Smash Up: Marvel Review with Tom Vasel

[@tobygrisdale7385]

Great review Tom, when I saw this as a picture online I had to see if it was real, and seeing confirmation I knew immediately I had to add it to my smash up collection. And also I have to say that smash up as become a personally favourite game of mine as I play it with my dad on Thursday nights! Also I glad to hear that these factions can be mixed with the other factions and can not wait to make the combinations of factions with the marvel factions!

[@roadjcat]

I was just thinking that Wizard/Kree would be good. haha I definitely get a little irritated when there are like 12 modifiers going on at once. The robots are the worst about this in my opinion so we basically tell people if they want to play robots, they're responsible for knowing what their own power total is at all times. We also separate the green and purple VP from Cthulu and Pretty to serve as temporary and permanent power markers because that also gets confusing to keep track of. Love the game, but you really have to find ways to make all the number crunching bearable.

[@benanddaniellereviews]

I am disappointed by the fact that the card and divider quality is different than that of the previous sets. The previous were thicker and glossy, versus these thinner matte components.

[@xshadowscreamx]

Smash up factions are best when they are parodies.

[@lizzimba]

You GOTTA do a Keyforge style Dice Tower tournament where members of the DT draw random combinations and play in a bracket tournament.

[@si1verg3cko]

Actually surprised the different companies involved and card construction wasn't mentioned in this review.

[@Nexusofgeek]

I have original smash up and a few days ago I saw Marvel Smash up and immediately picked it up for my nascent gaming group. Can't wait to mix them together as you suggested here! Excelsior!

[@billjensen51]

Can this mix with the Smash up Base set (original) or would that be a mess?

[@basileds8971]

They can be smashed up

[@michaelmalgus2304]

I like this set. Masters of Evil is my favorite in this set. I did find a combo that works well with Masters of Evil, and that's Itty Critters. It works really well because of evolution to bring out pretty much whatever you need at any time. It also pairs well with the Absorbing Man ability to gain VP by being able to bring them out faster with Critter Coach and Critter Champion. The Itty Critters' base that allows you to play an extra minion of power 2 or less, but place it on the bottom of your deck at the end of your turn, is really good because of the same reason as Critter Coach and Critter Champion. Please let me know how you like the combo, there is a lot more that they can do, but I think it would be more fun to see what you can discover with them

[@benstylus]

Thanks tom. Glad to see this one finally come out. It's been a long time since the last smashup releasr

[@jba242]

I’ve seen comments saying smash up marvel cards are different size or use different card stock. Does that negatively affect the experience for anyone when combining with the base game or other expansions?

[@KidJV]

i really wish they had a health tracker for the base similar to king of tokyo

[@justacynic]

Thanks for the thorough overview. Undoubtedly, X-men, F4, Skrulls, Heralds of Galactus, and others are waiting in the works depending on how this does.

[@TheCubeImage]

Very nice. I like expansions that arent too crazy and works with most of whats in the game already.

[@GaNSiNaTeR]

Hey Tom With you both liking Smash Up and having played Magic in the past some, I'm curious if you've looked into one of the recent Magic sets "JumpStart" which has you open two 20 card "themed" packs then combining them together much like smash up does but then it just plays out like a normal magic game with them! It's a super cool idea from Smash Up that it's good to see other games using it, and the set has like 46 themes total I believe.

[@CoreyMarinoGames]

When the Kree was announced I was hoping we would get the Skrulls and have them with a different take on the shape shifters.

[@skidawg22]

With everything released right now, Smash Up officially has 82 factions. Still, it's a lot.

[@hucz]

82 factions, 1 mediocre game.

[@skidawg22]

@@hucz I obviously disagree. It's without question my favorite game, to the point that I have been helping with playtesting for the more recent sets, including the Marvel set. But, of course, to each his or her own.

[@hucz]

@@skidawg22 You're biased if you're positioning your opinions on a game you are also playtesting. Almost 25 thousand ratings on BGG rank this game as being mediocre, working at a board game cafe I got to see first hand the lukewarm responses it got. I owned a copy, played it several times with mixed reactions, and not once did it get asked about over other games in the genre that just do everything better. I respectfully disagree with your assessment that the game is anything more than mediocre or average at best.

