Marvel Crisis Protocol: Your First Three Crews

Hey there, Super Hero.

You have read the affiliation guide, you have picked a team, and now you are looking at a shelf of character packs with no obvious order to them.

This is where Crisis Protocol gets people. The affiliation question is fun. The "so what do I buy" question is where the wallet gets nervous, because character packs are $35 to $70 each and there are a hundred of them.

Here is the good news: you need far less than the shelf implies.

Start Here, Whatever You Picked

Earth's Mightiest Core Set, $149.99.

This is where the game starts and there is no clever alternative. Thirteen characters, terrain to fight over, dice and measuring tools, the Crisis cards that set your objectives, and the rulebook. Nothing else is required to play a full game the evening it arrives.

That last part matters more than the character count. Crisis Protocol needs terrain and objectives to work, and this is the only box that hands you both.

And the thirteen characters are the reason it survives contact with your affiliation choice. The spread across the roster means whatever you picked, some of the core set is already pointed at it. You are never buying it and starting again.

The Best Value: honestly, this box and nothing else for a month. Two people can play out of it. Learn the game before you buy a single character pack.

Path One: Avengers, the Straightest Line

Who it is for: you want the iconic team, you want your first crew to look like the poster, and you would rather learn the game with characters whose powers you already understand.

The core set does most of the work here, which makes this the cheapest path to a functioning crew by a distance.

Then add:

Total to a deep Avengers crew: core set plus one pack, about $220. Browse the Avengers collection.

Choose this if: this is your first miniatures game full stop.

Path Two: The Villains, and the Best-Stocked Shelf We Have

Who it is for: you would rather be the problem than solve it.

Two affiliations to know about, and they are two of the deepest ranges in the game: Criminal Syndicate and the Cabal.

Then add:

Choose this if: you want the widest actual choice on the day you walk in, and you have ever described a villain as "correct".

Path Three: Web Warriors, the Themed One

Who it is for: you want a crew with a coherent look and feel rather than an all-star team, and you would like to field Spider-Ham without apologising.

The Web Warriors are unusually well served by two multi-character packs, which makes this path cheap per model.

Then add:

Two boxes, six characters, $110. That is close to a full crew for the price of two ordinary character packs.

Choose this if: you like a theme and you would rather your crew told a story than won an argument.

The Two Things Nobody Buys Early Enough

Terrain. Crisis Protocol without terrain is not a hard game, it is a short one. The core set includes some. When you want more, the NYC Terrain Pack at $47.99 and the NYC Commercial Truck at $37.99 are the sensible next step, because a truck you can throw at somebody is the game working as intended.

Scenario variety. The Mojo Ball Scenario Pack at $14.99 is the cheapest thing on this page and changes more about an evening than a $60 character does.

What We Would Actually Tell You Across the Counter

Buy the core set. Play four games. Then buy one pack.

That is it. The single most common mistake we see is somebody buying an affiliation's worth of character packs before their third game, discovering they enjoy a completely different playstyle, and having a shelf of models they never field.

Crisis Protocol has a hundred character packs and they are not going anywhere. Your enthusiasm on day one is not a buying strategy.

So: which of the three, and which single character are you most looking forward to putting on the table? If the answer is Spider-Ham, we respect it.

Until next time, keep the city standing. Or do not, we are not the boss of you.

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