Marvel United: Fantastic Four – The Coming of Galactus Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• The Coming of Galactus
  • Setup
    • Optional: Silver Surfer
  • Special Rules
    • Stop Galactus Mission Cards
    • Galactus Movement
    • New Herald Threats
  • Team vs Team Mode
    • Setup
    • Special Rules
• The Heralds of Galactus
  • Setup
    • Optional: Silver Surfer
  • Special Rules
    • Villain Turn
    • Team vs Team Mode
      • Setup
      • Special Rules
    • Super Villain Mode
• Modular Heralds
  • Firelord Special Rules

Components

• 1 Galactus Villain Dashboard
• 1 Heralds Villain Dashboard
• 4 Villain Dashboards (Air-Walker, Nova, Terrax, Firelord)
• 11 Mission cards (3 for Firelord, 8 for Galactus)
• 84 Master Plan cards (12 for each Villain, 24 for Galactus)
• 32 Threat cards (6 for each Villain except Nova, 8 for Galactus)
• 12 Hero cards
• 3 Silver Surfer cards (Galactus Threat card, Galactus Mission card, Herald card)
• 8 Herald tokens
• 6 Locations
• Figures: Air-Walker, Nova, Terrax, Firelord, Galactus

The Coming of Galactus

In this mode, the Heroes face off against Galactus, with his Heralds as Henchmen. Follow all the standard rules, with the following changes or additions.

Setup

1. The Mission Guide and standard Mission cards are not used in this game. Instead, take the 8 Stop Galactus Mission cards. Set aside the Convince Galactus to Spare Earth card and place it at the bottom of the deck after shuffling it facedown. Then, reveal the top Mission card.

2. Place the Coming of Galactus dashboard in the center of the table. Galactus has no Health as he cannot be damaged by the Heroes.

3. Place the 6 Coming of Galactus Locations, in this order, going clockwise: Asia, Africa, Europe, South America, North America, and Oceania (or shuffle them if the players wish). Other Locations cannot be used in this game.

4. Set aside the 2 New Herald Threat cards within reach of the players. Shuffle the 6 Galactus Threat cards and place them on the Locations, as usual. Do not place Threat tokens next to them, as they are not used in this game. For extra flavor, place the corresponding game pieces on the Henchman cards.

5. Shuffle the 24 Galactus Master Plan cards and remove 6 random cards without looking at them. They won't be used in this game.

6. The Heroes start in the Location corresponding to the continent where they are playing.

7. Place Galactus at the center of his dashboard, facing the Heroes' starting Location (there's an arrow on his base to help indicate his facing).

Optional: Silver Surfer

If they wish to, players can use Silver Surfer instead of one of the regular Heralds. To do so, choose which Herald he will replace and do the following:

• Before shuffling the Mission deck, remove the card related to the Herald being replaced and add Silver Surfer's Mission card to the deck.
• Before shuffling the Threat cards, remove the card related to the Herald being replaced and add Silver Surfer's Threat card.

If Silver Surfer has already been defeated, put him back in play with 3 Health in the first Location with no Threats (starting from the one Galactus is facing and proceeding clockwise).

Special Rules

Stop Galactus Mission Cards

To defeat Galactus, Heroes must complete all 8 Stop Galactus Missions, with the last one being Convince Galactus to Spare Earth. When a Stop Galactus Mission is completed, the next one is immediately revealed.

2 of the Mission cards are different than usual. To fill the slots in the Steal the Ultimate Nullifier and Convince Galactus to Spare Earth cards, a Hero must use both indicated linked actions in the same turn to place a pair of tokens from the pool on the card. These actions are spent to add the tokens to the Mission and do not allow the Hero to actually perform the action. Once 3 pairs of tokens are added, the Mission is complete.

When Heroes rescue Civilians or defeat Thugs and the corresponding Mission card (Calm Down Civilians or Contain Riots) is not the current one Heroes are trying to complete, their tokens are simply discarded.

Galactus Movement

Galactus doesn't move around the Locations, he always stays at the center of his dashboard, facing one of the Locations as indicated by the arrow on his base. When resolving the movement in his Master Plan cards, rotate the Galactus game piece clockwise a number of Locations corresponding to the movement number. For all effects that apply to the Villain, Galactus is considered to be in the Location he is currently facing. For example, if a Hero's Special Effect triggers when the Villain ends their movement in their Location, it will trigger when Galactus faces their Location.

New Herald Threats

When a New Herald Threat is brought into the game by the effect of a Choose a New Herald Master Plan, place it in the first Location without a Threat, starting from the one Galactus is facing and proceeding clockwise, and place 4 Health tokens on it. Choose any Hero or Villain not in play and place its game piece on the New Herald Threat. That game piece will not move and will stay on the Threat for the rest of the game unless that Threat is cleared.

Team vs Team Mode

When playing against Galactus in Team vs Team Mode, apply the following changes.

Setup

• The Team Mission cards are not used in this game, as both Teams will try to complete the Stop Galactus Missions.
• Remove 12 Master Plan cards from Galactus' deck instead of removing 6.
• The Villain starting Location is considered the one Galactus starts facing. Following regular TvT rules, the Teams start 2 Locations away from that, in either direction.

