Hardshell Spotlight

Oh, the big things over by the track supports? Yeah, we call them Hardshells. They’re security mecha. The flashing lights are what gives that away. Good eye. Funny how something that big can just sort of fade into the background. A lot of newcomers skip over them entirely. That sort of blindness tends to get people in trouble.

Yes, they do look more like military mecha than police models. That’s because they are military mecha. They get used for handling riots and gang shootouts and disaster relief and such, but if they’d been designed for that, you’d see more stun weapons, sonic suppressors, or water cannons. Note that, instead, that one has a gun that can perforate a starship. Rumor has it that their operators spend a good deal of time training to fight in the streets; at least as much as they spend training for riot control.

Hey all! Our Relic Knights playtester and veteran fan, Shannon Bourke, returns to cover a unit coming out for the first time in Relic Knights. One we have been very excited for, the Hardshell:

Costing 10 points for 11 inches total movement. 17 Health, 3 Armor and very sound active defenses the Hardshell is not easily passed up. Its impressive capacity in your cadre is outdone only by its striking silhouette. The Hardshell is an impressive sight and a great center piece for your cadre.

The stock Hardshell is a melee attacker, with options that are narrow but tightly focused.

Arrest is a solid and cheap melee attack, giving you the option for a staggering strike to a single opponent or a sweeping attack to thin down a large unit. A single Green Esper is all that you need to initiate this 5 damage attack. After that you have access to three great presses. 1 Red Esper for another 2 damage, 2 Red Esper for 1 damage for every enemy that Hardshell is engaged with and then 3 Red Esper for Knockback.

With its high health and solid armor The Hardshell is not afraid to stand toe to toe with most other units. This is only enhanced by its active defense Brace. 2 Yellow Esper for Shielding two as a base is then able to be enhanced with a pair of Presses. 1 Purple Esper for Shielding 1 and 3 Purple Esper for Negate.

Add to all that Heavy and No Escape and you have a very formidable melee opponent.

The Hardshell has an upgrade costing 0 which swaps out its arrest melee attack and replaces it with a Riot Gun ranged attack.

3 Green Esper for 7 damage and if Hardshell is within 12” of its target all enemy units with in 3” of the target suffer damage 4! Riot Gun also has a single press 1 Red esper for Push 4.

Thanks Shannon for writing another great article for us! Two kits will be available for the Hardshell at launch, one representing the melee variant and the other representing the ranged variant. Each kit comes with the cards for both, but for gamers and hobbyists who want their models to physically represent their gameplay loadouts, we have you covered, without the need to magnetize parts.

Not only would the Hardshell fit nicely Radiant half of the Radiant vs Void Two Player Starter Set. It's right at home as a supplement to the Cerci Speed Circuit Battle Box, bringing both the former and the latter up to a 45 point cadre force.

In addition to all that we have two more Cerci Speed Circuit releases to reveal to you in the coming days. You can subscribe for updates here (if you haven't already).

Next update is coming soon. Who's that in the Police Girl outfit?