The Comm Guild Maelstrom's Edge

- by Iain Wilson

Continuing my homebrew unit updates, I have now revised my Broken units from V1!




As with the Epirian and Karist units, these units are converted from assorted Maelstrom's Edge parts, or modified models from other games. To duplicate them, you can find the original modeling articles by following the links below, or you can choose to use whichever other appropriate models you have to hand. Note that as these are unofficial rules, you should ensure that you discuss it with your opponent before using them, to make sure they're familiar with and ok with them!

Download the rules PDF from the V2 Trial Rules page here, and check the links below for the original modeling articles for each unit!



Gnolti Longhorn - an older, wiser Gnolti in a command role.
Gnolti Berserker - a rampaging Gnolti driven into a frenzy by the madness of war.
Pa'ku Heavy Mortar - an alternate rules page for the Pa'ku Artillery unit, adding a heavy mortar option.
Skyboarders - Rabble troops equipped with hoverboards.
Jet Pa'ku - A gun-toting, boostpack-wearing Pa'ku, originally just built for the fun of it, but I couldn't resist giving it rules!
Attack Buggy - a light assault vehicle made from a Mantic Marauder vehicle.
Broken Raider - This one I don't have a conversion built for - these rules were originally put together for the V1 Trial Transport rules article. Feel free to use whatever light truck or buggy models seem like a good fit!




To build your own force of ramshackle, kit-bashed doom, grab some Broken models or STL files from the Maelstrom's Edge webstore here!

What are you working on? We would love to see your models and terrain in the Comm Guild Facebook group!

For other building ideas, modeling tutorials, army spotlights and conversion walkthroughs, check out the Hobby section of the Maelstrom's Edge website here. And while you're there, grab a copy of the Maelstrom's Edge V2 Beta rules!

- by Iain Wilson

Following on from my Epirian Foundation update last week, I have now also revised my homebrew Karists from V1. This was a much smaller job, as I hadn't actually created as many Karist units, and that's clearly a terrible oversight that needs to be rectified! As such, along with updating the existing units, I have also added in a couple of extras from conversions that I had made that I hadn't created rules for yet.




As with the Epirians, these units are all converted from assorted Maelstrom's Edge parts, or modified models from other games. To duplicate them, you can find the original modeling articles by following the links below, or you can choose to use whichever other appropriate models you have to hand. Note that as these are unofficial rules, you should ensure that you discuss it with your opponent before using them, to make sure they're familiar with and ok with them!

Kaddar Militant - a variation on the usual Kaddar Nova, with a more warlike focus.
Reaper Cadre - stealthy Karist Troopers equipped with a longrifle variant of the pulse carbine.
Predator Attack Vehicle - an anti-grav support vehicle based on a Warhammer 40K Genestealer cult buggy.
Raptor Assault Skimmer - a transport vehicle based on a Gates of Antares Freeborn skimmer.
Angel Gloomstalker - a Juvenile Angel variant converted from the plastic Mature Angel kit.




Download the rules PDF from the V2 Trial Rules page here!



I've also made a couple of tweaks to the Epirian rules posted last week. The SecDef Ironhide has had its Inorganic designator swapped to Armored, Sentinel bots can now all take Shock weapons, and I realised as I was working on the Karists that I already had a unit named 'Reapers', so the newly christened 'SecDef Reaper Team' has now been re-re-named the 'SecDef Wrecker Team'. You can grab the revised rules pages on the V2 Trial Rules page linked above.

To build your own force of over-zealous, kit-bashed doom, grab some Karist models from the Maelstrom's Edge webstore here!

What are you working on? We would love to see your models and terrain in the Comm Guild Facebook group!

For other building ideas, modeling tutorials, army spotlights and conversion walkthroughs, check out the Hobby section of the Maelstrom's Edge website here. And while you're there, grab a copy of the Maelstrom's Edge V2 Beta rules!

- by Iain Wilson

With the release of the updated Beta seeing the V2 rules in their more or less final state, this seemed like a good time to get caught up with my assorted homebrew units created originally for the V1 ruleset. To begin with, I have worked through my Epirian creations, compiling them into a PDF for easy reference.




These units are all converted from assorted Maelstrom's Edge parts, or modified models from other games. To duplicate them, you can find the original modeling articles by following the links below, or you can choose to use whichever other appropriate models you have to hand. Note that as these are unofficial rules, you should ensure that you discuss it with your opponent before using them, to make sure they're familiar with and ok with them!

