The Comm Guild Maelstrom's Edge

Updated Beta Faction Lists released!


Posted on Wednesday Sep 20, 2023 at 05:00pm in Gaming


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.

Maelstrom's Edge V2: Where's the book?


Posted on Saturday Jul 30, 2022 at 02:39am in Gaming


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.

Maelstrom's Edge V2: Building a Force


Posted on Tuesday Jun 07, 2022 at 05:00pm in Gaming


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.

Maelstrom's Edge V2 - Suppression Explained


Posted on Tuesday May 10, 2022 at 05:00pm in Gaming


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!

Maelstrom's Edge V2 - Line of Sight


Posted on Tuesday Apr 05, 2022 at 05:00pm in Gaming


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!

Maelstrom's Edge V2 - Updated Imperial Marine rules!


Posted on Tuesday Mar 22, 2022 at 05:00pm in Gaming


- 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.

Maelstrom's Edge V2 - A Sample Unit Activation


Posted on Tuesday Mar 15, 2022 at 05:00pm in Gaming


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!

Maelstrom's Edge V2 - Suppression Markers


Posted on Tuesday Feb 15, 2022 at 06:00pm in Gaming


- 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!

Maelstrom's Edge V2 - Unit Actions


Posted on Tuesday Feb 08, 2022 at 06:00pm in Gaming


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!

Maelstrom's Edge V2 - Sample Force Lists


Posted on Tuesday Jan 25, 2022 at 06:00pm in Gaming


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!

Maelstrom's Edge V2 Beta Rules released!


Posted on Monday Dec 20, 2021 at 06:00pm in Gaming


The 2nd edition of the Maelstrom’s Edge rulebook is on its way, and we're offering a sneak preview in the form of a downloadable Beta version of the rules. You can find the link at the end of this article, but you’re probably wondering: what’s changed? Is it a totally new game or just a sprucing up of the v1 rules? The answer is: a little bit of both.

If you’re a big fan of the v1 rules, then you’ll be pleased to know that the core pillars that comprise Maelstrom’s Edge are not only still there, but have been strengthened. It’s still an alternating activation, squad-based “skirmish” game (aka focused on small squads of 1-6 models) that features 6-sided dice (D6), multi-tiered mission objectives, a suppression mechanic, the ability to bring back destroyed units as reinforcements and a regenerating command point system that can be used for a variety of tactical functions.

If, on the other hand, you’re someone that liked the overall concept of the original Maelstrom’s Edge rules, but you thought that the rules were a little too fiddly, then we also have great news for you! The v2 rules have been totally re-written and highly streamlined: they are a good 30% shorter than the v1 rules as a result. While the v2 rules are undeniably simpler, they’ve also gotten more complex where it counts: giving you tons of new tactical decisions to make with your units during the game. On top of that, the dice rolling “engine” now feels really fresh: each round of shooting keeps both players involved rolling dice and utilizes a “dice flip” mechanic that adds an element of bad luck protection right into the core of the game.

Let’s run through some highlights of the major v2 changes:





SIMPLIFIED UNIT ACTIONS

The largest change in v2 is how unit actions work. The activation test is gone and a unit can now perform up to 3 actions, selected from: movement actions (Move, Dash, Charge), status actions (Aim, On the Move, Take Cover) and shooting actions (Fire, Suppressive Fire, CQ Fighting). While there are some additional caveats to this system (a unit can perform a maximum of only 1 movement and 1 shooting action per activation, for example), we’ve found during playtesting that by splitting the action rules into these smaller “bite-sized” chunks, it makes the whole system much easier to remember. In addition, decoupling movement, shooting and status rules from each other now gives players several new combinations of what to do with their units when they activate them.

SUPPRESSION THAT MATTERS

In v2, suppression is both much simplified and also a whole heck of a lot more deadly. Instead of utilizing tons of suppression tokens, each unit only has 6 suppression levels (which can be conveniently tracked with a D6 next to the unit). Not only does suppression still degrade a unit’s shooting and their ability to benefit from cover, but each time a unit already at max suppression is called upon to raise their suppression level again, one model in the unit instead suffers an injury (which is fatal for most standard infantry in the game). This means it is now entirely possible to ”suppress” an enemy unit to death, representing them fleeing from the battlefield due to the hail of firepower coming their way. This makes the new Suppressive Fire action (which trades-in a shooting unit’s ability to cause damage for a boosted ability to cause suppression) a deadly tool in certain situations.





A NEW DICE ENGINE

The new dice rolling engine in v2 is quite unique, but still based exclusively on 6-sided dice that most players prefer. It is both simple enough to quickly understand, yet nuanced enough to offer: built-in bad luck protection, having both players involved with each round of shooting and tactical player choice within the dice rolling process. Most importantly, when units shoot at each other, the amount of damage they cause now just feels right.

