Marvel: Crisis Protocol – Abomination and Wrecking Crew Review

This week, your Goonhammer correspondent reviews the newest (and thiccest?) character pack for Marvel: Crisis Protocol. Do these units have what it takes to hang on the tabletop? Read on to find out. 

Abomination

Abomination, whose real name is Emil Blonsky, is a supervillain primarily associated with the Hulk. He first appeared in Tales to Astonish #90 in 1967, created by writer Stan Lee and artist Gil Kane.

In the comics timeline, Blonsky was originally a KGB agent and spy who exposed himself to a greater dose of gamma radiation than what transformed Bruce Banner into the Hulk. This transformed him into a monstrous creature known as the Abomination, with scales, incredible strength, and durability exceeding even the Hulk’s. Unlike the Hulk, Blonsky retains his intelligence and personality, but he is permanently stuck in his monstrous form.

Abomination is one of the Hulk’s most formidable enemies and has appeared in various comic storylines, as well as animated series and films. In the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), he was portrayed by Tim Roth in The Incredible Hulk (2008) and later reappeared in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2021) and the She-Hulk: Attorney at Law series.

Weighing in at a solid 5 threat with 7 health on both sides and a 4/3/3 defense, Emil is appropriately tanky with his Gamma Mutated Hide reducing damage by 1, to a minimum of 1. Size 4 means not many other models are throwing him around. The real winner here is the Medium move. On the extra large base of his, this model is going to move deceptively quickly around the battlefield. 

Abomination has a laundry list of attacks and rules, most centered around the Poison condition (representing his irradiated nature presumably). He has a solid Strength 7 basic physical Strike with a Wild Poison and bonus Small ranged push if he also gets a hit (and he usually will with base 7 dice). Unfortunately he only gains 1 Power from this attack, rather than power based on damage dealt. This also holds true for his Hurl Debris attack, which is a Range 3 Strength 5 physical attack. This is pretty underwhelming but maybe it’s useful against a Martial Artist like Black Widow? But in most situations if you can get to Range 3 you can also get to Range 2 and use his better attack. 

Gamma Bomb is a relatively inexpensive (4 Power) Range 3 physical spender that does Poison on damage, Places Abomination with 1 of the target after the attack is resolved, and includes a Wild Throw before damage is dealt. The cute play here of course is to do the Throw (which can be in any direction, not Away), then the Place effect keeps Abom right up in their business. Keep in mind there’s no ‘may’ in these abilities so if these effects screw up your own positioning you may want to reconsider. This holds true for his Strike as well, incidentally. Don’t push your target out of range!

With all those Poison effects, you can probably guess he interacts with that rule with his superpowers. And you would be right, kudos. For 3 Power, Radiation Zone does 2 damage to enemies within Range 2 who have Poison on them. Enemies who don’t currently have it gain Poison (but no damage, it explicitly happens after the damage effect). To cap it off, models who gained Poison from this superpower lose 1 Power. In theory this rule sounds super powerful, and auto damage effects indeed can be. In reality you’ll rarely hit more than one or two models with it. But like with character Throws, guaranteed damage can be absolutely clutch.

Speaking of Throws, Emil can toss a Size 4 terrain feature Long range for 3 Power. That’s solid though as we just reiterated, not nearly as powerful or utilitarian as a character throw. Surprising absolutely no one, Abomination is immune to Poison. He gets an extra Power during the Power Phase, and has the previously mentioned damage reduction effect, with a bonus 1 Power when he takes damage from an enemy effect. The latter abilities there help to offset his poor Power production from attacks, though you never want to rely on taking damage to fuel your Power pool.

So, final verdict on the character card? There’s nothing immediately attention grabbing or super powerful looking here, but don’t discount the combo of being somewhat tanky and deceptively fast. And applied correctly,  Radiation Zone can definitely swing things in your favor, especially against hard to hit models. 

Emil comes packing two Team Tactics Cards. One lets either version of M.O.D.O.K. throw him Medium range, but at the cost of 5 Power and a card slot. It’s a cute, characterful card that is probably referencing an iconic comic moment. But I can’t see it being used much, especially in any competitive context. Gamma Burst is more interesting with serious Push potential and even more auto damage. The clear intent is to pair this with the Radiation Zone superpower to absolutely melt enemy models with Gamma radiation. This could be a strong play if you can activate him late to push models off a point. Definitely worth trying out as a card in your roster.

We next move to a unique new spin on characters in Marvel: Crisis Protocol – the Wrecking Crew. 

Wrecking Crew

I absolutely loved learning about these jobbers when I received this box for review. They’re just classic old school Marvel ridiculousness in the best way. 

The Wrecking Crew is a group of supervillains in Marvel Comics known for their frequent clashes with various superheroes, particularly Thor and the Avengers. They first appeared in The Defenders #17 in 1974, created by writer Len Wein and artist Sal Buscema.

The group consists of:

1. Wrecker (Dirk Garthwaite): The leader of the team, he wields a crowbar enchanted with Asgardian magic (no really), granting him superhuman strength and durability.
2. Bulldozer (Henry Camp): Possesses enhanced strength and durability, specializing in charging attacks with his metal helmet. 
3. Piledriver (Brian Calusky): Known for his oversized fists, Piledriver has similar superhuman strength and durability to his teammates, with his hands being especially powerful.
4. Thunderball (Eliot Franklin): A former physicist and engineer, Thunderball uses a powerful wrecking ball attached to a chain. He shares the group’s superhuman abilities and is the most intelligent member.

The Wrecking Crew gained their powers when the Wrecker’s crowbar was struck by lightning while they were all holding it, magically imbuing them with superhuman strength and durability. They are often depicted as hired muscle for larger villains, though they occasionally try to execute their own plans. Despite their frequent defeats, the Wrecking Crew remains a persistent threat in the Marvel comics universe.