[@JoeyJojoJrJr]

@@hucz Yeah, I haven't been playing board games for a few years, and I can't believe they're STILL making expansions to this game. I would've thought everyone would have moved on long ago.

[@JeremiahEcks777]

@@hucz Or to look at it a different way, that they keep making expansions means it's selling so it must be doing something right. I, personally, love it!

[@xshadowscreamx]

Imagine aliens with master of evil? VP Mania.

[@JaKamps]

the Sinister Styx. Did they become a metal band?!

[@frankdetank9126]

Thanks Tom!

[@metalapollo]

I wish X-Men were added to this.

[@SeanUCF]

They gotta milk it for all that it's worth.

[@stephenmoses7515]

Great video! I’ve loved the expansion so far 😁

[@WraxTV]

They clearly made Avengers to work with Super Heroes. I mean, it definitely makes sense thematically to do so!

[@Mike-xp9qt]

Did marvel snap take away from this?

[@thedicetower]

Maybe? I don't think there's too much crossover between audiences.

[@minottechtutor9715]

Why does Tom call the Avengers the Ultimates. Is the Dice Tower part of Earth-1610?

[@SharlzG]

Ok.. I'm going to need to get this...

[@Bundeskaiser]

You haven't seen a deck with a bunch of powerful minions before? Think again, we even had 2 of them before the Avengers came out: Superheroes and Princesses. For me there's no real reason to even buy this set. But even if I would, I wouldn't see a reason to mix it with the originals. Different wording, different style and abilities we've already seen before. For me, this is clearly a standalone set which might get more expansions in the future if it sells well enough.

[@Timxrb1]

Tom, if I remember correctly, the Princess faction is similar to the Avengers where it has only 5 strength characters.

[@thedicetower]

Good point! I'll have to make the Princess Avenger faction!

[@Proximityillusions]

And Superheroes (except for Mild Mannered Citizens). And Vigilantes have all 4 power minions.

[@cookiesmcsalsa1281]

And for all 4 minion factions(for the most part), we have Vigilantes, Knights of the Round Table, and Musketeers(they have the 4 main Musketeers, plus 5 extra units)

[@WarpedLord]

The Avengers faction seems similar to the Princesses faction.

[@duc-mannguyen3735]

Only in structure, but their playstyle is way different

[@richardtasden4417]

I love smash-up.

[@thetasworld]

Smash up should only be played with 3 players

[@HITFORDCYCLE1]

2-6 players?

[@skidawg22]

2-4 players. 5 is doable but not recommended. Avoid 6 at all costs.

[@14stockfan]

5 and 6 players? 4 is madness enough. I think 3 is the optimum number for Smash Up.

[@HITFORDCYCLE1]

Just wondering because the intro text says 2-6 but most smash up games are 2-4.

[@skidawg22]

@@HITFORDCYCLE1 Watching this video a second time, I see what you're talking about. Big oops.

[@TheClyd3Man]

@@HITFORDCYCLE1 Yea the OP's site lists this as 2-4. Perhaps a typo in the graphic. 🤔

[@Omalley69]

Is this a reprint of the superheroes and other factions? :(

[@duc-mannguyen3735]

Not at all, functionally those factions have different mechanics from existing factions.

[@dariusq8894]

Holding out hope for a Smash Up: DC. 🤓

[@cardflopper3307]

When I was new to the hobby I thought smash up was fun but quickly realized the game wasn't that good and moved on. I would consider buying this to collect all the marvel factions. But it's a slippery slope since they will likely pump out as many as they can.

[@imreadydoctor]

I'd strongly recommend getting "It's All Your Fault" expansion. It is probably the best set overall, and is much better than the base game alone.

[@moonvic]

I just got tired of the whole Smash Up thing a while ago. I only find it playable at 3

[@22gjreyes]

Waiting for the X Men expansion before buying this

[@roadjcat]

I'd like to see a Young Avengers set, but with America already in the Ultimates, that's probably not likely.

