One of the things I really like about Marvel Crisis protocol is the presence of thematic, interactive terrain that makes every board unique and strategic. Terrain has several purposes in MCP. Just like every character, every piece of terrain has a size from 1 (smallest) to 5 (largest). This is important because based on the size of the terrain piece and the size of the character, the terrain could be blocking line-of-sight or granting cover for the defending character. Terrain size will also determine what size characters can move through or on top of it or if they have to do a climb action instead.
Terrain in MCP is also interactable and can be Thrown into enemy characters or other pieces of terrain. The size of the terrain being Thrown determines the amount of damage being dealt. Terrain Throws are a major source of damage without having to expend an action so they’re highly valued in the game. Terrain is a major factor in every game of MCP and a table of well-laid out terrain can greatly enhance a game of MCP and a veteran player will be able to use the terrain on the table to their maximum benefit.
Asmodee has quite a few terrain sets in several different themes that they’ve offered over the life of the game. The different themes aren’t just re-skinned terrain pieces but offer quite a bit of variety both in footprint and ease of use. That is to say, some of these terrain sets are better than other for use in casual and competitive MCP. The terrain set boxes are more expensive than a regular box of MCP characters and usually include several pieces of terrain of multiple sizes (often in the 2-4 size) and sometimes an “Ultimate Encounter” or “One-shot” scenario to use with the terrain.
Terrain boxes are another way to spend your hobby dollars and because they’re more expensive than the models that make up your team, you want to make sure you’re buying the best boxes for your dollar. All the terrain printed by AMG is quite nice looking and easy to paint. This article is designed to give you an idea of what boxes are the best in my opinion as far as gameplay goes. Of course, if some terrain hits your particular taste you should go for it. This game is designed to play into the rule of cool and will succeed in that regard.
Asmodee has done a good job of packaging starter terrain in the Core Sets so you can make your own table of MCP without having to purchase more terrain right away. Especially if you and a friend each get a core set, you’ll have terrain enough to have a functional first table and start to understand the intricacies of MCP. When you’re looking to expand your terrain options, this article will be going over the pros and cons of every terrain box and which are good additions to your collection and which should be avoided.
Terrain boxes seem to be in stock at retailers and you can get them on sale as well if you’re patient. If you’re still interested in terrain boxes after reading this article, I would recommend looking up unboxing videos to see their full contents and scale. I would also recommend looking at some third-party or 3D printing terrain to supplement what AMG has to offer and also buying a mat which will make setting up your tables much faster, easier, and more beautiful.
Terrain Themes
Asmodee has created terrain themes that are evocative of Marvel locations and battle locations in the MCU and the 616 comics universe. The rating criteria I’m using include the look and feel of the terrain piece and how useable/functional it is on the tabletop. One of the common complaints about terrain is pieces with floating parts. MCP uses a flat 2D footprint system and there can be no overlapping of model bases with other models or with terrain. This means that models cannot overhang terrain and also cannot be placed underneath any hanging/floating parts of terrain. Terrain pieces with this problem are just more difficult to play with and also harder to teach new players with.
The second common complaint is that some terrain pieces don’t have a very functional surface to place models on top of the terrain piece. Terrain with sloped or uneven surfaces can be difficult to legally put a model on. If the terrain has a large footprint but little functional space on top then it could mean a large footprint on the table that poses significant problems moving through. I believe terrain is best when it can be moved onto and through as needed and shouldn’t create situations that are counterintuitive and block gameplay.
What I won’t really be discussing in this article are the ‘Rival Panels’ boxes which include two characters and a large piece of terrain. The terrain in these boxes is often unsuitable to use on an MCP table because the terrain is sometimes a diorama-style where the back is unsculpted (Battle for the Throne, Spider-Man vs. Doc Ock). It’s a shame because the characters bundled in these boxes cannot be purchased anywhere else. So you end up paying a large premium to get the two characters along with a large piece of diorama terrain. It’ll look good on your shelf, but know the drawbacks going in.
NYC City Terrain
Starting with the set with the most pieces in the theme we have NYC urban terrain. The first core set started with this terrain and they’ve continued to support this theme up to a NYC City Block Terrain Collection coming later this year. These sets include: Core Set 1, Core Set 2, NYC terrain, NYC construction terrain, NYC commercial truck, NYC apartment building and the upcoming NYC City Block Terrain Collection. I think this is the most basic and most functional terrain set in the game. NYC terrain is almost universally functional and a joy to play with. Spider-Man, Daredevil, and Iron Fist all feel like they fit right in with this world and art style. All the most basic bases for MCP characters depict urban landscapes which also fit with this style.
