The Comm Guild Maelstrom's Edge

Entries tagged [epirian]

Conversion Spotlight: Automated Uplink Relay, MkII


Posted on Monday Mar 08, 2021 at 05:00pm in Tutorials


- by Iain Wilson

When pursuing conflicts outside of its zone of control, the Epirian Foundation makes use of portable uplink drones that link to orbital satelites and airborne recon to provide battlefield intelligence and allow Bot Handlers to remotely interface with Epirian assets on the ground. The Battle for Zycanthus box includes a cardboard marker for the Automated Uplink Relay, but for those wanting a more 'solid' version, I shared a kitbash idea some time ago using parts from various Epirian plastic kits and metal tracks from a Bombshell Miniatures model. The arrival of the PDC Gun Carriage gave me an idea for an alternative, all-plastic version!




I made a few changes to the drone design this time around, with the most obvious one being the tracks. I built the track unit from the gun carriage as normal, although I trimmed off the lugs on the front that hold the dozer blade.



As with the original version, I used the body of an Epirian Hunter war mech, cutting apart at the waist with a razor saw.



I gave the waist a rotating cuff by gluing on the round grill piece from the gun carriage, and added vanes on the head trimmed from a piece of thin plasticard.



For the arms, I used the shoulders from the Hunter, with the upper arms trimmed off. I needed to glue a new piece for the weapon assembly onto the outer surface of the shoulder, so I sanded this down flat.



To make rotating cylinders for the tri-barreled Flakk Defense Battery, I used a couple of turbines leftover from the Epirian Spider/Firefly Drone kit. Because the kit makes either drone variant, if you have built any spiders, you'll have some of these laying around. I trimmed off the attachment peg and the wing.



I used the Hunter's weapon casing forearms for the bulk of the flakk weapon casing, drilling out the attachment hole a little larger to accommodate the central hub on the drone turbine.



From there, I glued the weapon casings onto the outside of the shoulders, and the turbines onto the front of the casings. The barrells of the flakk weapon came from the drone kit, with the rear surface trimmed down flat and glued to the front of the turbine.



The last thing the Uplink Relay needed was the communications array. I used the 'spare' piece from the drone kit as a fixed arial, glued onto the top of the weapon casing on the left arm. I also assembled a signal dish using a trimmed Hunter foot and the back chassis piece from the drone kit. For the dish itself, I used the leg piece from the drone kit, with the legs themselves removed at the 'hip' pivot.



The assembled Automated Uplink Relay, ready for paint:



And the finished Relay, ready for the table:





Put together your own Automated Relay of Uplinky doom by picking up the plastic Hunter, Drone and Gun Carriage kits, along with the rest of the Maelstrom's Edge range from the webstore here.

Then pop on over to the Comm Guild Facebook group to show us what you're working on!

For a host of building ideas, modeling tutorials, army spotlights and conversion walkthroughs, check out the Hobby section of the Maelstrom's Edge website here.

Kitbash Spotlight: Greatcoat Contractors


Posted on Monday Dec 14, 2020 at 05:00pm in Tutorials


- by Iain Wilson

I'm continuing my stroll through the Wargames Atlantic model range. So far, I've made some short, alien scouts using Einherjar and heads from the Broken infantry sprue, and greatcoat-wearing Karist Troopers by combining Les Grognards and Karist parts. This week, I gave some Epirian Contractors the cold weather treatment, using the Raumjager Infantry box.




As with all of Wargames Atlantics' kits, the Raumjager are multipart, plastic models. To build my greatcoat Contractors, I used Raumjager bodies, and heads and weapons from the Epirian Contractor kit. The Contractors have rolled up sleeves, which didn't seem ideal with long coats, so I used the sleeved versions from the Faction Expansion Sprue instead.



As with the previous kitbashes, the one difficulty is with the Wargames Atlantic models having shorter neck attachments than the Maelstrom's Edge models. This is easily fixed by drilling out the neck slightly with a 2mm drill bit.



The Raumjager torsos are slightly wider than the Epirians but are close enough that everything still fits in place once arms and weapons are glued on.



I painted these using Army Painter paints, starting out with a base coat of Wolf Gray spray. I picked out the face and hands with Barbarian Flesh and metal parts with Plate Mail Metal. I added a layer of Dark Tone over the weapons, pants and armour, and Blue Tone over the coats and hats. I also went over the skin and leather parts with Mid Brown but, while this worked ok over the skin, didn't tint the leather parts as well as I wanted. So after this dried, I went back over it with Leather Brown. Finally, I highlighted the leather and skin with Skeleton Bone, and picked out the Epirian badge on the hats with white and yellow.



With basing done, the unit was ready for the table.





To lead them into battle, I also threw together a Bot Handler, using another Raumjager body and arms, head and uplink bar from the Epirian Handler kit.





Put together your own Epirian force of fashionably warm doom by picking up the plastic Contractor kit, along with the rest of the Maelstrom's Edge range from the webstore here.

Then pop on over to the Comm Guild Facebook group to show us what you're working on!

