The Comm Guild Maelstrom's Edge

Tamakin units are the valuable core of Pact forces. They are equipped with smaller, less powerful variants of the Dart Host and Ripper Claw symbiotes used by Muharis Sentinels, perfect to either make head-on assaults or harass the enemy with short ranged fire. While not particularly effective fighters, the ease with which Tamakin can be spawned allows enormous numbers of them to be thrown at an enemy, while those that do fall are recycled and returned right back into the fray.


Click for larger image

Stay tuned for more sneak peeks! In the meantime, try out the V2 Beta 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.

The heaviest of the combat suits available to Lorican Champions, the Brutus is a walking tank, carrying the largest and heaviest hitting weapons in the Remnant arsenal. Brutus Vanquishers provide fire support with massive Fodina Heavy Lasers or Heavy Flechette Launchers, while the Brutus Breacher gets up close and personal with its Arena Shield and Breach Hammer.


Click for larger image

Stay tuned for more sneak peeks! In the meantime, try out the V2 Beta 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.

While on the surface equipped similarly to the troops they command, Triarchs have their pick of the armoury, and so tend to equip themselves with the best available gear. As Karist military forces prefer to dominate through intimidation over outright warfare, Triarchs like to present an impressive profile to their enemies. As such, their armour is often embellished with decorative trim and robes to better show their exalted status within the military caste. For all their pomp and display, however, Triarchs are competent as both commanders and fighters, and will fearlessly lead their forces into fire when the situation warrants it.


Click for larger image
The lowest rank of ordained priest amongst the Kaddar, Proselytizers have yet to develop the oratory skills to sway whole crowds, or lead a large military offensive. As missionaries, Proselytizers work quietly amongst a planet’s population, gathering small groups of believers and setting the stage for their more experienced brethren to expand the movement into something greater. When combat is called for, Proselytizers are embedded within military units, where they inspire the troops to greater efforts, or use vocal tricks and the message of their faith to weaken the combat zeal of nearby enemy troops.

Stay tuned for more sneak peeks! In the meantime, try out the V2 Beta 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.

The neural link employed by Bot Handlers grants them unparalleled control over their mechanical charges. This allows them to commune with their bots on a level that is impossible to achieve with the mere flesh and blood humans around them. Over years of prolonged use, Handlers begin to increasingly respect the cold precision and quick logic of the machine, and conversely despise the limitations of their own physical form. This leads many to enhance their bodies with bionic limbs, artificial organs and implants to further boost and refine their abilities. The highest ranked Master Bot Handlers take this even further, replacing their organic body entirely with a super-advanced robotic industrial or combat chassis.


Click for larger image
Exceptionally wealthy Master Handlers are often accompanied by Defender Drones, armed with high intensity lasers and packed with proprietary technology not made available to anyone outside of the Foundation elite. Defenders hover noiselessly around their Handler emitting a cascading protective energy field, a visible reminder of the wealth and power of the Foundation.

Stay tuned for more sneak peeks! In the meantime, try out the V2 Beta 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.

A couple of weeks ago, we shared updated versions of the Beta Faction Lists for Maelstrom's Edge V2. These documents included some new units for each faction, for which models are currently in development. So this seems like a good time to start sharing some sneak peeks at these new units, to give players an idea of what to expect!

We're kicking things off this week with an addition to the Broken line-up: The Skoti Streamweaver!


Click for larger image
A fascinating and little understood species, Skoti are slow moving herbivores who evolved an innate defensive ability to teleport, which they call a “stream” in their tongue. Similar in function to an Angel’s ability to “rift”, Skoti are generally only able to trigger their stream involuntarily in order to escape danger. This ability is made possible through a unique, massive brain structure composed of multiple nodes stretched along their prehensile necks. Broken weaponsmiths devised a way to boost this ability into something more predictable and useful. The complex machinery on the Skoti's back both provides them with additional energy and helps them with their spatial calculations, allowing their streams to span further distances and stay open long enough to allow friendly units to travel through them. In addition, a Skoti is able to utilize their stream like a weapon, creating an opening above an enemy unit and dropping nearby debris onto them, or in some cases even teleporting the enemy against their will!

Stay tuned for more sneak peeks! In the meantime, try out the V2 Beta 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.

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.

One of the things we're aiming for with the upcoming V2 rulebook for Maelstrom's Edge is to add some more detail into the backgrounds of the game's factions. We'll be introducing new material to flesh out the universe, giving players more hooks to develop their forces within the setting. While we continue bashing away at the book to get it finished, here's a preview of some alternate colour scheme ideas for the Karist Enclave.



(Click the image for a larger version!)

To get started on your own army of over-zealous doom, pick up the Karist models, or any of the rest of the range from the webstore here.

