Ben is back with another Affiliation showcase and analysis. This time it’s Spidey and his amazing friends: The Web Warriors!
Another Affiliation painted! And now that I’ve spent some time putting them on the table, I’m here to share what I’ve learned about Web Warriors.
Who are the Web Warriors?
If you’re reading this and thinking to yourself “Web Warriors… I don’t think I’ve heard of this super-team.” You’re not crazy. Web Warriors was a fairly recent comic with a short run centering specifically on cross-dimensional spider team-ups. If things are sounding a little more familiar now that’s because it was definitely the basis for the Spiderverse movies.
Web Warriors in MCP is a bit different. Most of the characters are from Earth 616 (the one where most of the comics take place). The lineup includes other spider-based heroes as well as vigilantes that frequently teamed up with Peter Parker. Some spider-people from other earths have also crossed over to help out: the most popular ones from the ‘verse movies to no one’s surprise. In that way the Web Warriors are a bit like Convocation in that they have no real parallel in any comics or movies.
Playing the Web Warriors
So, what have I learned about the Web Warriors now that I’ve painted them up and put them on the table a few times? Not much that I didn’t already know really. Web Warriors only play one way and they are very good at it. So good that seasoned veterans of the game can have a hard time stopping a skilled Web Warriors player, even knowing exactly what they’re going to do.
What they do is play easily the meanest objective-based game in Marvel Crisis Protocol. They are way more focused on getting points through Crises than on beating up the other team. “But wait,” you say, “MCP is an objective-based game. Shouldn’t every Affiliation be focused on getting points?” Well yes but pounding the tar out of your opponent’s models is a perfectly acceptable way to prevent them from getting their points and denying you yours. KOd and Dazed models can’t score or contest of course.
But Web Warriors use their mobility and arsenal of Pushes, Throws, and Places to nab Extracts and force their opponent’s models off Secures so efficiently they barely need to attack. And when they are attacking, they’re usually going to be more concerned about generating some power, or about the Pushes, etc. that their attacks trigger than about the damage.
To do this you usually want to play with a high model count force so you can out activate your opponents and keep pushing them off points long after they can do anything about it.
Web Weaknesses
In my mind there are a few big hurdles to overcome that are specific to Web Warriors. First they have a very high skill ceiling. You have to start each turn with a plan in mind, based off of which way each Web interacts with the enemy force. You want to make sure each one activates at the right time to use their unique combinations of abilities to maximum effect. And it really helps to have a good understanding of how all your opponent’s models work so you can anticipate any tricks they might have that could throw your plan into chaos.
Additionally you need to have the confidence to stick to your plans. One of the hardest things to do in any minis game is have the self-discipline to keep your mind on the objectives, even when your opponent presents you with a juicy-looking target. Harder still is knowing when it truly is a good time to go after that juicy-looking target and put the objectives aside for the time being. Mastery of this is important with any Affiliation but truly essential with Webs.
Another is bad matchups. Some Affiliations are better than others at overcoming the Web Warriors’ tricks. Winter Guard in particular can avoid pushes fairly easily while on objectives. They can also remove a condition without spending an action which is annoying to Web Warriors who rely a lot on Slow. And of course there are other characters around that can do similar things. Additionally, there are affiliations like New Mutants and Midnight Sons that have enough place effects of their own to negate a lot of the Web Warriors tricks.
My solution to this is to incorporate a second affiliation into the roster so you can play a different way. The Defenders have a good amount of crossover so that’s one choice. But there is enough diversity within the Web Warriors lineup that you could go full webs and still come out the winner. Facing off against Winter Guard? Just make sure to bring Spectacular Spider Man, Agent Venom, and Scarlet Spider so you can throw those irritating I-can’t-be-pushed models off objectives.
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Winter Guard — The Web Warriors counter?
Fighting against the New Mutants? Just be extra careful who you attack. You have to attack one of their models to trigger Cry For Help (Magik’s Leadership ability that let’s a model place out of activation). Keep that in mind and you should be able to stay one step ahead. Dealing with Midnight Sons? Bring as many bodies as possible. They usually bring low model count forces. If you have a couple more model activations than they do, you can move their pieces off objectives before they can “Bump” themselves back into place.
Team Tactics Cards
The last thing to consider before we hit the showcase is the Affiliation-specific Team Tactics cards. These define a faction as much as its lineup and are key to mastering it.
All Webbed Up
This is kind of the defining card of Web Warriors. It’s extremely good so always take it. Just be mindful of who will be playing it and when. Web Warriors are always a bit on the power-starved side since they have super-powers they’ll always want to be using. Don’t spend your power on a Web Swing then realize you don’t have enough left to play this card.
