The pose is fairly restrained on purpose - he's a medic, and he's fielded within a unit of regular SecDef, so putting him in too out-there a pose or making him look significantly different from the regular troops would have looked out of place.
This month, the forces of the Artarian Remnant assemble to storm the battlefields of the Edge, with the release of rules cards for the Militus battlesuit!
With a wide array of different gear and weapons available to them, the Militus is the most widespread of the suit types in use by Remnant champions. The suit classes that can be built straight from the plastic Militus kit are represented on five rules cards - two different command options, and three different troop options, which you can now find in the Remnant section of the online Force List.
Faction Abilities
All Militus suit types have the 'Aerial Insertion' rule, to represent the fire team deploying from orbit. What makes them truly special compared to other armies, though, is the 'Crowd Favorites' rule. Combat is an extreme sport for Lorican Champions, and fire teams broadcast their exploits back to adoring fans on the vast ships of the Remnant Fleets, who in turn convey their support to their chosen Champions in the form of Favor.
While Remnant forces receive Command Points each turn for any Command models in play, they also gain an additional point for every 3 Lorican Champions currently on the table. This represents the Champions being boosted by the support of the watching crowds back in the fleet. These Command Points can then be used by the Champions to Overcharge their suits, allowing them to move faster, buff their weapons, or improve their defensive abilities, at the expense of generating heat. Heat is represented by additional Suppression, and can be dispersed through the use of Venting systems.
Militus Warrior
The most common Militus class is the Warrior. A Core choice in a Remnant detachment, the Militus Warrior wields powerful ranged or melee weapons on its arms. It can be equipped with a field generator backpack, and also has access to a third, shoulder-mounted weapon or an assortment of support equipment.
Note: We will be releasing a resin upgrade pack which will include all of the support equipment options, but we have included these options on the cards for now to let you try them out!
Militus Warrior Prime
Experienced Lorican champions may eventually wind up commanding fire teams in combat, and bear the rank of 'Prime' to show their status. The Warrior Prime's 'Counterattack' ability gives his units a boost when retaliating against enemy fire.
Militus Skyrunner
The Skyrunner eschews the protection of a field generator, or the extra firepower of a shoulder mounted weapon in favour of the mobility boost provided by a Lorican Boostpack. While more limited in options than other Militus classes, the Skyrunner serves as a handy Vanguard option for capturing territory and getting the drop on slower enemy units.
A Skyrunner Prime retains the mobility of their class, and can use their enhanced view of the battlefield to better co-ordinate the movement of their units with the 'Mobile Strike' ability.
Militus Dominator
A more specialised class like the Skyrunner, the Dominator trades in support options in favour of overwhelming firepower. While they lack the ability to take the heavier weaponry available to larger Brutus class suits, Dominators opt for twin ranged weapons on their shoulders to maximise their ability to rain punishing fire on their opponents.
So, What's Next?
Well, as we mentioned, there will be a resin upgrade pack coming, with an array of different support options and some special parts to customise your Primes.
Of course, the Militus isn't the only weapon in the Remnant arsenal, and many Lorican Champions take to the field in the heavier Brutus or super-light Nimbus suits. Both of these will be added to the force with resin models later this year.
In the meantime, though, the multiple variants of Militus suit give you plenty of options for building different forces and taking on the less-well-equipped and considerably squishier factions opposing them on the Maelstrom's Edge!
The Militus kit is available now, along with the rest of the Maelstrom's Edge model range in the webstore here.
You can see the unit cards in the online Force Listing section here, and you can also find a downloadable, printable version in the 'Rules' section of the website here!
Unlike the many other factions on the Edge, the Artarian Remnant fleets don't employ conventional military forces. Instead, the various Houses that make up the rigidly class-based Remnant society sponsor Champions forged in gladiatorial arenas, equipping them with advanced Lorican combat suits. Their champions waging war is a televised spectacle not to be missed for the civilian populations of the great fleets, and so Lorican Champions generally take to the field in customised House colours so that viewers can easily recognise their favourites.
Because competition between the houses is fierce, Lorican fire teams are most commonly made up of champions from a single house, although occasionally mixed-house teams will be fielded out of necessity or for a co-operative, all-star event. Each House has a colour scheme made up of a Primary colour which usually covers the majority of the suit, and a Secondary colour which is applied in a unique pattern to identify the individual Champions. A Tertiary colour is applied in matching patterns for the entire fire team.
In the below image, the three suits shown are all from the same House and fire team, with gold (primary) and white (secondary) for the House colours, and purple for the fire team marking.
Similarly, the three below colour schemes are all for the same House, with bronze (primary) and white (secondary) for the House colours. However, these suits are all from different fire teams.
There are many different Houses of varying importance throughout the Remnant fleets, with some Houses spread across multiple fleets, and some smaller Houses only found on one or two. As a result, variations in fire team markings are not uncommon even within a single House. Additionally, different Houses apply their colouring with varying degrees of rigidity - some allow considerable leeway for champions to customise their own suits, while others will adopt a more rigid, military-style colouration. In some rare cases, champions may even take to the field with no House markings at all, usually due to their House affiliation being severed due to poor achievement in the arena or the field.
How have you painted your Remnant suits? We'd love to see them! Pop along to the Comm Guild Facebook Group to share your work!
The Militus kit is available now, along with the rest of the Maelstrom's Edge model range in the webstore here.
You can find the rules for the Remnant in the online Force Listing section here, and you can also find a downloadable, printable version in the 'Rules' section of the website here!
We're pleased to announce the release of a new audiobook, Bolt!
Bolt is the latest chapter in the story begun in Transit, about a young boy named Kelvin who discovers a frightening truth about the Maelstrom and what it means for his world. In the second installment, Fracture, Kelvin and his family start working on a plan to escape. And in this latest chapter, they head to a remote scrapyard to secure their transport, where things don't go quite to plan.
This hour long audiobook, written by Stephen Gaskell and narrated by Paul Ansdell, can be found along with the previous chapters in the Maelstrom's Edge webstore here.
They won't likely be released as PDFs, but will be included in a short story compilation down the road somewhere (other than Transit, which was already included in Tales from the Edge: Emergence) or compiled into a book of their own once the overall story is completed, in which case they would also be released in eBook format like the previous four books. No set timeline for that just yet, though.
The core Mission and Objective cards for Maelstrom's Edge are supplied in the Battle for Zycanthus starter set, along with the various other bits and pieces you need to play. For those who don't have the box or need replacements, you can now find all of the cards in printable PDF format in the Card Downloads section of the Maelstrom's Edge website, under the 'Rules' category heading in the menu.
This PDF document includes all of the core Missions and Objectives, and all of the exclusive Faction Objectives for the Epirian, Karist and Broken factions. Watch this space for an update with Faction Objectives for the Artarian Remnant very soon!
Since the release of the Maelstrom's Edge Terrain Sprue, it has proven to be our most popular plastic kit. Packed with an array of detail bits for adding to scratchbuilt or generic building shells, the sprue is an easy and inexpensive way of making great looking terrain. And now the time has come to mix things up a bit, with the addition of a second terrain sprue to our range!
Sprue Front
This new sprue is themed around the Broken faction, with detail pieces intended to help you build ruins and run-down structures, with a few extras to mix things up a bit.
