Sentinel Mk IVs have it rough; let’s start there. They are a couple of 4 threats in a world of extremely powerful 4 threats in MCP. But after playing 50 games with them (yep, that’s right) I’m here to tell you that there is some goodness here — you just need to look under the hard and shiny exterior a little.

A 4 dice builder in the form of Plasma Blast on a 4 threat seems awful at first, but you can add up to 3 dice to it for up to 3 power. Power Matrix means that after Round 1, Sentinels tend to be swimming in power. You’d be surprised at how power rich they are, turning this into a 7 dice builder which is Hulk levels of strength.

Suppression Protocols is great. 3 power for 8 dice is slightly above the curve for most spenders – and it applies conditions per wild in the roll. This coupled with a bit of help from their leader Sentinel Prime MkIV makes this a pretty impressive attack.

Restraint Cables is an essential tool for these guys to be able to get their attacks off. While being Size 5 is a huge boon as it makes them extremely hard to displace, they can be easily outrun and so rely quite heavily on Restraint Cables closing the distance on those pesky mutants. 

Master Mold is real cool and interesting and fun. Sentinel MkIV is the only character you can take 2 of in your roster. These guys paired with Sentinel Prime MkIV makes for one of the coolest sets of models in MCP in my opinion.

However, while I think these guys are better than people give them credit for, I couldn’t ever justify taking two in my games with Sentinels. One is great, due to Online and Operational which we’ll get into later. But taking two starts to feel like a liability. Defences of 3/4/4 and only 7/6 health makes taking the Sentinels off the board a pretty trivial task. Online and Operational can only save one of them, so I felt it was better to spend 4 threat on a different model that can make up for the lack of mobility and tankiness that the Sentinels suffer from. 

Sentinels clearly have a list of mutants on their Most Wanted list, but through 50 games with them, I’d like to add a few more characters to that list: 

• Hulk
• Immortal Hulk
• Beta Ray Bill
• Groot
• Phoenix (already on the list because of being a mutant, but earns special attention)

Each of these chumps have the ability to throw Sentinels. It’s super rare (so rare that I didn’t take Brace when I played them…in the hope that it wouldn’t come up), but when it does, it hurts…a lot. Sentinels being thrown into each other is a surefire way to have your day ruined. So look out for that!

I don’t often talk about the injured side of models as it’s rare that anything changes that significantly. But oh my, do we need to discuss injured Sentinels.

First off, Power Matrix becomes Damaged Power Matrix meaning it only gives them 1 additional power now. 

Secondly, and most damagingly, you can no longer pay for additional dice on the good old 4 dice Plasma Leak. Instead, your crits now explode for 2 dice and you take 1 damage per crit in the roll. Which is real bad for the Sentinels…BUT it does synergise perfectly with Online And Operational. 

Tactics Cards

This card is essential when playing Sentinel MkIV alongside Sentinel Prime MkIV. We’ve talked about how their healthy side is pretty great and how awful their injured side is, and this card helps with that. You get a fully built, fresh from the factory Sentinel to replace them.

BUT, don’t do this before having your fun. An Injured Sentinel still has access to Suppression Protocols, which as discussed earlier is a fantastic spender. They can also throw out a couple Plasma Leaks without fear of the damage they’ll suffer from rolling crits, as Prime can pay 4 power to bring them right on back to good-as-new.

Just make sure you’re aware that this card costs 4 power – not the original 8 power as your copy from the Sentinels box will say!

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