When you do play this card, you’ll have one turn where your Web Warriors can deliver an absolute beating – but this is where that earlier restraint comes in. Since your opponent’s models will be slowed, it’ll be that much easier to score a bunch of points. Think carefully about where to go offensive and where to stick to Crises.
Aunt May’s Wheat Cakes
Another auto-include. Web Warriors hate being slow. The healing is also useful of course, but it’s not as important as getting your Warriors back up to moving at full speed. I say prioritize removing Slow over healing if you find yourself tempted to hold off use of this card in an attempt to heal as much damage as possible.
Clone Saga
This one I’m not so crazy about. Could be useful but how often will it really come up? Not worth taking in my opinion.
Masked Menace
I just don’t see this one being useful enough to bring along. The extra power could come in handy, but this card pushes you to play Web Warriors in a way they prefer not to: grouping up and going on the offensive. Since you can only bring five Team Tactics Cards to the table I just don’t see this one making it.
Spider-Tracker
This one is just good enough to make the roster. Its most obvious use is to move a model out of range of an enemy attack, but you could also use it to move a model that has already activated onto a Secure.
Web Barrier
A great card but it’s another one that forces Web Warriors to play in way that doesn’t really suit them. I can see it being useful, but not enough that I would bring it in a game where I can only have five Team Tactics cards.
Showcase and Model Analysis
As with my prior Crisis Protocol articles, I’m ordering these characters by which I see myself being most likely to take in a roster
Spider Man (Miles Morales)
In addition to having one of the best leadership abilities in the game, Miles also has some really important abilities to add to the team. His basic attack incorporates a throw on a Wild. Useful for tossing enemies off objectives but the extra bit of damage is good too. He also can hit a little harder than it seems with the Webline ability giving him 6 dice on that attack. But don’t get so excited about the extra damage that you forget Webline can help you swing away as well.
His most important ability shows up on his Venom Blast attack as it causes a model to drop all objectives they’re holding. With an utterly perfect Miles Morales activation, you can start with a Webline Kick to throw a model off a Secure, Venom Blast another to have them drop an objective token, nab the token, then Webline away. Seeing as how all of that will cost you five power it won’t happen very often. Unless you get a really lucky Webline Kick. He’s even a bit tougher than he looks with two defense re-rolls.
Black Cat
Black Cat is a popular pick in any roster, even out of Affiliation. Her Bad Luck superpower makes her surprising tricky to bring down. And you’ll be lucky to even catch her with her long move and Grappling Hook power combining to make her very hard to catch. But her most annoying ability is that she can actually snatch a token off of enemy models with her Master Cat Burglar Power. She’s not likely to do that much damage but her 2 Power cost Troublemaker attack will automatically inflict the Stagger Condition on the Target.
If that weren’t enough, she can also use this very good Team Tactics card. Most people use it on their first activation to try to get her onto the center to grab an Extract, then move away before anyone can do anything about it. Just another reason she’s incredibly useful.
Ghost Spider
Gwen Stacy brings along even more useful tricks. Her Web Line superpower can push an enemy towards her short, giving you another way to keep your opponent’s models off of Secures. The Life Saver superpower might be even more important, allowing her to pull a friendly model towards her short if it’s targeted by an attack. Her basic attack, Spider Technique, can roll a whopping 7 dice if it targets a model she’s already attacked that turn.
But more in keeping with Web Warriors theme her Impact Webbing can push a model away short on a Wild. Finally, her Freestyle Beatdown attack might seem underwhelming at first for 3 power. But it incorporates a throw for some extra pain while adding another way to move your opponent’s models around. Unfortunately, she’s one of the few Warriors without some kind of defense buff so she’s super squishy.
Spectacular Spider-Man
Yes, this really is the same Spectacular Spider-Man from Earth’s Mightiest Core Set. Something about Peter Parker struggling with a random Symbiote throughout the course of an entire game was just too specific for me. Fortunately, when you’ve bought two core sets you can spare a streetlamp to repose him a bit.
Unsurprisingly this Peter Parker brings still more spider shenanigans to the table. He’s the first on the list that can pay power to throw an enemy model. It costs him three power to do it but it’s handy to have a throw you don’t need to use an action for. He has an Impact Webbing attack identical to Ghost Spider’s for even more pushes. And when he needs a little extra movement to get in or out of the thick of it, he has the Web Slinger superpower to place him within 3. His biggest drawback is that both of his primary attacks are of the “After this attack is resolved this character gains 1 Power” variety. So even though he has some incredible action economy (he can move, make two attacks, and then use a throw) he often lacks the power to do everything you want him to.
Daredevil
Daredevil is down in the fifth slot because he doesn’t bring quite as many dirty tricks to the table. In fact, he’d probably be further down if he wasn’t a leader of the Defenders and opened up another Affiliation option on my roster. His Baton Hook attack can be used to Push models towards him so that can be helpful but it’s just not on the same level as the kind of mischief the Web Warriors we’ve seen so far can get up to. His Radar Sense ability combos well with Miles’ Leadership making him even more tanky.