Sprue Back
Unlike the solid doors on the first terrain sprue, this time around we've included a couple of empty door frames. These can be used as is, or you can fill them with an included solid door piece or a curtain, both of which are double sided so that you can mix up the facings for more variety.
Doors
The three windows on the sprue carry on the theme, with one covered with a curtain, one with metal mesh, and the third with a vent-style grill.
Windows
You can reinforce your walls with struts sized to match the similar struts on the first terrain sprue. This time around, though, the struts have missing panels which can be replaced (or not!) as you choose with several different patch pieces, included some that match the original panels. This lets you mix up the look of the struts to suit yourself. You can also use the extra panels to add patches to walls.
Struts
If you would rather get away from straight edges and corners, you can use the round porthole and iris portal to add some more rounded details. The iris can be used as a floor or roof hatch, or can also serve as a small access door. The porthole and a similarly-shaped fan piece can be glued straight onto a wall or roof, and are also designed to fit neatly onto the top of the large pipe fitting from the first terrain sprue.
Iris, Portholes and Fan (And a scifi shipping container from Laser Cut Card!)
Iris, Portholes and Fan
The first sprue included a ladder for getting up above ground level, but this time around we've included some stairs. The stair pieces are designed to stack up, so you can customise them to whatever height you want for your walkways or doors. The sprue also includes several different grating designs which can be used to make walkways and catwalks, or paired with the upright posts to make fences or barricades.
Stairs and Grates
Barricades
The rest of the sprue is filled up with technical details - a new computer terminal, light fittings, small vent pieces, an antenna, a generator coil and a junction/control box with a separate lid that can be attached open or closed, or used as a wall patch!
Gubbins
And finally, we have also included the pieces to make a small, automated turret for securing your hard-won territory against rampaging gangs or bloodthirsty pirates. This is designed to work with the larger weapons from the Broken Infantry sprue, with the weapon mounting pieces attaching to a slide rail so they can be positioned as needed. This piece is just decorative for now, but we have some plans for ways to incorporate these into your games, to come later!
Barricades
The new sprue will be available from the Maelstrom's Edge webstore from the 7th of October. Stay tuned for more terrain ideas featuring the new sprue!
From time to time, we'll be offering a chance to test out new ideas in development. These trial rules will potentially change during development, but will give you an idea of where they're going, and let you try out something new.
You can now download some trial rules for fielding vehicles that can transport infantry units around the battlefield. A version of these rules will be included in the next edition of the Maelstrom's Edge rules, but this version, tailored to fit into the V1 ruleset, lets you kick some tyres a little earlier.
Also included in the download are some unofficial rules cards for Epirian, Karist and Broken transport vehicles, to give you something to test these rules with. Conversions to build some of these have been featured in previous Comm Guild modeling articles, and you can use these as inspiration for your own vehicles, or feel free to use whichever other appropriate vehicles you like.
You can download the trial transport rules from the Maelstrom's Edge website here.
We would love feedback on the rules, or to see your transport vehicle builds, either here on Dakka or pop on in to the Comm Guild Facebook Group!
Standard missions in Maelstrom's Edge include multiple objectives for players to rack up those all-important Victory Points. While the Primary and Secondary mission objectives are shared by both players, they each also have an objective specific to their own faction. The Artarian Remnant has been missing these faction-specific objectives until now, but we're pleased to announce that they are now available from the Card Downloads section of the Maelstrom's Edge website!
In keeping with the individual nature of Remnant fire teams, we've given you three different faction objectives to choose from!
When Remnant Champions go to war, their exploits are followed avidly back in their fleets by crowds of Artarians, all rooting for their favourite fire teams and champions. Crowd favour can be fickle, depending on successes or failure on the field, but the attention of the masses can provide a boost to a battling champion.
If you choose Favour of the Crowd as your faction objective, you can represent this attention through an extra command point bestowed upon the first suit you activate each turn. As champions can use command points to boost their suit systems through the Overcharge rule, this can come in very handy when a suit needs that little bit extra.
The attention of the crowds doesn't just convey approval (or lack of) to the fighting champions, but can also focus the fire team's efforts against particular enemy units at whim. The Great Hunt faction objective represents this by allowing you to nominate an enemy unit as your current Hunt target each turn. Successfully destroying this target will grant you VPs and additional command points. Even if you don't destroy your Hunt targets, though, nominating a unit as such can be a handy way of forcing your opponent to keep that unit away from the main action to avoid giving away VPs, allowing you to steer the battle where you want it to go!
Finally, the Epic Hero faction objective lets you take to the field with an accomplished hero of the Artarian Remnant. This hero's exploits have earned him fame and fortune amongst his own people, and the enmity of the enemies of the Remnant.
The Epic Hero gains you additional VPs for every enemy unit they destroy, but at the risk of also giving away a VP to your opponent if your hero is brought down!
To try these out for yourself, you can download the cards now from the Card Downloads section of the Maelstrom's Edge website. We would love to hear how they work out for you in your games, so be sure to pop over to the Comm Guild Facebook Group and share your war stories!
You can pick up the plastic Militus battlesuit model, used to create various suit variants for your Remnant fire teams, from the Maelstrom's Edge webstore here!
A new addition to the Artarian Remnant range, the Nimbus Battlesuit is available now from the Maelstrom's Edge online store here!
Like its heavier Militus cousin, the Nimbus battlesuit is a marvel of Artarian engineering. Designed for sniper and scout roles, the Nimbus trades in the Militus' heavier armour in favour of speed and agility.
A specialised modification of the Incursion Rifle, the Nimbus Longshot's Torus Sniper Rifle fires a single, high-powered shot that can blast through enemy fields from across the battlefield.
The Nimbus Pathfinder fills the scout role, armed with an Incursion Blaster and equipped with a Pinpoint Scanner that it uses to paint enemy units to draw down heavier Remnant firepower.
Both variants of the suit can be equipped with an array of additional equipment, including Hologram Projectors and Cloak Generators to confound enemy targeting, Vent Systems to assist with cooling, Thermal Trackers to enhance their already formidable shooting, and a Lorican Boostpack when additional speed is required.
This kit contains a single, resin Nimbus suit, along with a 45mm plastic base. This model can be built as any of the following units: Nimbus Pathfinder, Nimbus Pathfinder Prime, Nimbus Longshot, Nimbus Longshot Prime. The rules for these units can be found in the Force Lists section of the website, or in a downloadable, printable format in the rules section here.
You can find assembly instructions for this model in PDF format here.
And, of course, the Nimbus battlesuit is available now from the Maelstrom's Edge online store here!
Quick scale shot attached. It is a higher price point than most of our previous resins, but that's unfortunately just down to the rising cost of producing these models. As a faction, it's balanced out somewhat by the lower cost of the plastic Militus suits, which would generally make up the bulk of the force.
Alright, I have to ask, are the Artarians aliens or humans? The Militus looks much more human, but the Nimbus has digitigrade legs and what looks to be fewer fingers. Are the suits even directly manned, or are they just remote operated? The available fluff never really said.