Konstantin Moor, Veteran Bot Handler - a unique Commander accompanied by two custom drones.
Sentinel Bot Unit - a robotic replacement for the standard Contractor unit.
Warden - a boostpack-equipped Epirian solo character.
Contractor Truck - a light transport vehicle for moving your Contractors about.
Scorpion Drone - a modified Spider Drone with a nastier bite.
Thunderbolt Sentry Drone - an automated weapon drone built from the PDC Gaming gun carriage model.
SecDef FA90 Reconnaissance Walker - a scout vehicle adding firepower and advance intel for SecDef forces.
SecDef Reaper Team - Originally just called the SecDef Heavy Team, updated with a better name and more options.
SecDef ATV16 “Ironhide” Transport - an armored SecDef transport converted from a Miniature Scenery Tactical Response Vehicle.

The Thunderbolt Sentry Drone and Warden already had V2 Beta rules published. This document updates them to V2.1, adding a Micro Drone equipment option to the Warden and including the rules entry for the Thunderbolt's Rotating Mount, which was left off the original page.

Download the PDF here!





To build your own force of kit-bashed doom, grab some Epirian models from the Maelstrom's Edge webstore here!

What are you working on? We would love to see your models and terrain in the Comm Guild Facebook group!

For other building ideas, modeling tutorials, army spotlights and conversion walkthroughs, check out the Hobby section of the Maelstrom's Edge website here. And while you're there, grab a copy of the Maelstrom's Edge V2 Beta rules!

You can get a head start on the upcoming 2nd edition of the Maelstrom's Edge rules by downloading a PDF version of the updated Beta rules documents below!




Grab your copy now!!

- by Iain Wilson

In science fiction or fantasy wargaming, canon is the collection of stories, background text and artwork that gives the setting life. It tends to evolve as the game does. Early ideas may change into something different as the game expands. New ideas can be added in and third-party material may creep into the mix. Something mentioned in passing might be dropped completely, leading to questions about whether or not it still applies. As time goes on, it can become increasingly difficult to codify exactly what is and isn't still canon.



Some fans take great pleasure in diving deep into this background material, learning as much about the setting as they can. Others take a more casual approach, having a passing familiarity with their faction of choice and not paying much attention to the rest. Many find the background material interesting to read, but without feeling the need to memorise every detail. Some ignore it completely, viewing the game purely through the lens of its ruleset. At the end of the day, it's your hobby, and whichever of these approaches suits you is absolutely fine. The thing to remember is: other hobbyists' view of canon doesn't have to be the same as yours.

For Maelstrom's Edge, we hope that the game's background material will provide inspiration for your hobby. To that end, you should always feel free to take as much or as little from it as you want. Build your force strictly around the published canon, or use it as a launchpad to create a custom background for your force - we love to see hobbyists put their own spin on the universe we have created!

But what happens when your homebrew fiction conflicts with the canon? Maybe you missed some explanation in the official material, or you deliberately chose to ignore a given piece of fiction because you preferred an alternative. Maybe you created something new that doesn't exist in official material. Or, having chosen a force from a colour scheme picture, you created a background for them that turns out to be different from what we publish for them later on. Whatever the reason, your homebrew background material doesn't fit perfectly with 'official' canon, so... now what?

The short answer is - nothing happens.

Your canon is still yours. If it doesn't exactly match what we have published, we're not going to send a SecDef strike team to destroy your miniatures. We would much rather see people enjoying their hobby the way they want to, than feeling the need to change things because they might be considered 'wrong' in some way. How you approach that is up to you. If, for example, your homebrewed Epirian franchise background winds up different to the version we introduce for them, you could change your force to keep up with the evolving canon. However, you could also just treat your force as a splinter group that’s different to the rest of the franchise. There could be multiple franchises going by the same name (It's a big, confusing mess out there with the Maelstrom causing a ruckus!). Your franchise might be from a different point in the timeline, or an alternate timeline altogether. Or, it could just be different because that's what you want it to be. And any of those options is just as valid as any other.

We love the setting we have created for Maelstrom's Edge, and it gives us no end of pleasure to hear from hobbyists who also love it and want to dive deeper into it, whether that's through our fiction or homebrew creations. We want you to enjoy the hobby your way. It's a big universe, full of possibilities, and we're excited to explore it with you!

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When Iain isn’t waxing lyrical about gaming, he’s locked in the basement working on modeling tutorials, army spotlights and conversion walkthroughs, which you can find in the Hobby section of the Maelstrom's Edge website here. And while you're there, grab a copy of the Maelstrom's Edge V2 Beta rules!

