Faction Focus - The Epirian Foundation
Posted on Monday Sept 22, 2025 at 05:00pm in The Epirian Foundation
Epirian society is capitalist and competitive. The franchises control the terraforming, production of robotics, security, and orbital infrastructure of their systems, but leave local elected officials to govern day to day matters. The successful are rewarded. Everyone else must fend for themselves.
In battle, the Foundation’s greatest strength comes from their advanced robotics technology, boosted via neural links to trained Handlers. Fast, scouting Firefly drones and battle lines of Spider Drones are backed up by heavier-armed Scarecrows and Hunter Warmechs. Alongside this army of artificial combatants are human Contractors, employees of the Foundation who function as mechanics, workers and militia, depending on the situation, while the elite forces of SecDef can be called in when the situation calls for more experienced troops.
Neural linking was developed as a means to increase and expand a robot’s actions and capabilities with creativity and intuition. Bot Handlers, through a neural web embedded in their helmets and years of rigorous training, can channel a portion of their awareness into properly configured bots. This process is referred to as projection. The Bot Handler gains a degree of control over the bot, be it a drone, a mech or a starship. This may be as simple as overriding a set of responses to allow for an unpredictable deviation from programming to surprise an enemy, or, in some cases if the Handler is expert enough, direct piloting of one or even several robotic constructs.
The weapons used by the Foundation tend to reflect the rugged nature of the terraforming outposts. Energy and plasma weapons are deemed risky endeavors, requiring too much maintenance and yielding unpredictable results. Epirian robots and soldiers tend to be outfitted with hard-bullet weapons, as well as computer controlled missiles and the occasional converted industrial tool – mining lasers, blasting explosives, railguns and the brute force of robotic drills and saws.
Before the Maelstrom, SecDef acted as the enforcement arm of the overarching Foundation corporate structure — A hand-picked selection of the most decorated Epirian soldiers, acting outside the purview of any one franchise. With their need for independence and operational security, SecDef traditionally eschew the use of robots, to avoid the potential for a franchise to subvert their operations with back door code or production issues.
With the splintering of the Foundation, many SecDef units have come under more direct control of various individual franchises or multi-system Epirian hubs attempting to reestablish central leadership. Billed by their corporate owners as the ultimate in precision combat, SecDef are hired out to wealthy companies and individuals across the galaxy, serving as military escorts, bodyguards, or even leading attacks on rival corporations or hostile alien worlds.
SecDef’s preferred weaponry and equipment is traditionally manufactured by Araldyne, one of the last great Epirian weapon franchises. Their weapons are both more advanced and significantly more expensive than those produced by the rest of the Foundation, prioritizing sleek design and optimized technologies over the cheaper, mass-produced products used by lesser troops.
On the table, the Epirian Foundation's main strength is in the synergy between bots and their handlers. Bot Protocol abilities allow a handler to spend command points to boost the effectiveness of their charges, making them move faster, increasing their rate of fire, or improving their ability to make use of available cover. Combining these with careful choice of activation order allows a canny commander to get extra usage out of their bots - reactivating a unit for a second attack, or using multiple bot units to back each other up - speedy Fireflies Painting a target with their lasers for follow-up by Hunter Warmechs with their Guided Strike missiles, for example.
SecDef Field Commanders carry almost as much firepower in their armored exosuits as a Hunter Warmech, and grant their forces the ability to hold objectives even with enemy units nearby. SecDef infantry can capitalize on this, using Aerial Insertion to drop directly onto their objective and Cover Drill to let them dig into available cover while holding off enemies with their advanced Araldyne weaponry, while boostpack-equipped Rapid Insertion Teams can jump rapidly across the battlefield providing supporting fire where it is most needed.
Find out more about the Epirian Foundation on the Maelstrom's Edge website here.
The Maelstrom's Edge V2 rulebook is now available! Grab your copy from the Maelstrom's Edge webstore now!
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!
In battle, the Foundation’s greatest strength comes from their advanced robotics technology, boosted via neural links to trained Handlers. Fast, scouting Firefly drones and battle lines of Spider Drones are backed up by heavier-armed Scarecrows and Hunter Warmechs. Alongside this army of artificial combatants are human Contractors, employees of the Foundation who function as mechanics, workers and militia, depending on the situation, while the elite forces of SecDef can be called in when the situation calls for more experienced troops.
Neural linking was developed as a means to increase and expand a robot’s actions and capabilities with creativity and intuition. Bot Handlers, through a neural web embedded in their helmets and years of rigorous training, can channel a portion of their awareness into properly configured bots. This process is referred to as projection. The Bot Handler gains a degree of control over the bot, be it a drone, a mech or a starship. This may be as simple as overriding a set of responses to allow for an unpredictable deviation from programming to surprise an enemy, or, in some cases if the Handler is expert enough, direct piloting of one or even several robotic constructs.
The weapons used by the Foundation tend to reflect the rugged nature of the terraforming outposts. Energy and plasma weapons are deemed risky endeavors, requiring too much maintenance and yielding unpredictable results. Epirian robots and soldiers tend to be outfitted with hard-bullet weapons, as well as computer controlled missiles and the occasional converted industrial tool – mining lasers, blasting explosives, railguns and the brute force of robotic drills and saws.
Before the Maelstrom, SecDef acted as the enforcement arm of the overarching Foundation corporate structure — A hand-picked selection of the most decorated Epirian soldiers, acting outside the purview of any one franchise. With their need for independence and operational security, SecDef traditionally eschew the use of robots, to avoid the potential for a franchise to subvert their operations with back door code or production issues.
With the splintering of the Foundation, many SecDef units have come under more direct control of various individual franchises or multi-system Epirian hubs attempting to reestablish central leadership. Billed by their corporate owners as the ultimate in precision combat, SecDef are hired out to wealthy companies and individuals across the galaxy, serving as military escorts, bodyguards, or even leading attacks on rival corporations or hostile alien worlds.
SecDef’s preferred weaponry and equipment is traditionally manufactured by Araldyne, one of the last great Epirian weapon franchises. Their weapons are both more advanced and significantly more expensive than those produced by the rest of the Foundation, prioritizing sleek design and optimized technologies over the cheaper, mass-produced products used by lesser troops.
On the table, the Epirian Foundation's main strength is in the synergy between bots and their handlers. Bot Protocol abilities allow a handler to spend command points to boost the effectiveness of their charges, making them move faster, increasing their rate of fire, or improving their ability to make use of available cover. Combining these with careful choice of activation order allows a canny commander to get extra usage out of their bots - reactivating a unit for a second attack, or using multiple bot units to back each other up - speedy Fireflies Painting a target with their lasers for follow-up by Hunter Warmechs with their Guided Strike missiles, for example.
SecDef Field Commanders carry almost as much firepower in their armored exosuits as a Hunter Warmech, and grant their forces the ability to hold objectives even with enemy units nearby. SecDef infantry can capitalize on this, using Aerial Insertion to drop directly onto their objective and Cover Drill to let them dig into available cover while holding off enemies with their advanced Araldyne weaponry, while boostpack-equipped Rapid Insertion Teams can jump rapidly across the battlefield providing supporting fire where it is most needed.
Find out more about the Epirian Foundation on the Maelstrom's Edge website here.
The Maelstrom's Edge V2 rulebook is now available! Grab your copy from the Maelstrom's Edge webstore now!
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!
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