CP89 Red guardian

Today on From Panel to Play, we’re taking our first look at the big, red muscle of the Winter Guard, the man who carries the shield of the Guardian: it is Nikolai Krylenko, the Red Guardian!

Following the appearance of their mutant natures, the Russian government quickly adopted Nikolai Krylenko and his twin sister Laynia Petrovna from their mother and trained them as warriors under the supervision of a scientific research team. Krylenko adopted the Red Guardian’s shield and title after initially going by the moniker Vanguard, carrying on the tradition established by one of Russia’s most steadfast defenders. Though he is not the first man to have the title of the Red Guardian, few others can claim to have worn it with such pride.

Nikolai is a mutant with an energy field that repels nearly all electromagnetic, kinetic, and gravitonic energy forms. He can also return any energy repelled by his natural force barrier to its source. Krylenko uses a modified Vibranium shield to focus his abilities and increase the force of his energy repulsion. Nikolai’s suit’s mesh lining contains circuitry that allows him to channel the impact force aimed against the shield into it, enhancing his innate abilities.

Krylenko is a solid addition to the Winter Guard lineup. He is the hammer of their force, pushing back the tide of the opponent with his ability to redirect energy into his foes and withstand their efforts at retaliation.

Red Guardian puts his mutant power to good use when he’s up close and personal. His basic Strike attack is charged by his energy field, hitting at Strength 5 and pushing his target a Short distance with each impact. For an even more devastating hit, he can channel his power through his shield with a Siberian Shield Slam, which hits a bit harder and transforms that push into a throw on targets of Size 3 or less. One slam, and he can send an opponent flying back into its allies, disrupting their formation and spreading chaos!

Like the other famous shield-wielding national icon, Red Guardian can hurl his shield at range, bouncing the vibranium disk off a few skulls before it returns to his hand. Shield Throw is a Range 4 attack that ignores both LOS and Cover and has the Ricochet special rule to allow him to target a secondary character within Range 3 of his initial target.

Of course, Red Guardian likes to stand at the center of the Unbreakable Red Line of the Winter Guard. His two superpowers help him to fulfill this role. Combining his innate mutant powers and the suit of the Red Guardian, he can be a thorn in the side of your opponent’s offense.

Focused Repulsion Field represents Krylenko’s mutant power being used in defense. When targeted by a physical or energy attack, he can repel the strike for 2 Power as a reaction, adding blanks in his defense rolls to the total success.

The Red Guardian’s Suit innate power kicks in if an attack makes it through this defensive barrier. It allows Red Guardian to convert some of that incoming damage into a resource for his use. Provided an enemy or allied effect doesn’t daze him after it is resolved, he immediately gains 1 Power… setting him up for further Shield Slams or Repulsion Fields.

That’s it for our first look at this red-blooded Guardian!

Be sure to check back for yet another installment of From Panel to Play, the series where we give you your first look at how your favorite characters transition to the tabletop in Marvel: Crisis Protocol. Pre-order your own copy of the Ursa Major & Red Guardian Character Pack at your local game store or through our webstore today!

Until then, Atomic Mass Transmissions, signing off!

CP89 Ursa Major

Proving once and for all that the only thing you need to survive the harsh Russian wilderness are the bear necessities, Ursa Major is today’s guest on From Panel to Play!

Mikhail Ursus was one of the first recorded mutants to survive childhood in Russia during the twentieth century. The Russian government had previously exterminated all mutants at the first sign of their superhuman abilities; a policy that ended just before Mikhail’s birth. Mikhail was abandoned in the mountains at a young age, and grew up among the wild creatures as a shape-shifting member of their pack. He was eventually taken in by a scientist who sought to train a team of superhuman agents loyal to the government.

Ursa Major is a mutant who can transform into an enormous anthropomorphic bear. Ursa Major retains his human intelligence and capacity to talk when in this form. However, his personality becomes more primal, and his mind begins to slip if he stays in this altered state for several hours. Ursa Major possesses superhuman strength, stamina, and resistance to physical injury far greater than a real bear of comparable size.

