Marvel Crisis Protocol – Guardians of the Galaxy

We've already shown you two Guardians of the Galaxy here: CP126 Yondu and Nova. Now it's time to cover the Guardians of the Galaxy Affiliation Pack CP222, which features three well-known Guardians and Cosmic Ghost Rider. Ghost Rider? Yes, but more on that later.

The CP222 Guardians of the Galaxy Affiliation Pack has a RRP of 64.99 USD and contains four miniatures from the Guardians of the Galaxy affiliation. The other Guardians are currently not available and are probably in schedule for a redesign (CP16 - Gamora & Nebula and CP20 - Drax and Ronan)

The set includes the following items:

• 4 Miniatures
• 4 Bases
• 4 Character Stat Cards
• 7 Team Tactic Cards
• 1 Punch Sheet
• 1 Insert

As usual, instructions are not included, but a 'Read This First' leaflet with a QR code linking to the instructions is included . You can also find the instructions on the website, linked under the product page.

This Affiliation pack contains bases in three different sizes: 35 mm, 50 mm and 65 mm. All of them come with small accessories to add, such as litter or trashed cans.

The CP222 set is a repack of individual character packs. Consequently, this boxed set contains five different sprues, including a transparent one for the front wheel of Cosmic Ghost Rider. While the casting is good, some details are not as sharp as those on more recent releases due to their age/earlier production dates.

As CP222 is a repack of older releases (CP17, CP18 and CP90), all printed items are included in four languages: English, German, French and Spanish. However, Asmodee Germany has announced that future releases will only be available in English, French and Spanish. This decision will affect Shatterpoint, but not Legion.

The Stat and Tactic Cards are translated and come in the four languages. The punch sheet with the tokens is designed without any words on it, so it can be used with any language.

The first duo, Rocket Raccoon and Groot, originate from the former CP17 character pack of the same name. Rocket Raccoon is a genetically engineered and cybernetically enhanced raccoon with a genius-level intellect and expert marksmanship skills. Created by Bill Mantlo and Keith Giffen, he debuted in Marvel Preview #7 (July 1976). Originally from Halfworld, he was part of a colony of uplifted animals created to care for the mentally ill.

Clever, sarcastic and fiercely loyal, he is motivated by survival and loyalty to his friends, as well as a hidden sense of justice. He is known for his love of big guns, mechanical skills and volatile temper, often masking his traumatic past with humour and bravado.

Groot is a sentient, tree-like alien from Planet X who first appeared in Tales to Astonish #13 (November 1960). The character was created by Stan Lee, Larry Lieber and Jack Kirby. Though he was once portrayed as a villain, he was later reimagined as a heroic, noble creature and became a core member of the Guardians of the Galaxy. He can regenerate from a twig, control the size of his body and limbs, and only ever says "I am Groot", although his companions can understand him.

Groot is driven by loyalty, compassion and a childlike purity, especially in his 'baby' or 'teen' forms. Despite his limited speech, he is often the emotional heart of the team and will sacrifice himself without hesitation for his friends.

Currently, both characters are only affiliated with the Guardians of the Galaxy.

The pieces for the raccoon and the living tree are spread across two sprues, and Rocket even has a base topper that makes use of Groot's extended arm to elevate the small miniature.

The poses are very cool and dynamic, and work well together as the two figures interact and fight side by side. Assembly was hassle-free, and the base toppers fit universally on the MCP bases.

Star-Lord (Peter Quill) is a space adventurer of half-human, half-Spartoi descent who first appeared in Marvel Preview #4 in January 1976. He was created by Steve Englehart and Steve Gan. The son of an alien king and a human mother, Peter was raised on Earth before being abducted by the Ravagers, a group of space pirates. He eventually becomes the charismatic — albeit reckless — leader of the Guardians of the Galaxy.

Quill’s motivations stem from a mix of guilt, rebellion and a desire to prove himself to be more than a petty thief. Despite his cocky demeanour, he cares deeply about his team and the galaxy. He uses advanced weaponry, tactical skills and quick wit to combat cosmic threats. His only affiliation is with the Guardians of the Galaxy.

Like Rocket Raccoon and Groot, Star-Lord is a repack of an existing character pack, but covering only Star-Lord himself. They opted for a lot of individual pieces to ensure the cloak had the right level of detail, but they went a bit overboard with the head, which is split into five pieces. For some reason, each of the head pieces is included twice. Perhaps they anticipated that people would lose them? At that point, I wasn't sure if we had an unmasked helmet or variant B, but as far as I can see, they are duplicates of the same pieces.

As I am not that familiar with comic lore and am more of a DC fan, my first reaction was to wonder what Ghost Rider is doing in this set. Well, this is Cosmic Ghost Rider — Frank Castle (the Punisher) from an alternate future who became the Spirit of Vengeance after the destruction of Earth. He was created by Donny Cates and Geoff Shaw, based on a character created by Gerry Conway, John Romita Sr. and Ross Andru. He first appeared in Thanos #13 in January 2018. After making a pact with Mephisto and gaining the powers of Ghost Rider, Frank becomes a cosmic being by serving Galactus and wielding the Power Cosmic. Cosmic Ghost Rider's physical appearance and origin are a combination of the Punisher, Ghost Rider and Silver Surfer, and his personality is inspired by Deadpool.

His motivations are twisted by loss, guilt and a warped sense of justice. Although he is still obsessed with punishing the guilty, his cosmic status gives him vast and often unstable powers, as well as a dark sense of humour. He is a brutal, tragic anti-hero who wanders time and space, sometimes seeking redemption and sometimes causing chaos. Not only is he affiliated with the Guardians of the Galaxy, he is also part of the Black Order.

It's quite a build, with a large base, transparent pieces, and a model connected to the base by its front wheels. The bike is an impressive build in itself, but it is certainly a challenging kit. The chains around his upper torso are not very stable and would benefit from another connection to the main body of the model.

Cosmic Ghost Rider comes with two different heads: a flaming skull and a glass dome, like the Marsians from Mars Attacks. I would recommend painting him before final assembly, as the clear orb around the front wheels can fog up with glue, and you certainly don't want to hit it with primer if you want to keep the transparency.

Here is the final build of all four miniatures.

Overall, they all have very dynamic poses, especially considering that some of the sculptures have been around for quite some time and have aged well.

Conclusion

This Affiliation pack offers proper value! I would have preferred Cosmic Ghost Rider to be replaced with Drax and/or Gamora, but if that means these sculpts get an overhaul, I'm happy to wait.

As mentioned above, Atomic Mass Games produced dynamic poses for all of them. With Star-Lord, you already have the leader of the group, and there are various options to add to it. CP126 Yondu and Nova is currently the most reasonable addition as both characters have the Guardians of the Galaxy affiliation. Gamora and Drax the Destroyer are currently out of stock, as are Nebula and Ronan the Accuser, who are part of older character packs. The same goes for Angela. The other character packs — CP100 Agent Venom and CP130 Beta Ray Bill — both contain characters that are not affiliated with the Guardians.

However, the CP25 Thanos is certainly worth a look as it comes with an ultimate encounter and multiplayer expansion, and absolutely fits the Guardians' narrative.

Marvel Crisis Protocol is a game by Atomic Mass Games and distributed by Asmodee.

The reviewed product item was provided by the manufacturer.