Some pieces in the construction set (bobcat and cement mixer) are a little awkward as per the footprint discussion above but still very playable on the board. Another terrain box, Sanctum Sanctorum, depicts the large brownstone building that Doctor Strange calls home. This building is quite large and doesn’t belong on every table of MCP but it also falls into the playable rating. The roof has a railing and a sloped side which pose a small difficulty to moving onto the terrain edge but isn’t prohibitive. The building itself is quite large so playing with it on a low table would be helpful.
Wakanda Terrain
Wakanda is a secretive nation that evokes both African savannah and advanced technology. The Wakanda theme is perhaps my second favorite themed terrain in the game. The Battle for the Throne Rivals Panel is pretty unusable so I won’t discuss that further. The other two boxes of Wakanda terrain include the Icons of Bast box and the Kingdom of Wakanda. A lot of these pieces are impossible to place a model on top of, but they are still functional and interesting to play with. They will still block LOS from some angles, there just won’t be as much climbing on top of terrain on these tables.
Some of the terrain sizes are a little confounding, with the large tree piece being labeled as a size 2 and the relatively smaller cat statue labeled as the size 4. My shop has played with the tree as a size 3 which I think is appropriate. The Kingdoms of Wakanda box also comes with the large Vibranium Transport and 8 size 1 lamps. The transport is a very nice size 4 for the table.
The Icons of Bast box comes with 1 Large Panther Statue, 2 Small Panther Statues, and 2 Panther Fountains. I like the fountains because they have a nice silhouette that can block LOS and can create interesting lines of play on the flanks of a table. Probably a mix and match of these two boxes will get you to a full table. The only thing these boxes are missing are additional size 2 scatter terrain, so you’ll need to supplement those from somewhere else. (You may want to invest in a 3D printed scatter terrain to use on multiple tables.)
Hydra Base Terrain
These pieces of terrain are supposed to represent the malevolent, industrial setting of a Hydra base. It is quite thematic to fight over and they set the scene for the battle. However, I find them a little clunky to play with because they have large-ish footprints and don’t accommodate the placement of models on top of the pieces very easily.
Hydra terrain includes the Hydra Tank, Turret, and Power Stations. This terrain, like many of the others, has just enough details to make it gorgeous without causing too much trouble painting it up. However, this set simply does not come with size 1 and 2 scatter terrain. My shop has supplemented this terrain with a winter forest theme and used non-AMG pieces to complete the table.
The tank is an “Ultimate Encounter” box which is a play mode that’s separate from Standard MCP. The tank itself can still be used as a piece of terrain on a competitive table. Beware the footprint on the tank as well as the power stations. Again, you’re not supposed to overlap overhanging pieces of terrain with model bases so you need to be careful when placing up near these models.
Buying all of these pieces is quite expensive if you can’t find them on sale and doesn’t quite fill out a table as much as the NYC and Wakanda terrain. It’s nice but I would recommend other sets before it.
Asgard Terrain
These terrain pieces depict the stonework and architecture of Asgard, the land of the gods and Thor’s homeworld. There are two terrain packs, the Battle for Asgard pack and the Asgardian Shrine pack. To start off, I think the Asgardian Shrine terrain piece is a really poorly designed play piece for MCP. The box contains basically one large terrain piece so it has quite a large footprint and there is very little usable space on top of the terrain to land miniatures.
Basically there is rocky outcropping all around the edges of the piece, including a set of stairs which also blocks the placement of models. The only flat spaces on top of the terrain are two small circles including more stairs which make model placement difficult. If another model is already on top of this terrain, it makes it virtually impossible to place your model in a similar spot. The difficulty this terrain poses for gameplay makes it unusable near objective points. You could use this terrain off to a corner of the board but I think you’re better off not fielding it at all. 7/10 for looks, 1/10 for functionality.
The Battle for Asgard terrain is much better, since it basically is a box full of scatter terrain. It’s fully functional in it’s design and use and it looks good. I also believe that the listed contents on the box are not fully correct. My understanding is that this box actually comes with 1 size 4 statue, 2 size 3 beacons, 2 size 2 nodes, 4 size 1 braziers, and 1 size 1 statue head. That is still a good amount of terrain in the box but be aware of what you are buying before you make your purchase.
The sizes on some of the terrain in this pack don’t quite align with the sizes of terrain from other packs. Because terrain plays such an important role in the game, I would always recommend discussing and agreeing on size of all terrain on your table before starting your game. I definitely could recommend this as a starting point for an Asgard table. However, you’re still a long ways off from a full table and it will necessitate you getting creative with non-AMG terrain or printing your own terrain.