For other building ideas, modeling tutorials, army spotlights and conversion walkthroughs, check out the Hobby section of the Maelstrom's Edge website here.

Quick and Easy Painting with Washes, redux!


Posted on Thursday May 14, 2020 at 05:00pm in Tutorials


- by Iain Wilson

Not everyone has the time to spend paintstakingly blending, shading and detailing their models. Sometimes, you just want to get them on the table quickly, so I thought it might be useful to explore some options for fast and painless army painting.

My guinea pigs for this article are some Epirian Suppression Team models, painted exclusively with washes! This is a really easy technique to get to grips with, and while it won't get you an award-winning work of art, it does give you perfectly serviceable-looking models that look great on the table.




For those unfamiliar with them, washes are thin paints designed to sink into the model's crevices whilst leaving less colour on the raised detail (Also sometimes called 'inks' - Not to be confused with 'glazes' which are translucent paints that tint the surface they're painted onto evenly). So while it's a little less precise than blended highlighting or 'juicing' (applying super-thin coats of increasingly dark colour to build up shadow or colour transition), we can use washes over a pale base colour to highlight and shade a model all in one fell swoop. There are a wide range of different washes or inks available, but for this article I'm using Army Painter Quickshades.

I start by giving the model a base coat of white.



Now I'm going to start applying washes to build up the colours I want, leaving the model to fully dry between each. On this model, I've started with a coat of Soft Tone over everything except for the weapons. This is pale enough that other colours will go ok over the top - if you're using darker tones, it's best to try to keep them strictly on the areas where you want them, otherwise you'll need to touch up your basecoat to cover up the overspill before painting each part of the model. Apply a generous coat of wash and leave it to thoroughly dry before moving on to the next step.



Next, I've gone over the armour and chaps with Green Tone, and picked out the boots, belt, kneepads and weapons with Dark Tone. If the colour is lighter than you would like, you can let it dry and then add another coat, as I did with the Dark Tone - this isn't a particularly strong wash, so several coats were needed to get the weapons as dark as I wanted them. You can speed this process up by painting parts that you want to be really 'black' with a medium grey colour before using the wash, but for this article I just stuck with the wash by itself.



I left the tip and front facing of the Shock Baton free of the black wash, as once the black wash dried I applied a coat of Blue Tone to those, which gives a nice energy-glow effect over the white. I also went over the exposed skin areas with Flesh Tone. At this point, I also stuck some sand to the base with PVA glue, washing it with a coat of Strong Tone once the glue dried. Then, to finish up, a quick coat of black around the base edge - you could skip this step by masking off the base edge with tape before painting and then just peeling the tape off at the end.



You can vary the look of the washes by using different base coats. The model below was painted using the exact same process as above, but over a bone basecoat instead of the white.



If you prefer a little more detail, you can go over the washed model with regular paint, picking out features like eyes, belt buckles and the like, and of course you can use different wash colours to suit your preferred colour scheme.





Why not give it a go? As always, feel free to share efforts, or ask any Maelstrom's Edge- or hobby-related questions on the Comm Guild Facebook page!

You can pick up the Epirian Suppression Team, along with the rest of the Maelstrom's Edge model range from the webstore here.

For other Maelstrom's Edge modeling articles, including tutorials and walkthroughs of a wide range of different building and miniature projects, check out the Hobby section of the Maelstrom's Edge website here.

Modeling Spotlight: Epirian Aurochs Automated Transport Kitbash


Posted on Thursday Apr 23, 2020 at 05:00pm in Tutorials


- by Iain Wilson

Time to build something!

This week, I had a tinker with the Mule, from Mantic's Warpath game. I love the styling of this vehicle, and thought it would fit nicely into an Epirian force for Maelstrom's Edge with just a few minor tweaks. This was the end result:




The front end of the Mule is rather evocative of the torso of the Epirian Hunter Mech. This inspired me to turn the mule in to a bot-driven vehicle, rather than just another standard transport vehicle. My thinking is that this would be a general purpose vehicle, under the control of a bot handler, which could be used a cargo or troop transport, routine patrols or crowd control tasks.

To carry across the visual link to the Hunter, I took a Hunter torso and cut away the head piece from the top. On the Mule cab, I trimmed the hatch off the roof, and glued the Hunter head in place on the front of the roof.



The Mule comes with two different weapons, that slot into a socket on the back edge of the roof. I took one of these, sliced it off just in front of the mount, and attached a clingfire sprayer from the Epirian Scarecrow kit.



To give some potential variety, I took the second weapon, cut off the barrel and glued on the barrel from the Hunter's chaingun. The rest of the Mule was assembled as normal. I considered filling in or covering the windows and windscreen, but they're actually not super-well defined in the rather soft plastic used for this kit, so I figured with everything painted up they would just look like recessed detail panels.



Well, almost as normal. Just before painting, I decided to also add some cluster missiles. These were taken from the Hunter kit as well, with the mounting pegs cut off, and glued directly to the sides of the cab.