Work is continuing behind the scenes on the second edition of the Maelstrom's Edge rulebook, and the end is in sight. We're all super excited to get the book out into the world, and we've had feedback from players equally keen to get their hands on the new rules in their final form. To help tide everyone over in the interim, this week we have released an updated Beta version each of the existing Faction Rules documents.


The updated Beta Faction Rules Documents

These documents are considerably further along in the design process than the original Beta release, and incorporate a number of updates based on player feedback and our own internal playtesting. The biggest changes are:

• Cosmetic and format updates - This version is much prettier than the bare-bones first Beta release, and we have tweaked the layout of the unit pages slightly for better legibility. Also included is a spread at the end of the document showing the different weapons and equipment options available to each faction.
• New units - There are a number of new units included, for models we currently have in the production queue. We have included them in this release so players can get a better feel for how the factions will look overall, particularly in the case of the Remnant where the small number of starting units was a little limiting. Feel free to convert or proxy as appropriate if you want to try out these new units in the meantime.
• Remnant Rebalancing - Artarian Remnant forces proved to be a little underpowered, and struggled against the other factions with their much larger model count. As a result, we have made some changes across the faction, reducing unit costs and boosting the power of their weaponry. To go along with this, while we haven't updated the main rulebook Beta document, in the final V2 rules Large model units will count as 2 units for the purposes of calculated mission objectives. This makes it a little easier for low-model-count Remnant forces to score from objectives, while also making them more valuable targets for an enemy with a Kill objective.

A Remnant Fire Team faces off against an Epirian Foundation force.

Smaller changes to unit rules include:

• The 'Human' and 'Xenos' designators have been removed, replaced with the 'Organic', 'Inorganic' and new 'Armored' designators.
• The 'Kill Mission' and 'Support Mission' abilities did the same thing, so have been rolled into a new 'Mission Specialist' ability.
• 'Mission Specialist' added to the Broken Gnolti and Pa'ku. They had the 'Kill Mission' ability through being Behemoths in V1, but this was missed from the initial Beta release.
• Karist Minnow's 'Cybel Frenzy' has been updated.
• The 'Slowed' and 'Frozen' abilities have been updated.
• Broken Sniper 'Glue round' has been renamed to 'Tether round'.
• Broken Sniper 'Shadow Strike' ability has been replaced with a new 'Shadow Stalker' ability.
• Broken 'Shadow Strike' ability has been updated to remove the wild fire requirement on the turn a unit arrives on the table.
• Broken Pa'ku Artillery's 'Coordinated Barrage' ability has been updated.
• Journeyman Bot Handler's 'Push the Machines' ability has been revised to only work on units composed entirely of Bots. The prevents it from being used on Spider Drone units with an Apprentice Handler, but also removes a potential exploit where multiple Journeymen attached to Bot units could endlessly reactivate each other.
• SecDef Tactical and Annihilator teams have extra weapon options
• Hakoyu Grand Master and Mature Angel melee weapons corrected from PEN+2 to PEN5.

Try out the revised rules by grabbing the PDFs from the Trial Rules section of the Maelstrom's Edge website here, and grab your models from the Maelstrom's Edge webstore here! Free shipping applies to qualifying orders - check your cart for details.

You can also find a series of articles looking at different aspects of the V2 game here.

If you have any questions on the V2 rules, the model range, or any other aspect of the Maelstrom's Edge game, feel free to pop in to the Comm Guild Facebook group here.

We've been working away on the second edition of the Maelstrom's Edge rules for quite some time now, and the plan had been for a release in the first half of this year. Unfortunately, this has become one more casualty of the ongoing disruption to planning, production and distribution that has been affecting so much of the hobby over the past couple of years. We want the V2 book to be as good as it can be, so while the delay is frustrating, we're confident that the end result will be worth the wait.


Sample pages from the V2 rulebook

The original rulebook was a small, softcover affair designed to fit into the Battle for Zycanthus boxed set that launched the Maelstrom's Edge game. With the game having grown into four (soon to be five!) factions, rather than putting together another all-in-one starter box locked into two factions, we will be releasing the rulebook separately, as both a 256-page hardcover book and a PDF for those who prefer the digital option. This will be joined by individual faction boxes including a number of plastic kits and tokens to get you started with your force.

The rulebook itself will build on what we started with the first one, including the updated rules for playing the game and a 'Maelstrom's Edge Universe' section describing the state of the galaxy at large and expanded sections for each faction including their backgrounds, various colour scheme ideas amd rules pages (replacing the V1 unit cards) for all of their available units.


