Overview

Marvel Heroes is a strategy board game where each player controls a 4-character superhero team and simultaneously controls the archenemy of another player’s team. Players complete story missions with their heroes while using the villain they control to thwart an opponent. The game captures comic book action with tactical combat, headline events, and dramatic encounters across New York City.

Components

• Game board (New York City map with locations)
• 16 superhero figures (4 teams of 4)
• 4 villain figures
• Story cards and headline cards
• Combat dice
• Power cards and trouble markers
• Score track
• Various tokens

Setup

1. Each player selects a hero team (e.g., Fantastic Four, X-Men, Avengers, Marvel Knights).
2. Each player also receives the archenemy of the player to their left.
3. Place hero and villain figures at starting locations.
4. Shuffle story, headline, and power card decks.
5. Deal starting hands.

Turn Structure

Each round:

1. Headlines Phase: Draw and resolve headline cards that trigger city-wide events.
2. Hero Phase: Each player activates their heroes – move, fight enemies, and progress story missions.
3. Villain Phase: Each player activates the villain they control to oppose an opponent’s heroes.
4. Cleanup: Reset tokens, draw cards, advance round track.

Actions

Hero Actions

Each hero on a turn may:

• Move to adjacent locations on the NYC map.
• Fight enemies (thugs, villains) at their location using combat dice.
• Investigate story mission clues at specific locations.
• Use powers – play power cards for special abilities.

Villain Actions

The villain you control acts against your opponent:

• Scheme to advance the villain’s plot.
• Move around the city.
• Fight opposing heroes.
• Deploy minions to hinder opponents.

Combat

Roll combat dice. Heroes and villains have different combat values. Hits deal damage; when damage exceeds a character’s threshold, they are KO’d (temporarily removed).

Scoring / Victory Conditions

Players earn victory points by:

• Completing story missions with their heroes
• Defeating enemies
• Resolving headline events

The player with the most victory points after a set number of rounds wins.

Special Rules & Edge Cases

• Each hero team has unique abilities reflecting their comic book powers.
• Villains have their own special abilities and schemes.
• Headlines create dynamic, changing objectives each round.
• KO’d heroes return after a recovery period.
• The dual-role system (controlling both heroes and a villain) creates interesting strategic tension.

Player Reference

Phase	Action
Headlines	Resolve city-wide events
Heroes	Move, fight, investigate, use powers
Villain	Scheme, move, fight, deploy minions
Cleanup	Reset, draw cards