The assembled vehicle before painting:



To paint, I used the weathered metal process from my tutorial here.



And with final details in place, the Epirian 'Aurochs' automated transport vehicle is ready to go!













You can pick up the various Epirian robots, along with the rest of the Maelstrom's Edge model range from the webstore here.

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



For other Maelstrom's Edge modeling articles, including tutorials and walkthroughs of a wide range of different building and miniature projects, check out the Hobby section of the Maelstrom's Edge website here.

Modeling Spotlight: Biker Bot Handler Conversion


Posted on Thursday Mar 26, 2020 at 05:00pm in Tutorials


- by Iain Wilson

Some time ago, I put together a biker conversion for a Bot Handler Spotlight article, which has been sitting in the cabinet ever since, staring at me accusingly when I walk past. Unable to take the abuse any longer, I decided the time had come to get some paint on him, and this was the result:




The model was put together from an Epirian Bot Handler, the chassis from an Epirian Drone, and most of a Citadel Space Marine bike from Warhammer 40000. I carved out the inside of the handler's legs and bent them outwards to fit around the bike seat.



To paint, I started out with a basecoat of Army Painter Wolf Grey spray.



I then blocked in the main colours - P3 Pig Iron for the metal parts, Vallejo Stormy Blue for the bike panels and Handler's uniform, and Vallejo Heavy Charcoal for everything else.



Next, I painted a generous layer of Army Painter Dark Tone over the top of everything, and put it aside to dry.



For final detailing, I highlighted the blue using a mix of Army Painter Ultramarine Blue and white. Over the black, I added a highlight of Vallejo Light Grey, and Army Painter Shining Silver finished off the metal parts. To brighten things up a little, I added some gold using Coat D'Arms Bright Gold washed with Army Painter Medium Brown. For the face, I painted on a coat of Army Painter Barbarian Flesh with some more MEdium Brown, and finally added the red parts with Army Painter Pure Red, shaded with black and highlighted with white.









And that's one biker bot handler, ready to cruise the backroads of the Edge!



You can pick up the Epirian Bot Handler, along with the rest of the Maelstrom's Edge model range from the webstore here.

As always, feel free to share your models and terrain, or ask any Maelstrom's Edge- or hobby-related questions on the Comm Guild Facebook page!

For other Maelstrom's Edge modeling articles, including tutorials and walkthroughs of a wide range of different building and miniature projects, check out the Hobby section of the Maelstrom's Edge website here.

Conversion Spotlight: Epirian Pathfinders


Posted on Thursday Nov 14, 2019 at 05:00pm in Tutorials


- by Iain Wilson

I received a grab bag of all sorts of awesome resin parts from Victoria Miniatures this week, so decided it was time to take a break from terrain building and have a bit of a tinker with some infantry. I had thought a while back that Epirian Contractors were just crying out for shotguns, and so with some handy resin additions, I created a new unit of scouty Contractors, which I'm calling 'Pathfinders'.




There's very little converting required here - I just assembled the Contractors without arms. Although I couldn't resist a little bit of cutting things up, so I gave the squad leader a cap on his belt, by cutting off the top of a spare Contractor head.



Victoria's resin cloaks are designed to slot over the shoulders, and fit snugly around the Contractors' collars. These were glued in place with superglue. The shotgun arms needed just a little trimming at the shoulders to fit neatly, as the Victoria Miniatures torsos are slightly narrower than those of the Contractors.





Painting was a quick and easy 'paint in base colours and then give it a wash' job. It's not the prettiest, but it gets a unit on the table quickly. The green areas were painted with Army Painter Army Green, and Vallejo Yellow Green, and washed with Army Painter Military Shader. The metal parts were base coated with Vallejo Heavy Charcoal, given a light drybrush of P3 Pig Iron and washed with Dark Tone. For the shirt, I used Army Painter Barbarian Flesh, Vallejo Heavy Brown for the leather parts, and Coat D'Arms Bone for the shirt. These were washed with Army Painter Strong Tone - This is a fairly heavy contrast with the bone, so creates a bit of a dirty, muddy look. If you are looking for a softer shading effect, you could use Mid Brown or Soft Tone instead of the Strong Tone.



To finish things up, I highlighted the green areas with Coat D'Arms Putrid Green, gave the skin, shirt and leather a highlight of bone, and painted the eyeshades with Heavy Brown, P3 Cygnus Yellow and some white highlights. The bases were basecoated with AK Red Brown Leather and washed with Army Painter Mid Brown.





To build your own Pathfinder unit, you can pick up the plastic Contractor kit, along with the rest of the Maelstrom's Edge range, from the Maelstrom's Edge webstore.

As always, feel free to share your models and terrain, or ask any Maelstrom's Edge- or hobby-related questions on the Comm Guild Facebook page!

For other Maelstrom's Edge modeling articles, including tutorials and walkthroughs of a wide range of different building and miniature projects, check out the Hobby section of the Maelstrom's Edge website here.

