Marvel Crisis Protocol Adepticon Sentinel Reveal - The Goonhammer Hot Take

2026 is the year of the robots. Finally humanity can even the odds against the mutant threats that we face. Initiate Operation: Zero Tolerance...

Adepticon has revealed some of the new Sentinels so let's take a dive into what these new characters can do.

Who Is Bastion?

Bastion was introduced in the mid-90s as a mysterious, seemingly human anti-mutant crusader who later proved to be the fusion of two deadly artificial intelligences: the Sentinel prototype Nimrod and the time-displaced Master Mold. Created after Nimrod’s and Master Mold’s remnants merged, Bastion appeared with no memory of his origins but an innate drive to eradicate mutants. He became the leader of Operation: Zero Tolerance, a government-sanctioned campaign targeting the X-Men and other mutants, and has since returned repeatedly in upgraded forms.

Character Card

Bastion's Injured side Credit: Atomic Mass Games

Bastion is a 4 threat character with 4/4/3 defences and 7/6 health. This defensive profile makes him pretty tough but as we will see later damage reduction makes him even tougher.

Attacks

His first attack is Disintegration Blast, a range 4, 5-dice energy attack that gains him power equal to the damage dealt. On a wild he does degeneration, preventing the enemy from healing for the rest of the round. This effect will be particularly good into characters with the healing factor super power such as Wolverine and his clones or into Apocalypse who can otherwise heal after each attack he takes.

Tolerance Is Extinction is his only other attack. A beam 4, 8-dice energy attack for 5 power. There are several triggers on the attack on a hit it does degeneration with the same effect as Disintegration Blast. On a wild it has suppression removing power before damage is dealt and on a crit it gives the defender the root special condition.

At 5 power, this isn’t an attack you’ll use often, but its impact is significant. With three powerful triggers and a solid base effect, it becomes well worth the cost—especially if you can position it to hit multiple targets.

Leadership

Operation: Zero Tolerance is Bastion’s leadership ability. When an allied character makes an attack, the defender gains one less Power from damage dealt by that attack. If the defender has a higher Threat value than the attacker, they gain two less Power instead.

The effect of this leadership is something we haven’t really seen in Marvel: Crisis Protocol before. One of the game’s core comeback mechanics is that characters gain Power when they take damage, allowing them to “clap back” with stronger attacks or superpowers on their activation. Operation: Zero Tolerance directly undermines this by reducing that incoming Power, making those retaliation turns significantly weaker.

Even small reductions in Power can have a major impact. Many defensive abilities—such as Bodyguard—rely on a character gaining Power from the first attack in order to respond to subsequent ones. A common tactic is to Bodyguard an initial attack, take some damage, and then use the gained Power to Bodyguard again. This leadership makes that sequence far less reliable.

The same applies to reactive defensive superpowers. For example, Toad’s Slippery allows him to hop away after being attacked, but he often relies on the Power gained from that attack to pay for it. Under Operation: Zero Tolerance, those options can be cut off entirely. When combined with power‑denial tools like Stun, Root, and Poison, this leadership can severely cripple an opponent’s power economy and limit their ability to respond at key moments.

Personally, I’ll be splashing in Loki, God of Mischief, whose God of Mischief ability increases the cost of enemy active and reactive superpowers. I didn’t need friends anyway...

Superpowers

Bastion's first superpower is Advanced Teleportation Matrix. For 2 power he can choose himself or an ally within range 2 and place it within range 2. As we will see in a second Bastion begins the game on 2 power so he can use this immediately to place one of your Sentinels within range 2. On a large base sentinel model this can be a huge amount of movement.

Prime Nano-Virus Reanimation Protocols is his second superpower. When an allied character is dazed or KO'd Bastion can pay 1 power to do a damage to the character that did it and give them the root condition.

Root has strong synergy both with the leadership and with his Prime Sentinels which we will see below. Occasionally doing 1 damage might kill an opponent mid activation preventing them from completing what they were trying to do while retaining priority.

For his final passive superpower, Bastion has Enhanced Sentinel Cybernetics. Starting the game with an extra power, taking one less damage to a minimum of 1 and having the flight superpower.

