Kang, seemingly appropriately, arrived a week early here in Australia.

Impressions - Again FFG have achieved a way of bringing yet another fresh approach to a villain/s (Kang has a lot of different personas across time). Starts off as a standard fight with interestingly no personal obligations. I played as Captain Marvel Leadership on Expert. One of the first things that struck me was how many 3 point boosts there are in Kang's deck. Having allies as meat shields is a must for those with low defence. Once Kang 1 is defeated the gang really goes up a notch.

Any side schemes in play add a acceleration token to each of the 2a main schemes. Nasty. On the up side all attachments, allies etc are discarded along with the said side schemes. Curiously you keep your supports along with any allies and upgrades. I understand keeping the upgrades and allies but how did the Alpha Flight Station or the Avengers Tower get tossed through time? Frankly I think all supports should be either disabled or only can be used as resources during this phase. Anyway:

You are thrown through time to face another version of Kang (or possibly his son Marcus as the Scarlet Centurion was both Kang and Marcus. Interestingly Marcus also happens to be the kidnapper and rapist of Carol Danvers, impregnating her with himself so she could give birth to him on Earth and then used mind manipulation to get her to come back with him so he could **** her forever - he died before that could happen but its a period Marvel would rather forget Avengers 200 if you are curious, also an essay was done decrying the **** of Ms Marvel by Carol Strikland.) As luck or fate would have it that's exactly who I was up against. The Scarlet Centurion packs a punch (4 ATK on expert) starts Tough and has piercing (ignores Tough). Fortunately having loads of allies kept Carol in the fight and a couple of photonic blasts and an Energy Channel took him down. Another new item that I ran into at this point was the Encounter Obligation cards. Taking the idea one step further from Rise of the Red Skull these Obligation work very similarly to those. All of them are annoying in one way or another from taking cards away, denying you use of your hero cards of taking a damage every time you attack. The only way to get rid of it is to turn to alter-ego and expend more cards allowing the villain to scheme. None of the 2 A schemes are high so you don't want Kang scheming too often. IF you fail to stop the 3B scheme from completing you add a Kang's Dominion Side Scheme to the final 4 A Main scheme. Kang's Dominion Side Scheme makes Kang III invulnerable until the side scheme is removed. It it potentially possible for 4 Kang's Dominion Side Schemes to be in play if all the heroes fail to beat the Kang's II.

Once this version of Kang is defeat you are returned to the present. As all the Kangs have been defeated the Present Kang is without support except for the heroes nemesis who is placed in play. A four player game with all four nemesi in play is a nasty surprise. The fight then proceeds as normal until either the Hero/s win or Kang either defeats them all or achieves his main scheme.

As Solo Captain Marvel I blasted Kang on Expert first time in about an hour and did it twice more just to make certain I hadn't done anything wrong (I actually made it harder for myself by adding Kang's Dominion to the final Scheme the first time even though I had beaten the Scarlet Centurion). Read the card texts carefully. I enjoyed the game and while the Kangs seemed unable to match Captain Marvel I can see them being really hard on a number of others (A double attack by Expert Scarlet Centurion can potentially do 14 damage which can really ruin many of the heroes' days). Another nice option is further increasing the level of difficulty by replacing the Temporal card pack with either Master of Time or the Anachronauts (these guys can be a challenge). I also don't see why if you want an even greater challenge just putting all three sets in if you find the standard set up not challenging enough (or you could just put Ronan in and really take a paddling).

However where I think this will really shine is playing this multiplayer (especially 4 player with all four alternate time periods in play at once).

I had a lot of fun and all in all I feel this is a great addition which I look forward to playing with my gang once we have finished with RotRS campaign. Highly recommend purchasing.

Btw, when you advanced to Kang's next scheme master of time, you don't discard minions.

Venompuppy I agree. I assumed that somehow the minions followed you through time. It does make it clear in the Q&A that status and attachments are discarded between villains but no mention of minions.

Any cards in your play area get separated into your separate play area which would include Minions and Kang’s obligations.

FearLord yes sorry should have included Obligations. Basically anything in your play area stays with you. Still find it weird that your Supports come with you. Poor Aunt May following Peter into Ancient Egypt.

On 10/3/2020 at 3:34 PM, James Ravenwood said:

Any side schemes in play add a acceleration token to each of the 2a main schemes.

I've been having a blast with this all weekend as well. Didn't fare well with Thor but got through it with Black Widow.