Conversion Spotlight: Epirian Heavy Drone


Posted on Thursday Oct 10, 2019 at 05:00pm in Tutorials


- by Iain Wilson

One of the best parts of this hobby, for me, is when you find yourself looking at some bits and get a little flash of inspiration on how to turn them into something completely different to what they were intended to be. I had one of those moments this week, while cutting some parts off the new Maelstrom's Edge terrain sprue, when on impulse I put a couple of the fan pieces together back-to-back. One thing led to another, and the Epirian Heavy Drone was born!




This is actually a really simple conversion, using parts from the Epirian Hunter Warmech, and four fans from the new terrain sprue.

The first step is to take the Hunter torso and use a sharp hobby knife or razor saw to cut through the waist joint.



With the two halves of the remaining torso glued together, there's a large hole in the bottom, into which a flight stem fits quite neatly. Fill the front half of the hole with green stuff or similar putty.



The Hunter's Cutter machine guns are in two pieces, one of which has a wide flap that covers the underside of the weapon once assembled. Don't use that one. Take the other halves of the two cutters, and glue them to the underside of the Hunter torso. They sit in quite neatly, nestled in under the bulge of the chestplate.



Next, take the four fans from the terrain sprue and glue them together in pairs, lining up the fan blades, to make a pair of turbines.



Glue the turbines onto the Hunter's shoulder sockets.



One drone, ready for painting!





With some paint on, it winds up looking something like this:









Now I just need to figure out what to call it! Any suggestions?



You can pick up both the Hunter kit and the new terrain sprue, along with the rest of the Maelstrom's Edge range, from the Maelstrom's Edge webstore.

As always, feel free to share your models and terrain, or ask any Maelstrom's Edge- or hobby-related questions on the Comm Guild Facebook page!

For other Maelstrom's Edge modeling articles, including tutorials and walkthroughs of a wide range of different building and miniature projects, check out the Hobby section of the Maelstrom's Edge website here.

Painting Tutorial: Quick-Painting a SecDef Lieutenant


Posted on Monday Jun 17, 2019 at 05:00pm in Tutorials


- by Iain Wilson

I've been playing around with speed painting a lot lately (so much to paint, so little time!) and have been having a lot of fun experimenting with inks to achieve quick and easy shaded, table-top level results. This week I decided to see what I could do with some Army Painter Quickshades and the new SecDef Lieutenant model.





To start out, I basecoated the model with a flat, cream coloured spray.



I then gave everything except his head a coat of Military Shader.



Once that first layer of ink had dried, I went over the armour plates with a second coat of Military Shader, and boots, pouches and gloves with two generous coats of Mid Brown. On the pistol and the exo-skeleton on the arms and legs, I used Purple Tone, which over the green resulted in a nice, slightly bluish-tinged grey.



I decided that there wasn't quite enough contrast on the plates and exo-skeleton, so went over them with a coat of Dark Tone.



For his head, I painted on a generous coat of Flesh Wash.



To finish up, I painted in his eyes with fine, white horizontal lines, and small dots of black in the middle. For his beard and some characterful head-stubble, I added a thin coat of Dark Tone. I also went over the lens in the targeter and the helmet lenses with white, then a layer of Red Tone, and then a highlight dot of white. Finally, I added some fine gravel to the base, and painted it with Army Green, a coat of Strong Tone, and then a light drybrush of Ash Grey, with a couple of grass tufts added for colour.



To take the paint job that little bit further, he could use a light edge highlight on the armour plates and exoskeleton, but for a quick, rough and ready job he's all set for the tabletop.



To start your own SecDef muster, you can pick up the SecDef Lieutenant, along with the rest of the Maelstrom's Edge model range in the webstore here.

As always, feel free to pop along and share your creations, or ask any Maelstrom's Edge- or hobby-related questions on the Comm Guild Facebook page!

For other Maelstrom's Edge modeling articles, including tutorials and walkthroughs of a wide range of different building and miniature projects, check out the Hobby section of the Maelstrom's Edge website here.

Modeling Spotlight: Epirian SecDef Lieutenant


Posted on Monday Jun 10, 2019 at 05:00pm in Tutorials


- by Iain Wilson

The Epirian SecDef received a boost right in the Command slot last month with the release of a resin Lieutenant model. This fleshes the SecDef out into a fieldable Epirian sub-faction in their own right, as you can now build a detachment solely from SecDef units. This week, I'm taking a closer look at this fantastic model, and some of the modeling options available to it.





The SecDef Lieutenant comes in five pieces (ok, six, if you count the base!) - body, head, targeter, and two different hand options equipped with maglock pistol or carbine.



The head and targeter both have ball joints for full movement range, so you can position the targeter lined up with whichever way the Lieutenant is facing.





The head is also compatible with the SecDef plastics, so you can use a regular helmeted head for a slightly more safety-conscious leader. On the below model, I've used a regular SecDef Tactical head, and also clipped the helmet off his belt and glued on a plastic pouch from the Epirian Handler sprue to cover over the clipped detail.