Sample pages from the V2 rulebook

While you're waiting for the finished book (which we're hoping to have out in the next couple of months!) you can try out the Beta version of the V2 rules by downloading the PDF from here, and grab your models from the Maelstrom's Edge webstore here! Free shipping applies to qualifying orders - check your cart for details.

You can also find a series of articles looking at different aspects of the V2 game here.

If you have any questions on the V2 rules, the model range, or any other aspect of the Maelstrom's Edge game, feel free to pop in to the Comm Guild Facebook group here.

To play a game of Maelstrom's Edge, each player needs to select a force from one of the game's factions. The number of models in the force depends on the points limit selected for the game, and can vary between factions. A Remnant fire team, for example, might contain as few as five or six specialised battlesuits, facing off against a Broken horde of between 40 and 60 models. Let's take a brief look at what is involved in setting up a force.



In the V2 rulebook*, each unit available to a force has a Unit Page, which includes the unit's composition, equipment and special rules. This page also contain all the information you need to select your force for a game, like the unit's points cost and unit type.

*The unit pages from the rulebook are also available in a free PDF download on the Maelstrom's Edge website, which will also include any future units as they are released.



Games are typically played using a points limit that is agreed upon between both sides before forces are selected. You are always free to field a force whose point total is less than or equal to the agreed upon limit, but never one that exceeds it, not even by a single point! Any units included in a force must be noted on a force roster, detailing the point total of each unit chosen and including any options selected for that unit.

If you’re unsure about what points limit to use for your games, the following guidelines can help you decide. However, you should also feel free to experiment playing games with both higher or lower points limits than those suggested:

90 Points: This is a small, quick game that will typically last around 90 minutes to 2 hours once both players are familiar with the rules.

120 Points: This is the suggested points limit to provide players with ample decisions when selecting their forces, while not taking too long to complete. This size game will typically last around 2-3 hours.

(For those coming from the first edition of the Maelstrom's Edge rules, these suggested limits are lower than they were for V1, as many unit costs have been decreased in the new rules. The size of the forces for a 120 point V2 game will in most cases be fairly close to what it was for the 150 point standard in V1.)



Your force is selected as one or more detachments, led by a Command model. Some units types are optional while others are mandatory, with a minimum number of those units you must select. For example, most commanders require you to take at least one Core unit selection in your force, while also allowing you the choice of a number of Vanguard, Hammer or Anvil units. Once you have satisfied any mandatory unit requirements, you can select other units up to the maximum allowed by that commander (or to the points limit for the game) or take another commander for a new detachment, following the same selection process.


A 120 point Epirian Force

To get you started, we've created some sample rosters for different forces, which can be found on the website here!

You can try out the Beta version of the V2 rules by downloading the PDF from here, and grab your models from the Maelstrom's Edge webstore here! Free shipping applies to qualifying orders - check your cart for details.

If you have any questions on force selection, or any other aspect of Maelstrom's Edge gameplay, feel free to pop in to the Comm Guild Facebook group here.

As units come under fire, their ability to function effectively on the battlefield can be degraded. In games of Maelstrom's Edge, this is represented by Suppression. In V1, Suppression didn't wind up having a large enough impact on the game, as it primarily just affected whether your unit could behave normally, or had to take some pre-determined actions. In V2, we wanted Suppression to directly impact units without railroading them into specific behaviour. Read on to see how this worked out!



In Maelstrom's Edge V2, a unit’s suppression level starts at level 0, and can be raised to a maximum of 6. A unit's suppression level is raised due to various in-game effects, but the most common is from enemy units shooting at them - being hit by incoming fire will raise the unit's suppression level by one point, and if the unit suffers any casualties from that attack their suppression level goes up an additional point.



While a unit is suppressed, their ability to function effectively on the battlefield is degraded. The unit's SKL (used for making attacks) is reduced by -1 for each suppression level it currently has, and if this lowers their Skill (SKL) far enough they also start to reduce the number of shots they can make. The suppressed unit's ability to make use of available cover is also impacted, with the value of their cover reduced by -1 for each suppression level. Units can attempt to 'shake off' a level of suppression at the end of their activation by testing against their Willpower (WP). Alternatively, if they are in cover and did not shoot during their activation they can instead 'regroup' to lower their suppression back down to 0.