Ursa Major is about what you’d expect from a king-size, anthropomorphic bear of a man: big, slow, tough, and he fights (I’m so sorry), bear-handed.

Using his oversized paws, Ursa Major can perform a Bear-Handed Slap as his basic attack, a Strength 5 rake of his claws with the Bleed Special condition. But if he wants to really leave a mark, he can pay 3 Power to perform a Bear-Armed Brawler attack. This Strength 7 attack allows him to throw a character of Size 4 or less and imposes the Stagger condition on his target. Big characters aren’t the only things Ursa Major will be tossing around, either! His Ursine Temper power lets the big, cuddly guy pick up and throw terrain features of Size 3 or less.

Some foes may foolishly believe Ursa Major will be slow in combat. While he is a big, lumbering bear with a Short movement, he has some surprising tricks that allow him to get in quickly and put his muscles—and claws—to good use.

The first way he compensates for his speed is the Charge power, which lets him make a move action followed by an attack action. He can come lumbering up on all fours before backhanding his target with a quick swipe. If done right after a normal advance, it lets him cross almost the same distance as a character with a Long movement range!

The second way he can close with the enemy is through his Aggressive innate power. Every time he suffers damage from an attack that targets him, this bear can advance Short toward the attacking character. Each injury has the potential to draw him in deeper toward the enemy line, where Ursa Major shines the brightest.

That’s it for our first look at the bear bones of this beast of a man!

Be sure to check back for yet another installment of From Panel to Play, the series where we give you your first look at how your favorite characters transition to the tabletop in Marvel: Crisis Protocol. Pre-order your own copy of the Ursa Major & Red Guardian Character Pack at your local game store or through our webstore today!

Until then, Atomic Mass Transmissions, signing off!

CP88 Dark Star

Today on From Panel to Play, we’re about to learn how the darkest stars can shine the brightest. Join us as we take our first look at this mutant mistress of the Darkforce dimension, Darkstar!

Laynia Sergeievna Petrovna and her brother Nikolai Krylenko were among the first mutants in Russia whose potential was recognized by their government. They were onboarded into Russia’s own super-soldier program and trained to become superhuman operatives. Codenamed Darkstar, one of Laynia’s earliest missions was spearheading a strike team tasked with bringing the Black Widow back to her home nation. She later joined forces with the Winter Guard, an elite team of Russian operatives.

Darkstar can psychically access the Darkforce dimension’s extradimensional energies. Her consciousness is split between her physical body and its Darkforce representation, linking her to both dimensions. She can manipulate the Darkforce to behave like matter or energy, projecting energy as solid objects with steel-like density. Darkstar may teleport via the Darkforce dimension by opening a portal through which she and her allies can pass.

Darkstar brings the power of the Darkforce dimension to the tabletop. With it, she lands powerful strikes against her enemies, but much more important, supports her fellow Winter Guard during a crisis.

By calling on her link to the Darkforce, Petrovna can perform a quick Darkforce Strike, a Range 4 energy attack. However, she is a master at controlling these strange energies and can reroll all of the attack dice for the attack. While it is Strength 5, her ability to reroll the dice makes it a much more effective—and reliable—strike.

When she wants to deliver a devastating blow, however, she can unleash the full power of the Darkforce with her Rending Force attack. Only costing her 3 Power to use, this Strength 7 attack allows Darkstar to choose between Physical or Energy attack types, as she lashes out with raw energy or hardens it to act as a solid object. In either case, Rending Force hits with such brutal strength that it also has the Bleed special rule.

But the Darkforce is not just a bludgeon, and some of Darkstar’s most versatile abilities allow her to support her team in a pinch. Dimensional Portal is a prime example of this, helping Darkstar make up for the slower speed of some of her fellow Winter Guard. By boring a tunnel through the Darkforce dimension, she can teleport herself or another allied character within Range 3 of its current position, setting up an ambush, retreating from an unwinnable fight, or taking control of a valuable objective.