[@CoreyMarinoGames]

@@roadjcat Could have Wiccan, Hulking, Iron Lad, Stature, Patriot and Speed. Still enough to do that.

[@roadjcat]

@@CoreyMarinoGames And Kate Bishop, Noh-Varr and Prodigy. So true but I just really like America with them. Especially if Kate is there too

[@thequeercrab]

Plants and avengers would be good

[@BoxOfFear]

Sigh. I wish this was a solo game, too.

[@dylanjacobchin4237]

I'm just disappointed they included spiderverse instead of xmen or defenders or anything else. I guess they're just playing off of the success of the recent movies.

[@thedicetower]

And the comics. But why not? If something is popular (and fun!) why not stick it in games people like?

[@Chris_IsBoard]

They might be future Marvel expansions and didn't want to throw all the best ones in one box.

[@TheClyd3Man]

I could see X-Men being their own core box. Would be surprised if they didn't show up eventually.

[@dylanjacobchin4237]

@The Dice Tower oh I wasn't complaining about these characters, I just like the X-men lol

[@Twineandribbon]

@@TheClyd3Man Yeah this sounds a lot more realistic. Not that I don't understand the love of X-Men, but there are a lot of characters there.

[@RetroMaticGamer]

This looks like a straight re-theme of the original core set. Avengers = heroes, Masters of Evil = aliens, Kree = wizards, Ultimates = pirates, etc. Meh.

[@hucz]

My thoughts exactly. This game is barely a gateway game into the hobby, but in order for it to be a gateway game, it has to leave players wanting to play games again.

[@jeremiel3821]

Not at all. The Avengers would be a bit closer to the Princesses with the power distribution, but different playstyle. The others are different too in playstyle despite having similar mechanics. I think it'll be a great expansion for the game if people are looking for more factions. :)

[@duc-mannguyen3735]

If you are looking at it very simplistically, maybe. But then a lot of factions must really feel like re-themed versions of others to you. (Superheroes=Princesses or Killer Plants, Aliens=Star Roamers or Minions of Cthulhu, Wizards=Musketeers, Pirates=Tornados or Mounties or Explorers or Steampunks or Polynesian Voyagers,...) If you actually do take the time to look more thoroughly at the Marvel factions as a whole, or even better actually have a couple of games with each Marvel faction, you'll (hopefully) realize what those factions actually have more than meets the eye actually propose novel approaches. Avengers=Superheroes? No, Avengers have six actions that tie in with each Avenger. Superheroes don't have that. Superheroes are about transformation of lower minions to higher minions. Avengers don't. Masters of Evil=Aliens? No. Saying that Aliens are solely about VP farming is a clear misunderstanding of what Aliens actually do and what they're capable of. Kree=Wizards? No. I can see why you think that, but the Kree actually play more like Musketeers, hoarding actions until you can explode to take over bases. Wizards don't do that. Ultimates=Pirates? No. If your sole reason is that all movement factions are Pirate clones, then I guess you can't see past what all movement factions offer beyond simple movements and that set each of them apart.

[@CoreyMarinoGames]

Kree would pair well with wizards, but are more powerful. Masters of Evil, Hydra and Avengers all seem very unique. Sinister Six is sorta like a reverse Rock Stars (they like bases 19 or less instead of Rock Stars' bases 21 plus)

[@ringokidd9324]

Hawkeye and Black Widow 5 power???? :-/

[@matofilipovic7818]

100% agree, Smash Up is best with 3 players

[@fatcatpeople]

It looks cool, but did I see blue marvel as a 2. Lol he's OP on comics. Lol great vid. ✌

[@nintendo917]

Too much of Marvel shoehorning their property into other board games >__

[@benstylus]

It's other companies scrambling for a piece of the marvel pie, not marvel forcing their way in. There's butt-tons of money to be made with marvel merch

[@RetroMaticGamer]

Don't like it? Don't buy it. Problem solved!

[@ashade9]

⁰l

[@grog3514]

Captain marvel and america chavez in the same game? I am no longer interested in buying this. Don't support racists that hate your skin color/ gender.