So how does the new system work? As a firing player, all you have to do is look to equal or beat the target’s Evasion characteristic (EVS) with your D6 rolls. For example, if the target has an EVS 4 (the standard EVS of most infantry units), you’d need results of 4-6 to successfully hit them. In addition, as the firing player you get to influence these results by making a number of “dice flips” (changing the result of rolls in your favor) up to the Skill characteristic (SKL) of your firing unit. For example, if your firing unit was SKL 3, you could add +3 to a single roll, +1 to 3 different rolls, or anywhere else in between. Where things really get interesting is that results of ‘1’ and ‘6’ are “critical” results. A “critical hit” (a hit roll result of ‘6’) provides that shot with extra lethality. But it also takes 2 dice flips to change a non-critical result into a critical result (a ‘5’ result into a ‘6’). This means sometimes you have to decide whether using 2 dice flips to change a single ‘5’ result into a critical hit will be more beneficial than just using those same dice flips to score two more standard hits.

And of course, once the firing player has determined how many hits they’ve scored on the target, the defending player gets to make an armor roll against each hit, looking to equal or exceed the Penetration characteristic (PEN) of the firing weapon. Similarly, the defending player gets to influence the results of these rolls with a number of dice flips equal to the Armor characteristic (AV) of their models.

FEWER SPECIAL RULES

With v2, we’ve realized that adding back a few more characteristics to the model/weapon profile means a big reduction in the amount of special abilities in the game. Plus, the abilities we have kept have been greatly simplified, all with the end goal of making each unit’s full rules (including all the text for their unit and weapon abilities) fit onto just a single page.

Here’s a quick rundown of the “new” model & weapon characteristics in v2:
  • The model profile has lost its Mass characteristic (MAS), but has gained the Close Quarters Attacks characteristic (CQA) instead, rectifying the biggest point of negative feedback we got about the v1 rules: the much maligned ‘formula’ that was necessary to determine how many melee shots a model was able to make.
  • The weapon profile has gained a Suppression characteristic (SUP), which is utilized when the unit makes a Suppressive Fire action.
  • The weapon profile has gained a Weapon Type characteristic (TYPE), which helps set apart the archetypal weapon rules (like “AoE”, “Heavy” or “Short Ranged”) from true weapon special abilities.






MORE LETHALITY

One goal of the v2 rules has been to improve the level of lethality in the game. Allowing massive amounts of suppression to inflict damage to a unit was a good first step, but the real key to this change has been the removal of the Mass characteristic (MAS) from the model profile. Now, each point of damage a model suffers just reduces their Fortitude (FOR) characteristic by 1 (and when a model reaches 0 FOR, it is a casualty). The vast majority of standard infantry models only have FOR 1, which means that any hit which gets through their armor will cause a casualty. While this doesn’t suddenly mean that models are now dying in droves in v2, we can safely say that you will notice and appreciate the increase in lethality in the game. You’ll definitely want to start using the reinforcement rules more often to bring back your destroyed units!

QUALITY OF LIFE IMPROVEMENTS

The v2 rules are chock full of little improvements that make the game feel way better overall. Here’s a taste of them:
  • Command points no longer need to be allocated to command models. They just stay in your command point pool until you decide to use them.
  • More command models have powerful abilities that cost command points to use, giving you further options for what to use your command points on (besides the mainstays of bringing back reinforcements and lowering suppression on your units). But don’t worry, we haven’t gone overboard and given every unit a Command Point based ability, these are still quite special.
  • When moving your units, you now only have to bother measuring and moving the unit’s squad leader. The rest of the models are just placed in coherency (within 3” of the squad leader) after their squad leader has finished being moved. This dramatically speeds up the process of moving units.
  • The v1 rules deliberately syphoned almost every non-damage effect down to just generating additional suppression, which made special abilities feel, well, not so special. With v2, we’ve expanded the range of what special abilities can do (and we’ll eventually be releasing a set of plastic tokens to help facilitate this). Be prepared to be able to set units on fire, slow them down, freeze them and confuse them, just to name a few options.
  • To promote unit movement, defensive fire in v2 has been reduced to just protecting a unit from being charged or shot by a hit and run attack. This means units equipped with Short Ranged weaponry can finally shine, being able to run up to enemy units and blast them at point blank range without fear of being decimated first.
  • The way mission objectives generate victory points (VPs) has been simplified, making it much easier to calculate how many VPs you’ve earned at the end of each turn. In addition, the margin you need to be ahead of your opponent to end the game immediately has been widened for all missions, now requiring a +5 VP margin. This gives a little more breathing room for close games to go the distance while still allowing for blowouts to end without one player having to bite the bullet and concede.
  • There are now 18 types of mission objectives (up from 12) and 6 different deployment maps (up from 2). There are also now 12 competitive missions and 6 narrative missions included with the core rulebook (up from 6 & 0 respectively). All this means there is now a whole lot more mission variety in v2!
  • There is a fun new objective marker placement rule forcing you to place objective markers in the opposing half of the table (and your opponent is bound by the same rule). This helps create tense, interesting games where both sides are fighting over objective markers clustered near the centerline of the table, as opposed to one player getting lucky and having one random objective marker near their deployment zone granting them an easy victory.