It pays to keep your units' suppression under control, as aside from the reduction on their shooting and cover, anytime a unit which is at the maximum suppression level (6) is required to further raise its suppression level, one model in the unit instead suffers an automatic injury. This means that even if your units have a tough time damaging the enemy, you can eventually whittle them down if you can throw enough bullets at them! To assist in this, attacking units can opt for a Suppressive Fire action instead of regular shooting. Suppressive Fire doesn't cause any direct damage but potentially raises the targets suppression level much faster than regular shooting - we'll cover exactly how that works in a future article.





For more information on unit activations in Maelstrom's Edge V2, check out the rules article page here, or grab the Beta PDF version of the V2 rules from the Trial Rules section of the Maelstrom's Edge website here. The Beta rules documents contain all of the rules for playing V2 games, but keep in mind that these are just 'preview' documents - some rules may be revised based on feedback, and the final layout including background material for the factions and the Maelstrom's Edge universe, artwork and other 'flavor' material is missing.

If you have any thoughts on the new rules, pop on over to the Comm Guild Facebook group, or start up a thread in the Maelstrom's Edge section on the Dakka Dakka forums. We welcome any feedback, and would love to hear how everyone's forces stack up in the new rules!

Over the last little while, we've been running through a series of articles looking at different aspects of the V2 rules for Maelstrom's Edge. This week, we're casting our eyes towards the Line of Sight rules!

In order to shoot at an enemy, a unit generally needs to be able to see it. Maelstrom's Edge uses simple rules to establish whether or not an enemy is a valid target. Read on for details!



CHECKING LINE OF SIGHT

Maelstrom's Edge uses a model's eye view for determining line of sight. This means checking from behind and just above the model to check if they could see their target. If you can see any part of the enemy unit, then you have line of sight to them. For units of more than one model, line of sight is only checked from the squad leader, as they direct the shooting of the rest of the unit. This helps to speed up gameplay - having to check from each individual model in the unit can get a little tedious. If the squad leader can see the enemy, then the whole unit has line of sight.


A Broken Sniper draws a bead on a squad of Epirian SecDef troops.

WIDE OPEN SHOTS

Generally on a battlefield, troops aren't actually just standing around in funky action poses waiting for their turn to move. With this in mind, Maelstrom's Edge assumes that models are making use of whatever cover is around them, and this is factored in to the Skill and Evasion stats that are used to resolve shooting attacks. (Check out the Sample Unit Activation article for more details on how that works!)

Sometimes, though, a unit will be caught completely in the open, and this can give an attacking enemy a boost to their shooting. Attacking units gain a +2 bonus to their Skill for that round of shooting if their target is completely visible, without being even partially obscured by intervening terrain or other models. This Wide Open Shot bonus can be negated by certain unit actions, however - units that are On The Move or Taking Cover will not confer the bonus. (See the Unit Actions article for details on what those actions do for your units!)


A Karist Alessi Novitiate gets a little caught up in the moment and breaks cover.

TAKING COVER

As mentioned above, units are generally assumed to be making use of whatever cover is available as they move. They also have the option of using the Taking Cover status action to maximise this protection by huddling up against obstacles or going prone in more open ground. This doesn't affect line of sight or attack resolution, but does give them a bonus to their defense before rolling for armor. We'll go into this in more detail in a future article.


A Remnant Longshot takes cover on the roof, waiting patiently for a target to present itself.



Check out the Beta version of the V2 rules, which you can download from the Trial Rules section of the Maelstrom's Edge website here. The Beta rules documents contain all of the rules for playing V2 games, but keep in mind that these are just 'preview' documents - some rules may be revised based on feedback, and the final layout including background material for the factions and the Maelstrom's Edge universe, artwork and other 'flavor' material is missing.

If you have any thoughts on the new rules, pop on over to the Comm Guild Facebook group, or start up a thread in the Maelstrom's Edge section on the Dakka Dakka forums. We welcome any feedback, and would love to hear how everyone's forces stack up in the new rules!

- by Iain Wilson

With the V2 rules (which you can grab for free right now in their Beta format!) updating all of the existing factions, it seemed like a good time to revisit my homebrew 'Imperial Marine' faction list, to give those old marines some new tricks to bring to tables on the Edge.




I have fleshed the original units out a little by adding in some extra options here and there, and reworked some rules and equipment to work better within the new rules system. It doesn't include rules for every available model option out there, but should give more than enough variety to put together some reasonably varied forces comprised of whichever suitable power armored panhuman models you may have sitting around.