Just on the transition between schemes. When you move from 1 to 2 you discard side schemes in play and place acceleration tokens on stage 2, same with any acceleration tokens produced by any of the stage 3 schemes.

My take on the stage 2 acceleration tokens is that they don't affect the stage 3 schemes due to the seperate game area rule. Once you move to stage 4, all of the acceleration tokens on stage 2 carry over and in effect become active again.

Has that been everyone else's take as well?

Man that scenario is rough! Did fine on my first playthough (Captain America-Leadership & Black Widow-Justice). Then an easy win with Hawkeye-Aggression & Dr. Strange-Justice. So I changed out the Temporal for Anachronauts & Hawkeye-Aggression with Black Widow-Justice. When stage 1B flipped and gave each player an encounter card, the first one was to Hawkeye: Shadow of the Past. It got worse from there. Between taking so much damage and getting so much threat, the heroes were dead in about 7 rounds. The next crack killed the pair within 5.

There are so many 3 boost icons, plus all of the obligations. It's really hard to keep on top of main scheme 1B.

I really like scenario and I think the difficulty is great. Maybe this is a 2-player Hulk opportunity...

I do think that meat shield allies & Strange dropping Toughnesses (so long as Kang isn't piercing) is what let me breeze through the first 2 plays.

I thoroughly enjoyed my first playthrough. I noticed however it took us about an hour per player where normally it only takes 30 minutes per player. (3 players)

Glad people had as much fun as I did. Thee are some heroes, solo, that will be better/worse than others. I was surprised how well Iron Man did but the trick with him is to build his armour while facing Kang 1 before defeating him and going through time to face the Kangs 2. Captain Marvel, well she just powered through with a Leadership deck heavy on the energy and allies. The Kangs do hit hard as there are a lot of 3 boosts so having down time and endurance can be of value (although I didn't need either with CM). For fun put all three mods in (I never reached the end of Kang's deck on solo anyway). That can have some real interesting challenges.

12 hours ago, cyranos said:

I've been having a blast with this all weekend as well. Didn't fare well with Thor but got through it with Black Widow.

Just on the transition between schemes. When you move from 1 to 2 you discard side schemes in play and place acceleration tokens on stage 2, same with any acceleration tokens produced by any of the stage 3 schemes.

My take on the stage 2 acceleration tokens is that they don't affect the stage 3 schemes due to the seperate game area rule. Once you move to stage 4, all of the acceleration tokens on stage 2 carry over and in effect become active again.

Has that been everyone else's take as well?

I was playing that Acceleration Tokens do transfer just like Minions and obligations.

This expansion is fantastic. Love it. My only issue is that it came out too soon...I haven't finished getting my fill of the Red Skull set yet.

Played with a Dr. Strange Protection deck solo and beat him "easily." I put that in quotes because while the outcome was lopsided in my favor, it could have gone in a completely different direction numerous times with different card draws. Got a bit lucky. I began with Crimson Bands of Cyttorak and Master of the Mystic Arts, so I was able to knock out Stage I fairly quickly. Glad to finally have consistent use for Vapors of Valtorr in this scenario. Kang's obligation cards are a beast though...

Really enjoyed the mechanics and am looking forward to trying out multiplayer.

4 minutes ago, mike8104 said:

This expansion is fantastic. Love it. My only issue is that it came out too soon...I haven't finished getting my fill of the Red Skull set yet.

…

Well savor it, The Galaxy's Most Wanted won't be out before February.

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Man this game's scenarios have been diverse. I freaking love it!

Just played Kang tonight, man that is fun! I loaded up my Black Widow Leadership deck and did my best. I did not beat him the first game, didn’t even clear the first stage due to some nasty card flips.

The second play through was more intense and a lot of fun. Got flung to the Chronosohere (sp?). I love how the scenario changes things up! After I beat that onto the final phase in good shape. As I drew my cards before what would be the final turn I realized I had everything ready and in place to deliver the final blow to Kang and win (lead from the front to buff Winter Soldier, Falcon and Vision with a lightning resource standing by for Vision). Then during the villain phase I flipped shadows of the past and realized I had not put my nemesis in at the start of the final stage. I still played it out but my “win” is jaded and I’m going to have to play it at least one more time - and frankly I’m quite ok with that.

Very fun scenario, could top Green Goblin as my current favorite!

I absolutely agree TheSpitfired. FFG seem to be doing better and better with each scenario. I do hope they put up a scenario design for the first three villains. I certainly will try utilising what they did with RotRS. Each hero plays Kang in a different way I have found.