IN CONCLUSION

As you can see, the new rules for Maelstrom’s Edge are chock full of improvements...and none of what we’ve presented above even covers the massive rules re-work we’ve done for every single unit in the game. Their rules are both far more streamlined but also laser-focused on allowing them to perform exactly how they’re supposed to. It’s been an extremely long time coming, but we can’t wait for you to try out the new rules and let us know what you think!

The new rulebook will be coming along (hopefully!) in the first half of 2022, but you can get a headstart on the V2 ruleset by downloading a Beta version of the rules here. The Beta rules documents contains all of the rules for playing the game, 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, you can 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!

Maelstrom's Edge Battlescribe Data File Update


Posted on Wednesday Oct 13, 2021 at 06:00pm in Gaming


It's been a long time coming, but the Battlescribe data files for Maelstrom's Edge have just had a massive update!



If you're not familiar with Battlescribe, it's an application for building army lists, used for a wide range of different miniatures games. You download the data files for the games you play, and then use those files to create rosters which can be saved and printed. Battlescribe validates your lists and provides profiles and rules summaries for the units you have selected. You can download the Battlescribe app at https://battlescribe.net, and once installed use the 'Manage Data' button to select the Maelstrom's Edge data repository.



This new update for the Maelstrom's Edge data repository (v.5.0.0) adds the Artarian Remnant faction, and brings the other factions all up to date with all currently available units.



If you're just getting started with Maelstrom's Edge, you can pick up the rulebook in PDF form for free from the Maelstrom's Edge website here, or pick up the print version in the Battle for Zycanthus starter set, available along with the rest of the Maelstrom's Edge range from the webstore here! Free shipping applies to qualifying orders - check your cart for details.

If you have any questions on Maelstrom's Edge gameplay or anything else about the game, background or miniatures range, feel free to pop in to the Comm Guild Facebook group here.

Updated Karist Summary and Cards


Posted on Wednesday Oct 06, 2021 at 06:00pm in Gaming


As a great man once said: "With great new models comes a great need to update the rules summary!"

And so, now that the Kaddar Alessi Novitiate is out in the wild, we have updated the Karist faction summary and the printable unit cards! You can find the new files in the Rules section of the Maelstrom's Edge website here.





Pick up the Alessi Novitiate along with the rest of the Maelstrom's Edge range from the webstore here! Free shipping applies to qualifying orders - check your cart for details.

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

Game Primer: Suppression


Posted on Wednesday Sep 29, 2021 at 06:00pm in Gaming


Decimating enemy units isn't the only way to reduce their effectiveness on the battlefield. Incoming fire can cause disorientation and break a unit's nerve. In games of Maelstrom's Edge, this effect is represented through Suppression.



The level of Suppression a unit is suffering from is represented in game via suppression tokens, or STs. The more STs a unit accrues, the more their morale plummets as minor injuries, fear and confusion take their toll. Every enemy attack can increase Suppression, even if no damage is inflicted - Units gain STs whenever they are fired upon or take damage by other means, and they remove STs each turn when they finish performing their main action.



When STs on a unit amount to triple its unit discipline or more, it is considered shell-shocked and suffers severe penalties for being in such a state, such as automatically failing discipline checks or being unable to capture mission objectives.

Discipline Checks
There are many different situations wherein a unit is called upon to test its discipline against the amount of suppression it has accrued. This is a discipline check, and is a single VS roll using the following criteria:

  • The unit’s discipline value (the squad leader’s WP characteristic).
Vs
  • The current number of STs on the unit.
A unit that has no sts on it automatically passes discipline checks, while a shell-shocked unit automatically fails discipline checks.



Find out more in the Maelstrom's Edge rulebook - you can download a PDF version for free from the Maelstrom's Edge website here, or pick up the print version in the Battle for Zycanthus starter set, available along with the rest of the Maelstrom's Edge range from the webstore here! Free shipping applies to qualifying orders - check your cart for details.

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

New Printable Force Roster Sheets!


Posted on Wednesday Sep 22, 2021 at 06:00pm in Gaming


A little while back, we ran through what's involved in setting up a force to play games of Maelstrom's Edge. But how do you keep track of what you have decided to take, and what they can all do on the table? Obviously, as each unit comes with a rules card, you can just tally everything up to the appropriate points level and keep the cards on the side of the table for easy reference. For a slightly less fiddly option we've created some printable roster sheets that you can use to record your forces!



Each roster page includes a number of entry sections that you can fill in with the matching information from the unit cards. This, combined with the printable summary sheets for each faction, will give you all of the information you need close to hand without needing to shuffle through multiple cards to find the right one mid-game.



There are sheets for each of the existing factions. You can find them in the Summary Downloads section of the Maelstrom's Edge website here - Just print off as many as you need!



If you need some inspiration for putting a force together, remember that you can also find sample force lists for the Broken, Karists and Eirian Foundation on the website here - Some sample lists for the Remnant will be added soon!

Get your force together by grabbing the Battle for Zycanthus starter set, or any of the rest of the Maelstrom's Edge range, from the 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.