Barzam wrote: Alright, I have to ask, are the Artarians aliens or humans? The Militus looks much more human, but the Nimbus has digitigrade legs and what looks to be fewer fingers. Are the suits even directly manned, or are they just remote operated? The available fluff never really said.
They're human, although in many cases Lorican Champions would be on the smaller side, or surgically altered. In the Militus the pilot is inside the torso with his legs either protruding down into the suit's thighs or surgically removed and replaced with prosthetics for a better fit. The larger Brutus suit (which we haven't made yet) will have space for a pilot to be curled up inside the torso, while the Nimbus is more like a suit of light power armour - the upper two joints of the legs match up to the pilot's legs, while their feet (again, unless they have surgical alterations) would be protruding down into the lower joint.
Nice to see this guy appear in the flesh! Will need to order a few to complete my Fire Team - have a bunch of Militus made up but will look even better with the differing sized suits.
The Faction Summary for the Artarian Remnant is now online!
This summary lists all of the special rules, equipment and weapon profiiles used by the Remnant units released so far, and will be updated as future options are released. You can download the PDF here!
BobtheInquisitor wrote: By the way, have you guys seen any bump in sales since WGA started selling einharjar? The conversion you showed on the Facebook group was brilliant.
Edit: sincerest flattery.
Thanks! I've been enjoying the WGA kitbashes. Still have a box of spiders here to do something with...
It's fair to say that this year hasn't gone quite the way any of us would have planned. With the pandemic affecting our production partners, mail services, and our own team members, most of the things that we had planned for this past year wound up on hold. We've been working away behind the scenes to get things moving forward again, and have a nice backlog of releases lining up for the coming year, but in the meantime, here's a look back at what we've been up to.
For the past several years, we've been sharing regular modeling articles on the blog, and this year was no exception. These have showcased different conversion ideas, kitbashes with other ranges, terrain projects, painting tips, and a new, ongoing series of hobby basics articles intended to help out beginners to the hobby. You can find all of our various modeling articles compiled in the hobby section of the Maelstrom's Edge website here.
With our usual monthly release schedule disrupted, we did still release a new model for the Artarian Remnant, inthe form of the Nimbus Battlesuit. We have plenty more in the pipeline, however, inluding the next round of reinforcements for each of the existing factions, and the first couple of units are underway for another new faction!
To give people some new modeling and tactical options to explore, Iain shared some homebrew rules for an Imperial Marine faction, introducing power-armoured super soldiers to the Edge, with downloadable rules cards in the Card Downloads section here, and a Summary of their weapons and special rules here.
This year has also seen some great models shared by the community on the Comm Guild Facebook Group. The Group is a handy place to share your models, ask for hobby advice, or talk about the Maelstrom's Edge game. We would love to see more, so be sure to pop along and show us what you are working on!
So... what's next? The new year seems like as good a time as any to get things moving again. We have a whole host of new models in the pipeline, including new releases for all of the existing factions, and a brand new faction joining the chaos on the Edge!
Stay tuned!
For the full range of Maelstrom's Edge products, including the Battle for Zycanthus starter set, the plastic and resin model range, the ever-useful Maelstrom's Edge Terrain Sprues, novels and audiobooks, check out the webstore here.
For building ideas, modeling tutorials, army spotlights and conversion walkthroughs, have a look at the Hobby section of the Maelstrom's Edge website here.
After last year's disruptions to ... well, everything, we were all set to launch the new year with some of the backlog of models that we have been quietly working on in the background. Unfortunately, the new year actually started out with large chunks of the UK going back into lockdown, and everything sadly came once more to a screaming halt. So we have models, we just need to get them to where they need to be, and get some studio versions painted up, and this will happen as soon as we can make it so.
BobtheInquisitor wrote: By the way, have you guys seen any bump in sales since WGA started selling einharjar? The conversion you showed on the Facebook group was brilliant.
BobtheInquisitor wrote: By the way, have you guys seen any bump in sales since WGA started selling einharjar? The conversion you showed on the Facebook group was brilliant.
I'm (very slowly) working on a small Karist force. I have a small stylistic question: are all Karists bald? Do they all have a religious mandate to shave their heads, or is it just Kaddar Novas losing their hair from channeling Cybel energy?
Ongoing exposure to na-cybel energy initially causes muscle and bone growth (which is why Shadow Walkers and Tempest Elites are physically larger than regular Troopers, and Novas larger again) but over time also resulting in hair loss and eventually starts wasting their bodies, leaves them looking gaunt and emaciated.
So lower level Karists could potentially have hair, but as they progress through the ranks it would generally either have fallen out or been removed for convenience.
Having said that, while rocking the bald would likely be considered something of a status symbol by Karists at large, there's no reason individual adherents or even entire cells couldn't choose to wear wigs, particularly given Karists' general habit of infiltrating communities on the sly.
With the past year's challenges wreaking havoc with our schedule, it's been a while between releases. We're getting the ball rolling again with something a little different!
This fantastic gun carriage model was made by PDC Gaming for a Kickstarter campaign some years ago. It's a multipart plastic kit, that comes with options for a turreted or fixed-mount weapon, and a range of different weapons that slot into place on either variant.
Although not being sold as a part of the core Maelstrom's Edge range, this kit is useful for those looking for a plastic track unit for conversions, or wanting to add some heavier firepower to their games. For the latter, you can find an unofficial rules card for the Epirian 'Thunderbolt' sentry drone in our Force Lists section here, or included in the PDF download in the Rules section here.
And stay tuned for an upcoming conversion article from Iain, using one of these carriages and parts from the Epirian Hunter war mech to build an all-plastic Epirian Automated Uplink Relay.
bbb wrote: Did you guys buy up old stock or have a new batch produced?
I thought those were long gone.
They're actually still around, quietly selling these in a 6-pack on their eBay store. I came across them by accident, and thought they would be really, really handy for conversions, and so reached out to them. The price on the MEdge store works out fairly similar to their eBay price per unit, but without having to them in bundles of 6!
I recalled they had some useful looking gun sprues as well, any chance of those appearing?
They have two gun sprues - a sprue of multi-option heavy weapons, and a sprue of not-bolters and combi-bolters. The heavy weapons in particular could be potentially useful for MEdge, so we're looking at them as a possibility if the gun carriages do well.
Within the Epirian Foundation, many Contractor militia units make use of specialised bots for some extra firepower or to fill battlefield support roles. We introduced the resin weapon drones to boost your Contractor teams on the table a while back, and this week we're adding to your options with a new support drone kit!
This resin kit is comprised of a Support Drone chassis, and optional parts to equip it to join any of three different Contractor unit types. The Recon Package is the standard gear for support drones utilised by Contractor Scout units. Contractor Engineers make use of tool-equipped drones to effect repairs on other damaged bots, while medical drones in Contractor Medic units patch up the force's less hardy human elements.
