Marvel Crisis Protocol: Midnight Sons Showcase & Musings

Ben is back to show off his Midnight Sons and share some thoughts about them on the tabletop in Marvel: Crisis Protocol.

Midnight Sons are a great choice for a first Marvel Crisis Protocol affiliation. They have a low model count so you shouldn’t feel overwhelmed with choices. Plus they have a solid Leadership Ability and some Team Tactics cards that make them very forgiving to new players. They’re also pretty competitive with a nice mix of hard hitters and more objective focused pieces. They have a good mix of attack types as well and a lot of helpful utility abilities.

In addition to showing off the pictures I’m going to share a few thoughts on each model. I know it’s popular to give everyone a score (A+, 10/10, 5 ☆) but that never feels right. So I’ve ranked the pictures top to bottom from the ones I think are the most important to take in your roster down to the least important.

Blade

Blade is cheating to make the top spot. As the team leader you have to include him. So if he wasn’t necessary to include would I still take him? His exceptional Leadership Ability withstanding, I find him to be just a bit lackluster for a 4 TL character. While his damage output feels a little low, Supernatural Senses and Vampiric Immortality can make him extremely tanky. Tankiness is good in a leader – especially one with an ability as good as his. Your opponent will want to take him out to keep your models from “bumping” all over the table.

Ideally you want to activate him early turn 1 and get him on a middle objective. Then he can weather the inevitable assault from your opponent with the help of his Supernatural Senses. Then activate him early the next turn, so Vampiric Immortality can heal up some of the damage he’s taken, and give him energy to keep using Supernatural Senses. It’s pretty risky though since standing up to multiple enemy activations can be tough for anyone.

Wong

Is anyone surprised Wong made the number two spot? For 2 Threat Level he can heal, can give out a little energy, and is just a body to stand on objectives.

Black Cat

Black Cat makes the number three slot thanks to her super awesome Master Cat Burglar ability. She’s also one of the most mobile characters in the game. She’s able to clear a ton of ground with her Long move, Grappling Hook, plus Bump in the Night from Blade for a little more distance. Additionally Bad Luck and Stealth give her just a bit more survivability than she appears to have at first glance.

Moon Knight

Moon Knight in the number four slot might raise some eyebrows. He’s here for Chosen of Khonshu. When you really need a model that will stick to an objective Moon Knight will do it. It won’t keep him from just being outright stunned or KO’d but Chosen does make it harder to do that too. Just watch out for models like Doctor Strange, Sorcerer Supreme that can move your models without having to attack them.

Iron Fist

Iron Fist takes the number five spot because he’s an outstanding Threat Level 3 character. In addition to one of the hardest hitting attacks in the game, he has another attack with a built in place effect. Using a move action always feels a little like a wasted opportunity. It’s great when you can cover some distance, deal some damage, and even gain a little energy at the same time. He’s even a bit on the tanky side with Martial Artist.

The Immortal Hulk

If you ever need to hit something really, really hard it’s nice to know the Immortal Hulk is there for you. And he’s also got the whole “Immortal” thing going for him. Bring along the Patch Up Team Tactics card and your opponent might just leave him alone entirely. If they try to KO him, not only will he just stand back up, but then he can be healed for up to five more points of damage. He’s also just that much more amazing with Midnight Sons since his enormous base pairs so well with Bump in the Night.

He’s down at number six because I just don’t think it’s practical to bring him in lower level games. You need a minimum number of pieces on the board to make sure you can keep up with objectives.

Ghost Rider

I don’t know if Ghost Rider belongs this far down the list. I think it’s more that I have a hard time keeping track of all his abilities. Even without his amazing Deal With the Devil tactic he’s probably worth it for his speed, vicious attacks and useful superpowers. Of those I would say Wicked’s Judgement is the most useful. There’s nothing meaner than Dazing or Ko’ing one of your opponent’s models on their own turn.