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

Remember to also grab a copy of the Maelstrom's Edge V2 Beta rules so you can get into the action!

- by Iain Wilson

Back in 2016, I converted up a model using some spare parts that came to be called an 'Epirian Warden' - a clingfire-toting, flightpack-equipped veteran of the frontier. I also created an unofficial rules card to go with him, for use in V1. Well, following on from the Thunderbolt Sentry Drone a few weeks ago, I have now updated the Warden's rules to suit V2!




You can check out the original Warden conversion article here for ideas on how to build your own, although as an unofficial model you should feel free to build yours however you think appropriate.



You can download the updated rules page for the Epirian Warden along with the Maelstroms' Edge V2 Beta rules from the website here!



To build your own soldier of trailblazing doom, grab some conversion fodder 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.

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.

On the battlefields of the Edge, troops fight with a wide array of different weapons. In Maelstrom's Edge V2, we've changed the way shooting works to streamline the process, and to give your units some more tactical choices during your games. Read on for details!



Shooting in Maelstrom's Edge is, rather unsurprisingly, intended primarily to destroy enemy units, but there are now some other useful tricks available to you.

During their activation, a unit can choose a 'Fire' action, which lets them make a regular attack with their ranged weapons. After selecting a target and checking line of sight and range (see the previous article on Line of Sight here!), each model rolls a number of dice equal to the SHO (Shots) characteristic of their weapon, aiming to equal or exceed the EVS (Evasion) characteristic of the target. Dice rolling a 6 are 'Critical Hits' and can confer some additional bonuses on the shot.

Models can then use their SKL (Skill) characteristic to modify these rolls, with each point of SKL allowing a die score to be increased by 1.

Here's an example:

Danielle’s unit of Spider Drones is performing a Fire action and she has nominated Matt’s unit of Karist Troopers as their target. Danielle first checks that the Troopers are within line of sight of her squad leader (the Apprentice Handler) and that they are only 15” away, well within the standard 18” range of her Drone Class Machine Guns and the 24” range of her Apprentice Handler’s Maglock Dominator Pistol.

Drone Class Machine Guns are SHO 2, and therefore she will roll 2 dice to hit for each model in her unit, 8 (white) dice in total. Whereas the Maglock Dominator Pistol is only SHO 1, and therefore only adds 1 more (red) die. The targeted Troopers have EVS 4, which means she must roll 4+ to score hits. For the 8 Machine Gun shots she rolls: ‘1’, ‘1’, ‘2’, ‘3’, ‘3’, ‘4’, ‘5’ and ‘6’ and for the Dominator Pistol, she rolls a ‘6’. So 3 hits for the Machine Guns and 1 for the Dominator Pistol. However, Spider Drones have SKL 2, which means Danielle has 2 dice flips available to her. She decides the best way to utilize them in this situation is to flip the two rolls of ‘3’ up to ‘4’s, thereby giving her a new total of 5 Machine Gun hits.



The target unit will then roll to defend against the incoming fire, rolling the successful hits and attempting to equal or exceed the PEN (Penetration) value of the shot. In a similar fashion to the attack rolls, the defender can use their unit's AV (Armor Value) to modify these rolls.

Any hits that are not successfully blocked result in a casualty. The unit will also gain suppression, going up one level due to being hit by enemy fire, and another if they suffered any casualties. (For more detail on suppression, check out the article here.)

Suppressive Fire

In Maelstrom's Edge V2, suppression has a major effect on how units function, as it impacts their ability to attack enemies, and also how well they can utilise cover. Players can capitalise on this by weakening strong or heavily fortified units by chipping away at them with multiple attacks and slowly adding suppression levels, but we wanted to give players a way to use this more effectively.

As a result, instead of making a regular shooting attack, a player can elect to have their unit make a 'Suppressive Fire' action. This works differently to a regular attack. Instead of using the weapon's SHO value and the unit's SKL, each model in the firing unit rolls a die in an attempt to equal or beat the SUP (Suppression) characteristic of their weapon. For each successful roll, the target must make a WP (Willpower) test. They will gain a suppression level automatically for being the target of suppressive fire, and another level for each failed WP test.

In this way, a shrewd attacker can potentially force a large amount of suppression onto a unit in a single action.



A note on weapon ranges on Maelstrom's Edge: Weapons have a listed RNG (Range) characteristic, which defines the maximum effective range of that weapon. Projectiles don't tend to just stop at an arbitrary range, however, and in general actual maximum weapon ranges would in most cases fall way outside the dimensions of a gaming table. As such, most weapons can be fire past their listed RNG, with this being considered a long range shot. Models making long range shots are Wild Firing, which means they count the target as having EVS 6.



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!

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!