A recon drone surveys the battlefield for ongoing threats
By far the most rare of the Broken sub-factions are the Spiral Arm Revolutionary Army, also known as just SARA. These are Broken who escape their system but cannot abide the immoral way that governments at the Edge continually lie to, and doom the common man to death by the Maelstrom while escaping to safety themselves, and they vow to do whatever it takes to stop this from happening to others. Unlike most Broken, members of SARA are proud to be known as Broken, and often display the Broken symbol on their ships and gear. Like all Broken, SARA engages in piracy to survive, however they make a point to go after very specific targets, namely those they deem to be colluding to save only the rich and powerful from the Maelstrom. They regularly attack Epirian Foundation facilities, blaming the massive, wealthy corporation of profiting off the destruction caused by the Maelstrom while not utilizing these profits to save every person they can. Its unsurprising that SARA is also a natural enemy to the Karist Enclave, as the Karists actively attempt to keep people from escaping the Maelstrom. Unlike other sub-factions of Broken, SARA utilize propaganda and often have secret donors helping to support their cause even when all planetary governments condemn the actions of SARA as those of a terrorist organization.
Tales of SARA have filtered throughout the spiral arm, so similar to the Jackals, there is a constant stream of people moving towards the Maelstrom’s Edge looking to join their cause. However, while SARA sees the Forsaken as potential allies and a pool for recruitment, they are vehemently opposed to Jackals, who they see as poisoning the otherwise good name of the Broken. SARA cells will often go out of their way to attack a Jackal stronghold when they discover its location.
With their well-equipped, fast-moving fleets, SARA does wage some military campaigns at worlds right at the Edge, mainly by attacking external forces that have laid siege to a planet so as to exploit its resources before the Maelstrom arrives. But even when they’re successful in these types of campaigns, the number of people they can actually rescue is often quite small, basically just those who can fit onto the ships they manage to liberate during the fighting. As a result, SARA instead prefers to target worlds that are still a few generations away from being threatened by the Maelstrom, but are downplaying the danger to their populace and secretly shuttling away the rich and powerful. These types of worlds almost always have secret cells of SARA already in operation, funded by secret donors who see SARA as either a philanthropic cause or just a way to guarantee their own escape from the Maelstrom. These cells seek to weaken local government and ferret out hidden Karist Enclave cells. Bolstered by reinforcements from out-system, SARA groups will spread their infiltration throughout the society to fuel full scale revolts. It isn’t entirely unknown for SARA to completely topple a government this way, and turn the planet’s full scale production towards producing ships to save as many people as possible.
SARA is very much a paramilitary organization and more often than not, the founders of a cell start as lower echelon military units on a dying world who realize their government is not going to save them. They spend years organizing rebellions, training civilians to fight, struggling to get as many people off-planet as possible. As SARA contains a higher percentage of military-trained individuals, it tends to be much more regimented and organized than most Broken forces, and has better discipline and morale. When the time comes for open conflict, SARA cells are organised into brigades, each led by a Revolutionary Colonel. Each brigade is comprised of a varying number of companies depending on the number of SARA units available, each led by a Revolutionary Captain. When SARA manages to rescue souls from a dying world or from ships that have no place to go, able-bodied adults are offered a place in a SARA company for a certain period of time - usually 5 to 10 years, depending on the particular cell. After their service time is up, they are free to leave and try to find their own way in the galaxy, though many choose to remain with the fleet. In this way, SARA fleets are constantly provided with a stream of new recruits.
While from outside SARA is commonly seen as a single entity, there is no true central leadership and each brigade acts autonomously. Some degree of communication between fleets does exist, through cells utilising fast courier vessels or infiltrating Comm Guild facilities and piggybacking support requests or warnings onto authorised Guild messages. This allows SARA fleets to converge when a larger response is required than each can handle alone, or to avoid systems where the danger from the Maelstrom’s unpredictable advance is too great to risk their valuable resources. Sharing similar goals does not always guarantee co-operation though, as fleet commanders may disagree on the value of specific objectives or the best allocation of resources, occasionally even leading to conflict between different SARA brigades.
SO... why are we telling you all this?
Next week sees the release of our new, plastic SARA commander model, which will open up new options for your Broken forces in Maelstrom's Edge. We will also have a showcase article to follow the commander, with a SARA force being put together by Iain - stay tuned!
Put together your own ill-equipped rabble of doom by picking up the plastic Broken infantry sprues, along with the rest of the Maelstrom's Edge range from the webstore here.
For other building ideas, modeling tutorials, army spotlights and conversion walkthroughs, check out the Hobby section of the Maelstrom's Edge website here.
Last week, we shared an intro into one of the sub-factions within the Broken - the Spiral Arm Revolutionary Army. The time has come to see SARA roll out onto the table, with the release of a new plastic model for the SARA Revolutionary Captain!
Revolutionary Captains lead companies of SARA troops on the battlefield. While SARA companies are comprised mostly of the same sorts of units as you would find in Forsaken or Jackal forces, their more military-focused structure results in better discipline and tactics on the battlefield.
On the table, the Revolutionary Captain's military experience grants your Broken force some new abilities. The SARA Discipline rule grants units in the Captain's command radius a boost to their WP. These units are also granted the new Guerilla rule, which allows a unit taking an Advance & Fire action to shoot before moving, allowing your units to to attack enemy positions and then fade away into cover.
The first of a series of smaller plastic kits that we are releasing, the Revolutionary Captain kit is a single sprue with a multipart, monopose model and is supplied with a 25mm base.
Is there more background on SARA? And besides the new officer, are there other SARA specific Broken units or unit options?
I think the new captain looks like a more neatly combed and trimmed Che Guevara, or the late actor Alan Rickman cast as a villainous military officer. {He was tired of being typecast as the villain.}
Aside from the intro posted here, we'll be delving more into SARA's background as time and releases allow.
So far as models go, the idea for each of the Broken subfactions (Forsaken, SARA, Jackals) is for them to use more or less the same core units, with more specialised units to be added for each.
The Forsaken will lean heavily on jury-rigged tech, Jackals will be the spiky wasteland raiders, and SARA will field more quasi-military units.
For the moment the Commanders remain fairly generic, simply because that's the way command models were set up for V1. The eventual aim though is for these units to be fieldable by any of the Broken groups, but to work better under their corresponding commanders, which will be worked into various Command rules in V2.
Thanks. One more question, do the Jackals have background material yet? The Broken article on the Maelstrom's Edge website mentions Jackal Warlords, and there's mention of them above, but I did not find anything else.
Not yet, other than the occasional mention elsewhere. We have very firm plans for where they're going as a sub-faction, but it will likely be a while before they make it onto the table.
Add in the old school Growlers... That's what I'm doing. Your game is a nice divergence from others...
I use your figures in Star Mogul. They fit right in!
Following stealthily on the heels of the Revolutionary Captain comes another new model release for the Broken - The Sniper!
Broken Snipers originate either as marksmen from a planetary military that is displaced by the Maelstrom or pulled from within the ranks of the SARA and trained when it is noticed that they display a high level of accuracy with their rifle. Unfortunately, the Broken simply do not have the types of training facilities that other factions have access to, nor the manufacturing and technology in place to produce state of the art high-powered sniper rifles. All of which means that, one-on-one, Broken Snipers will never be a direct match with their foes. Therefore, the role of a Sniper focuses more on being a jack of all trades thorn in the enemy’s side.
A Sniper amongst the Broken is an immensely valuable battlefield tool and therefore Broken commanders commission their weaponsmiths to produce custom, high-end weapons and tech for their Snipers, so as to give them a fighting chance on the battlefield. Though each Sniper has a slight variation in their kit, their basics usually entail a cloak with powered optical and anti-radar camouflage, along with a drum-fed sniper rifle, which is able to switch on the fly between several different custom-made specialty ammunition types.
