat, but in a neat twist the Infinity Stones can be added to ANY villain’s encounter deck.
Want to face off against Infinite Ultron? Well now you can! It’s a fantastic expansion, adding layers to all modes of the game, and worthy addition to your game cupboard: read on to find out how you can win your own copy!
DEADZONE
Finally this month, Deadzone 3rd edition is getting released today (#deadzoneislife)! We’ve been playing a lot of it since getting our grubby little paws on it: if you want to get a sense of how much my 2 boys are loving it, the younger one spent his pocket money on a new unit rather than on Fortnite, which is about as ringing an endorsement as you could ever hope for. He’s playing the GCPS from the starter, so he wanted a big heavy mech to begin with, the Strider – a solid support choice for your force:
But whilst giant robots are cool, you probably want to look at one of the two booster sets that have come out for the first wave of releases:
The Heavy Ordnance team brings snipers and artillery to the table, whilst Urban Pacification brings you Riot troopers and crab drones, so you can complement your preferred play style with one or the other (but, why not both?)
I, meanwhile, have been hordes of ratty wickedness, in the form of the Veer-Myn. Again, two solid choices are available as new 3rd ed releases:
Tunnel Ambush gives you a whole lot of specialist and support choices for your chittering horde, with a monstrous Night Terror, rumbling monowheel Tunnel Runner and durable Progenitors, whilst the Brood Matriarch gives a new leader along with swarms of rats and her new melee-focused bodyguards. Again, it’s a question of whether you want to bolster the close combat or ranged potential of your forces, though both packs are solid picks regardless.
The other spawn (BrickBuiltDengar) is building up a force of Asterians, the mecha force, so he’s gunning for the new Matsudan booster pack:
Kaiju rage! Who doesn’t love some giant alien space lizards with guns and katanas? Particularly when previously individually Matsudan were £10 a pop, this is an absolute steal.
It’s worth mentioning again that Enforcers get two distinct starters for 3rd edition:
The Strike Protocol starter emphasises speed, with jetbikes, and strength, with regular enforcers – it’s probably the more accessible of the two for the new player.
The Insurgence Protocol starter OTOH is a mix of light scouts and heavy infantry; it’s a bit more finesse, a bit more subtle, but no less deadly.
I should also point out the huge wave of stuff that Forge Fathers get at release for 3rd ed.
To begin, you’ll want the starter (obvs) with its heavy and super-heavy infantry but the boosters available really give you a huge range of options.
Brokkr, the miner’s guild, are surprisingly light and fast, backed up by artillery and heavy (hairy) bikers, whilst Artificers as the engineers of the space dwarves bring heavy machinery and brutal melee to the table. Finally, not to be outdone by the pesky hoomans and their Striders, the Juggernaut is a mining suit retrofitted for all-out war.
Lots of great choices to be had, whatever your space poison! And remember, read on to find out if you’ve won our 3rd Edition Deadzone boxset giveaway!
COMPETITION TIME
But first, you want to win your very own copy of the Marvel Champions Mad Titan’s Shadow expansion set? Well then, just tell us in the comments below which Marvel hero you think you’ll bring to beat-down, either an existing Champions character or one we’ve still not seen!
Remember to like us and our lovely partners across the social channels, and a share of the contest on your socials (remember to tag us!) gets you a bonus entry, as always.
And finally, the winner of our Deadzone contest is… Ronnie Renton! No, wait, he’s the BOSS of Mantic 
so there you go, shows that sharing on social media gets you bonus entries!
Right, try again, and the winner is… Darthtater77! Not the first time he’s won something, but then, he’s a dedicated follower/sharer of our page!
Congratulations! Email admin@bigcomicpage.com to arrange your prize! Remember, UK only (unless you’re willing to pay postage) and you have 30 days to claim.
Till next time,
Graven.
The Writer of this piece was: Sam Graven
Article Archive: Geeking Out
You can follow Sam on Twitter and Instagram
BIG COMIC PAGE 
Like any good comic storyline it would take a team of heroes to take on the Mad Titan. Our current Marvel Champion squad is Black Widow, Star Lord, Captain America and Dr. Strange.