After yet another long hiatus we are BACK with the Three Box Challenge, this time focusing on Midnight Sons!
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 was already stated we’re covering Midnight Sons today!
Midnight Sons in Marvel: Crisis Protocol are a consummate attrition team. Thanks to their signature card, Siege of Darkness:
And less signature but still pretty cool card Bats the Ghost Hound:
They are able to brute force through a LOT of damage in a single turn, usually throat punching the bad guys so hard they struggle to respond. Their other key feature is their mobility granted by Blade’s leadership, Bump in the Night:
Which can do all kinds of cool stuff. Medium base, medium move can now single move + bump onto the midline, either to free up an attack on C secures, or if they have 2+ power, steal an extract and retreat. A small base gets functionally 2 inches closer/further depending on how they Bump so Iron Fist can stay out of range 3 of a key target like Medusa or Enchantress, Bump forwards into range 3, flying kick onto them, and follow up with an Iron Fist. Fun times!
Obviously we start with Blade and Moon Knight to start things off. Blade is the leader, he comes with the tactics, and Moon Knight is a great Midnight Sons member. But what second box fills out our 2 base boxes for this article? If you know your Midnight Sons members and have seen what I tend to suggest in these articles, the next box should be no surprise at all:
Iron Fist is an AMAZING Midnight Sons member, bringing in some Energy attacks to break up the Mystic/Physical monotony of Blade and Moon Knight. Admittedly Danny is a bit more of a tank than an offensive piece but he still fits in great. And if you’re going the more grindy battle style you could do far worse than Danny’s partner on the streets, Luke Cage. Their double signature tactics card is no slouch either:
Bodyguarding someone and throwing the attacker away in the middle of their activation is usually a HUGE swing all for 2 power. If you want to max the output of your Three Box Challenge roster, it’s a shoe-in.
But now that we’ve got our core two boxes to build off of, how do we determine our third? We have a 10 point affiliated core with Blade, Moon Knight, and Iron Fist so to hit the usual 17 threat of Three Box games we want either a 4 and a 3 or a 5 and a 2. So without any further ado I present too you, Hood and Doctor Voodoo:
Voodoo is a best in class 4 threat that just so happens to be affiliated with the Midnight Sons. Hood is… Hood. And I don’t mean that in a derogatory way, just because he’s essentially two full characters stapled together with the transform mechanic it’s hard to break him down simply. Sometimes hes in human form where he’s shooting at range with mystic attacks and healing allies. Sometimes he’s in demon form charging around and slashing people with his razor talons. But one things for sure, both these gentlemen carry their weight in three box matches. Consider the following roster:
[Characters]
- Baron Zemo: 3
- Black Widow: 2
- Blade: 4
- Doctor Voodoo: 4
- Hood: 3
- Iron Fist: 3
- Iron Man: 3
- Luke Cage: 3
- Moon Knight: 3
- Spider-Man (Peter Parker): 4
[Team Tactics]
- Bats the Ghost Hound
- Brace for Impact
- Disarm
- Follow Me
- Heroes For Hire
- Hood’s Gang
- Sacrifice
- Siege of Darkness
[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
- Infinity Formula Goes Missing [B]: 17
- Riots Spark Over Extremis 3.0 [D]: 17
Next we’re going to peer into the world of dual affiliation splashes with the first (and most natural) choice, Defenders:
The Defenders are an… interesting affiliation. The leadership is okay but they mostly revolve around their only affiliated tactics card:
which gives them MASSIVE amounts of round 1 tempo by getting to the middle of the board without a single move action. If you want to read more about them I recommend our Three Box Challenge article on them here
[Characters]
- Baron Zemo: 3
- Blade: 4
- Doctor Strange: 5
- Infinity Gem: Soul: 1
- Iron Fist: 3
- Iron Man: 3
- Luke Cage: 3
- Moon Knight: 3
- Spider-Man (Peter Parker): 4
- Wong: 2
[Team Tactics]
- Bats the Ghost Hound
- Brace for Impact
- Disarm
- Heroes For Hire
- Pentagram of Farallah
- Sacrifice
- Seven Suns of Cinnibus
- Siege of Darkness
[Extract Crises]
- Spider-Infected Invade Manhattan [F]: 17
- Struggle for the Cube Continues [F]: 17
- The Montesi Formula Found [E]: 17
[Secure Crises]
- Deadly Meteors Mutate Civilians [C]: 17
- Infinity Formula Goes Missing [B]: 17
- Riots Spark Over Extremis 3.0 [D]: 17
And finally we’re going to suggest another splash that has my spider senses tingling…
Unlock a second affiliation? Check. Get a new secure crisis with a non-17 threat? Check. Solid affiliated options between Miles, Gwen, Peter and Moon Knight? Check. Get your hands on All You’ve Got for even more damage? Double check. Gwen also has a special place in Midnight Sons thanks to the interaction between her builder and the leadership:
If you read the last clause, being placed by Bump in the Night makes you eligible for the long advance. So you can very easily Bump -> attack -> long move -> attack again -> long move again, which can get you to some very unexpected places. And with the tech revealed, I present to you the final roster:
[Characters]
- Baron Zemo: 3
- Black Widow: 2
- Blade: 4
- Ghost-Spider: 3
- Iron Fist: 3
- Iron Man: 3
- Luke Cage: 3
- Moon Knight: 3
- Spider-Man (Miles Morales): 3
- Spider-Man (Peter Parker): 4
[Team Tactics]
- All Webbed Up
- All You’ve Got
- Bats the Ghost Hound
- Brace for Impact
- Disarm
- Heroes For Hire
- Sacrifice
- Siege of Darkness
[Extract Crises]
- Skrulls Infiltrate World Leadership [C]: 17
- Spider-Infected Invade Manhattan [F]: 17
- Struggle for the Cube Continues [F]: 17
[Secure Crises]
- Infinity Formula Goes Missing [B]: 17
- Portals Overrun City with Spider-People [D]: 18
- Riots Spark Over Extremis 3.0 [D]: 17
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 Twitch!
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