You can also easily swap in alternate heads from elsewhere in the range. Here's a commander with a little more facial hair, for example, with a head lifted from the Broken Infantry sprue.



Carefully sawing through the waist with a razor saw allows you to swap in alternate legs to switch up the posing. Here, I've used a set of legs removed from a SecDef Boostpack Infantry model, and also given him a capped head from the Epirian Contractor sprue.



Of course, the compatible heads work both ways, so you can also swap in the Lieutenant's venerable pate for a regular SecDef Sergeant.





To get some of your own super-soldier action happening, you can pick up the SecDef Lieutenant, along with the rest of the Maelstrom's Edge model range in the webstore here.



As always, feel free to pop along and share your creations, or ask any Maelstrom's Edge- or hobby-related questions on the Comm Guild Facebook page!

For other Maelstrom's Edge modeling articles, including tutorials and walkthroughs of a wide range of different building and miniature projects, check out the Hobby section of the Maelstrom's Edge website here.

New resin release: Epirian SecDef Lieutenant


Posted on Friday May 24, 2019 at 05:00pm in The Epirian Foundation


This month, we're revisiting the Epirian SecDef, with the addition of a new SecDef Lieutenant! This high quality resin kit contains one Epirian SecDef Lieutenant model with two weapon options (CB22 Assault Carbine and G20 Pistol) and a 25mm base, and is available now from the Maelstrom's Edge online store here. The SecDef Lieutenant is a Command model, and lets you field a force comprised entirely of SecDef units!



Anyone underestimating a SecDef lieutenant is about to pay dearly for his mistake. Promoted from amongst the most capable veteran sergeants, SecDef lieutenants are level-headed combat experts on both a tactical and strategic level with extensive financial and material resources to hand. Often taking on the most difficult (and therefore highest paying) missions with their platoons, the aim of most lieutenants is to accrue enough backpay to purchase a field commander commission, and the heavy combat rig that goes with that position.



While technically tasked with safeguarding the same corporate goals as every other Epirian division, issues can arise when SecDef units are forced to cooperate with Bot Handler commanders in the field. Their philosophy, character and approach are almost diametrically opposed to that of the average Handler. The SecDef's innate distaste for bots results in them having little faith in the abilities of their robotic allies, having seen them fail once too many in their long careers where they believe proper SecDef infantry would have got the job done. Nevertheless, they are professional enough to let the deadly Hunter Warmechs profit from their shoulder-mounted target designator. Many a foe has perished under a hail of strike missiles shortly after a SecDef lieutenant is inserted into enemy lines, quickly identifying and painting the largest threat.




SecDef Lieutenant Rules Card


You can find the SecDef Lieutenant in the Maelstrom's Edge online store here!

Battle Report - Karists vs Epirians


Posted on Wednesday May 01, 2019 at 05:00pm in Gaming




Tempest Elites with Ravager Vulcan pulse cannons and a Coriolis launcher deployed in rough terrain



No one saw them coming: the warriors in their smooth armoured plating, accompanied by the beautiful yet horrible Angels. They took the abandoned and dilapidated production facility at Argos, killing the few patrolling Contractors without mercy. A hastily assembled Epirian contingent, including a powerful Hunter Warmech and a squad of elite SecDef, arrived on the scene the next day to root out the zealot strike force. These Maelstrom-worshipping crackpots were about to pay dearly for their boldness.



This game sees an Epirian force commanded by Iain take to the field against a Karist incursion led by Jon. The mission is Groundfall, which has the Alpha Strike and Territories objectives. Points are gained by destroying enemy units and by capturing the 5 territory markers scattered across the board. Deployment was determined to be in opposing L-shapes: Karist bottom right, Epirian top left. The Karists have easy access to 3 of the 5 territory markers. Uphill battle for the Epirian side?



The Epirian commander wastes no time: Firefly drones zoom up the compound to take stock of the situation and drive out the Karist vanguard. Immediately they spot the biggest threat in the Karist force: a mature Angel. The huge beast seems all but immune to their laser attacks, however.



The Firefly Drones fly up the field but only manage to suppress the Mature Angel.



Elite Karist Tempests respond immediately, heavily damaging the Hunter Warmech with their Ravager Vulcan Pulse Cannons. The Angel also responds to the Epirian attack, taking cover whilst destroying two of the Firefly Drones with her tentacles.



The Hunter takes heavy damage from the Tempests.



Realising the Karist resistance was much stronger than anticipated and finding himself in a bit of a pickle from the get go, the Journeyman projects his mind into the Hunter's damaged shell and returns fire at the Angel in her position of cover. The shooting is ineffective, and the Angel remains unperturbed.



Pondering...



With his toughest asset is compromised, the handler quickly switches to one of his Scarecrow Snipers. The lone bot looses a precision round from its Railrifle into the Angel, hitting the mark this time and visibly hurting the creature.



The Angel finally takes damage from the Scarecrow. Their low-shot sniper weapons can literally be hit or miss, but they have huge damage potential.



