Who Is Gwenom?
In the main marvel universe Gwen Stacy was Peter Parker’s first true love before being killed at the hands of the Green Goblin. In an alternate reality Gwen Stacy was the one bitten by the radioactive spider, becoming the Spider-Woman. After seeing her father beaten into a coma by that reality’s Rhino she bonds with the Venom symbiote, handing out her own brand of dark justice as Gwenom.
Character Card
Like other symbiotes in the game Gwenom suffers from a poor energy defence but has high physical defence. In the comics the Venom symbiote had vulnerabilities to sound and heat so thematically it’s a win. She shares the same long move as her non-Venomized counterpart which is always helpful. At 4 threat she has a lot of competition so needs to work hard to make the cut.
Symbiote Spider Technique has a lot going for it compared to your average 5 dice builder. If she attacks someone she has already attacked this turn she will get full re-rolls. Under Miles’ leadership she will even get to re-roll skulls as long as she is holding or contesting an objective. On top of that if she has already advanced or been placed she will get a long move after the attack. This can lead to a huge amount of movement especially if she finds ways to move in her turn without an action. Under Storm for example she could ‘Storm hop’ around another character, make 2 attacks with 2 long moves with the potential for full re-rolls.
Maximum Gwenom is a spender half-way between Venom’s We Are Venom attack and Agent Venom’s Symbiote Special Forces. For 3 power Gwenom can make a 7 dice attack that heals her and has the potential to do AOE chip damage to other enemies on top. Healing is always welcome and this spender will have its place when she needs it but with a builder as useful as Symbiote Spider Technique I foresee Gwenom mainly spending her energy on her suite of super powers.
Speaking of superpowers, her first is Dark Rage. For 3 power she gets a size 3 medium throw. Being both a terrain and character throw makes this very versatile for damage and displacement. Throws are guaranteed damage as they require no attack roll and a medium throw makes it even better. The only issue will be trying to make sure she has the power to throw at every opportunity.
Her second super power is Pick on Someone Your Own Size. For 2 power when a friendly model is attacked, Gwenom can get a free attack into them. It doesn’t specify that it needs to be her builder, which means you can use Maximum Gwenom into that character if you have the power. Being limited to once per turn means it’s unlikely you’ll be able to get full re-rolls on Symbiote Spider Technique but getting additional movement is a possibility. E.g. if Gwenom has used Spider Tracker to reposition during that opponent’s same turn she’d then get an additional long move after the attack.
Finally, for innate powers she has Spider-Sense for extra defence dice re-rolls. This only works on physical and energy which helps mitigate her energy defence stat of 2. And as expected from a Webhead she has wallcrawler which synergises well with her long move.
Affiliations
Gwenom is only affiliated with the Web Warriors as of now. The problem with this is that they already have a Gwen Stacy and the original Gwen is such a core part of their game-plan. Not only that but the original Gwen is a threat cheaper which means finding a home for Gwenom in a Web Warriors list might actually prove difficult as generally they want to avoid a brawl while Gwenom seems suited for one. There are however a few affiliations that she might shine. Midnight Sons and Storm’s X-Men Gold both provide leaderships that can place Gwenom without requiring an action. This can really turn up the utility of Symbiote Spider technique as it will let her move long each time she uses it. The original Captain America could also be a solid home for her as she would be able to Pick on someone your own size for 1 power every time an opponent tries to attack one of your allies.
The Verdict
Overall Gwenom has a strong suite of abilities and attacks. She hits fairly hard, can move around the battlefield to pivot where she is needed and can support her allies with extra attacks. Her main issue is only being affiliated with the Web Warriors where she might struggle to find a place. In the crowded world of 4 threats if you need a mobile, self-sufficient character Gwenom will not disappoint.
Who Is the Scarlet Spider
Ben Reilly is a complex character in Spider-Man lore. Originally created as a villainous clone of Peter Parker by the Jackal, Ben eventually becomes an ally and even considers Peter a brother.
