The Inhuman Royal Court is gearing up to tackle the War of Kings in Marvel: Crisis Protocol. Let’s take a look at two of their members rules!
Here come the Boltagon Brothers. Now that’s a sentence I never thought I’d write. Also, I’m going to try to keep my snark at a minimum for these two because I’m not exactly an Inhumans fan. I know the internet can be very negative and loud. And there is definitely a loud and negative view of the Inhumans from many corners of the internet. While I don’t entirely disagree with the dislike of the Inhumans I also don’t feel the need to pile on the hate wagon for them. If anything I’m glad to see them get some attention in MCP — if only so they can play the heel and I can route against them. Every good story has a bad guy, right?
That said, if the Inhumans are playing the role of the bad guy (even if only in my head), then what sort of a challenge will they present to the “heroes” of this story? That’s what we’re here today to figure out! Let’s check out the rules for Maximus the Mad and King Black Bolt!
The Boltagon brothers couldn’t be more different. Black Bolt, the stoic and powerful king of the Inhumans, is the embodiment of order and is completely dedicated to protecting his people. Maximus, on the other hand, is an unpredictable whirlwind of chaos due to his electric charisma and unstable psyche. Despite their conflicts, a deep, unspoken loyalty runs between them. In times of crisis, they can unite against external threats, combining their complementary strengths and realizing their full potential as siblings. Black Bolt often acts as a grounding force for Maximus, while Maximus, in turn, can challenge Black Bolt to think outside the box.
Maximus the Mad
Maximus is coming in as a Threat Level 4 character. He’s got very slanted defenses of 2/3/5 with 6 stamina on both sides. He’s also clocking in at size 2 with a medium movement and appears to be on a 35mm base. He’s not really blowing my mind in the stats department but I think his attacks are worth a bit more attention. But before we dive into those it’s also worth noting Maximus is the second leader of the Inhumans faction roster. Which makes sense but is kind of weird as King Black Bolt doesn’t have a leadership ability. Sorta. More on that below.
Anyhow, Maximus has Brain Freeze as his basic builder. This gives him as solid mystic attack with a range of 4 and 5 dice. It can trigger suppressive on a wild and seems fairly normal for energy generation. His big spender attack is another mystic hitter called Neuro-Annihilation. This one costs 5 energy and clocks in at range 3 with 9 dice! It can cause a stagger on a wild. So why is it so expensive? Well, the defending character cannot add additional dice OR modify the defense dice! Ouch.
Now we get into what really makes Maximus “The Mad” with the rest of his kit. Call Me Maximus The Magnificent! is his leadership ability — and it’s weird. First off, it forces the Inhumans to use this leadership ability the first time per turn they attack or defend. They MUST reroll 1 of it’s attack or defense die. There is no “may” in that rule so even if you get the perfect roll you have to reroll 1 of those dice. If the reroll happens to be a skull, then your opponent gets to place the allied character within range 1 of it’s current position. And then Maximus gains 1 energy. Again, weird. But I’m sure it makes sense to Maximus.
Did You Forget Why You’re Here? is another one of his super powers. It costs 2 energy but it’s allows for some extra movement shenanigans. You can move a character with an activated token short. Note that you can do this to any character within range 3. And following that up, he’s got It’s Madness, My Favorite Kind. Another power that costs 2 to use. This one allows you to reroll 2 dice from an enemy attacking character within range 3 of Maximus. And finally we have both Immunity [Poison] and also the Inhuman power that grants him 1 reroll for attack or defense.
Clearly Maximus is supposed to bring some mystic power to the Inhuman roster and he seems like a solid option for that. I’m still on the fence about his Leadership ability. I’m sure there’s something there but I haven’t quite figured out how to make it all work together. But that’s a “get him on the tabletop and play around” problem. Let’s see what his brother can do.
King Black Bolt
King Black Bolt is rocking 4/4/4 across the board for defenses and comes with 7/8 stamina as well. He’s size 2 with a medium move and is on a 50mm base. All that comes in with a Threat Level of 6. So will he have the goods to back-up that 6 threat? Let’s see!
Sonic Blast is his builder attack. It’s an energy attack that is a B4 with 5 dice. He gains 1 energy per attack so it benefits you to really line up those shots. On a wild he can also Push Away characters size 3 or less short. His spender is a physical attack that costs 4 energy. It’s range 3 and 8 dice and it called Wrath of the Midnight King. This also allows him to Advance Medium after the attack. On a wild he can throw the target short, too. Honestly, these attacks seem kind of unimpressive…but he’s got more in his kit.
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He’s got Flight and is Immune [Poison]. Plus he’s got the Inhuman rule for the free 1 die reroll for attacking and defense. He’s also the Inhuman King and that allows 1 allied character with the Inhuman super power to remove a condition. That could be pretty useful and is sorta like a leadership ability.
Another super power he has is Increase the Volume which costs 3 energy. This allows him to add 2 dice to his next attack action. He also has Hit and Run which we’ve seen before — this is an attack action followed by a move action. I could see a combo with Wrath of the Midnight King to zoom across the field. It would be pricy however. He also has Telepathic Command for 2 energy. This allows him to advance another allied character within range 4 a short distance. Finally, he’s got Anti-Graviton Control. This super power is a defensive one that reduces damage taken by 1 down to a minimum of 1. It also gives him 1 additional energy per power phase.
King Black Bolt has quite the arsenal of tools at his disposal. However, I think he’s going to be a tad energy hungry. He does have some free re-rolls and the free special condition removal could be helpful. I haven’t messed around with the Inhumans on the tabletop to really find out if they are my cup of tea however. I would like to take a crack at running King Black Bolt and the Inhumans. If nothing else it would be helpful just to see him in action.
Are you impressed with the Inhuman Royal Court?
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Writer, Editor, Texas Native, and now Tex-Pat, Adam covers all things Tabletop Gaming. Which includes Warhammer 40,000, Age of Sigmar, D&D, Board Games and everything else that involves dice, boards, cards and a table.
A hobbyist, player, and collector of miniatures and games, Adam’s current obsession are his Death and Chaos Armies for Age of Sigmar, his Blood Angels and Tyranids for 40k, an expanding collection of Marvel: Crisis Protocol minis, and his ever growing Arkham Horror: The Card Game Collection.
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