Another… Friday, another Three Box Challenge? This time we’re covering the most 90s affiliation in the game – X-Force. But before we get into this week’s Three Box Challenge let’s go over the article format for anyone who isn’t familiar:
What is the three box challenge, you may ask? It’s simple – what affiliated rosters can you put together with just the core set plus three boxes of your choice. I know a lot of us obsessively purchase every single box, but I think a huge part of why this game is so great is you can pick up a core box, and a couple boxes of what appeals to you and you could take that to a game night or tournament and do OK.
If you’re coming to this article without having any MCP experience whatsoever and are doubting the value of the Core box, I’m here to tell you that it is worth it. For $100 you get:
All the dice you should need
All the measuring tools you will need
~Half a tournament board’s worth of terrain
10 characters (a standard game requires a roster of 10)
20 tactics (you’ll need 8)
3 secure crises and 3 extract crises (you’ll need 3 of each to play)
Compared to other big wargames like 40k/AOS and WMH, its really impressive what you can get for ~$200. So, this is somewhat akin to a budget/beginner’s MCP guide, focusing on a different faction each time.
And as stated above we’ll be covering X-Force, joined by Fingerguns once more (a truly dynamic duo).
X-Force has been tinkered with since their release but between some of their unusual issues (more on that in a sec), and their delayed US release preventing people from giving them a serious go in the current TTS season they’re I’d argue as of yet unsolved.
Cable, their leader, mascot, and focal point is a tricky piece. He gives a disappointing amount of damage output when you put him next to Asgardian 5s like Thor and Angela, or Mystic heavies like Scarlet Witch and M.O.D.O.K. – that said, thanks to Body Slide By One and 2 flat power generated each round he’s got weirdly good action economy. Where to many other characters a push can function nearly identically to a stagger condition, it requires multiple to ruin his day (though be careful with your positioning on cable as a r2 place is slightly shorter than a short push). And on top of that he can be strangely supportive at times, handing out incinerate to ensure allies do work and buffing their defense rolls when they get attacked. All in all he’s a kit full of elements you don’t feel as direct impact on the game, so people often feel bad playing him. But his work is there, if sometimes feeling invisible!
Domino, his box buddy, is also a key member of building an X-Force team. She is arguably one of the highest damage output 3 threat characters in the game, rivaled only by the likes of Baron Zemo and Valkyrie. I’ve had more games where Domino solo’s Angela (a 5 threat character, and a reasonably tanky one at that) on top of 2 than I can count. In an affiliation focused on ranged attrition output, she is the queen of r3 fighting, and is arguably the main attraction in taking an X-Force team right now.
Deadpool will rock out the third element of our weirdly 90s grunge superhero three musketeers (I tried finding a picture of Deadpool in a Musketeers outfit but couldn’t, which I personally find hard to believe there isn’t a pane like that out there). He’s got a solid set of attacks and even a unique controlling superpower in the form of talking so much shit his opponents lose power, and is immune to superpowers moving him like a little built in Psychic Shielding Device. Sure, sometimes he gets blown up out of nowhere round ½ with his low front side stamina, but once he gets going opponents will often find him VERY annoying to remove.
For a more comprehensive education on X-Force at its best I’m going to point you in the direction of another of UtilityCookie’s article series on factional fundamentals:
For our three box core we’re going to start with obviously Cable/Domino, then follow up with Deadpool & Hydra bob, which will give you a core 3 X-Force team to start with and some exciting options for both the Avengers and Cabal halves of your core box (and a neat terrain element in the Taco Truck as a cherry on top!).
Where do we go from here? To the only box remaining with X-Force characters in it:
In general I’m a huge fan of the Wolverine & Sabretooth box for Three Box Challenges. It’s honestly the first box that showed off the “Modern” mindset of MCP product design with Tactics cards that are more narrow to the characters in the box (usually Character or Affiliation specific, X-Ceptional healing is more generic now but at the time they were the only Healing Factor characters in the game). Wolverine and Sabretooth aren’t TOP meta picks because once you have everything and every tactic & character has to fight for their slot they slowly get pushed out unless you’re doing very specific stuff, but in a three box challenge? They can be absolute stars and be a great way to supplement your X-Force, while opening the door to X-Men and adding some exciting upgrades for your Avengers and Cabal cores.