“Debuting” in the 1970s (but introduced formally under the name “Ben Reilly” as his own fully-fledged character in 1994), Ben has a long history complicated by retcons and backfills. He’s donned the Spider-Man mantle repeatedly and died repeatedly. Recently, Ben’s back (again) as the Scarlet Spider, with a new lease on life and a fresh perspective on being a hero. This outfit on the model, however, is the iconic hoodie-and-bodysuit look from his original run during the Clone Saga, when they were testing the waters with him replacing Peter as the full-time Spider-man.
Character Card
Being a clone of Peter Parker, Ben’s stats are very similar to his “brother’s.” He swaps the long move of Peter for an extra pip of defence.
Scarlet Strike is his builder, a 5 dice range 2 physical attack with the potential for some extra movement on top. The movement trigger is on a wild and hit which on 5 dice without a re-roll has a roughly 40% chance of happening so not something you can reliably count on.
His next attack Impact Webbing is a clone of the original Spider-Man’s attack. Guaranteed power generation at range 4 is a useful ability when you need it and the potential to push size 2 characters off points is a nice bonus. The chance of a wild on 4 dice is roughly 45% so once again not something you can rely on.
His spender is Whatever a Spider Can, an 8 dice range 2 physical attack for 5 power with the potential for a size 2 terrain throw and some guaranteed movement. Guaranteed movement on attacks is useful to keep Ben out of danger from retaliation and the terrain throw has decent odds of going off at roughly 70%. However 5 power is a tall order for a character who is reliant on a 5 dice strike to build most of it.
His first superpower is Web Whip which is a new take on the webline pulls the rest of the Spider Clan use. It lets him pull an enemy character within 3 towards him short and then place himself within 1 of the opponent. The key parts of this are that there is no size restriction on the opponent you can push towards you. Even the Dread Dormammu isn’t safe from Ben’s webs. The other thing to bear in mind is that unlike other web pulls that just deny opponents from remaining on secures, Web Whip has the potential to steal secures from an opponent which gives more potential for points swings. Although only usable once per turn the Scarlet Spider is going to want to be using Web Whip at every opportunity.
His last superpower is Proportional Strength of a Spider a range 3 size 3 character throw. Access to a throw is always welcome and with range 3 you can feasibly be out of harms way while still throwing an opponent off a secure. Although not quite as versatile as Gwenom’s throw as it only throws short and is limited to characters, the Range 3 makes up for that.
For passive abilities he has the standard Web Warrior passives of Spider Sense giving him re-rolls on his physical and energy defence and Wall Crawler letting him freely move over terrain without needing to climb. With 4 physical defence and 2 re-rolls, that gives him an average of 2.3 successes when defending against Physical attacks. Add in Miles’ leadership which could let him re-roll skulls and that gets much closer to 3 successes against the most common attack type in the game.
Affiliations
Once again the Scarlet Spider is only affiliated to the Web Warriors where he will likely find a home being a character that fits the Web Warriors control game plan without himself being a Peter Parker. A big issue with current Web Warrior lists is that there are now 3 Peter Parkers to choose from who all bring something slightly unique. Ben fills that 4 threat Spider-Man role and you can take him alongside Peter which means he will certainly find a home in a lot of Web Warrior lists.
In terms of splashing him in other affiliations the issue will be that he is once again filling Peter Parker’s role but has more direct competition from him. Peter has some relevant tactics cards like ‘The Cat and the Spider‘ with Black Cat which Ben doesn’t have access to. The 4 threat space is one of the most competitive in the game and I’m personally not sure he brings anything unique enough to warrant splashing him in many other affiliations.
The Verdict
It may hurt to say but one of the best things on Ben’s card is that he isn’t Peter Parker. By that virtue alone he will find a home in Web Warriors lists. He certainly isn’t bad and both his superpowers are useful forms of displacement but with his main way of building power being a 5 dice range 2 builder he might struggle to get the power he needs to have effective activations each turn.