The Karist Kaddar Nova, witnessing the opening rounds of the engagement, chooses to maintain the momentum and attempt to finish this quickly, dashing out from his position on his own and taking down another Firefly. His troopers nearby follow suit and down another of the now completely hammered squad of Fireflies. His Angel, meanwhile, takes another Railrifle round from a second sniper robot in the distance, and is now badly hurt. The Karist troops need to act fast, as more bots are fast approaching their position and laying down fire on the juvenile angels on the other flank.



The Karist commander exposes himself, but downs a Firefly, and the nearby troopers destroyed another one. In the Groundfall mission, getting the first kill of the turn is worth a lot of points.



The last Firefly crashes and burns after more Karist troopers lay down a hail of suppressive fire, giving the Enclave the first kill.



Troopers finish off the fireflies, giving the Karists the crucial first kill.



The Foundation commander, witnessing how the Karists are holding a strong firm and his own forces struggling to get in a dominating position, carefully moves up his remaining force through the compound. The contractors launch a few grenade shells into the Karist line to suppress their fire and buy their robotic comrades some time.



Contractors returning fire at the Karist troopers.



Meanwhile, an enigmatic Shadow Walker rifts into hiding near the Epirian flank, with an eye to neutralising the sniper threat. The Angel Keeper assigned to the contingent of Angels in the force has his Juvenile beasts rain down cybel energy on the advancing Drone force, keeping all eyes off the sinister agent stalking up the flank.



The Spider Drones equipped with flakk guns are too far from the action to contribute, and the Angel Hellblasters aim to keep it that way by suppressing them.



The SecDef sergeant, watching the assault unfold on his transport's screen, sighs deeply as his opinion of robotic forces is once again confirmed. Deciding he needs to show how it's done and he'd better do it now, he signalls for his squad to drop right into the Karist position. Landing with guns blazing, he is pleased to see the nearby Karist Troopers turn their heads in surprise and duck down.



SecDef troopers drop behind enemy lines.



Out of nowhere, though, appears a flock of dark fluttering creatures: Angel minnows on the hunt. They frenziedly fire their cybel pulses at the SecDef landing zone. Even though the SecDef had taken up a safe position in cover, they lose one soldier to this alien assault from above.



The Minnows move towards and target the SecDef squad that just dropped behind both trooper squads.



The larger Angel, severely weakened by the merciless sniper fire, seems to lose form and suddenly disappears from the fight just as the Hunter's guns ready for another salvo at this most dangerous foe. Moments later the Hunter explodes in a cloud of shrapnel as the Tempest Elites continue their barrage.



End of the first turn: Jon elects to remove his dangerously wounded Mature Angel in order to deny the Epirians an easy first kill in the coming turn. The Karists hold 3 out of 5 territory objectives, whilst the Epirians have the other two. Iain, having left his damaged hunter on the table, immediately regrets this as the Tempests destroy it in the first action of the second turn and score those valuable first kill points again.



The SecDef realise something needs to happen now. Ignoring the smaller Angels spewing death onto their position, they take aim and down two Karist Troopers, hoping to break the Karist line from the rear.



The SecDef are in position to damage various Karist squads, taking advantage of their assault from the rear, but they are in turn dangerously surrounded.



The Journeyman Handler, taking the SecDef's cue, coordinates the fire of his Scarecrow Sniper with the SecDef squad, catching the Karist Troopers in a crossfire that wipes them out. The tables seem to be turning.



The Scarecrow again shows its potential as it wipes out the remains of a Karist squad.



Ignoring the little Angels would prove a costly mistake, however, as they now came down on the SecDef position. Despite killing several of the flying beasts, the SecDef lose two more soldiers to the pulsing cybel energy, leaving the Sergeant alone to escape the Angel threat and run for cover.



The SecDef sergeant flees from the angry Minnows. Aerial insertion is a powerful ability, but dropping in the middle of the enemy lines comes with certain risks...



The larger Angel Hellblaster also takes a heavy toll as another cybel salvo immolates all of the approaching Spider Drones. The Kaddar Nova, sensing victory and eager to lead by example, dashes forward, emerging from the Karist lines to personally end this heretic assault.



The powerful blasts from the juvenile Angels reduce the Spider Drone squad to just their handler.



Seeing the Karist leader run out and resolved to capitalize on the hole punched in the Karist line by the SecDef's assault, the Journeyman Handler links again to one of the Scarecrow Snipers, dangerously overloading its circuits, in a desperate attempt to deal the deciding blow to the enemy. A precision shot hits the Kaddar Nova square in the chest, ending the priest's heroic ambitions immediately. Surely this would break those crazy zealots! Meanwhile, the contractors move up to secure their end of the compound and open up on the Angel Hellblasters, with little effect.



Hellblasters with their Angel Keeper in their position of cover, guarding one of the objectives.



The Shadow Walker rifts up the field once more, cursing the Kaddar Nova's poor timing, but intending to take down the Sniper bots that were wreaking such havoc on his compatriots. His pistol shots glance off the nearest bot, however, as its position is well protected.