You can find the new unit sheets as a PDF document in the V2 Trial Rules section of the Maelstrom's Edge website here. Note that these rules are intended as just a fun way to use some of your non-Maelstrom's Edge models in your games. The Imperial Marine faction is not a 'canon' part of the Maelstrom's Edge background, nor are the rules an official part of the game, so you should only use them with your opponent's consent. These rules also aren't as thoroughly tested yet as the other faction rules, so feel free to kick the tyres and get back to me if you find any oddities, or find anything that you think isn't working quite right!



While you're there, get started with the V2 rules by downloading the Beta rulebook from the Trial Rules section of the Maelstrom's Edge website here. The Beta rules documents contain all of the rules for playing V2 games, but keep in mind that these are just 'preview' documents - some rules may be revised based on feedback, and the final layout including background material for the factions and the Maelstrom's Edge universe, artwork and other 'flavor' material is missing.



If you have any thoughts on the Beta rules, pop on over to the Comm Guild Facebook group, or start up a thread in the Maelstrom's Edge section on the Dakka Dakka forums. We welcome any feedback, and would love to hear how everyone's forces stack up in the new rules!

Imperial Marine models shown in this article are from Games Workshop, Anvil Industry and Bluebird Toys.

A little while back, we shared a run-down of the different actions available to units in the second edition of the Maelstrom's Edge rules. (If you missed it, you can find it here!)

This week, we thought it might be helpful to expand on this a little by walking through a couple of unit activations, showing how these actions actually work on the table. For this example, we have an Epirian SecDef Field Commander facing off against an Artarian Remnant Nimbus Pathfinder. In the midst of battle, they have just caught site of each other through the ...err ... trees? and shenanigans ensue.



The Remnant player has Priority (meaning they activate a unit first) and chooses to use a Move action to advance through the trees to bring the Field Commander into short range (6") for the Nimbus' arc splitter. They then use their Status action to Aim, applying a +2 bonus to the Nimbus' SKL stat.



The arc splitter has SHO 3, which means it rolls three dice to shoot, and it receives an additional shot for being at short range. Rolling four dice, the Remnant player needs to equal or beat the Field Commander's EVS of 4. They roll a 1, two 2s and a 4.

The Nimbus has SKL 4 with the bonus from aiming increasing this to 6. This allows them to adjust the rolls by up to 6 points. They flip the 2s up to 4s, but don't have enough points remaining to get the final roll up to a 4, so this one remains a miss.



The Epirian player now needs to roll to see if their armor blocks the three successful hits. They need to equal or beat the PEN of the arc splitter, which is 3. Rolling three dice, they roll a 2, a 3 and a 4. The Field Commander's AV of 4 allows them to flip the failing 2 up to a successful roll, which means all three shots are blocked.

While the Field Commander doesn't take any damage, being hit by enemy fire raises his Suppression Level, putting him on Level 1 (Marked in the pick below with the orange die.



It's now the Epirian player's turn to activate a unit. They use a Move action to shuffle the Field Commander over behind the shipping crate, and uses a Takes Cover action, which will give him some extra defense against any further enemy shooting until he activates next.



Normally, regular models can only fire a single weapon per activation, but the Field Commander's Advanced Machine Assistance allows him to cut loose with all of his weapons at once. His two LM14 machine guns each have SHO 3, while his cluster missile launcher is an area of effect weapon, granting him SHO 2 against the single model Nimbus unit. Grabbing two black dice for the missiles and six white dice for the machine guns, the Epirian player rolls five 2s, two 5s and a 6. Needing to equal or exceed the Pathfinder's EVS of 4, they use the Field Commander's SKL of 4 to flip two of the 2s up to 4s.



Both Epirian weapons have the same PEN 4, but the 6 is a Critical Hit, requiring a roll of 6 to block. Rolling the dice from the successful hits, the Remnant player gets a 2, a 3, a 4 and a 5, and a 2 on the Critical hit. They use the Pathfinder's AV 4 to flip the regular 2 and the 3 up to 4s, but don't have enough points left to block the Critical Hit.

This means the Pathfinder suffers a single injury, which would be enough to kill a lesser warrior. Remnant Champions, boosted by their Lorican Combat Armor, are capable of shrugging off significant damage, and even the comparatively light armored Pathfinder has FOR 5, meaning it needs to suffer 5 injuries to be removed as a casualty. It does however raise its Suppression Level by 2 - 1 for the successful hits, and another because it suffered an injury.



Play would then continue on to the next unit, or the next turn if all units on both sides have now activated.



Check out the Beta version of the V2 rules, which you can download from the Trial Rules section of the Maelstrom's Edge website here. The Beta rules documents contain all of the rules for playing V2 games, but keep in mind that these are just 'preview' documents - some rules may be revised based on feedback, and the final layout including background material for the factions and the Maelstrom's Edge universe, artwork and other 'flavor' material is missing.

