I finally got my copy of the Phoenix and Phoenix Unleashed and it’s time to do a deep dive into the contents for Marvel: Crisis Protocol.
Awhile back, Atomic Mass Games sent me a preview copy of the Phoenix/Phoenix Unleashed Character Card. I covered all her rules and did a deep dive on how I think she would play on the tabletop. I was waiting to get my hands on the physical miniature and unfortunately, I missed the first round from stores. So I certainly felt like Wolverine in the image above.
However, I caught the next wave and picked up my own copy. So no, this one isn’t sponsored by AMG or anything like that. I just really wanted to talk about this miniature and go over the kit.
Phoenix & Phoenix Unleashed Unboxing
The character pack is pretty loaded with items for one character. The Phoenix character pack technically contains four miniatures. You’ve got Phoenix, the Phoenix Unleashed, and two of the fire pillars. All the sprues are in one bag while the cards and tokens are in the other.
The cards themselves cover all the supported languages and you’ll get four playsets for the character. That include her character card and the three team tactic cards, too. You also get 10 Phoenix tokens for helping you keep track of them while playing. Again, I covered her rules already so if you want a better look at that card, you can find it here. Also, to AMG’s credit, they did their own breakdown of her abilities and team tactics cards as well. She’s not as straightforward as some other characters to play. As I mentioned before it’s going to come down to juggling those Phoenix tokens and dropping them to five or less by the end of her activation.
Here’s a look at the sprues. You get two big frames in this kit as well as the four typical 35mm bases you need to build it. There’s also the big scenic base to put Phoenix Unleashed on with this one. I did get to assemble this miniature and I’ve got some advice on that below.
But the first big tip on this one is read the assembly instructions first.
The Phoenix Assembled
This is the smaller miniature of the Phoenix. It’s her “stable” state. I really think this miniature is impressive both as a sculpt and also from a technical standpoint. The cuts on the miniature are hidden well after assembly and it’s a great pose for this character to match. Again, read the assembly instructions! I did learn a thing or two before and after assembly. There’s two things I want to point out:
For step 3, it looks like you can just glue in the arms and head in any order. Don’t. You want to glue in the left arm (A05) before the head goes on. Otherwise, there’s part of her hair that can make that fiddley. The second tip is to be aware of the flame loop in steps 5 and 6.
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If you built everything correctly then those flame loops should loop around her hand and leg correctly. Personally, I was kind of hoping to do this as a subassembly for painting but I ended up just gluing it all together for the photos. I’ll make it work the hard way but you don’t need to.
The Phoenix Unleashed
As for the Phoenix Unleashed miniature, I’ll echo what I said above: Read the assembly guide. The only really odd thing I found was attaching her right arm to the miniature. Honestly, I’d almost recommend doing that before you glue her torso in place. The right arm attaches to the large Phoenix flame as it’s coming out of the back. With the torso in the way, the sash can be a little bit of a problem if your fingers are normal sized. I had to use tweezers to position the arm correctly.
Other than that, it’s a neat miniature to build. It’s certainly one of the tougher ones that AMG has made from a technical standpoint. I’ve built the majority of AMG’s MCP characters (and basically all of their Shatterpoint miniatures) at this point and this one was one of the few that I actually had to look at the assembly guide for. It wasn’t that hard to do but it was slightly trickier than most.
That said, I think the results speak for themselves. It’s a great kit and an excellent representation of the Phoenix on the tabletop. I have gotten a few proxy games in with Phoenix at this point and she’s potent but weird. She’s more of a challenge to play that other characters. But her mix of offensive power and healing make her a great addition to the game. I’m curious to see how she shakes up the meta long term.
The Phoenix & Phoenix Unleashed Character Pack is out now and in stores.
Don’t be like Wolverine. Get your copy today!
Writer, Editor, Texas Native, and now Tex-Pat, Adam covers all things Tabletop Gaming. Which includes Warhammer 40,000, Age of Sigmar, D&D, Board Games and everything else that involves dice, boards, cards and a table.
A hobbyist, player, and collector of miniatures and games, Adam’s current obsession are his Death and Chaos Armies for Age of Sigmar, his Blood Angels and Tyranids for 40k, an expanding collection of Marvel: Crisis Protocol minis, and his ever growing Arkham Horror: The Card Game Collection.