Overall Thoughts

Bastion brings a powerful leadership on an equally powerful chassis. His superpowers and attacks synergise with his leadership and with the other sentinels he will bring with him. Mutants and humans alike should fear their new robot overlords. A

Who is Nimrod, the Hunter?

Nimrod, the Hunter is a futuristic, highly advanced Sentinel from an alternate timeline, designed to be the ultimate mutant-hunting machine. First appearing in Uncanny X-Men during the 80s, he originates from the dystopian “Days of Future Past” future, where Sentinels have conquered North America and exterminated or enslaved most mutants. Unlike earlier Sentinels, Nimrod possesses adaptive weaponry, near-limitless computational ability, shapeshifting capabilities, and an unbreakable directive to hunt mutants, making him one of the X-Men’s most dangerous foes. Over time, his encounters with the X-Men lead to clashes across eras and dimensions, and his remnants eventually contribute to the creation of Bastion.

Character Card

Nimrod the Hunter - Credit Atomic Mass Games

Nimrod is a 5 threat character with 4/4/4 defences and 7 health. Defensively this is similar to Bastion but costing an extra threat and without damage reduction. Nimrod only has a short move but on his large base he won't be too slow.

Attacks

Adaptive Energy Blast is Nimrod's builder attack. A range 3, 6-dice attack that builds him power equal to the damage dealt. He can choose whether or not the attack is physical or energy and on a wild it will give incinerate if it is an energy attack or root if it is a physical attack.

6 dice builders are always strong and the ability to switch between energy and physical is useful for getting around certain defences. Root and Incinerate are both useful conditions to give out and root has multiple synergies with the rest of the sentinels around him.

Shockweb is an area 3, 6-dice energy attack for 3 power. After each attack, if it deals damage the defender gains the shock special condition.

Considering Nimrod starts each turn on 2 power, 3 power isn't too expensive for an attack. 6 dice is the same strength as his builder so you'll only really use this if you are in the perfect position to hit multiple targets. Shock can be a particularly debilitating special condition to hand out especially on top of root and Bastion's leadership as it will hinder the opponent's options to build power themselves.

Total Annihilation is Nimrod's final attack. A range 3, 8-dice energy attack for 4 power. Before damage is dealt he can throw the defender away short and on a wild it gives degeneration with the same wording as above.

4 power is expensive but if Nimrod really wants to take something out this is how he can do it. The throw portion of the attack requires no triggers so can be particularly useful if displacement is your main objective. This attack is particularly strong into Apocalypse who hates being thrown and relies on healing himself for much of his defence.

Superpowers

Nimrod's first superpower is Magnetokinesis. For 3 power he can choose a size 4 or less terrain feature within range 3 and throw it medium. With the changes to collision damage, a size 4 terrain throw isn't as damaging as it used to be, but the ability to throw large terrain will still be useful. You can throw terrain to remove cover from an opponent or to improve lines of sight.

Teleportation Matrix allows Nimrod to place himself within range 2 for 3 power. On his large base, a range 2 place covers a lot of distance. Anyone who has used the Hulk knows that he can get a lot of maneuverability from a range 2 place. Often this power will be the difference between being able to attack twice in a turn and needing to waste an action on movement.

Metahuman Power Recognition and Adaptation Protocol is his final superpower. For 2 power, when Nimrod is targeted he can add 2 dice to his defence roll; he can add another die each time he uses the power in a turn. Adding 2 dice to his defences would give him 6 die to defend against most attacks. Inherently adding defence dice in this way is inefficient but when you really don't want him to go down it will be a useful power to have. If you have the power, you could hilariously use this multiple times against a rapid fire attack going all the way up to 8 defence dice if you really need it to.

For passive superpowers he has Enhanced Sentinel Power Core. He gains additional power in the power phase and can't be advanced or pushed by enemy mystic attacks or superpowers. Starting with 2 power isn't quite enough to turn his superpowers online at the top of the round but it does allow him to do things like pick up an extract and flip a pay to flip on round 1. It also means if he just picks up an extract on round 1 he can begin round 2 with a teleport to get him in range to do some attacks. The ability not to be moved by mystic attacks or superpowers will help keep him where he wants to be. Thematically this effect represents the fact that robots can't be affected by psychic attacks but in practice this is most useful against things like Web Lines from the spider people.