If you have any thoughts on the new rules, pop on over to the Comm Guild Facebook group, or start up a thread in the Maelstrom's Edge section on the Dakka Dakka forums. We welcome any feedback, and would love to hear how everyone's forces stack up in the new rules!

- by Iain Wilson

The V2 rules for Maelstrom's Edge (which you can download for free in their current Beta format!) make some big changes to the way suppression works. Along with giving suppression a more active and serious impact on how units behave, the way suppression is tracked has changed. In V1, we used 4 sizes of explosion-shaped suppression markers to mark a potentially endless number of suppression points. V2 changes this to having 6 suppression levels, and so we need a different way to mark this on units during the game. Below, I go through a few different options for doing so.




With 6 suppression levels, the most obvious markers to use are six sided dice. Using dice does have its drawbacks, however, the most obvious being that it's easy to accidentally pick them up mid game and use them for other things. So if you go with this option, make sure you use dice of a very different colour and/or size to those you are using for your shooting!



If you would prefer to avoid the 'stray dice' trap, another easy option is to use numbered markers. Blank plastic tokens, cheap poker chips, or circles cut from cardboard or plastic can be numbered from 1 to 6 with paint or a permanent marker and swapped out as needed to track your suppression.



Of course, if you have the V1 suppression markers, it seems a shame to not continue using them! You could use them like the flat tokens above by writing numbers on them, or combine them with the dice method - glue a suppression marker to a spare base or circle of card and then you can tuck a small D6 into one side of the marker. You can also do this without the base, but having it there makes it easier to pick the marker up and move it around with the unit.



Or, because I can't resist finding an overly complex solution to a simple problem, you can go all out and make a numbered dial to glue onto the bottom of the cardboard suppression marker!



The one was made with a spare base sprayed white, with numbers added on with a permanent marker. I drilled a hole in the middle of the base and glued a piece of plastic rod sticking up through it. Onto the bottom of a suppression marker, I glued a circle of foamed PVC with a matching central hole and a cutaway on the edge to show the numbers on the base. With this sitting in place on top of the base, another piece of plastic tube glued over the top of the protruding base rod locks it in place.

With everything glued in place, the marker serves as a handle to turn the dial to show the relevant suppression level through the gap!



Get started with the V2 rules by downloading them from the Trial Rules section of the Maelstrom's Edge website here. The Beta rules documents contain all of the rules for playing V2 games, but keep in mind that these are just 'preview' documents - some rules may be revised based on feedback, and the final layout including background material for the factions and the Maelstrom's Edge universe, artwork and other 'flavor' material is missing.

If you have any thoughts on the new rules, pop on over to the Comm Guild Facebook group, or start up a thread in the Maelstrom's Edge section on the Dakka Dakka forums. We welcome any feedback, and would love to hear how everyone's forces stack up in the new rules!

One of the goals of the new version of the Maelstrom's Edge rules is to give players some real tactical control over their units on the table. One of the ways we've achieved this is through breaking down a unit's activation into separate action categories, to give you more choices when it comes to choosing what to do with them each turn. We'll have a look at these different actions below.





When a unit activates it can chooses up to three actions from Movement, Status and Shooting categories. Some of these were already present in the V1 rules, but were a little more spread out and more difficult to keep track of. By consolidating a codifying the various actions, it's easier for players to remember what they can and can't do in a turn.

Movement actions dictate how fast the unit moves.

MOVEMENT ACTIONS

• MOVE: The unit moves up to its MV characteristic in inches.
• DASH: The unit moves up to double its MV characteristic in inches, but at the cost of degrading the accuracy of any shooting action it performs.
• CHARGE: The unit moves up to double its MV characteristic in inches, but must move into contact with an enemy unit, who then gets to perform Defensive Fire against the charging unit.

Status actions allow you to focus a unit towards specific goals.

STATUS ACTIONS

• ON THE MOVE: A unit on the move immediately gets to make a bonus move. In addition, a unit that is on the move is both less accurate when shooting and harder to hit when being fired upon.
• TAKE COVER: A unit taking cover gains protection from the terrain it is touching when the enemy shoots at it, and even gets a small amount of protection if it is in open ground. A unit which is taking cover cannot also be on the move, and vice versa.
• AIM: A unit that aims is more accurate when shooting during its activation.

Finally, Shooting actions cover the different options for attacking other units.