As with all Broken, Snipers are the master of stealth, and their ability to pick the right ammunition type to most punish their target before disappearing into the mists before the enemy can return fire in earnest makes them one of the most loathed foes in the spiral arm.
The Broken Sniper is a plastic kit on a single sprue, and is supplied with a 32mm plastic base.
There won't be a single starter set for V2. We're planning to release the rulebook by itself, in hardcover and digitally, and then each faction will get a 'starter' box, which will include a small plastic detachment and relevant tokens.
All of our plans for V2 got pushed back as a result of the last year or so just being so very messed up, but the current batch of model releases we're working through serve in part to ensure that each faction has an appropriate pool of plastic models (HQ, troops, and a 'specialty' unit of some kind) to draw from for their starter.
Well we can’t tell GW marketing has not been helping you guys out. If they had then these would be the bestest ever snipers and be priced at $35 since they are a single sprue character figure . I don’t know how you do it with the cost to make a mold in the mid 6 figures......sorry my sarcasm level seems to be set to GW .
With the twin billing of Covid and Brexit affecting so many business all over the place, this year started out a little slower than we had planned, but things are slowly getting back up to steam and our release schedule is finally getting back on track. Here's a look back at what we've been up to for the last 6-ish months!
Iain continued to smoosh things together in the workshop, working through a range of the usual sorts of modeling articles - kitbashes of kits, buildings made from bits and pieces and just generally getting paint all over everything in sight. You can find all of these modeling articles in the Hobby section of the Maelstrom's Edge website here.
On the new release front, we've given Epirian Contractor units some support with a new resin drone, and launched the Spiral Arm Revolutionary Army as a subfaction for the Broken, with the addition of plastic kits for a Revolutionary Captain and a cam-cloaked sniper. We also picked up the PDC Gaming heavy weapons carriage - a plastic kit that lets you build a range of different mobile weapons platforms, for those gamers looking for some heavier firepower. You can find all of these in the Maelstrom's Edge webstore.
Our biggest reveal for this year so far was, of course, the launch of the kickstarter for StackaRack - a plastic, customisable paint storage system! Our Kickstarter funded successfully, and we're currently hard at work finalising the design work so that we can get it sent off to our plastics production people. If you missed the Kickstarter, you can find out more information and follow our progress on the StackaRack Facebook page here.
So... what's next?
In the coming months, we have new plastic model releases for the Karists and Remnant, a couple of resin upgrades for the Remnant Militus kit, and a whole new range of bases to add to the webstore. There's also a new faction - our fifth! - to crawl forth from the destruction of the Edge.
On top of that, we're still beavering away behind the scenes on version 2 of the Maelstrom's Edge rules. Our original target had to be pushed back significantly thanks to the pandemic, but we're aiming to have the Beta version of the rules out before the end of this year. If you want to get in early, you can find a very early draft of the new rules in the development thread on the DakkaDakka forums here.
So much great stuff still to come - Stay tuned!
For the full range of Maelstrom's Edge products, including the Battle for Zycanthus starter set, the plastic and resin model range, the ever-useful Maelstrom's Edge Terrain Sprues, novels and audiobooks, check out the webstore here.
For building ideas, modeling tutorials, army spotlights and conversion walkthroughs, have a look at the Hobby section of the Maelstrom's Edge website here.
Back when the Maelstrom's Edge game was first launched, the budget only allowed for a small range of bases, so we started out with three different base sizes that were specifically designed with the launch model range in mind - a 25mm base for human sized models, and two considerably larger bases for the bigger models. As we started expanding our range, it became apparent that this wasn't going to be suitable for long, as there were too many models planned that would be too large for the 25mm base, but too small for the larger bases. With the completion of a new base tool, we're now able to rectify this with the addition of another 5 base sizes to the range, including 28mm, 32mm, 36mm and 40mm bases, and a much larger 65mm base to keep us covered when we start in models larger than the Hunter or the Mature Angel.
Some of these have already snuck out into the wild, with the recently released Broken Sniper coming with the new 32mm base. Others will be appearing in coming months on other models waiting in the queue.
Followers of the Cult of Kariman rejoice! Announcing the arrival of the Alessi Novitiate, a new command option for the Karist Enclave!
Alessi are usually amongst the first Karists to arrive on a new world, moving quietly amongst the populace for some time spreading their faith and gathering recruits. And when the time comes for battle, they are amongst the first to take up arms, leading their followers to glory and ascension.
This plastic kit includes one Alessi Novitiate, with an optional angel hatchling pet.
The Alessi Novitiate is a Command unit for the Karist Enclave. You can find the rules for this unit in the Force Lists section of the Maelstrom's Edge website here.
At this stage, the bulk deals will likely remain on just the basic infantry sets for each faction. We try to keep the individual model prices as low as possible, so there's not really a lot of wiggle room.
As a great man once said: "With great new models comes a great need to update the rules summary!"
And so, now that the Kaddar Alessi Novitiate is out in the wild, we have updated the Karist faction summary and the printable unit cards! You can find the new files in the Rules section of the Maelstrom's Edge website here.
Pick up the Alessi Novitiate along with the rest of the Maelstrom's Edge range from the webstore here! Free shipping applies to qualifying orders - check your cart for details.
If you have any questions on the new rules, or any other aspect of Maelstrom's Edge gameplay, feel free to pop in to the Comm Guild Facebook group here, or the Maelstrom's Edge Discussion section here on Dakka.
The Battlescribe files for Maelstrom's Edge have just been updated to v.5.0.0, which adds in the Artarian Remnant and brings the other factions up to date with the current model range.
Available right now, you can launch your Maelstrom's Edge collection with a starter bundle for the Epirian Foundation, Karist Enclave or Broken!
The Battle for Zycanthus set was our original introduction to the Maelstrom's Edge universe and game, and we're extremel;y proud of it. All good things must come to an end, though, and thanks to increased interest over the last 12 months or so we've completely sold out. With the second edition of the Maelstrom's Edge rules on its way, it didn't make much sense to have more of the Zycanthus sets made up, as we'll be releasing individual faction starter sets alongside the new rules. For those looking to get into the game right now, though, we've made up some small bundle deals that let you pick up a few core units for your chosen faction and also include the templates, tokens and other bits and pieces you need to play Maelstrom's Edge.
These bundle deals are available for each of the current factions aside from the Remnant. Theirs will be coming along soon, but is waiting on the next couple of model releases in the queue.
Pick up the rulebook and printable unit, objective and mission cards from the Rules section of the Maelstrom's Edge website, and grab your miniatures starter bundle from the webstore now!
BobtheInquisitor wrote: Your link goes to the new plastic Karist. I had to make a whole additional click to see the webstore.
The dangers of copy pasting from the previous release article... Fixed now.
Or, that Karist is the notorious Alessi Rikast Lee, and will be used for random links from now on. Yes, that will do...
I wish your Epirian starter had SecDef instead of Contractors. I already have enough contractors, and the SecDeff are deffo shmexier.