[Wolverine & Sabretooth]
[Characters]
– Baron Zemo: 3
– Bob, Agent of Hydra: 2
– Cable: 5
– Crossbones: 3
– Deadpool: 3
– Doctor Octopus: 3
– Domino: 3
– Red Skull: 4
– Sabretooth: 4
– Wolverine: 4
[Team Tactics]
– Brace for Impact
– Cat and Mouse
– Chimichangas
– Disarm
– Patch Up
– Warpath
– Weapon X Program
– X-Ceptional Healing
[Extract Crises]
– Skrulls Infiltrate World Leadership [C]: 17
– Spider-Infected Invade Manhattan [F]: 17
– Struggle for the Cube Continues [F]: 17
[Secure Crises]
– Deadly Meteors Mutate Civilians [C]: 17
– Riots Spark Over Extremis 3.0 [D]: 17
– S.W.O.R.D. Establishes Base On Moon’s Blue Area [C]: 14
Our next Deadly Duo is Sin & Viper. This is probably going to come off as a bit of an odd pick for specifically X-Force but hear me out. At 17 threat (which you’ll be playing a LOT), your X-Force core will be Cable, Domino, Deadpool for 11 and 6 points to play with. Zemo will be your obvious next inclusion for the reroll bubble which pairs nicely with your rapid fire attacks in Domino and Deadpool. That leaves 3 points, which can easily become Sin for another rapid fire character. She also brings an attractive scenario-based game plan with her flavor of Cabal that you can switch up into if you feel like a ranged attrition match won’t go your way. And both her tactics are exciting, fun and powerful (though Illicit Tech is of questionable value when you already have two very reliable sources of Incinerate).
[Sin & Viper]
[Characters]
– Baron Zemo: 3
– Bob, Agent of Hydra: 2
– Cable: 5
– Crossbones: 3
– Deadpool: 3
– Doctor Octopus: 3
– Domino: 3
– Red Skull: 4
– Sin: 3
– Viper: 3
[Team Tactics]
– Brace for Impact
– Cat and Mouse
– Chimichangas
– Dark Reign
– Disarm
– Illicit Tech
– Patch Up
– To Ash and Cinder
[Extract Crises]
– Skrulls Infiltrate World Leadership [C]: 17
– Spider-Infected Invade Manhattan [F]: 17
– Struggle for the Cube Continues [F]: 17
[Secure Crises]
– Deadly Meteors Mutate Civilians [C]: 17
– Riots Spark Over Extremis 3.0 [D]: 17
– S.W.O.R.D. Establishes Base On Moon’s Blue Area [C]: 14
For our final box we’re going to suggest a very similar zag to our zig above, but with an Avengers flavored twist. Hot on the heels of Falcon & The Winter Soldier, we are blessed with an avengers leader who doesn’t suck! “Sam Spam” as its been christened is a potent aggro roster where you aim to go 6-7 characters wide in the face of previous MCP dogma, and just out-punch your opponent. Admittedly you don’t have the tactics and crises to fully make the most of it but it’ll still do in a pinch for a Three Box Challenge. Warmachine is also no slouch in the ranged slugfests that X-Force likes to perpetuate – beam me up, Rhodey! Admittedly the tactics in the box are narrow and not nearly as good as Sin or Wolverine’s offerings but if you want to play Avengers/X-Force with some badass good guys this is the box for you.
[Sam & Warmachine]
[Characters]
– Baron Zemo: 3
– Black Widow: 2
– Bob, Agent of Hydra: 2
– Cable: 5
– Captain America (Sam Wilson): 3
– Captain America (Steve Rogers): 4
– Deadpool: 3
– Domino: 3
– Iron Man: 3
– War Machine: 3
[Team Tactics]
– Avengers Assemble
– Battle Lust
– Bird of Prey
– Brace for Impact
– Cat and Mouse
– Chimichangas
– Disarm
– Patch Up
[Extract Crises]
– Skrulls Infiltrate World Leadership [C]: 17
– Spider-Infected Invade Manhattan [F]: 17
– Struggle for the Cube Continues [F]: 17
[Secure Crises]
– Deadly Meteors Mutate Civilians [C]: 17
– Riots Spark Over Extremis 3.0 [D]: 17
– S.W.O.R.D. Establishes Base On Moon’s Blue Area [C]: 14
Before I go I just want to hint at some cool Three Box Challenge stuff coming on the horizon that can only be described as an EPIC CROSSOVER. Keep your eyes peeled for more details in the coming weeks 😉
And FINALLY, if you’re not supporting your FLGS for MCP, I would like to bring your attention to our sponsors for your wargaming needs in both NA and the UK:
NA:
https://www.discountgamesinc.com/
UK:
That will wrap us up for this Three Box Challenge article here on acrossthebifrost.com! Also make sure to check out the Roster Doctor on Facebook, Youtube and Anchor.Fm!
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