(Photo credits to CMON Games)
Written by Ed Carter, Staff Writer
Marvel Zombies: X Men Resistance
CMON
1-6 Players
Marvel Heroes, Zombies, Dice rolling
TO ME MY X-MEN! Game Overview
Humanity is being threatened; as heroes have become flesh eating monsters, who can help when super powered beings are now the enemy? Once again, mutants maybe our last hope; Thanks to the X-Men!
X-Men Resistance is a stand-alone game set in the Marvel Zombies universe where players are the surviving heroes instead of the flesh devouring ones. Become Wolverine, Storm, Mystique, Magneto, Rogue, or Colossus in their fight to stop the mutant zombie onslaught that has plagued the world. In this time, enemies become allies and help comes from the least likely of people. This is a Zombicide game and can be used with the standard Marvel Zombies or even the DC version Deceased if you want to mix the universes up for your own hero experience.
WE NEED A PLAN! Game setup
To play, you need to use a minimum of 4 heroes for each mission from the 6 in the game. Next, select a scenario you want to play, and set up the tiles, tokens, and bystanders, needed for the mission. Take out the zombie spawn, hero zombie spawn, bystanders , and hero trait cards and shuffle them into their respective decks. Each tile has a specific spot to place a bystander card. Once the tiles are all set, give each player their hero card, activation token, and a dashboard for their hero.
LET’S GET IT ON BUB! A Game round
Each round is broken into three phases, the player phase, enemy phase, and the end phase. When a hero activates, they gain one power, refresh their activation token, and take three actions. A player can choose from the following:
- Move – Spend one action to move one zone (It costs one extra action for each enemy in the same zone)
- Open a door/window – when taking this action, draw a spawn card for each zombie token on the tile and place the appropriate number and type of enemies based on the current danger. In addition, reveal the bystander and place the matching miniature on the assigned zone.
- Gain Trait – Draw the top card of the trait deck and add it to your dashboard. Players can have 2 traits maximum at one time.
- Power up – Gain 2 power
- Rescue a Bystander – If there are no enemies in the zone, take the bystander card and gain the benefit described. The bystander now travels with the hero or is moved to an adjacent zone with no enemies. The bystander will remain with the hero until the hero either sacrifices them or delivers them to the exit section on the board. A hero increases their power level to maximum when rescuing a bystander.
- Interact with an item/objective – Pick up an objective token in the zone.
- Attack – Use a heroes fight ability or equipment to attack an enemy. Heroes can use power to gain more dice for an attack. The hero must follow the target priority (found in the rulebook) and deal enough damage to defeat the enemy in one turn. When the enemy has enough damage to match or exceed their toughness, they are defeated and the hero gains experience equal to their toughness. Each point of experience is recorded on the danger track on the heroes dashboard. As the danger track increases, they gain the ability indicated on their hero card for that level.
THEY JUST KEEP COMING! Enemy Phase
After all of the heroes have activated, the enemy turn begins. Each enemy will either move or attack based on the situation. Each walker and brute take one action; runners and zombie heroes, take 2.
- Attack – An enemy will attack a hero or bystander in their zone and deal one wound. If a hero sacrifices a bystander to avoid a wound, this causes each hero to lose a power and one trait card. Bystanders have only 1 toughness and are defeated with one hit.
- Move – If there are no targets in their zone, each enemy will advance one zone towards the closest hero or bystander. Consult the rulebook for further rules regarding enemy movement when multiple targets are available. A Zombie hero or runner will advance 2 zones or move one zone and attack the closest target within reach.
- Activate Bystanders – Each surviving bystander will move one zone towards the closest hero unless there are enemies in that zone. Some bystanders are combat bystanders as indicated on their card. A combat bystander will roll one die and can cancel a wound with a roll of 5+.
WHERE ARE THEY ALL COMING FROM? Spawn phase
Once all enemies have activated, spawn enemies starting from the first spawn point and going clockwise to each one. Draw a spawn card and spawn enemies; the number and type of enemies is based on the hero with the highest danger level. Some spawn cards will activate a specific enemy type or a zombie hero. When a zombie hero is activated, draw the top card of the zombie hero deck and place the corresponding miniature in the zone.
Check for any effects to occur in the end phase. If any hero is defeated, the heroes lose. If all heroes are alive, another round begins and continues until either a hero is defeated or they complete the mission.
FINAL THOUGHTS
If you are a fan of Marvel and the Zombicide family of games, you most likely will enjoy this one. As previously stated, the base Marvel Zombies game has the players as zombie heroes instead of humans and they are attacking humanity. This version has the players being heroes and attacking the zombies. They even may face old comrades and friends, and have to put them down in order to keep humanity alive. The game uses traits instead of the massive decks of gear in the other zombicide games. There are only 6 heroes in the game, but there are other expansions available with more heroes to use to expand your games beyond the X Men, so it can be limiting at first. This is a fun version of Zombicide; the components are top quality on par with all other Zombicide games. The miniatures are incredibly detailed and really pop when painted. Overall, an enjoyable easy game and one I highly recommend.
Until next time, keep moving those meeples and happy gaming!
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