We'll definitely look at adding a SecDef bundle in the future, once we have some more plastic unit options for them. For now though, if it's SecDef you're after, there's this bundle which has four squads for the price of three.
Blastaar wrote: Can you give a rough estimate when we may see MEDGe V.2?
I'm putting the finishing touches to the Beta rules document today and tomorrow, for release ASAP. We're hoping to have the full rulebook out for Salute next year, assuming Salute is back in March/April.
Blastaar wrote: Can you give a rough estimate when we may see MEDGe V.2?
I'm putting the finishing touches to the Beta rules document today and tomorrow, for release ASAP. We're hoping to have the full rulebook out for Salute next year, assuming Salute is back in March/April.
Almost... If you take an Angel Keeper as your commander, the rest of the detachment is filled with Angels. There's no way to field a force entirely of Angels, though.
As all Angel units have Kill Mission, you would be at something of a disadvantage in any objective-based mission.
That's not to say that there's no possibility of an Angel command model somewhere down the track to allow for 'wild' angel forces, although that would probably be better suited as an option for a specific scenario rather than as a regular force option.
Glad you like it! There's sometimes a slight delay between the Facebook and other social media posts, and getting the post up here... but here it is:
Like its heavier Militus cousin, the Nimbus battlesuit is a marvel of Artarian engineering. Designed for sniper and scout roles, the Nimbus trades in the Militus' heavier armour in favour of speed and agility.
A Nimbus Pathfinder surveys the battlefield.
The Nimbus Pathfinder fills a scouting role within Remnant fire teams, using its Pinpoint Scanner to paint enemy units for the attention of heavier Remnant firepower.
The studio model, painted by Todd McNeal from Toad Painting
This is the second Nimbus model we have released, with the first being a resin model designed to be used as either a Pathfinder or Longshot. Check out the pic below for a comparison of the two (plastic on the left, resin on the right!):
Rules-wise, the Nimbus can be equipped with an array of additional equipment, including Hologram Projectors and Cloak Generators to confound enemy targeting, Vent Systems to assist with cooling, Thermal Trackers to enhance their already formidable shooting, and a Lorican Boostpack when additional speed is required. This kit is compatible with heads and boostpack parts from the plastic Militus kit, and also with the head and cloak generator backpack from the resin Nimbus model. And we'll be releasing a handy upgrade sprue a little later in the year that will cover off some of those other options!
The Pathfinder with a plastic Boostpack from the Militus sprue.
This kit contains a single, plastic Nimbus suit, along with a 40mm plastic base, for use as a Nimbus Pathfinder or Nimbus Pathfinder Prime. The rules for these units can be found in the Force Lists section of the website, or in PDF format in the rules section here.
Grab yours now from the Maelstrom's Edge webstore here!
Looks nice! Once question that I've had both in general (for the industry) and specifically (for this model) is why you didn't use ball joints for the limbs for additional posing options. I understand that not all poses that the joint would allow would fit the rest of the limb/torso but there should be some added posing flexibility there. Is it not recommended with the type of moulds you're using and could complicate the plastic filling/miscast rate? Or purely asthetic choice in that you want a particular type of pose?
We did use ball joints on the larger Militus suit to give it as wide a range of poseability as possible, but that's a full-frame multi-part kit. The Nimbus was one of a series of smaller kits that we had combined on a single frame to keep production costs down, and so was limited by available space and the moulding constraints from the model design.
As a general rule, we aim for basic troops to be multipart and poseable. Character and specialist models that are generally only fielded in small numbers are often a little more constrained by budget, so for those we prioritise making the models look good over making them poseable.
insaniak wrote: We did use ball joints on the larger Militus suit to give it as wide a range of poseability as possible, but that's a full-frame multi-part kit. The Nimbus was one of a series of smaller kits that we had combined on a single frame to keep production costs down, and so was limited by available space and the moulding constraints from the model design.
As a general rule, we aim for basic troops to be multipart and poseable. Character and specialist models that are generally only fielded in small numbers are often a little more constrained by budget, so for those we prioritise making the models look good over making them poseable.
So the Nimbus is intended to be fielded in limited quantities? You couldn't take an army of all Nimbus suits? Or would it just not be as effective as the Militus?
Nimbus suits are specialists, and not available as Core troops, so no, you couldn't field a full force of them, and it wouldn't be particularly effective if you could - they're intended to provide support to the heavier armed and armoured Militus suits.
Pathfinders are a Vanguard selection, while Longshots are a Hammer selection. You can also field a Prime version of either as a Command unit.
insaniak wrote: Nimbus suits are specialists, and not available as Core troops, so no, you couldn't field a full force of them, and it wouldn't be particularly effective if you could - they're intended to provide support to the heavier armed and armoured Militus suits.
Pathfinders are a Vanguard selection, while Longshots are a Hammer selection. You can also field a Prime version of either as a Command unit.
Ah, that's the part I didn't think about. They're not core. So while you could take a Prime as a command, you'd need to fill out your core with Militus suits. Makes sense. At most one could do a Nimbus Prime of one type, 2 Militus, and then 3 other Nimbus suits spread between Longshots or Pathfinders as your prime dictates.
The reliability and mainline capabilities of the Militus suit tend to make it a favourite amongst Fire Team Commanders. Able to access the full range of Militus weapons and equipment, Primes will also often fit their suits with additional, more expensive gear to improve their sensor and communications capabilities and enhance their close quarters abilities.
A Remnant Militus Prime strides relentlessly into the midst of the Karist battleline.
This high quality resin kit includes a new Militus Prime head and an Aruval Phase Sword hand, designed to fit the plastic Militus Battlesuit kit, sold separately.
Militus Prime head and phase sword.
Using a compact phase generator built into the grip, the Aruval Phase Blade is an expensive but popular weapon amongst Militus Primes, due to its ability to bypass defensive energy fields.
The studio model, painted by Todd McNeal from Toad Painting
Grab them from the Maelstrom's Edge webstore here!
The unsung heroes of the Artarian Remnant, Holista Champions forgo personal glory in order to keep the rest of their fire team functioning at peak efficiency.
A Remnant Holista supports its Fire Team as they storm an Epirian defensive line.
While Lorican armor is a technological marvel, its primary weakness is that extended battlefield operation can cause it to overheat, damaging critical systems and injuring the pilot. This problem is exacerbated by many Champions' habit of pushing suit systems past safe operating limits to give themselves more of an edge in combat. To counter this issue, the Holista variant armor swaps out one of the Militus weapon mounts for a Heat Exchange device that can siphon excess heat from nearby suits.
The studio model, painted by Todd McNeal from Toad Painting
The Holista Parts pack includes a new head variant and the Holista Heat Exchange. These high quality resin components are designed to fit the plastic Militus Battlesuit kit, sold separately.
Militus Holista head and Heat Exchange.
You can find the Maelstrom's Edge V1 rules for the Holista in the Force Lists section of the Maelstrom's Edge website. If you're playing using the V2 Beta rules, the Remnant document in the Downloads section now has the Holista added in.
Alternate colour schemes, painted by Iain Wilson.
Grab the Holista from the Maelstrom's Edge webstore here!