Registering this new close-ranged treat, the nearby bots all respond: the flakk guns on the Relay drone opening up and the Sniper bot quickly taking a shot at the advancing enemy agent. The nimble Shadow Walker, however, manages to dodge unscathed through the hail of incoming fire.

Suddenly the terrifying shape of the Mature Angel reappears at the edge of the compound, immediately bearing down on the lone SecDef sergeant. The veteran soldier stands no chance against this alien monster and quickly falls to its slashing attack.



By voluntarily removing the badly damaged Angel earlier in the game, Jon ensured he would have a strong reinforcement to bring on later. She can now come back to finish off another unit, grabbing the Karists enough points to finish the game.



Realising his situation, the Journeyman Handler orders his force to retreat into cover and await further reinforcements. The Karist force remains in control of the compound, for now.





Epilogue: Iain's decision to keep his Spider drones back to hold objectives rather than sending them after Karist targets, combined with essentially sacrificing his Firefly unit by sending them out into the open unsupported allowed Jon to make the most of the mission with his more aggressive Karist units. While the Scarecrows did their best to even up the playing field, the rapid casualties inflicted on the Epirian force allowed Jon to very quickly rack up enough VPs for a turn 2 victory.

Epirian SecDef face off against the Remnant Militus!


Posted on Friday Apr 19, 2019 at 05:00pm in Artwork






The Militus kit is available now from the Maelstrom's Edge webstore!

New resin release: Epirian SecDef Boostpack Specialists!


Posted on Wednesday Mar 06, 2019 at 05:00pm in The Epirian Foundation


This week sees the addition of some heavier firepower to SecDef Rapid Intervention Teams, with the release of SecDef Boostpack Specialists!



This pack contains two specialists, and three pairs of weapons - twin Araldyne CB22 Assault Carbines, twin Araldyne CF13 Clingfire Sprayers and twin Araldyne FG19 Flakk Guns, allowing you to add them to the Boostpack Infantry pack to field a full SecDef Rapid Intevention Team of five models with one or two special weapons options.


-Click here for the full rules card-


SecDef forces excel at rapid insertions and mobile strikes against enemy positions. Sometimes though, even these elite troops run up against opposition that is too well entrenched for a normal assault. Against these targets, boostpack-equipped Rapid Intervention Teams are brought to bear. Selected from amongst the most skilled SecDef veterans and armed with twin Araldyne CB22 Assault Carbines, Rapid Intervention Teams use the greater mobility afforded by their boostpacks to outflank and surprise enemy defenses, quickly overwhelming them with a hail of deadly short-ranged firepower. Where an extra punch is required, Rapid Intervention Teams are equipped with Araldyne CF13 Clingfire Sprayers or FG19 Flakk Guns: more effective and streamlined versions of these ubiquitous weapons, typical of the improvements Araldyne is able to create.



While undeniably effective, many commanders on the Edge are reluctant to deploy Rapid Intervention Teams other than as a last resort, due to the extreme costs involved in training, equipping and maintaining them. Not only are their compact boostpacks incredibly expensive and notoriously difficult to keep operational, the extensive training required to master them makes a fully trained Boostpack Infantryman almost as valuable as their equipment. On more affluent worlds this is less of a concern, and Rapid Intervention Teams are often found spearheading engagements, striking at critical targets behind enemy lines and crippling the foe's ability to properly organize a defense against the might of a full SecDef deployment.



This high quality resin kit contains is available now from the Maelstrom's Edge webstore here!

Modeling Spotlight: Kitbashed Epirian Contractor Truck


Posted on Monday Feb 18, 2019 at 05:00pm in Tutorials


- by Iain Wilson

Running around is all well and good, but sometimes it's preferable to travel in style. So with that in mind this week I decided to add some extra mobility to my Epirian force in the form of a contractor truck, built from a somewhat neatened-up Games Workshop Ork Squigbuggy.





The basic truck chassis was perfect for the look that I wanted, with the main challenge being to remove anything overtly 'orky'. The ramshackle look is great, but not really in keeping with the Epirian aesthetic. And obviously, the ork crew themselves had to go. The only problem there was that the driver's feet are moulded to the pedals. So job number one was to remove those feet with a chisel-blade hobby knife.



Removing the metal 'teeth' on the front grill was more problematic, so I replaced the grill piece entirely with a new one cut from textured plasticard.



Likewise, there was just too much detail on the rear tray to be easily removed, so I built a new tray out of layered 1mm plasticard, with a centre detail piece cut from plastic mesh.



I considered trimming up the doors, but was on a roll with the plasticard by this point, so quickly knocked up two new door panels and added some Epirian badges using tile-texture plasticard.



The extra plating on the sides of the front cowling was considerably easier. I cut away anything that didn't belong, and gave the trimmed surfaces a light sand to make sure they were smooth.



Humans being somewhat smaller than orks, the driver needed a seat added to fit in properly, so I assembled one out of 1mm plasticard and some more of the tile. For the driver himself, I used an Epirian contractor with the legs cut and repositioned.