For those Winter Guard who find themselves in a hot zone of combat, Darkstar can also provide some added protection with her reactive power Darkforce Barrier. When she or an ally within Range 3 is the target of a non-Mystic attack, Darkstar can summon a barrier of pure energy to help defend against it. The target adds 2 dice to the defense roll against the attack and cannot be forced to move through an advance, push, or place effect caused by it!

That’s it for our first look at the darkest star in the northern sky!

Be sure to check back for yet another installment of From Panel to Play, the series where we give you your first look at how your favorite characters transition to the tabletop in Marvel: Crisis Protocol. Pre-order your own copy of the Crimson Dynamo & Darkstar Character Pack at your local game store or through our webstore today!

Until then, Atomic Mass Transmissions, signing off!

CP88 Crimson Dynamo

Today on From Panel to Play, we’re looking at the man who is so comfortable wearing a suit of armor around the house you’d think he has some sort of iron curtains; it is the—well. Not one and only. One of many! It’s Crimson Dynamo!

Dimitri Bukharin’s past is shrouded in mystery, save for the fact that he was a Russian government intelligence agent before donning the Crimson Dynamo’s armor as the fifth person to bear the name. He served as a government spy within the ranks of a newly established organization of Russian superhuman champions in this capacity. After hanging up the mantle of the Crimson Dynamo to retire to the Ural Mountains, Bukharin was once again brought back into the field as the leader of the revamped Winter Guard.

Even though he possesses no superhuman abilities, Bukharin is an extremely valuable member of the Winter Guard due to the superiority of the Crimson Dynamo armor. A powerful Carborundum Matrix Alloy shields him from harm in combat. The armor is equipped with technologies that grant him superhuman strength, a comprehensive suite of detection and communication devices, and the ability to generate deadly electrical charges.

As a leader of the Winter Guard, Crimson Dynamo brings a mixture of hard-hitting attacks and support tactics to the battlefield. While he isn’t the quickest armored warrior, his sturdy defenses and affordable, hard-hitting attacks make up for his lack of maneuverability.

Long-ranged strikes are critical to Crimson Dynamo’s attacks. His armor can produce a potent Electrical Blast that crackles out with a Beam 4 range to hit at Strength 5. The electricity coursing through his target’s bodies also has the potential to Shock them, making their attacks less effective.

Crimson Dynamo can unleash a barrage of rocket fire that seeks out his foes if his targets cower in the distance or huddle behind cover. Homing Rockets have a Range of 5, ignore LOS and cover, and chip damage on nearby targets thanks to the Explosive special rule. Best of all, he can keep up a steady stream of these rockets thanks to their low Power cost of 2!

But Bukharin isn’t just lightning bolts and rocket bombardments. He is the leader of the new Winter Guard, and his Unbreakable Red Line Leadership ability demonstrates why. This leadership allows allied characters to remove a special condition at the start of their activations and enables them to dig in while they secure objectives, gaining a chance not to be pushed away from their vital work.

The Crimson Dynamo armor brings with it several other abilities to enhance Bukharin in the fight, from the power of Flight to the Carborundum Matrix Alloy that shields him from the damage of enemy effects. He can overcharge his armor’s capacitors for a quick surge of Power (the perfect amount to unleash another volley of Rockets), use its Propulsion Thrusters for a quick surge of speed, or draw on its powerful Disruption Field in response to a nearby enemy attack, potentially spoiling their aim. Whether diving in to take the hit or standing back and dishing it out, Dimitri’s Red Line isn’t breaking any time soon.

That’s it for our first look at the latest leader of the Winter Guard.

Be sure to check back for yet another installment of From Panel to Play, the series where we give you your first look at how your favorite characters transition to the tabletop in Marvel: Crisis

Protocol. Pre-order your own copy of the Crimson Dynamo & Darkstar Character Pack at your local game store or through our webstore today! Until then, Atomic Mass Transmissions, signing off!