In our first episode of The Danger Room, Sploosh explains a neat strategy for Web Warriors on the Fear Grips Worlds as “Worthy” Terrorize Cities Crisis. It’s such a good idea, I’m repeating it here!

This can used outside of the Web Warriors affiliation, but seeing as it uses Spider-Man (Peter Parker) and Ghost Spider, it’s easiest to fit in lists in Web Warriors.

The basic idea is that your opponent will try to pick up at least one of the wide Hammers in round one, probably quite early on. That puts their character in the middle of the board, and ready to be drawn in to the web.

Both Peter and Gwen have impact webbing – a range 4 attack that is guaranteed to generate them a power.

They are also both L movers. That means they can move up, Impact Webbing and then have enough power to Web Line in the opposing character that picked up a hammer.

There is a slight asymmetry here, as Peter’s web line doesn’t require LoS, but Gwen’s does.

The wide hammers are already on the half-way line. By pulling them S towards you deployment, you can put them in range of one of your damage dealers. Venom, Valkyrie or M.O.D.O.K. all spring to mind. After a S push toward them, M.O.D.O.K. Can easily put two Psionic Blasts as the target will easily be within range 4. Valkyrie can charge round one, and make two attacks, maybe using Dragon Fang or Warrior of Legend on the second attack if she generated enough power. Venom is a bruiser in affiliation, but may be out of range of making two attacks if your opponent positions further back when picking up the hammer. Advanced R&D or Wong could be used to get him the second power to Web Snare the target closer so he can get those two attacks in.

Even if you don’t daze them round one to grab their hammer, they are very out of position and vulnerable for round two. If you do daze then, you will have a considerable lead, not only in the VP race, but also in terms of attrition – a round two KO is a definite possibility.

You can orchestrate this to an extent if you have priority: you go and grab the hammer on one side and set your trap on the other, so maybe you only need one of Gwen or Peter. That allows other affiliations to run this same tactic so long as they have priority. The advantage Web Warriors have is that they can set it up to cover both sides.

Normally it isn’t possible for just one of the spiders to deploy in the middle of the board to cover both hammers. It can happen if your opponent ends up too far forward, but an aware opponent won’t position in range.

Combining this with a short move from Tactical Analysis or range 2 place from Thanos or Red Skull means that one of the spiders could cover both hammers with this play. That’s particularly relevant as both Black Order and Cabal want to get attacking as soon as possible, and this can allow them to do that whilst also getting ahead on the VP race.

Maths!

To put some numbers on your chances of getting the daze, let’s have a look at some common situations:

M.O.D.O.K. with two Psionic Blasts into a 3 Mystic Defence has a 46% chance of dazing them – and that’s without needing to throw any terrain at them and assuming that the impact webbing didn’t do any damage!

Another common situation might be starting with a 5 dice Strike and following up with another attack, either another 5 dice builder attack or a 7 dice spender. If we assume a 4 physical defense, this is less likely to daze than M.O.D.O.K. Factoring in the Impact Webbing attack, there is a 25% chance of dazing a 6 stamina character. Not super high, but not a completely unlikely result, and the power generated from the attacks may be able to be used for throws to further increase damage.

Counterplay

So how can you grab a hammer, but avoid getting snared in the web?

One answer is Vision – he can prevent himself from being pushed whilst also keeping a high physical defence.

An answer you might think works, but doesn’t, is Stealth. Preventing the Impact Webbing from generating a power will stop this chain of events, but with an L move, both Peter and Gwen can get within range 3 of the hammer holder.

There are ways of getting a character to a hammer and back again. Placing them or advancing them out of their turn (Tactical Analysis, Red Skull and Thanos again) means a range of characters can get to the hammer in just one move, so can also move away. Both Red Skull and Thanos mean delaying grabbing “your” hammer and risks your opponent grabbing it instead though.

Deployment is a key way of countering this strategy. If you see this coming across the table, try to make your hammer grabber resilient to the attacks they’ll be facing. Put Baron Zemo opposite M.O.D.O.K and Black Panther opposite Venom, not the other way around!

I hate to further add to the weapons in Cabal, but I do see this being a great play for them, probably with Ghost Spider. She is cheaper, and has more fun utility that she brings to the team.