My experiences on Expert Solo playing three times with each of the mod sets:

Captain Marvel Leadership blew away Kang 1 pretty much first or second turn each time(in fact she pretty well handled every Kang very well. She really was my standout MVP as she took the least amount of time all three goes in winning. 3 Wins.

Iron Man Leadership built his armour then took out Kang 1 and after that it was easy. Never go to Kang 2 until you have at least 6 pieces of the armour plus the Quincarrier providing fuel to your boots and your golden. I did loose one game when Kang III double schemed and drew two 3 boosts which I could have stopped if I hadn't flipped to Alter-ego which showed you just can't assume anything when playing solo. 2 Wins 1 Scheme loss.

Hulk Aggression nearly one punch Expert Kang first turn like CM but I found he really struggled against Kang 2 and 3 due to the hammering and scheming that they can do and only just won with 2 health. A struggle all three times due mainly to the scheming but Hulk also took some heavy hits. 2 Wins 1 Scheme loss

Captain America Protection was not flashy but as usual work-man like ground his way through the Kangs to victory with barely a scratch as per usual. All three were long games but I never felt too threatened. 3 Wins.

Spiderwoman Justice Aggression is just plain amazing with her stun/confuse combo. Again not a heavy hitter and taking as long as Cap to win but I never felt Kang was ever going to be a threat. 3 Wins

Dr Strange Protection was his normal OP Wizard. Its all about the spells and have the medics handy when the bad guy lands a blow. Another long 3 games. 3 Wins

Thor Aggression was a slog but having learnt how to play him with patience he battled his way to average out a winner. 2 wins and 1 TKO (double attack and a Loki who just wouldn't die!).

I'll be curious to see how the rest will do. Ms Marvel Protection I don't see being too hard. Hawkeye is very brittle and can be taken out in one attack without the defensive measures of Spiderman whose problem will be countering threat. . Black Panther should do ok and She-Hulk will do at least as good as Hulk I am expecting.

I agree a really fun and surprisingly quick scenario compared to some of the others, especially considering the seeming complexity of the three stages. Yes definitely up there with Green Goblin for story and theme.

played through it 2 handed with Iron Man/Spiderwoman, Cap America/Hulk, and She HulkCaptain Marvel, it is definitely on the easier side of scenarios and with that I suspect I have been making it a bit harder than it is supposed to be. On the phase 3 I have been giving each version of Kang 36 hp because it was a bit unclear if it should be 18 or 36...I think it is supposed to be 18 as you are separating into your own game area, but with two players in game overall, when the first stage is defeated and the that player joins the stage, it is borderline too easy.

The third pairing as built was by far the weakest and is the first time Kang won one of the side schemes (and got to be immune for...well, okay, less than a turn) and even there on the final turn I had 10-12 excess damage I could have dealt if I felt like it and had it well in hand. It is fun to switch through time and have so many potential opponents and a worthy addition to the game, and has a secondary thing of fulfilling a side wish for me.

The forums are replete with people who enjoy playing on Heroic in various stages and that is great, but there is a lot of the population for whom it is very much a soda and pretzels game that prefer a more manageable scenario. From rumors I was hearing this one had the potential to be one of those "too difficult for casual players" type things, and certainly there is room in the game for a couple of those, but I hope they keep a mix of some difficult, some relatively easy scenarios coming so it keeps it fresh for people like the group I play with every other week.

First game down vs Expert Kang! A lot of fun - I pulled a first turn Stolen Memories for Iron Man though so he promptly lost half his suit and forgot how to rebuild it, which definitely slowed me down!

First stage was quite dicey, but once he was set up Iron Man blitzed straight through Iron Lad and then went to help Spider-Woman finish off Scarlet Centurion.

Returning to the present, they took down their nemeses, and then finished off Kang!

Can’t wait to try this with other heroes and the harder modules!

9 hours ago, FearLord said:

First game down vs Expert Kang! A lot of fun - I pulled a first turn Stolen Memories for Iron Man though so he promptly lost half his suit and forgot how to rebuild it, which definitely slowed me down!

First stage was quite dicey, but once he was set up Iron Man blitzed straight through Iron Lad and then went to help Spider-Woman finish off Scarlet Centurion.

Returning to the present, they took down their nemeses, and then finished off Kang!

Can’t wait to try this with other heroes and the harder modules!

Ouch that would have smarted and made the first stage a lot more dicey. However as you found once Iron Man has his suit complete Kang doesn't seem to be able to match him.

Just ran through Black Widow. Lost the first game due to a double attack with triple boost but the next two she beat him well. I'm trying She-Hulk Aggression now.