Doctor Strange

Doctor Strange is coming in so late because he doesn’t really have a specific focus. It’s hard to know where he’ll need to be to make best use of Oshtur’s Refuge and Hoggoth’s Hoary Wisdom. Even with Shield of the Seraphim I always find him running out of energy fast. To be fair I have run him in the least number of games compared to the rest of these models so maybe I should give him more table time before I judge.

Doctor Voodoo

Most people will probably agree that Doctor Voodoo’s most important ability is the Spirit of Brother Daniel. And that’s why he’s so far down here. Black Cat’s Master Thief ability is just a little better at doing what that ability does. One might argue that Brother Daniel is the stronger of the two as it can also prevent an enemy from picking up more tokens. But if Voodoo doesn’t recall the Daniel token to himself, he has all the fortitude of a sick kitten and will probably (or in my experience, ALWAYS) get himself dazed or ko’d in short order.

Outside of that, he has two fairly lackluster attacks. The Spiritual Strength trigger on his Spirit Venom means it can cause more damage than it first appears, but the odds of getting two strikes on five dice aren’t great(at least when I roll them). In another affiliation like Convocation or Avengers he’d probably be higher up there.

Extras

In addition to the Midnight Sons I’ve also painted up the two Rogue Agents and Venom.

I picked Venom as an out of Affiliation add simply because I have a little nostalgic love for a Marvel crossover event from the early nineties called Spirits of Venom. Dan Ketch’s Ghost Rider and Johnny Blaze (during his hobo with a shotgun period) teamed up with Venom and Spider Man (although the latter weren’t pleased to have anything to do with each other).

It turns out Venom slots in really well with the Sons though. He’s a great character who makes up for some of their shortcomings while they make up for some of his. He causes Bleed which can give Blade a little extra healing. He also has a throw which the faction lacks outside of Immortal Hulk. And he can bring the Lethal Protector Team Tactics card which can make up for the Sons’ lack of Bodyguard in a pinch. Venom does so many great things they had to balance it out by giving him a short movement – something that Blade’s Leadership Ability aids with nicely. And if you do decide to take Doctor Strange, Hoggoth’s Hoary Wisdom can make up a little for Venom’s low Energy Defense.

As for the two Rogue Agents… that part is a little embarrassing. But I’m going to use it as an opportunity to help you all avoid a mistake I made. Some of you may already know where I’m going with this. I painted the two Rogue Agents thinking they’d get to use Siege of Darkness (the Sons’ most clutch Team Tactics card). I missed the fine print though; they only count as affiliated during squad building. So no sweet sweet extra Siege attack for them.

That being said I don’t regret getting them. Winter Soldier works pretty well with the sons. He has a decent ranged attack. Something that’s kind of lacking elsewhere. And that attack can cause Bleed. Taskmaster also causes Bleed but doesn’t really add anything to the squad that it was missing.

Building to another Affiliation

Even though they didn’t end up being what I wanted, having these two characters means I have two more models going into my next Affiliation. And Midnight Sons is already a great choice to grow into another one. In fact so many Sons are also Defenders (only Black Cat and Voodoo are not) that you can play that Affiliation with these models just by making Doctor Strange the Leader. Also you should have Luke Cage since he came with Iron Fist. Another Defender!

I’ve been having too much fun to not want to go ahead and fill out the whole Defenders Affiliation, too. Especially since some of my childhood favorites like Spider Man, Wolverine, and Daredevil are members. But there’s another Affiliation that also shares a lot of models with Defenders… and I’ve already finished painting three of them here. I’m talking of course about Convocation. So I’ll be back when I’ve got them all painted up and give them the same run down.

~ Hope you enjoyed the pics and maybe even found the write-up a little helpful. Has anyone else that plays Midnight Sons had different experiences? Tell us about them!

Ben Willimans is a Professional Painter and Columnist at Bell of Lost Souls. He has been involved in the hobby and art side of miniatures and the tabletop gaming industry for over 20 years. He has won multiple national painting awards.

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