Yeah, I don't remember if we specifically shouted out about that pack, but it went up around the same time as the '4 for the price of 3' plastic troop deals. Definitely a great way to boost the terrain bitz collection!
Remnant Lorican Armor is a marvel of engineering in its own right. Over time, Champions will customize their suits to boost their combat ability even further. This month's release is a new plastic sprue with a range of upgrade options!
This sprue has components to represent various upgrades on your suits, including three each of the following:
Prime/Pathfinder Array
Defensive Countermeasures
Enhanced Targeter
Target Tracker
Mark Of the Initiate badge
Prime Sigil
Veteran Prime Sigil
These parts are designed to fit on any of the Remnant suits, where relevant to their unit rules.
Grab the sprue from the Maelstrom's Edge webstore here!
Amongst the ragtag forces of the Broken, the gigantic Gnolti strides imposingly across the battlefield, massive, energised shields blocking enemy fire as it clears a path for its more fragile Rabble brethren.
The resin Gnolti is one of our most popular resin kits. This month it makes the leap into the digital domain, with the release of an STL pack that you can use to print your own rampaging alien behemoth!
With 3D printing becoming ever more accessible as an option for producing table-top quality miniatures, it seemed like a good time to start offering some DIY options for digital hobbyists to add to their collections. As such, the Gnolti is the first of an ongoing release series, as we will be gradually working to make STL packs for all of our current resin models.
Table-ready resin production model and a 3D printed example - printed on an Anycubic Photon using Anycubic Grey resin at 50μm using Lychee slicer.
Printing results will vary depending on your printer, resin and settings.
Marsays are not naturally gifted fighters, nor are they a particularly good shot. With their long limbs, clumsy gait and large bulbous eyes, Marsays don't seem a threat. Disguised behind those eyes, however, is their remarkable ability to influence the mind of others.
The Marsayan Hypnotist is the second model from our resin range to make the transition to digital release for 3D printing.
The Marsayan Hypnotist digital pack includes a single piece Marsayan Hypnotist STL file, and a pre-supported version to make printing a little easier.
The included STL models.
In Maelstrom's Edge games, the Marsayan Hypnotist is fielded on a 25mm base, available here, and accompanies Broken Rabble, Assault and Fire Support units.
Table-ready resin production model and a 3D printed (and mirrored) example - printed on an Anycubic Photon using Siraya Tech Fast resin at 50μm using Lychee slicer.
Printing results will vary depending on your printer, resin and settings.
Get started with your rebel force of digital doom by grabbing the Marsayan Hypnotist from the Maelstrom's Edge webstore here - or if you would prefer the resin version, you can find it in the store here!
New Release: Karist Heavy Troopers - 3D Printable STL Files
Armed with some of the most powerful weapons in the Karist arsenal, Heavy Weapon troopers can be added to an existing Karist Trooper squad, or can form a Karist Trooper Heavy Squad capable of taking out even the most fearsome enemies.
Originally released in resin, Karist Heavy Troopers are now available to purchase as STL files for 3D printing.
The Heavy Weapon Trooper digital pack includes both a supported and unsupported set of files, with Cybel Lance, Ripper Heavy Grenade Launcher and Ravager Pulse Cannon options to equip your troopers.
The included parts.
In Maelstrom's Edge games, the Karist Heavy Troopers are fielded on 25mm bases, available here, and can accompany Karist Trooper squads or form Karist Trooper Heavy squads.
Resin production model and a 3D printed example, painted to a tabletop-ready standard - printed on an Anycubic Photon using Siraya Tech Fast resin at 50μm using Lychee slicer.
Printing results will vary depending on your printer, resin and settings.
Start building your secretive cult of digital doom by grabbing the Karist Heavy Troopers from the Maelstrom's Edge webstore here - or if you would prefer the resin version, you can find it in the store here!
New Release: Artarian Remnant Character Upgrade STLs.
Artarian Remnant Primes are career warriors, leading their fire teams through engagements against enemy forces and in Remnant gladiatorial games alike. Leveraging their fame and fortunes on expensive gear to improve their sensor and communications capabilities and enhance their close quarters abilities, Primes are an impressive sight on the battlefield.
Holistas serve in a support role, boosting the effectiveness of their fire teams by syphoning excess heat off their suits using their massive heat sinks. This comes at the expense of some offensive capability, so while still formidable warriors, Holistas must rely on their fire teams doing well rather than seeking personal glory. This makes the role of Holista an unpopular one amongst the glory-hungry champions of the Artarian Remnant.
Originally released in resin, the parts for customising plastic Militus suits to build Prime and Holista variants are now available to purchase as STL files for 3D printing.
This digital pack includes both supported and unsupported set files, including the Prime's Phase Sword, Holista's Heat Exchange, and two variant heads. For assembly convenience, the supported version of the heat exchange has the upper elbow joint already attached, with three posing variants included.
The included parts.
These parts are designed to fit onto the plastic Militus suits, although the heads will fit onto any Remnant suit. You can also equip your suits with additional gear using the plastic Upgrade Sprue.
3D printed examples, painted to a tabletop-ready standard - printed on an Anycubic Photon using Siraya Tech Fast resin at 50μm using Lychee slicer.
Printing results will vary depending on your printer, resin and settings.
Start building your fire team of glory-seeking doom by grabbing the Artarian Remnant models from the Maelstrom's Edge webstore here!
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.
SecDef Medics are combat veterans who have received additional training and equipment to administer first aid in the field. Known for being level-headed under fire, medics accompany SecDef tactical teams in the field, where they need to be equally competent at using their carbines or treating wounded squadmates.
Originally released in resin, these two SecDef character models are now available to purchase as STL files for 3D printing, from the Maelstrom's Edge store here!
This digital pack includes both supported and unsupported files, and two different weapon options for the Lieutenant.
The included parts.
You can find the rules for fielding these models in the downloads section of the Maelstrom's Edge website here.
3D printed examples, painted to a tabletop-ready standard - printed on an Anycubic Photon using Siraya Tech Fast resin at 50μm using Lychee slicer.
Printing results will vary depending on your printer, resin and settings.
Start building your elite force of corporate doom by grabbing some SecDef models from the Maelstrom's Edge webstore here!
Can you guys answer a question for the STL-challenged?
I already bought (almost everything Spiral Arm Studios makes) the Karist Heavy troopers in resin, but the STL would allow me to print out just the heads for use on other figures, so I'm potentially interested. While I'm at it, how about making the Karist troopers available in STL? The helmets could be printed with greater definition that way.
The problem is, I don't have a 3-D printer, and I won't be getting one anytime soon. Maybe in five to ten years, provided I live that long, the world doesn't end, and I make a serious dent in my pile of metal minis.
My question is, what are the rules when it comes to 3rd-party printers? If I buy the Karist Heavy Trooper STL file from you, can I send it to, say, McDougall Designs, and pay him to print out 12 heads for me? Or is that not legal, since he doesn't have an official license to print your products?
You young'uns and your digital, virtual hoo-hah. It's all as clear as mud to me.
I already bought (almost everything Spiral Arm Studios makes) the Karist Heavy troopers in resin, but the STL would allow me to print out just the heads for use on other figures, so I'm potentially interested. While I'm at it, how about making the Karist troopers available in STL? The helmets could be printed with greater definition that way.