SHOOTING ACTIONS

• FIRE: The unit fires a standard round of shooting, which can cause both damage and suppression on the target.
• SUPPRESSIVE FIRE: A special round of shooting, which utilizes a weapon’s Suppression characteristic. No damage can be inflicted, but more suppression can be caused than with a standard round of shooting.
• CQ FIGHTING: A special attack against enemies in base contact with the firing unit, using melee weapons or pistols.

By selecting actions from each categoy in turn, a unit steps through its activation. For example, a unit can Move, Take Aim in order to gain a boost to their shooting attacks, and then Fire on an enemy target.

While a unit can only select a single action each from Movement or Shooting, multiple Status actions can be combined so long as you stay within the maximum of three actions in total. So you could, for example, have a unit Take Cover and Aim, and then Fire upon enemy units from their more protected position.



Check out the Beta version of the V2 rules by downloading the PDF from the Trial Rules section of the Maelstrom's Edge website here. The Beta rules documents contain all of the rules for playing V2 games, but keep in mind that these are just 'preview' documents - some rules may be revised based on feedback, and the final layout including background material for the factions and the Maelstrom's Edge universe, artwork and other 'flavor' material is missing.

If you have any thoughts on the new rules, pop on over to the Comm Guild Facebook group, or start up a thread in the Maelstrom's Edge section on the Dakka Dakka forums. We welcome any feedback, and would love to hear how everyone's forces stack up in the new rules!

With the second edition of Maelstrom's Edge on the way, some players have been asking how their existing forces will change in the new rules. So we thought it would be handy to put together some sample force lists to show what V2 forces might look like.





For this article, we're just looking at force composition, to compare force sizes with V1. We'll go into more detail on tactics and rules changes in future articles.

For the quick and dirty summary - most of the changes for force composition aren't huge. Forces are still built in the same manner as in V1, with a Command model for each detachment allowing you to make a number of unit selections from each of the different unit types - Core, Vanguard, Anvil and Hammer. Equipment selection is also mostly the same, although some options have been removed or changed slightly to fit with the new rules.

The biggest change is in the overall game size - in V1, the 'standard' game (the size game that we felt made for the best game experience) was 150 points, while in V2 this has been brought down to 120 points. Some tweaking of the individual unit costs across most factions, however, means that the actual size of the forces on the table potentially won't change a lot. See the below Epirian and Karist lists as an example:



Both of these lists are based on the 150 point V1 lists currently shown in the Rules section of the Maelstrom's Edge website, built from the original plastic models available to these factions. For the Epirians, removing a unit of Fireflies and swapping out the 1st Detachment Hunter's Cluster Missile Pod for a Strike Missile brings the force in at 119 points. The Karists received some more substantial points drops, and so their force list just gains two more Coriolis launchers on the Tempest Elites to switch from the 150 point V1 list to the 120 point V2.



To balance out their power level a little against the other factions, the Broken didn't receive quite as many points deductions and so their forces may wind up a little smaller in model count for V2. The below list is based on the 120 point V1 'all plastic' Broken list, assembled using just plastic Broken Infantry kits. It needed only a few minor equipment tweaks to fit neatly into the new 120 point limit.





These points changes mean that Broken forces remain significantly 'hordey' while not needing to collect quite as many models to put together a standard force.

Finally the Remnant, who came in a little later in the piece, and just needed a little rebalancing. The below 120 point list would clock in at 137 points in V1, so if you were using a 150 point Fire Team in V1 you may need to tweak some gear options or drop a rookie from your lineup to fit into the new points limit. If you were previously playing 120 point games, you may just need to add another couple of equipment options onto your suits, or consider upgrading a rookie to a full-fledged champion by removing his Mark of the Initiate:



Of course, building a list is one thing, but we also need to see how these play on the table! Stay tuned - Iain is putting together a new Epirian force based on the 120 point list above, and is looking forward to getting them into the action. Stay tuned!





Meanwhile, if you haven't already, check out the Beta version of the V2 rules, which you can download from the Trial Rules section of the Maelstrom's Edge website here. The Beta rules documents contain all of the rules for playing V2 games, but keep in mind that these are just 'preview' documents - some rules may be revised based on feedback, and the final layout including background material for the factions and the Maelstrom's Edge universe, artwork and other 'flavor' material is missing.

If you have any thoughts on the new rules, pop on over to the Comm Guild Facebook group, or start up a thread in the Maelstrom's Edge section on the Dakka Dakka forums. We welcome any feedback, and would love to hear how everyone's forces stack up in the new rules!