Special Rules

• When a Hero rescues a Civilian while Calm Down Civilians is the active Mission, or defeats a Thug while Contain Riots is the active Mission, additionally place a Thug / Civilian token on their side of the Damage dashboard.
• When a Hero damages a Henchman while their corresponding Mission is the active one, place the removed Health tokens on their side of the Damage dashboard.
• When a Hero fills 2 linked slots of the Steal the Ultimate Nullifier or Convince Galactus to Spare Earth Missions, additionally place the corresponding Action tokens on their side of the Damage dashboard.
• The Team that last completes the Convince Galactus to Spare Earth Mission places 3 additional Crisis tokens on their side of the Damage dashboard.

If Galactus is defeated, each Team counts their total points: each Civilian, Thug, Action token, Crisis token, and Health token on their side of the Damage dashboard counts as 1 point. The Team with the most points is the winner. In case of a tie, the Team that completed the last Mission wins.

The Heralds of Galactus

In this mode, the Heroes face off against the 4 Heralds together. Follow all the standard rules, with the following changes or additions.

Setup

1. The Mission Guide is not used in this game. Place the Heralds of Galactus dashboard in the center of the table and the 3 standard Mission cards on the corresponding slots.

2. Take the 4 Heralds' game pieces and Villain dashboards and keep them within reach. Each Herald starts with 3 Health in a 2-Hero game or 4 Health in a 3/4-Hero game. Randomly place 1 Herald token for each of the Heralds faceup in each slot at the top of the Heralds dashboard. Place the Villain tracker on the 0 space of the Heralds Plot Track.

3. Use the 6 Heralds of Galactus Threat cards.

4. Players choose the difficulty level at which they want to play, either Basic or Tough. They create a pool of Crisis tokens with either 18 tokens (Basic Level) or 15 tokens (Tough Level), keeping it within reach.

5. Use the 12 Heralds of Galactus Master Plan cards.

6. The Heroes start the game in any 2 opposite Locations (splitting as they wish between them). Then, randomly place 1 Herald figure in each other Location.

Optional: Silver Surfer

If players have the Fantastic Four expansion, they may choose to use Silver Surfer instead of one of the regular Heralds. To do so, remove one of the Heralds' game pieces and Villain dashboard, instead using Silver Surfer's game piece and his Herald card included in this expansion. Unlike the other Heralds, Silver Surfer starts with 4 Health in a 2-Hero game or 5 Health in a 3/4-Hero game. Replace the Herald token with one showing its silver D side to represent the Silver Surfer.

Special Rules

Villain Turn

In this mode, the Villains work a bit differently than usual.

When a Master Plan card is played faceup in the Storyline, follow the steps described at the top of the Heralds of Galactus dashboard, from 1 to 4.

1. Resolve the Master Plan card as if it had been played by the Villain with their Herald token on this slot. Move their game piece, use the BAM! effect described on their Villain dashboard, and add the indicated Thug / Civilian tokens in relation to their Location.

2. Add 1 Thug in the Location of the Villain with their Herald token on this slot.

3. Add 1 Civilian in the Location of the Villain with their Herald token on this slot.

4. Place 1 Crisis token in the Location of the Villain with their Herald token on this slot and give 1 Crisis token to each Hero there.

Then, move the token in slot 1 to the rightmost occupied slot and slide all the other tokens 1 slot to the left.

When a Herald is defeated, remove their Herald token from the dashboard and, if needed, move the remaining tokens 1 slot to the left to cover any empty slots. This means that when the first Herald is defeated, slot 4 will no longer be used or activated, and so on.

Team vs Team Mode

When playing against the Heralds in Team vs Team Mode, apply the following changes.

Setup

The Team with the Initiative chooses their starting Location and starting Threat. Then, the other Team starts from the opposite Location and chooses their starting Threat.

Special Rules

The Overkill rule only applies to the last defeated Herald (the only one remaining when all other Heralds have already been defeated).

If Firelord damages another Herald, the Health tokens are discarded (they are not placed on the Damage dashboard).

When the Distracting the Heroes Master Plan is played, the Team with the Initiative chooses first if they want to prevent the Heralds Plot Track from advancing. If they do, their Heroes discard 1 card each and the effect is prevented. If they don't, the other Team can choose to prevent the effect the same way. If both Teams refuse to prevent the effect, increase the Heralds Plot tracker by 1.

Super Villain Mode

When playing against Heralds in Super Villain Mode, the Heroes choose their starting Location and may split between that Location and the opposite one.

Modular Heralds

The Heralds of Galactus mode is specially designed for the Heralds contained in this box. However, players may also choose to play against a team of different Villains using the Heralds of Galactus components and rules (though note that some combinations of Villains could be unbalanced).

To do so, apply these changes to the Heralds of Galactus Setup and Special Rules:

• Randomly assign a Herald token on their letter side (from A to D) to each Villain, placing one token on their Villain dashboard and the other on a random slot of the Heralds of Galactus dashboard. This way, each Herald token relates to one of the chosen Villains.
• Ignore any Villain's BAM! effect related to elements and components not used in this game.
• If a BAM! effect increases the Villain tracker, increase the Heralds Plot tracker instead.

Firelord Special Rules

• Firelord's BAM! effect may damage another Villain even if they are not yet vulnerable to damage (before 2 Missions have been completed).
• Firelord as a single Villain cannot be faced in Team vs Team mode.