At this stage we're only releasing our resin range as STLs, as a way of making those models available without the higher resin price tag. Our plastic kits are unlikely to go completely digital, as they would just be fiddly and annoying, and prints would be largely inferior to the plastics in pretty much every way, at least until someone comes up with a printer that can print in HIPS at resin levels of detail. We are looking at potentially releasing some component sets and/or variant models, although this will be balanced off against the needs to keep things as accessible as possible for everyone... We don't want to have essential parts of the range only available digitally.
It's probably worth noting that the shallower detail on the Karist troopers (which were one of our first kits, and still very much a part of the learning curve) compared to our later models makes them not really ideal for 3D printing anyway. If we do release them digitally, they'll need to be resculpted to a similar level of detail as the heavy trooper helmets. Which is something I would certainly like to do, but will depend on time and resources.
My question is, what are the rules when it comes to 3rd-party printers? If I buy the Karist Heavy Trooper STL file from you, can I send it to, say, McDougall Designs, and pay him to print out 12 heads for me? Or is that not legal, since he doesn't have an official license to print your products?
Using a 3rd party printing service is fine. You're not passing on the license, just using their printer. That printing service would only be allowed to use your file to print for you, not for other customers.
The Forsaken rarely send out their forces en masse, knowing a single crushing defeat is the end of their existence, preferring to instead strike in small patrols each led by a Chieftain. Equal parts fighter, diplomat and cunning tactician, a Chieftain knows their forces can never win a stand-up fight against a prepared opponent, favouring unseen strikes from the shadows, quickly fading away before the enemy can respond in kind. Many opposing forces have underestimated the ingenuity of a Chieftain, only realizing too late their folly, as improvised booby traps decimate their defensive positions and Broken secretly approach from their rear.
The appearance of a Chieftain varies wildly based upon the culture of their original planet and also the Freeport that they currently call home. They tend to have slightly nicer clothing and equipment than standard rabble, and many Chieftains see it as their duty to show that an individual can still rise up through the ranks of the Broken while carrying themselves with dignity and class. When a powerful enemy combatant is felled in battle, a Chieftain will confiscate something of value from them, whether it be a chunk of armor or an heirloom weapon. These purloined treasures are worn into future battles by the Chieftain, both as a reminder of the victory, and a symbol of their great leadership.
Originally released in resin, the Chieftain now available to purchase in STL form for 3D printing, from the Maelstrom's Edge store here!
The included model variants.
This digital pack includes both supported and unsupported files of a male and female version of the Forsaken Chieftain, and with options for a poisoned blade or trophy melee weapon in the left hand and a slug pistol or xenos spotter for the right hand.
3D printed examples, printed on an Anycubic Mono 4K using Elegoo ABS-like resin at 35μm using Lychee slicer.
Printing results will vary depending on your printer, resin and settings.
You can find the rules for fielding these models in the downloads section of the Maelstrom's Edge website here.
Start building your strike force of sneaky doom by grabbing some Broken models from the Maelstrom's Edge webstore here!
New STL Release for the Broken - Forsaken Tech Chieftain
The second of our Broken Chieftain models, the Tech Chieftain, is now available to purchase in STL form for 3D printing, from the Maelstrom's Edge store here!
A Chieftain leading a Rabble unit into battle.
This digital pack includes both supported and unsupported files of a male and female version of the Tech Chieftain, and with options for two different customised weapons: a beam blastgun or a slug rifle.
3D printed examples, printed on an Anycubic Mono 4K using Elegoo ABS-like resin at 35μm using Lychee slicer.
Printing results will vary depending on your printer, resin and settings.
You can find the rules for fielding these models in the downloads section of the Maelstrom's Edge website here.
Start building your strike force of cybernetic doom by grabbing some Broken models from the Maelstrom's Edge webstore here!
Continuing the implacable march of digital conversion, the Epirian Contractor Drone marches into the the Maelstrom's Edge webstore in STL form for 3D printing!
A Contractor Defender unit holds the line.
This digital model pack contains STL files for both supported and unsupported versions of the Contractor Drone, with multiple equipment options. The model has been slightly updated from the original resin release, with taller legs and the addition of the linked Strike Missile option. A 3D printed resin version will also be added to the webstore in the near future.
Contractor Drone Render
These drones are added to Contractor Defender or Contractor Scout units. You can find the rules for these units in the downloads section of the Maelstrom's Edge website here.
Start building your army of shooty robotic doom by grabbing your Contractor Drone from the webstore here!
The V2 rulebook has taken a bit longer than we had originally planned, for a variety of reasons, but is definitely still coming. The book is about 90% finished, and we're all very excited to get it out into the world.
The Beta rules are still available on the MEdge website (here), for anyone who wants to try them out. The final version has a few changes, and the force lists have had a few balance tweaks, but it's close enough to give an idea of how V2 plays.
This month, a digital version of the Epirian Support Drone marches onto the battlefield, following in the footsteps of last month's heavy weapon Contractor Drone!
A Contractor Engineer unit advances cautiously along a waterline.
This kit is comprised of a Support Drone chassis, and optional parts to equip it to join any of three different Contractor unit types. The Recon Package is the standard gear for support drones utilised by Contractor Scout units. Contractor Engineers make use of tool-equipped drones to effect repairs on other damaged bots, while medical drones in Contractor Medic units patch up the force's less hardy human elements. The digital model pack contains STL files for both supported and unsupported versions of the Support Drone, with multiple equipment options. The model has been slightly updated from the original resin release, featuring taller legs to boost the overall size of the drone.
Support Drone Render
You can find the rules for all of these Epirian unit in the downloads section of the Maelstrom's Edge website here.
Start building your army of shooty robotic doom by grabbing your Support Drone from the webstore here!
A Contractor Engineer unit advances cautiously along a waterline.
I think it's because of the lighting, the gravel, and the sharp cut off between the gravel and the reflective water effect, but this picture strongly reminds me of an aquarium.
And aquariums, come to think of it, would make for excellent large-scale diorama containers. Which I'm sure has been done, but I've not seen it myself.
The raised legs on that resin drone really look good.
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.
Broken groups tend to be havens for tech-savants and hackers, known collectively as 'Jammers' - rule-breakers ostracised by societies scared of their technological prowess. These maverick inventors thrive amongst the Broken, where their skills are used to break into computer networks, disrupt signals, and set enemy technology against its users. In peacetime, neophyte Sig Jammers serve the needs of a Savant, scrounging parts and carrying out menial tasks. When the Broken go to war, Sig Jammers cause electronic havoc amongst the enemy. Deployed near enemy lines, their disruption equipment degrades weapon systems, disrupts broadcast frequencies, and shuts down targeting and support systems.
A Sig Jammer draws the ire of a Remnant Holista.
This digital model pack contains STL files for both supported and unsupported versions of the Sig Jammer, with two poses and two head variants.
Sig Jammer Render
You can find the rules for using Sig Jammers in your Broken force in the downloads section of the Maelstrom's Edge website here.
Start building your army of tech-wizardy doom by grabbing your Sig Jammer from the webstore here!
. I don’t know how you do it with the cost to make a mold in the mid 6 figures......sorry my sarcasm level seems to be set to 
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