Editing Phantine Air Corps (section)

== Why They Should Be Common ==

The great part about the Guard is that it's about the common soldier (and his Baneblade) in the face of overwhelming odds, and even in the darkness of 40k this definitely extends to the Phantine. They're the same bog-standard humans as the Guard on the ground, facing down Tyranid flying hives, Eldar super-fighters, titan-sized Tau bombers, Necron anti-aircraft laser spam, Chaos planes that eat other planes (and whose mere wake in the air is corrupting and can cause their aircraft to eat them alive if they fly through said wake), and Orks guzzling jet fuel because they can. The Phantines are the pilots up against the most overwhelming odds, facing death in the skies knowing that their efforts protect the ground forces to do their jobs without being bombed to hell. To attack the enemy behind the lines with precision strikes on vital points and fortifications. To face the same horrors in the sky as their brothers on the ground with little more than their wits and reflexes and a jet strapped to their ass. So that when they land and see that their efforts allowed others to succeed, they may know they are just as much Imperial Guard as any other in the service of the God-Emperor.

It's also worth pointing out that since they just fly air craft as compared to to the 'proper' navy's space craft they don't break the original function of splitting the navy and imperial army, making it harder for rebellions to have both a ground force and a Navy force. So while yes, there is now a risk of rebellions having air support, it won't be able to leave the planet and cause chaos. You additionally gain closer corporation between air and ground forces, useful for naval ships space to surface weapons, vital for weapons which are going to be operating in close support to ground force, and yes that closer ties mean higher chance of a joint air/land rebellion but it may be worth it in this case, (not to mention since there guard you can have Commissars around to BLAM the pilots if need be, though given the cost of training a skilled pilot this may not be as common as it is for the ground-pounding cannon fodder but it is still an option.) So even by Imperial logic it make sense to have more "Imperial Air Corps" like the Phantine's. Cept for that whole "irrationality" which marks the setting. Besides, it isn’t unknown for air groups on ships to turn renegade, anyway.

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[[Category:Warhammer 40,000]][[Category:Imperial]]