Finally, Nimrod has immunity to bleed and poison as well as flight and healing factor 2. Healing factor becomes more useful the more health a character has, and at 7 health it can go a long way to keeping Nimrod healthy. Immunity to bleed and poison will always be useful especially against specific factions like the Thralls of Dracula.

Overall Thoughts

Nimrod has some similarities to characters like Cable and Exodus in his suite. A teleporting turret with strong terrain throws. At first glance his defences are worse than Bastion though he costs a threat more but his damage output is far greater which should make up for it. Healing factor on a 7 health character should also help him stay in the fight longer than first appears. B+

Who is Omega Sentinel?

Karima Shapandar is a former Indian police officer who was transformed into a powerful human–Sentinel hybrid by Bastion during Operation: Zero Tolerance. Initially programmed to hunt and exterminate mutants, Karima struggles to retain her humanity and free will, and at times succeeds with help from figures like Professor X and Magneto. Over her complex history, Omega Sentinel has shifted between ally and enemy of the X‑Men.

Character Card

Omega Sentinel Credit Atomic Mass Games

Omega Sentinel is a 4 threat character with 3/3/3 defences and a long move. She has 7 health which appears to be the new standard moving forward for 4 threat characters. This stat line alone will make her very fast, and the relatively low defences will be mitigated with the rest of her card below.

Attacks

Dynamistic Bio-Blast is her first attack; a range 3, 5-dice attack that can be either energy or physical. The attack gains her damage equal to the damage dealt and on a wild gives suppression which causes the defender to lose one power per wild rolled before damage is dealt. The ability to choose between energy and physical is something we have seen a few times with these new sentinels and means that they can push through certain defences to get damage done. Suppression synergises with Bastion's leadership and strategy of power denial.

Engineered Extermination is her second attack; a range 3, 7-dice attack for 4 power that can also choose between energy or physical. Before damage is dealt if the defender is size 4 or less they can be thrown short. When you compare to most character throws, 4 power isn't as expensive as it might first seem. It does use up an action but you are getting a decent attack on top of your throw. Additionally the throw can be any direction which opens up a lot of tactical opportunities.

Superpowers

Charge is her first superpower. For 2 power and an action she can make a move action followed by an attack action. This is a superpower we've seen many times before and is always welcome. Omega Sentinel's long move along with her range 3 attacks means that she can project her threat a long way across the board. It's almost always worth using charge if you have it to position yourself to the best place to double tap your opponent when you can.

Omega Cycle lets her shift between her Nano-Shift types when targeted for 2 power. To determine how good this is we need to look at the Nano-Shift types available. During the power phase she can choose one of three Nano-Shift types:

Hardened Carapace - 2 more defence dice vs physical and 1 less collision damage.
Plasmatic Cloaking - 2 more defence dice vs energy and the stealth superpower.
Electrostatic Pole - reroll 2 attack dice and can't be advanced or pushed by mystic attacks or superpowers.

Each of these is strong in their own way and the ability to switch between them mid round when targeted is very useful. Gaining Stealth when targeted means that if she is shot from outside range 3 and switches to Plasmatic Cloaking she will still take the first attack but would then be protected by stealth for any subsequent attacks. At least that is what my friends who are better with rules than I am say. On most turns you might want to start with Electrostatic Pole for the attack rerolls only to switch to one of the other types later on.

Cyberpathy allows Omega Sentinel to reroll 2 dice when interacting with secure objectives and lets her gain one power the first time she interacts with a secure objective each round.

This ability along with her long move will make Omega Sentinel an excellent pay to flip specialist even outside of sentinels. The ability to flip a point and gain a power back means that even on round 1 she can move, flip and then pick up an extract all with the one power she starts the game with.

Finally as expected of her robotic nature she has flight and immunity to bleed and poison.

