Street Level Heroes – Feature pt.1

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Today we have the first article from another new writer – A friend of mine who recently took the plunge and jumped into Marvel Crisis Protocol. I’ve played 40k with him in the past, and he finally decided to jump into Marvel seen as it’s become such a huge thing at our local gaming store. So, without further ado, it’s time for some Street level Heroes.

Street level Heroes

Greetings Merry Marvelites! I am Pete, also known as Wookiee, and I’m brand new to Marvel Crisis Protocol. As in, completely brand new. Only played one game thus far and only owns the Core Set new. Yes, that new! But it’s cool, it’s all good, I used to play Heroclix back in the day and I’ve been an avid Marvel comics reader for many years, so what could possibly go wrong? 

When Arun first asked me if I’d like to write a feature article, I thought what would be good for all you Web Warrior Protocol readers would be to see how someone approaches coming in totally brand new with all this awesomeness already released and so much more to come over the next year or so. Sound like fun? I think so! So let’s get to it!

Firstly, I’d just like to preface this by saying that I do love the game. I have only played once so far, but I’ve also watched multiple videos on YouTube and a bunch of battle reports – So I can’t wait to dive in! But the choices are epic and not a little daunting! Where to start? Who to pick? Which affiliation is going to match my playstyle the best? Do I even have a playstyle yet??

Being a veteran player of Warhammer 40,000, and having helped many people choose their first army, I guess I should follow the number one rule for picking a force – the Rule of Cool! However, with a game like this, based around all our favourite Marvel characters, how do you determine which models are cool? Rules? Sculpts? Sure, these work fine, but I opted to look at my comic reading preferences to help decide. So what do I like reading? Daredevil! Luke Cage! Moon Knight! Spider-Man! Basically, those heroes and characters that aren’t necessarily always battling big, intergalactic threats. These are what I like to call Street Level Heroes – those guys who take on corner shop thugs, bank robberies and drug dealers rather than demons from the Negative Zone or interplanetary wars and espionage.

Looking over the selection of miniatures already available from Atomic Mass Games, there are plenty of what I would consider Street Level Heroes to choose from – Daredevil is obviously there, along with his buddies Luke Cage and Iron Fist, Moon Knight, Spider-Man, Black Widow and Hawkeye, The Punisher – the list goes on, so that’s something at least – I have plenty of material to work with! Remember, I haven’t played much, so effectiveness of these characters is not necessarily something I am considering right now for my starting roster – I’m mainly looking at putting together a team of ten models that I can use to get playing. After all, I can tweak my roster if I ever want to go to any tournaments later date.

The next question is, do I want to include any villains in with my heroes, just to mix it up a little? Obviously if I get Daredevil, Bullseye comes with him so why not make use of the character, at least to start with? Kingpin is another massive favourite of mine, and I already have Crossbones from the Core Set – remember, the theme is Street Level, so I want to apply that to the villains as well as the heroes. Zemo could also fall nicely into that category – Although he seems to hate everyone – Villain or Hero!

So, it looks like I have a starting ten beginning to take shape – Spidey, Cap, Black Widow, Crossbones and Zemo all from the Core Set, and at least four more in the shape of the Daredevil and Bullseye box and the Luke Cage and Iron Fist box – That’s nine characters already! I only need one more and I can get going, and I can always choose someone from the Core Set to fill the void until I can get myself some more characters.

This weekend I will be getting the Daredevil box and the Luke Cage box from Board in Brum, and I might even look at doing some character breakdown articles in the future, kind of like what Arun does, but more so from my own perspective with regard to what I want them to do and what roles I need them to fulfil.

I also plan on documenting regular assessments of my roster to see where I can improve, who I need to drop and what I need to change – All those shenanigans we love from whenever we have to put together a new army or team. I’m going to try and always make sure that the core principle remains – all of the characters must be Street Level Heroes. It is very possible that I will have to make some exceptions in rare circumstances, as I can see myself also wanting to consider any character that used to be part of the old Marvel Knights series! Ghost Rider and Wolverine, I’m looking at you! There are also considerations regarding Leadership abilities to bear in mind, do I go full Defenders and add in Doctor Strange? He’s not really Street Level, being the Sorcerer Supreme and all, but it’s something I need to think about.

That’s about it for my first little article, and your first glimpse into the inner workings of my mind! I’m sure there will be loads of veteran players telling me I’m “doing it wrong” or that the characters I have chosen are pants – I mean, not very effective in game – but you know what? I don’t really care. I have a theme, and I’m going to try and stick with it as much as possible. I bet there will be relatively new players who resonate with my approach to starting out, or take a leaf from my book and get started the same way I have, by returning to the comics that turned them on to the Marvel Universe and going with the books they love most. And at the end of the day, is that not what this game is really about? Recreating epic stories and telling brand new tales of heroic deeds and despicable villains in the Merry Marvel Manner?! I’ll be soon with a look at my favourite character in the whole Marvel Universe – Daredevil! (Have I said his name enough?) so until then, Make Mine Marvel, and… Excelsior!


I just want to say a big thank you too Pete for taking the time to write this post – And as he said I’m sure we will be hearing from him again very soon!

As always please leave a thumbs up if you enjoyed reading, or a thumbs down if you didn’t! Please comment with any thoughts you have and I’ll make sure to pass them onto Pete! Board in Brum still currently has some sales on, including two of the most famous street level heroes – Luke Cage and Iron Fist, which you can find here!

If you’re looking to expand your roster with some new Heroes for Hire, or take the dive into Marvel Crisis Protocol – Check out Board in Brums Marvel section here, for all the MCP goodness you need! Thanks again for reading!