It’s worth noting that both these characters’ sculpts are beautiful. AMG have done a great job capturing the sense of movement and you get a real feeling that these models are in the middle of jumping across the City to save their allies.
Tactics Cards
Three tactics cards come in this box. The first two are Web Warriors affiliated and the last is unaffiliated.
Starting with the Web Warriors cards we have Clone Saga. An allied Web Warriors character may spend 2 to play the card and lets them choose an enemy character with the same name or alter ego. They then gain a super power for the rest of the game called Imposter Syndrome which lets them modify or re-roll any number of attack dice vs that character including skulls.
It’s worth highlighting who this has the potential to affect:
- Any Web Warrors character could use it against an opponent using the same character e.g. Venom could use it against an opponent’s Venom.
- Any of the three Peter Parkers – Spider-man, Spectacular Spider-Man or Amazing Spider-Man could use it against any opposing Peter Parker.
- Miles could use it against an opponent’s 4 threat Peter Parker Spider-Man and vice versa.
- Gwen or Gwenom could use it against an opponent’s Gwen or Gwenom
- Daredevil could use it against Shadowland Daredevil
There are a few nuances to consider, you have to choose a single enemy with the same name or alter ego. That means that if you are playing 4 threat Peter Parker Spider-man you could choose an opponent’s Spider-Man (Miles Morales) who shares the same name, or their Amazing Spider-Man (Peter Parker) but not both.
The other thing to consider is that you gain the super power for the whole game which can be quite a bump in offence over several attacks. This card will certainly have a place in the mirror match up but its use will really depend on how often you expect to face your ‘Clones.’
The second Web Warriors card in the box is Masked Menace. In the power phase up to three Web Warriors characters can pay 1 power to place a Camera token on the battlefield, each must be within 3 of another Camera token. Camera tokens last until the next cleanup phase and while within 3 of a camera token allied characters gain 1 additional power when they damage an opponent with attacks or superpowers.
Web Warriors often struggle to generate power so extra power generation is nice but its worth noting the opportunity cost. Placing a token is costing a power so you will want to ensure you get the most benefit from them. If only the character that placed the token is in range they will need to attack twice and do damage twice for a net gain. As you can damage with superpowers this makes it particularly good with throws as if you throw an opponent into another and both get damaged that’s two power back.
Although placed by Web Warrior characters, any allied character can benefit from Camera tokens. Additionally there is no limit on the power gain so characters with rapid fire attacks like Moon Knight or beams like Agent Venom’s spender will get the most benefit. Overall the card will be a welcome addition to an affiliation that can struggle with power generation but it might require a little building around to make the most of.
Finally, for unaffiliated cards we have Venomized. This is an unaffiliated card which lets a character spend 3 power and an action to gain access to the We Are Hungry attack. This is a 3 cost range 3, 7 dice physical attack that heals you for the damage dealt. For the rest of the game you also lose one energy defence (to a minimum of 1).The cost for this is quite high, as you are paying an action and power for access to an attack that will later on cost you another action and another 3 power each time you want to use it. A big character like Hulk will get the most benefit as he has such a high health pool that it has potential to heal him a lot, however losing an entire action on your 6 threat character just to get the attack can be a hard pill to swallow.
As an example on turn 1 your Hulk could either move once and gain access to the We are Hungry attack. Or move, Gamma leap and potentially punch an opponent near the mid-line with his builder that is already 7 dice. An alternative use of the card would be to use it on a character who has no good attacks to begin with so that they have something useful to do in the fight. Someone like Wong might be able to benefit well from this card as there are times when Wong has no one to heal and activating him to do nothing can feel bad.
Another potential home for Venomized will be on someone who has ways to manipulate their dice. Loki could use I am a God to count blanks on the attack, Maliketh could turn his skulls into criticals and Dormammu could count both his and his opponent’s skulls as successes. All of these might have use for the card but in my opinion the cost of an action and the power as well as losing an energy defence for the rest of the game might be too high.