The proportions had worked out all wrong to use the original pedals, so the driver's feet both wound up resting on the middle pedal. I added some pieces of plasticard over the other two to cover up the holes left from cutting off the original driver's feet.



I've been making it a feature of my Epirian conversions to include a drone head, and the intake on the hood seemed like an obvious spot to put one, with a little trimming to make it sit as flush as possible.



Rather than trying to wedge a second seat into the asymmetrical cabin, I decided to make it a single-seater and add a drone-controlled weapon in the (ahem) shotgun spot. I built this using a few pieces pilfered from the Master Bot Handler and Scarecrow kits, with a base from a Spider Drone leg piece with the actual legs removed.



To give the weapon a clear fire arc, I cut apart the roll cage and shortened the crossbar so that it would only extend over the driver's seat.



At this point, it was time to putty up any gaps, notably around the base of the drone and the driver's repositioned legs. The roll cage was left unglued for now, and there would be a little more putty filling required once I was ready to put it in place, but this couldn't happen until after I had painted the driver and cabin. (In hindsight, I also should have left the driver separate, as it proved rather difficult to paint him in place!)



The final step was to add some arms for the driver - I needed some outstretched arms, so wound up using Master Handler arms with Contractor shoulder pads added, and the hands replaced with open contractor hands to grip the steering wheel. And with that, the truck was all set for painting.



Painting used the same scheme as I have used on my previous green Epirians - Vallejo Yellow Green washed with Army Painter Green Tone, although in this case I spent a little more time layering the ink to create neater shading and highlights.





I added damage to the paintwork by sponging with Vallejo Heavy Charcoal and then highlighting the lower edges of the paint chips with yellow green.





The metal parts were painted with Vallejo Basalt Grey, washed with a coat of Secret Weapon Soft Body Black, and then drybrushed with Vallejo Light Grey. I followed this up with a final wash of Army Painter Dark Tone.



The next step will be to work up a rules card for this thing, probably with some homebrew rules for transporting units to make use of that trayback!

What have you done to personalise your forces? As always feel free to pop along and share your work, or ask any Maelstrom's Edge- or hobby-related questions on the Comm Guild Facebook page!

You can pick them up the Epirian models used here, along with the rest of the Maelstrom's Edge model range from the webstore here.

For other Maelstrom's Edge modeling articles, including tutorials and walkthroughs of a wide range of different building and miniature projects, check out the Hobby section of the Maelstrom's Edge website here.

Modeling Spotlight: Epirian Boostpack Infantry


Posted on Monday Jan 14, 2019 at 05:00pm in Models


- by Iain Wilson

Following on from my improbably-mobile Pa'ku conversion, I'm continuing the jetpack theme this week with a bit of a closer look at the Epirian SecDef Boostpack Infantry models released last month.





Released in a pack of three models, Boostpack Infantry take to the table as a SecDef Rapid Intervention Team, where their boostpacks and twin carbines allow them to get in close to the enemy and lay down a withering hail of fire.



The high quality resin kit comes with the body and head as a single piece, with separate weapon arms, boostpacks and grenades. The unit's rules card also gives them access to a couple of special weapon options - these will be coming in a separate release very soon!



Assembly is really straightforward - the boostpack goes on the back, with a handy locator pin slotting into the model's backplate, and the arms go where you would expect, and are fully interchangeable between the three models.



There is no specific mounting point for the clingfire grenades - you can glue them to the belt, chestplate, thighs, or wherever else seems appropriate.



While the armour is the same as the regular plastic SecDef models (aside from the head!), the shoulders are slightly different to allow for the boostpack mounting plate extending up over them. You can sub in arms from the plastic sprue though by removing the small shoulder pad piece shown below in red.



With a little more work, you can create gasmask-equipped SecDef Tactical Teams, by using the plastic arms and filling in the boostpack mounting point with a little green stuff putty.



For a little more leg variety, you can use a sharp hobby knife or razor saw to cut through the bodies just below the belt. This allows you to glue on legs from the plastic SecDef to mix up your boostpack models, or use the resin legs on your regular SecDef teams to add some running models.



SecDef Sergeants have, from time to time, been known to requisition the best gear for themselves. This sergeant has given himself a bit of a boost with a twin-turbine boostpack, made by trimming off the locator pin on the pack and gluing two boostpacks side by side to the model's back.



Finally, why should SecDef have all of the fun? While boostpacks are notoriously unreliable and difficult to keep operational, it seems likely that some Broken chieftains or techs with the right technical knowledge would be unable to resist the lure of the extra speed afforded by a scavenged unit!



To add a Rapid Intervention Team to your Epirian force, you can pick them up along with the rest of the Maelstrom's Edge model range from the webstore here.

As always, feel free to pop along and share your work, or ask any Maelstrom's Edge- or hobby-related questions on the Comm Guild Facebook page!

For other Maelstrom's Edge modeling articles, including tutorials and walkthroughs of a wide range of different building and miniature projects, check out the article roundup here.