Legendary: Marvel Expansion - Secret Wars - Volume 2

The dimension-spanning Secret Wars story, introduced into Legendary with a big box expansion in the summer of 2015, continues in Legendary’s sixth expansion, released in December of the same year. However, while Secret Wars, Volume 2 may be a sequel to the set immediately preceding it, like all Legendary expansions you only need the base game to use it. Many of the new features added in Volume 1 – such as multiclass heroes, recruitable villains, multiple masterminds, and the “Player as Mastermind” game mode – reappear here, but this second set contains all the cards and rule explanations necessary to use those features. Is it better if you have both sets? Absolutely! In some ways Volume 2 completes what Volume 1 started, but both sets are entirely independent of one another mechanically.

What’s in this set – 16 new heroes, 4 new Masterminds, 8 Schemes, 6 Villain Groups and 3 Henchmen Villain Groups, 3 new types of Bystander (10 cards total), and 10 Ambition cards.

 

 

New Keywords – While its predecessor made significant additions to the general game mechanics, Volume 2 affected the game significantly in a different direction: keywords. The most keywords any prior expansion had ever introduced was three, but Secret Wars, Volume 2 added five new keywords and reused three others.

• Charge – Arguably the most game-changing of the new keywords, Charge affects villains in the city, enabling them to escape quicker. Charge is always accompanied by a number, which indicates the amount of city spaces a villain or villains advance. Often, Charge is part of an Ambush, in which case it takes effect after the villain has entered the Sewers. So, if you draw a villain from the Villain Deck with “Ambush: Charge one space,” that villain would enter the Sewers, then advance into the Bank, pushing any villain in the Bank forward, according to the normal advancement rules. This makes a Charging villain potentially very dangerous, as they could cause one or more villains in the city to escape.
• Circle of Kung-Fu – A villain with this keyword will always be tougher than he appears, unless you have his specific counter. Every instance of this keyword is preceded by a number (3rd Circle, 5th Circle, etc.). That number indicates the counter you need: if you do not reveal a hero whose cost is equal to or greater than the villain’s Circle of Kung-Fu, then that villain gains Attack equal to his Circle! So, a villain with a 4th Circle of Kung-Fu has +4 Attack unless you have a hero with a cost of 4 or higher.
• Fateful Resurrection – Villains with this keyword have a chance to come back when defeated. When you fight a villain with Fateful Resurrection, look at the top card of the Villain Deck. If that card is a Scheme Twist or Master Strike, put the villain in the Sewers as if he was played from the Villain Deck. However, you would still do the villain’s Fight effect or rescue any Bystanders he had captured, as normal. If a villain has ascended to become a new Mastermind and then Fatefully Resurrects, he remains a Mastermind rather than reenters the city.
• Patrol – This keyword directs you to look at a specific location or feature of the game, such as “Patrol the Rooftops” or “Patrol Your Discard Pile.” Depending on whether that location is empty or occupied, Patrol may do one thing or another, or nothing if the stated criterion is not met. Meeting the criterion later in your turn will not activate any Patrol abilities you’ve already played, but it will allow you to benefit if you use additional Patrol abilities after that point.
• Spectrum – This works similar to a Critical Strike superpower, but with a more flexible trigger. If you have at least three different hero classes (not colors, so grey heroes don’t count) among the cards in your hand or in play, then you can play any or all Spectrum abilities for the rest of your turn. Multiclass heroes are particularly valuable for activating Spectrum abilities.

In addition to the new keywords, three others make a return from previous expansion: Teleport from Dark City, Wall-Crawl from Paint the Town Red, and Cross-Dimensional Rampage (Colossus, Deadpool,  and Wolverine) from Secret Wars, Volume 1.