If you’ve ever looked at a table covered with Marvel miniatures, buildings, cars and other terrain and thought, Okay, that looks awesome—but how does the game actually work? you’re in the right place.
Marvel: Crisis Protocol is a two-player tabletop miniatures game where Marvel heroes and villains battle across a detailed battlefield. You build a team, complete missions, use superpowers, throw things at each other, and create the kind of dramatic moments you’d expect from a comic book.
Think of it as a playable Marvel story.
Captain America might be holding an objective while Spider-Man races across the battlefield to rescue civilians. Meanwhile, Ultron could be preparing to turn the whole situation into a very bad day for everyone.
And that’s where the fun begins.
What Makes Crisis Protocol Different?
Crisis Protocol is what’s known as a skirmish miniatures game. Instead of commanding a massive army of dozens—or hundreds—of identical soldiers, you control a small group of individual characters.
Every character is different.
They have their own movement, attacks, defenses, special powers and abilities. Learning how each character works—and figuring out how they work together—is a big part of the game.
The battlefield matters, too. Buildings, cars and other pieces of terrain aren’t simply there to make the table look good. They can affect movement, provide protection and, depending on the situation, become weapons.
Yes, sometimes the tactical solution is throwing a car.
You’re Playing the Mission, Not Just Fighting
Here’s one of the most important things for a new player to understand:
Crisis Protocol isn’t simply about knocking out your opponent’s team.
Most games revolve around objectives. Depending on the mission, you might need to control locations, recover valuable items, rescue civilians or deal with some other dangerous situation.
That means your strongest character isn’t always the most important character on the table.
Sometimes winning means attacking. Sometimes it means getting to an objective first. And sometimes the smartest move is ignoring an enemy completely because you have a mission to complete.
This combination of combat, movement, positioning and objective scoring gives the game its tactical personality.
How Does a Turn Work?
Before the game begins, players bring a roster of characters and select their squad for the mission.
Once the game starts, players alternate activating characters. You activate one of your heroes or villains, then your opponent activates one of theirs.
This keeps both players involved instead of making you sit through a long enemy turn.
A character generally gets two actions during an activation. Those actions can include:
- Move around the battlefield
- Attack an opposing character
- Interact with objectives or scenario elements
- Use special powers
- Reposition or throw terrain, when the character’s abilities allow it
The result is a game where things can change quickly. A character that looked safe at the beginning of the round can suddenly be attacked, pushed away from an objective or hit with a special ability.
How Does Combat Work?
Combat uses special dice, with different symbols determining hits, defenses and special effects.
Characters also have a resource called Power. As the game progresses, characters gain Power and can spend it on their more powerful abilities.
There’s an interesting twist here: getting attacked can actually help generate Power.
So your opponent may think they’re setting up the perfect attack, only to give your character the resources needed to hit back with a devastating superpower.
That’s very Marvel.
Getting Knocked Down Isn’t Always the End
Superheroes have a habit of getting back up.
Crisis Protocol reflects that.
When a character takes enough damage, they can become Dazed rather than simply being removed from the game. Their character card flips over, and they may be able to return to the action later.
It’s a small rule that makes a big difference to the feel of the game.
Your favorite character can take a beating, disappear from the action for a while and then return when the story needs them most.
The Miniatures Are Part of the Hobby
Crisis Protocol isn’t just a tabletop game. It’s also a miniature hobby.
The character models are detailed plastic miniatures that generally need to be assembled, and they come unpainted.
Painting is completely optional.
You can assemble your characters and start playing immediately, then paint them later if you discover that you enjoy the hobby side of the game. Or you can go all-in and turn your collection into a miniature Marvel universe.
The same goes for the terrain. The buildings and battlefield pieces can become a project of their own, particularly if you enjoy creating elaborate gaming tables.
What Comes in the Core Set?
For a new player, the Earth’s Mightiest Core Set is designed to provide the basic pieces needed to start playing.
The box includes:
| Included | Quantity |
|---|---|
| Character miniatures | 13 |
| Character bases | 13 |
| Terrain miniatures | 26 |
| Character Stat Cards | 13 |
| Team Tactic Cards | 20 |
| Crisis Cards | 6 |
| Punch Sheets | 2 |
| Mission Tracker | 1 |
| Tracking Cubes | 3 |
| Rulebook | 1 |
The set includes recognizable Marvel characters such as Captain America, Captain Marvel, Spider-Man and Ultron, along with Ultron’s robotic forces.
The Crisis Cards determine the mission and objectives, while Team Tactic Cards give you additional tactical options during the game. Character cards provide the information you need to understand what each hero or villain can do.
In other words, the core set isn’t just a box of miniatures. It’s your starting point for the actual game.
What Else Do You Need?
If you’re assembling the miniatures yourself, you’ll probably want a few basic hobby supplies:
- Plastic clippers or sprue cutters for removing pieces from their frames
- Plastic cement or miniature glue for assembly
- Hobby knife or sanding tool for cleaning connection points
- Primer, paints and brushes if you want to paint your miniatures
- Varnish if you want to protect your finished models
Don’t feel like you need to buy everything at once.
You can start by assembling the miniatures and playing them unpainted. If you enjoy the game, gradually add the hobby supplies and learn to paint as you go.
Is It Good for Beginners?
If you’re interested in Marvel, tactical games and miniature gaming, Crisis Protocol offers a relatively approachable way into the hobby.
You’re learning a handful of individual characters rather than managing a huge army. The Marvel theme also makes it easier to understand the basic idea: these are recognizable characters with recognizable abilities.
There is still a learning curve.
You’ll need to understand movement and attack ranges, read character cards, manage Power, track objectives and learn how different characters work together.
But you don’t have to learn everything at once.
Start with the core characters. Play a few games. Figure out what you enjoy. Then start exploring additional characters, teams and strategies.
Where Should You Start?
The best approach is simple: start with the core set before building a huge collection.
Play enough games to figure out what you actually enjoy. Maybe you’re drawn to Avengers characters. Maybe Spider-Man’s villains become your thing. Maybe you discover that you enjoy the tactical side more than you expected.
Once you know what you like, you can add character packs and other expansions that fit your interests.
That’s one of the nice things about Crisis Protocol. You can grow the game gradually rather than feeling like you need an enormous collection from the beginning.
The Bottom Line
Marvel: Crisis Protocol is Marvel meets tactical board game meets miniature hobby.
You’re not simply lining up characters and rolling dice until somebody loses.
You’re deciding where your team needs to be, which objectives matter, when to spend Power, when to attack and when to get out of the way.
And because the battlefield, characters and missions are constantly changing, games can produce those great tabletop moments that feel like they came straight out of a comic book.
A hero gets knocked down.
The villain takes control of the objective.
Someone throws a car.
Then, somehow, your battered character gets back up and makes the move that changes the entire game.
That’s Marvel: Crisis Protocol.