The Wrecking Crew is a first for Marvel: Crisis Protocol, with multiple characters represented as working together on a single base. This was a smart move by Atomic Mass Games. Realistically these c-tier villains weren’t going to have boxes flying off the shelves if they were released as individual models in an affiliation. Their rules wouldn’t have been exciting either. They’re not grunt levels of underpowered, but they’re not exactly Apocalypse or Thanos either. So how do they stack up?

The boys come in at 4 Threat, with 6 health on both sides, and a 4/3/4 defense stat line. They have the standard Small move for a large base like theirs. Remember these are just regular dudes. Despite the massive base, they can benefit from Size 2 terrain like cars. 

The real goal with these guys is to live the dream, and in one activation use all the attacks and superpowers representing the various individual characters. To do so,  you’ll probably need to start their activation close to an enemy character. So it’s not the easiest to pull off but when you do you’ll at least feel cool. 

You’re going to want at least 3 Power (preferably 6) to pull off the Rube Goldberg-like attack chain, and probably need to start within Range 2 of an enemy. Start with Indestructi-ball, and as long as you roll a hit, the target will gain Stun. From there you want to do Piledriver and hope for a wild Suplex. If the target has Stun, it’ll gain Stagger and you may get to Push them as well. (I want to see them suplex something ridiculous like a Sentinel orDormammu as that is objectively hilarious.) Assuming you Staggered the target, the 3 Power ‘Let’s Take ‘Em Down Boys!’ lets you make an additional attack action that you haven’t already used. That’ll let you do Wrecking Bar Fling. If you’re low on power this can top you off again hitting multiple characters in its Beam4 Range. Bonus if the range ruler overlaps Size 2 or smaller terrain, as that will add dice to each attack roll’s base 4 Physical dice. If it damages the target and they are Staggered, the lads Throw them away a Small distance. If it all comes together, you’ll have a seriously beat up opposing model and the satisfaction of being very ridiculous in the best way. 

Rounding out the Crew’s abilities, Bulldoze can be used for 3 Power to push the whole gang Medium. They blast right through and destroy Size 2 or smaller terrain and damage an enemy model contacted. This can help get them into position to start or continue their attack chain, and of course has general extra-movement utility. Lastly, Enchanted by Karnilla helps with their power generation by giving them an extra 1 Power each turn.They’ll need it to pull off their shenanigans! 

So in conclusion, Atomic Mass Games did a great job at representing the different characters in various attacks and superpowers. It’s fun to see the designers really flex their creativity in interesting ways. There’s nothing overpowered here, but nothing egregiously weak either. 

The Crew also comes with two Team Tactics Cards. Stronger Together is thematic and probably fun to pull off. But to maximize its utility you’ll need a good bit of Power and a little bit of luck. Is it worth a valuable card slot? Probably not in competitive environments, but you won’t feel awful taking it in a more casual context. Mystic Menace is cute and cheap. The huge footprint the Crew has means you have the possibility to be super annoying for your opponent. But in reality it’s an ability that’s dependent on your opponent playing along. You might tag a model or two with it in reality. Is that worth the card slot? Probably not. 

List Thoughts

Neither of these releases are likely to bend the meta like a Beta Ray Bill or similar power models. So you’re unlikely to see them splashed all over the place. And until we know the exact Affiliations for these models we have to stick to some educated guesses as far as putting them in as affiliated models. It’s probably a safe bet both models will be added to Criminal Syndicate. The Wrecking Crew definitely seem like the prototypical mooks someone like Kingpin would hire. Abomination and M.O.D.O.K. are linked via a TTC, and both versions of M.O.D.O.K are crime bois as well. As far as other affiliations, the generically-evil Cabal could fit one or both, and Hydra is a definite possibility for Abomination with the M.O.D.O.K link again. 

Both models have utility in Criminal Syndicate. The Wrecking Crew will definitely appreciate re-rolls from Shadowland Daredevil, as well as theoretically M.O.D.O.K, Scientist Supreme. But I can’t in good conscience recommend him as a leader unless you really want to play up the theme of that TTC. Kingpin likes beefy models that can really lock down a Secure objective, and Abomination in particular does well at that. You’re trading away his mobility with that play but it could be worth it. The Wrecking Crew is less tanky, but no slouches either. 

As far as Cabal or Hydra, neither model has obvious strong synergies with leaders of either group but can certainly generically benefit from the power generation of Red Skull 1 or 2, for example. Hydra also is a little lacking in tanky models so Abomination could fill a role there. Ultimately though, you’re most likely to see both models playing most often with Criminal Syndicate. 

Regardless of affiliation, it’s impossible to talk list building with these models and not talk about Omega Red. Emil and Arkady look like the best of friends with their rules. Both can toss around Poison left and right, increasing the efficacy of both their kits. Is that worth 9 Threat? Maybe, maybe not. It’s certainly cute. Luckily, Omega Red is affiliated with Criminal Syndicate so he’ll be right at home with Abomination. Go forth and Poison all the things. 

Final Verdict

This expansion features some solid sculpts (Abomination in particular) and some unique new ideas in the ‘4 in 1’ Wrecking Crew. There’s nothing that’s likely to wildly transform the current meta, but the rules are solid. They’re certainly not going to feel like deadweight if you field them. if you’re a Criminal Syndicate player in particular, you find some uses for these guys. If you’re not, buy them if you really like one or both characters, and/or enjoy a different challenge in painting the crowbar crew. 

How do you plan to utilize these models in your games? Share your thoughts on the Goonhammer Discord or in the comments below!

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