Additionally, his Devil’s Deliverance Attack can be absolutely devastating if he can use it on your All Webbed Up turn against two or more slow models. With the additional dice added to the attack per model in its area, plus the additional two from All Webbed Up, Daredevil can easily dish out a 10 or 11 dice attack against two or three enemy models.
Moon Knight
Moon Knight takes the sixth slot because he basically has no shenanigans to speak of and it should be clear by now that shenanigans are what I’m looking for in my Web Warriors. The reason he isn’t much further down the list is because he’s only Threat Level 3 and I like as many models in my Web Warriors lists as possible. He also crosses over into a couple other Affiliations so he gives me some options. In Web Warriors what makes him cool are his Rapid-Fire Throwing Crescents that could net you up to four six-dice attacks against Slow models.
(Editor’s note: Also Dracula owes him money)
Spider Woman
Spider Woman seems like a great model and she can be taken in a lot of Affiliations. While I haven’t quite figured out which ones, I don’t think Web Warriors is the top choice. But she still does some cool things that put her pretty high up in the list. My biggest issue with her is the same that I have with the models further down: She doesn’t have any ways to move your opponent’s pieces around.
What I do really like is that she has a Long move, a Place Superpower, Stealth, and Martial artist. These combine to make her tough to pin down and hard to kill even if you do. Especially since Martial Artist is even better with Miles’ Leadership Ability. I also like that her Intoxicating Blast attack causes a model to drop any tokens it’s carrying. Yes, Miles might have an attack that does the same thing, but I’ll happily bring some redundancy for something as useful as that.
Her Interrogate ability is also great, giving you a Victory Point if she spends 3 power while in range 2 of a dazed enemy model during the Cleanup Phase. It does force her to play a little counter to Web Warriors tactical dogma, but if I see a chance to nab an extra Victory point without undue hassle, I’ll take it. Web Warriors are about racing to 16 points first after all. Besides, your opponent probably isn’t expecting you to turn around and suddenly come at them. Finally it doesn’t hurt that her basic Bio-Electric Strike attack can inflict multiple conditions that other models in the Affiliation can’t.
Agent Venom
Agent Venom comes in next because he’s the first model so far that can throw an enemy model or terrain. Not only is this useful for the damage it causes but a big terrain piece in the way can be a real nuisance. Even for Web Warriors who almost all have Wall Crawler. He also has one of the most powerful ranged attacks in the Affiliation so he can attack safely from range and build up some power while hanging back with an objective or two.
He’s also pretty mobile with a range 3 place from his Symbiote Web Swing. This lets him make two ranged attacks before hopping out of reprisal range of most enemy models. And like our last two entries he can do some real damage on an All Webbed Up turn during which his powerful Symbiote Special Forces beam attack can roll up to 9 dice against each foe unlucky enough to get caught in it.
Scarlet Spider
Scarlet Spider isn’t bad. He’s basically a slightly upgraded Spectacular Spider Man with better attacks. He also has Web Whip, it’s like a Range 3 version of Web Whip that forces him to place within 1 of the model targeted. Potentially quite useful as much as I hate that I have to use the place. I can definitely see a place for him on a roster as a 1 point replacement for Spectacular Spider Man. Or even to go alongside him in place of one of the above characters if you think you need extra shenanigans and a powerful wallop with his 8 dice Whatever a Spider Can attack.
Amazing Spider-Man
Amazing Spider Man would definitely be above Scarlet Spider but you can only put one Peter Parker on the table. I almost put him after Gwenom on the list but with a Long Move and a Medium Base he’s one of two models in the game that can grab an Extract off the center of the table turn 1 and still have an action left for something else. And this is along with a whole host of other useful abilities that are great to bring along. He even has a Webs Leadership Ability. And it’s good.
Yet, I’d still take Spectacular Spider-Man over this Peter. Amazing Spider-Man lacks any methods for moving enemy models and that’s key to Web Warriors Success in my mind. Even though I left him off my roster in my Defenders article I think he could do really well in that Affiliation comboing Witty Banter with Hoggoth’s Hoary Wisdom from Doctor Strange.
Gwenom
Another alternate. Nonetheless I’ve put her above a lot of her other choices because she brings the Shenanigans and also does a few things the others can’t. Foremost among those is that she can heal herself with her Maximum Gwenom attack. She can also use her Pick on Someone Your Own Size superpower to make an out-of-activation attack against an enemy model after it resolves an attack against another friendly model. It’s a great ability but I prefer Ghost Spider’s Life Saver Superpower.