Oh a clarification regarding Hulk. I lost two games to Kang on Expert then tried him on Standard and still lost one game before winning the next two. Hulk Aggression really not good alone I'm finding.

33 minutes ago, James Ravenwood said:

Ouch that would have smarted and made the first stage a lot more dicey. However as you found once Iron Man has his suit complete Kang doesn't seem to be able to match him.

Just ran through Black Widow. Lost the first game due to a double attack with triple boost but the next two she beat him well. I'm trying She-Hulk Aggression now.

Oh a clarification regarding Hulk. I lost two games to Kang on Expert then tried him on Standard and still lost one game before winning the next two. Hulk Aggression really not good alone I'm finding.

Yeah I found Iron Man was particularly slow in this game (due to losing 8 cards to the obligation), but he breezed through the second stage as Iron Lad’s retaliate was just a liability vs all my Energy Barriers...

32 minutes ago, FearLord said:

Yeah I found Iron Man was particularly slow in this game (due to losing 8 cards to the obligation), but he breezed through the second stage as Iron Lad’s retaliate was just a liability vs all my Energy Barriers...

Iron Man Protection is not bad - prefer Justice solo but well done.

Help me out here folks!

playing solo, single hero:

main scheme 3b says;

“After this stage is completed, place 1 set aside kings dominion face down under stage 4A, at the end of the phase remove kang (II) and this stage from the game and combine your game area with another game area” - which is stage 2B, which tells you to advance to 4A, this tells you to reveal kang III.

So, you can advance from kang I to kang III, without defeating kang II, by letting stage 3 complete?? What am I doing wrong?

34 minutes ago, Daft Blazer said:

Help me out here folks!

playing solo, single hero:

main scheme 3b says;

“After this stage is completed, place 1 set aside kings dominion face down under stage 4A, at the end of the phase remove kang (II) and this stage from the game and combine your game area with another game area” - which is stage 2B, which tells you to advance to 4A, this tells you to reveal kang III.

So, you can advance from kang I to kang III, without defeating kang II, by letting stage 3 complete?? What am I doing wrong?

Yes - if Kang 2 defeats you with damage, you lose. If he completes his scheme, then you get a Kang’s Dominion Side Scheme and advance to the final stage. So if you hit the time split bit you can advance by hiding in Alter ego, but it hurts you a little in the final stage.

So if I understand it, you can entirely ignore putting damage on Kang II, and move to Kang III by letting main scheme stage 3 complete? Seems too easy!

48 minutes ago, Daft Blazer said:

So if I understand it, you can entirely ignore putting damage on Kang II, and move to Kang III by letting main scheme stage 3 complete? Seems too easy!

Yeah, but if you let stage 2 complete his scheme, you get the Kang's dominion side scheme. Which is a 3 boost, starts with 3 threat per player, and Kang cannot be attacked while it out. It pretty sucks.

I finally beat it with Black Widow Justice, but it took several tries. For at least 4 games in a row I lost by threating out in his first stage by him scheming and drawing a card with *exactly* the amount of boost icons needed to hit 7. The last one I lost was the most 2020 moment of gameplay; I went into the enemy phase with just 2 threat on him, added the one for the start of the phase, and then managed to draw a 3-boost card when all previous times I'd drawn a 2-boost card.

Also, that Stolen Memories card is evil.

Daft Blazer: Yes you can let 3B play out which completes 2B and brings you to 4A. But the penalty is severe.

Played She-Hulk Aggression and Black Widow Justice yesterday on Expert. She-Hulk was 1 win to 2 loses - managing threat is a similar problem to Hulk's. Black Widow was a 2-1 win. I didn't have either down time or endurance which I feel might have helped keeping her in hero mode longer.

I'm finding the more balanced heroes who also either can defend well or can take the damage have the best chances solo. Because of the greater number of 3 boost cards attacks or schemes by the villain can be quite devastating. Its more a case when rather than if the villain will hit you for 6 or 7 damage or 4 to 6 threat generated. Work on that assumption and play accordingly.

If you find you are struggling try Leadership. I feel that is the best choice solo and I certainly had no trouble winning with Captain Marvel Leadership (although I found she pretty much owns Kang in all 4 aspects - Captain Sparkle Fists is just that good). However it actually is thematic for Leadership as your hero would be calling upon other Avengers to help. Kang is one of those villains that requires a team effort.

Hoping to meet with some friends and play this multiplayer for the first time and see how that works.