Cosmic Terrain
There is just one box of cosmic terrain but I think they hit a home run with this terrain pack. With the inclusion of affiliations like Guardians of the Galaxy and the Black Order we want to see space themed battles in MCP and this terrain feels like a slightly old-school Jack Kirby style cosmic feel. It’s also really functional on the table.
Two boxes of this terrain feels right to fill out a table. There are minor problems with overhanging terrain and also sloped tops which make it difficult to balance a model but it isn’t as bad as with other terrain sets. This it right up there with the Wakanda terrain as one of my favorite themes.
Apocalypse Terrain
These terrain boxes are drawn from the mutant villain Apocalypse and depicts an Egyptian and ancient technology theme. There are three boxes of terrain: the Rejuvenation Chamber, Shrine to En Sabah Nur, and the Dark Future terrain pack.
The Rejuvenation Chamber is another design miss in my opinion. It is an ‘Ultimate Encounter’ as well as terrain piece but I don’t think either warrant the high price tag on this box. It also isn’t a very functional piece of terrain on the battlefield. I personally dislike when size 4 and 5 pieces of terrain have parts that are very low to the ground. It is misleading and confusing because it is supposed to be depicting something very high up and very solid that you have to climb/fly over and also breaks line of sight. If the terrain is very low to the ground and models look like they have line of sight it can cause issues in games. The playable area on top of this terrain is also not very expansive. I can’t see using this on the table so I wouldn’t recommend it.
The Shrine is a very impressive and large piece of terrain that I think functions much better on the tabletop. The sloped sides of the shrine and the presence of brick edges on the base make it a little funky to place your model next to and get on top of the piece but it isn’t horrible. It definitely needs to be on an outer edge of the map but can still be used as a part of a competitive table.
The Dark Future pack is scatter terrain which is good looking and functional. I think scatter terrain is one of Asmodee’s strong suits and the large centerpiece terrain ends up being a flop. In addition, the Apocalypse box itself comes with two size 1 statue scatter terrain pieces. I’m not really sure why they’re in there and honestly I could’ve lived without it if it meant the box was going to be slightly cheaper. They exist and I was able to quickly paint them up to a good table standard.
Crashed Sentinel Terrain
Not only do we have Sentinel models in MCP but we also have the inclusion of terrain with Sentinel debris as they seem to shred like paper whenever faced with an opponent. There is only one box of this terrain and you’ll have trouble fill out an entire table with just these pieces. You can combine with some pieces from Core Set 2 box but you’ll need to get creative to finish this out. (This is not necessarily a complaint, spurning creative juices is part of what this game is about!) The presence of Sentinels also feels like it could fit into almost any environment so feel free to land some in Wakanda.
This set isn’t my favorite because of the inclusion of the ruined convenience store which feels very awkward to move around. The Roxxon sign also is hollow but you’ll need to remind your opponent that it represents a solid size 3 that can block LOS. The footprint of the sign and the store also has some sticking out pieces which can backstop a model.
I’m going to include the Quinjet terrain in this section because it also can fit into many different environments and I think it could double as the Blackbird and help reinforce the theme of a battleground of Sentinels vs. Mutants. The Quinjet is a large size 4 terrain piece (which looks near to a size 5) and has problems with terrain piece overhang and also sloped tops. The Quinjet could be used on a table but it really should be relegated to an outside edge where it won’t cause too many problems.
Miscellaneous Terrain
There are a couple more pieces that AMG sells but I don’t think are great to put on a table for a game. The Tomb of Dracula is a great thematic piece for the Monsters Unleashed theme but it is a nightmare to play with. Leave it on your shelf and admire it with whatever models you want to display there.
Additionally, some of the big bads of Marvel come with extra terrain to show off how powerful and cool they are. Dormammu comes with a fiery dais and some funky size 3 magic blobs. Similarly, Thanos comes with his throne. These terrain are meant more for ‘Ultimate Encounter’ play modes and diorama more than serious competitive tables.
Conclusions
I hope this review of terrain from AMG gave you some inspiration for your next table of MCP. I want to thank Nick from my home store, the Fabricator’s Forge outside Pittsburgh, for his help in shaping this article. His hard work and creativity to create tables have enabled many successful games of MCP for people at our store. Currently we are looking forward to hosting an LVO qualifier and Appalachian Cup tournament at the Fabricator’s Forge in September!
If you’re looking for terrain from AMG, third party terrain, or game mats, look no further than the online Frontline Gaming store!