Flight will make her long move even more relevant, even with her basic size 2, allowing her to zip around the board at high speed.

Overall Thought

Omega Sentinel has a lot going for her. Charge with a long move and flight lets her get exactly where she wants to go. Her suite of attacks hit hard and her cyberpathy also helps her score points along the way. A+

Who Are the Prime Sentinels?

Prime Sentinels are human–Sentinel hybrids created during Operation: Zero Tolerance as a more insidious evolution of mutant-hunting technology. Ordinary humans were secretly implanted with nanotechnology that left them outwardly normal until activated, at which point their bodies reconfigured into powerful cybernetic enforcers programmed to capture or kill mutants. Able to blend into society as sleeper agents, Prime Sentinels possessed flight, enhanced strength, energy weapons, and mutant‑power suppression, making them especially dangerous to the X‑Men. Their use marked a strategic shift from obvious robotic Sentinels to hidden weapons embedded within human society, until the program was ultimately shut down by S.H.I.E.L.D. after Bastion’s defeat.

Character Card

Prime Sentinel Credit Atomic Mass Games

The Prime Sentinel - not to be confused with Sentinel Prime - is a 3 threat character with 3/3/3 defences, 6 health and a medium move. This stat line is very average for a 3 threat with nothing initially to write home about. The most significant factor is the fact that the Sentinels finally have an affiliated character below 4 threat.

Attacks

Nano Bio-Weapons is a range 3, 5-dice energy attack. It builds power equal to the damage dealt and gives out the root special condition on a critical. Energy is generally the most effective attack type and as we will see later Root has multiple synergies with the rest of the Prime Sentinel's kit.

Nano Power Suppression Systems is a range 3, 7-dice energy attack for 3 power. If it deals damage the opponent gets the root special condition. This attack is very middle of the road; we've seen multiple spenders on 3 threats that have a similar stat line.

Superpowers

Guided Infection is the Prime Sentinel's first superpower. For 2 power when attacking an enemy with the root special condition they can remove root in order to reroll 2 dice. Considering they have multiple ways to give out root this can really bump up their offensive power. Additionally if the opponent has root you and you use Nano Bio-Weapons, you can remove root for the rerolls only to give them root after the attack is resolved assuming you hit the trigger.

Sentinel Nanotech Corruption is a 0 cost reactive power that is triggered when an allied character within range 3 is defending. Remove root from the attacker in order to reroll 2 of the attacker's dice. The ability to reroll an opponent's attack dice is very strong and can turn off key triggers such as throws, special conditions or additional attacks. Additionally when you are trying to starve an opponent of power as Bastion's leadership wants to do this can be another way of doing so.

Sentinel Nanotech Infection is the Prime Sentinel's first passive superpower. When an opponent ends their activation within range 2 they gain the root status condition. This is similar to abilities we have seen on Iceman and Omega red who can both passively give out special conditions of their own. With several abilities requiring the enemy to have root this is a powerful ability. Any opponent who has to walk onto the same secure as a Prime Sentinel will then have to deal with having the root condition. From there the Prime can reroll their own attack dice when attacked or reroll its own attack dice into them.

Bastion's legion allows you to have more than one Prime Sentinel in your squad. This is similar to what we have seen on the Mark IV Sentinels previously. Whether or not you want 2 Prime sentinels remains to be seen but it is good to have the option.

Finally like the other robots, the Prime Sentinel has flight and immunity to bleed and poison.

Overall Thoughts

At first glance the Prime Sentinel has a very basic package with 'vanilla' stats all around however once you dig further there are a lot of inbuilt synergies in the Prime Sentinel's package. There are multiple ways to to deal and take advantage of root which as we have seen can also be applied by multiple other Sentinel allies.

Prime Sentinel is unlikely to be splashed in other affiliations but within the Sentinel affiliation is sure to see play. B+

Summary

These sentinels should be a great addition to the Sentinels as a whole rounding out everything that they can do. If and when we learn more about any tactics cards that come with these new characters stick with Goonhammer to learn more.

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Tags: Adepticon | Marvel Crisis Protocol | MCP | Sentinels