I cannot begin to tell you how excited I was to see this set announced a few years ago. If anyone has been reading my blogs with Zatu games you will know I’m a massive fan of the Smash Up games series, and also a huge Marvel fan. So it is no surprise that Smash Up Marvel went straight to the top of my Wishlist then and it has absolutely met my expectations for what I hoped it would deliver on.

What’s better (in my view) they’ve not even drafted all aspects of Marvel and there is so much more they could include going forwards. This will hopefully mean more expansions which would be amazing. Some people could be disappointed as big characters have been missed in this set, like the Fantastic Four or the X-men, I understand that but it takes nothing away from a quality game that does the Marvel cast justice in aligning with character abilities.

The Rules

Smash Up Marvel  is a game for two to four players (and it works well with however many players you have within this) that sees a player combine two factions together, a faction having 20 cards within it, to make a deck of 40 cards and compete to be the first to fifteen victory points. Victory points in the main are achieved by breaking bases through your characters power and you will take the most victory points away from that broken base if your side offers the most power. Each base offers three scores, the winner with highest power taking the first score, 2nd place taking the second score, if you have a 3rd player they take the third score, and if there is a 4th player they take nothing if they have characters present. A new base comes out from the base deck and you go again. There is more than just one base to compete over in a game, the number of bases available is equal to 1 more than the total players participating. So, three bases available to go at in a two-player game, for example.

Turn play is simple. You can play one action and play one character. That is all. After you have played your action card and character card (which is optional) players check to see if bases are broken and score if appropriate. Then draw two new cards to their hand (with a maximum hand size of 10) and play passes on.

That’s it.

So, what does the Marvel set bring to Smash Up?

The Avengers

They are strong, ridiculously strong! In this faction you see the 6 main Avengers characters in Ironman, Captain America, Thor, Hulk, Black Widow and Hawkeye. They have assembled here! Similar to the Princesses in set up with 6 big characters of power 5 and a lot more actions to support, they really need (surprisingly, but that is likely to be me over the faction) the right supporting faction. I haven’t been able to buy a win with them yet which has proven so frustrating for me. The abilities and actions are spot on to how you see these heroes. Thor for example has Mjolnir that goes against every rule of the game, but not for how Thor summons his hammer. When you play Thor, for example, he instantly summons this card from wherever it is in the game should you want (out the discard pile or deck) and instantly possesses. This deck is a lot of fun.

Hydra

For the first time in Smash Up history, for me, I actually don’t want to use this deck, and this is repeated a few times in this set which is shocking. I don’t want to use the bad guys (I do see Hydra as the bad guys but I’m sure that is open to debate with some people)! When I move past my inner child like feelings here we do have another quality faction full of many strengths to be utilised in Smash Up. You have your key villains here such as the Red Skull or Madame Hydra and then a lot of Hydra agents. This faction thrives by killing their weak so that their strong characters get even stronger (I’m sorry, but this is evil, just to add to my side of the argument). Saying that, if they were to blend with a faction such as the Zombies one can only imagine the potentially un stoppable combination here.

Kree

One of the off-Earth factions within the game, the Kree place huge emphasis on power. It comes in the form of additional power through actions played and is usually only temporary for the turn. They will also end up drawing a lot of cards, such is the nature of their abilities within the cards as well as being able to play additional actions. You are going to go through many cards with this faction and partnered with the right ally will be incredibly formidable.

Masters Of Evil

Another villain filled deck that you don’t want to use, but equally, know they are extremely useful, and with their abilities, will be right in the mix for winning the game. They have a real focus on VP and assorted ways of gaining extra VP beyond the base scoring, which is wonderful if you are playing them and incredibly frustrating if you are up against it. I would even argue this faction could even win without focusing on breaking bases for the high scores. They will want to be in the mix on a base though to keep adding to the score. They are truly evil, led by Baron Zemo, you will have to keep a close watch on them.

S.H.I.E.L.D

This one makes complete sense to me as a faction within a Marvel game, of course we have to have Shield. Led by Nick Fury as the top character, Shield are all about swarming with great numbers. Their actions and abilities very much revolve around getting more and more characters into play. Which, for me, completely aligns with how Shield operate in the comics and the movies. I cannot see them not working well with most other factions also.

Sinister Six

Another group of villains in the game but for some reason I don’t mind these one’s so much. We see the Sinister 6 introduced with Dr Octopus, Mysterio, Green Goblin, Vulture, Electro and Sandman. This deck is hard work and you really need to be on the ball when using this side. You will have ongoing quick sums and calculations to be making because this side operate with added power and the ability to reduce base break points on their turn. Not to mention the bonuses they receive at specific moments when dropping a bases breakpoint below 19. However, I do think they are fantastic, highly devious and very much pull the rug out from under opponents by taking bases a little more cheaply.

Spider-Verse

I love Spiderman, that might be why I don’t feel as bad towards the Sinister Six. Spiderman, for me is just the best! I love the moral compass of the character and how he constantly just tries to do the right thing. Supporting Spiderman are Ghost Spider, Miles Morales and Spider-man 2099. They are quite a mobile faction able to jump around and avoid some of the usual rules of base scoring giving them a real tactical advantage at the scoring phase. They are a highly reactionary faction and will upset opponents as a result. That does sound familiar…

Ultimates

I’ve probably left the best until last as this faction is brilliant. They are led by Captain Marvel, they are powerful and incredibly mobile. They have to be kept moving as well because they gain power through hopping around the bases making them potentially devastating. Equally with their actions they gain, as well as gaining additional power they can also pick up additional cards. They also have the action cards to get the supporting faction mobile. As the other off-Earth faction they are simply awesome and always do well on our table top.

What I love about Smash Up generally is the non-branded themes that run through the game. Pirates, Sharks, Samurai, Vikings, Grannies, Teddie Bears, Robots…. I could go on and on. They are very generic. This set of Marvel has totally changed that where we now have recognisable brands and characters introduced to the game, and we also know of the Disney set as well with more branded content. I personally am all for this because it is more Smash Up content and that is great. Hopefully this will also appeal to players that haven’t currently picked up on the game. We also have continued contiuity in that you can merge all Smash Up content, so you might just see the mighty Avengers take on the prehistoric Dinosaurs. This may put some people off but I think it is awesome.

Final Thoughts

It doesn’t take much for me to part ways with cash sometimes and this was absolutely one of those occasions. Marvel combining with Smash Up was an instant hit in my mind and it has absolutely lived up to my expectations. You have a brand-new standalone 2-4 player set for the game which isn’t a typical expansion but a great alternative to the base game, especially for Marvel fans looking to get into Smash Up. I highly recommend this set.

This blog was written by David Ireland