Your goal with Webs is to keep your opponent chasing you around the table. Life Saver does just that and that’s why I always see myself picking Ghost Spider over Gwenom. But… it might be good to have the option in your roster. Additionally, Gwenom can perform a throw without using an action and that’s always useful.
Venom
Venom is a great model and he even brings the shenanigans. Unfortunately, he’s too slow to keep up with the pack in a Web Warriors list. Fortunately, he seems to have a good place in Spider Foes, and is a popular out-of-Affiliation pick in a lot of rosters, particularly Defenders and Midnight Sons.
Silver Sable
Sable is almost at the bottom because she really doesn’t play the game the Web Warriors want to. Additionally, I find her a little underwhelming in general. She has some cool abilities but they require her or other members of the team shelling out a decent amount of power. As I’ve said before Web Warriors can be really power-starved, so I don’t ever see myself taking her with them. Maybe in Cabal under Red Skull, or A-Force where there’s more power to go around?
Spider-Man
In our final slot we have an alternate of an alternate. What’s so sad about this version of Spider-Man is he feels like a downgrade of Spectacular in a few ways. He does have a Long Move, an extra point of Physical Defense, and a Web Line superpower that Spectacular lacks, but he loses any kind of Web Slinger ability that could allow him to place himself. Additionally, his attacks seem less strong overall. His basic attack can net him more power than Spectacular, but it has no triggers at all. His most powerful attack only rolls 6 dice, although it will apply stun if he causes damage. It just doesn’t feel like enough to justify his 4 TL cost.
The Roster
Characters
Black Cat (3)
Ghost-Spider (3)
Shang Chi (4)
Spectacular Spider-Man (3)
Spider-Man (Miles Morales) (3)
Daredevil (4)
Wong (2)
Blade (4)
The Immortal Hulk (7)
Ghost Rider (5)
Team Tactics (10)
All Webbed Up
Aunt May‘s Wheat Cakes
The Cat and the Spider
Siege of Darkness
Bats the Ghost Hound
Pentagram of Farallah
Street Smarts
Mystic Ward
Brace for Impact (R)
Patch Up (R)
Crisis Cards
Secure
Cosmic Invasion! Black Order Descends on Earth (D, 16)
Riots Spark Over Extremis 3.0 (D, 17)
Portals Overrun City With Spider-People! (D, 18)
Extract Crisis
Fear Grips World as “Worthy” Terrorize Cities (D, 16)
Deadly Legacy Virus Cured (C, 19)
Skrulls Infiltrate World Leadership (J, 20)
I’ve decided to set up a roster that can play into 3 different affiliations and give me a lot of options. Which I actually take on the table will depend on which of my Crisis decks I get to pick from and what I’m up against. If it seems like a strong scenario game is best I’ll definitely go Webs. If it seems like I need a mix of mobility and hitting power I can go Midnight Sons – maybe even bring Spectacular along with Black Cat for an early objective grab with The Cat and the Spider.
If things look a little grindier I can go Defenders and run Immortal Hulk with Daredevil for tons of rerolls on his massive attacks. I’ll bring Ghost Spider along to hop through a Pentagram of Farallah. She can pop out, smack someone a couple times, grab an Extract, and still be able to move Long and go somewhere else thanks to one of the special rules on her Spider Technique attack.
The Team Tactics Cards should be pretty self explanatory. I just picked my favorites from each of the Affiliations and a couple that are always useful. The Cat and the Spider can be played with Midnight Sons or Webs. As for the Secure Objectives, those were picked since Web Warriors Like to play spread out and Defenders and Midnight Sons can do very well like that too.
Out of Affiliation Picks
Last, here are a few models that I think could be great choices if you plan on making a roster that can only be played as Web Warriors. Wong is mostly included because there are a few tricks Web Warriors would love to play on turn 1, but they won’t have the power unless Wong helps them out. And he can always hold a Secure Objective on your side of the table if needed. Black Panther and Shang Chi are my two other faves. They play similar to webs with lots of annoying throws and pushes and their tricks are just different enough that I feel like they bring something the other webs don’t. Plus they both count blanks in their defense rolls which, as has been mentioned before, combos great with Miles Leadership. Toad is also good as another model that plays objectives well and is also quite cheap.
What’s Next?
With all of Midnight Sons, Convocation, Defenders and now Web Warriors painted, the next Affiliation I’m closest to finishing is S.H.I.E.L.D. It helps that I painted up the two Rogue Agents (models that count as Affiliated with any faction during list creation) while painting Midnight Sons. They’re official members of S.H.I.E.L.D. But even with all the models I’ve finished, S.H.I.E.L.D. is still a big faction and there are 13 models left to go before I get there.
~ Hope you enjoyed the pics and maybe found the write-up helpful. If you like the pics, you can follow me on instagram as @t00mini. Do you disagree with any of my takes? Tell us why in the comments!
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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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