Aeronautica Imperialis
| Aeronautica Imperialis | ||
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| Tabletop Wargame published by Games Workshop |
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| Rule System | Epic 40,000 | |
| No. of Players | 2 | |
| Session Time | 30 minutes - 3 hours | |
| Authors | Forge World | |
| First Publication | January 2007 | |
| Essential Books | Aeronautica Imperialis | |
New game announced May 11th 2019!
Aeronautica Imperialis was a wargame made by Forge World focusing on the aircraft of the factions of Warhammer 40,000. It's in the same 6mm scale as Epic 40,000 (in fact, Forge World sold Aeronautica Imperialis products in the same section of their website as their Epic 40,000 models), though it focused almost entirely on aircraft and anti-air defenses.
Unfortunately, it was retired in 2013, along with Games Workshop's Specialist Games line, although at least Forge World was nice enough to leave the FAQ and errata PDF's on their downloads page.
As of May 11, 2019, THEY'RE BRINGING IT BACK! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eRk54dM_fMc
2019 Relaunch
The relaunch is upon us! And by the Emperor do these tiny planes look amazing. Currently, there are two factions available: Ork Air Waaagh! and the Imperial Navy, with the Tau Air Caste coming soon.
Both factions are represented in the new starter box, Wings of Vengeance. The miniatures include are two Imperial Navy Thunderbolt fighters (can be alternately assembled as Thunderbolt Fury fighters), two Imperial Navy Marauder bombers, three Ork Air Waaagh! Dakkajets and two Ork Air Waaagh! Fighta Bommers. Aside from the plastic, also contained is the rulebook, an “Area of Engagement” game board, some dice, and quick reference cards.
There is a second starting box coming in 2020 titled "Skies of Fire", focusing on the conflict between the Imperial Navy and the T'au Air Caste, bringing six new aircrafts to the game as well as introducing the T'au faction. Just like Wings of Vengence it includes ten miniatures, evenly split between the two factions. The T’au force includes three Barracudas and two Tiger Sharks, each with a wide array of weapon options. The Imperium’s forces consist of two Valkyrie Assault Carriers, which can alternatively be built as Vendettas, plus three Lightning Strike Fighters, one of which can be built as a Lightning Fighter. Just like Wings of Vengence, it will also contains is the rulebook, an “Area of Engagement” game board, some dice, and quick reference cards.
Additionally, GeeDubs has put out the Rynn’s World Air War campaign book, which details the events of Waaagh! Snagrod’s invasion of the Crimson Fists Chapter homeworld. Before you get too excited about the prospect of Space Marine air combat let me curb your enthusiasm by telling you that the Rynn’s World Air War campaign book is only Imperial Navy versus Orks. However, let me reignite that enthusiasm by telling you that it does contain rules for the ‘eavy Bommer and Grot Bommer.
More factions can be expected, the T'au has been announced for a Taros campaign and even more of the Imperial Navy (the game is called Aeronautica Imperialis after all) with the addition of Lightnings and Valkyries.
Gameplay
A significant departure from the previous AI release is that the game now takes place entirely on a hex grid. While this takes away some of the guesswork because you can always count hexes between you and your target, it removes any uncertainty about who can shoot what and what's in range. Official How to Play video
Anyone familiar with X-wing or Wings of Glory will find the Ace Maneuvers system familiar, if more flexible. Players first plan a maneuver, then roll for initiative and take turns alternating movement and then alternating shooting.
Factions
Orks
In typical Ork fashion, their aircraft are essentially black smoke belching engines with as many guns as Orkly possible to bolt on. Boys before Toys is apparently true for Orks in every GW game, so bring the hordes and laugh as your opponent literally has too many targets to pick from and drowns in a sea of green.
Aircraft
- Dakkajet – The main “aircraft” of the Ork Air Waaagh! The WAAAGH is all about speed, hot nasty bad-ass speed and nowhere is this more apparent than the Dakkajet. If you're playing on the starter mat these things can close the distance to knife-fighting range in the sweep of an auspex and when they get there they're bringing a bucket full of dice with them. They require careful piloting though, as their puny 2 structure points means they can be taken out by a lucky lascannon or bolt cannon shot. Cheap as chips you can easily field a whole swarm of them.
- Fighta Bommer – More heavily armed and armoured than the Dakkajets. The thinking Ork's aircraft, for when you want to get someplace fast but also maybe survive the journey. The Kustom Big Shoota upgrade is highly encouraged, as this bad boy should stick around long enough to get more value out of them.
- ‘eavy Bommer – Bigga iz Betta Oh lawd he comin'! The 'Eavy Bommer is one beefy boi. It boasts an impressive amount of health and a separate gun for every arc. Unfortunately, all of those guns take up space so it isn't as good at bombing as the Marauder. Unlike the Marauder, it has a transport capacity.
- Grot Bommer - Drops Grots as
bombs? Drops Grots as exploding self guided missiles! A Grot Bomb when launched maneuvers similarly to any other aircraft. It gets D3+3 hexes of movement and one change of facing either left or right every turn. Then it does this until it ends up next a plane, at which point you see if it explodes. Bring these for shenanigans and hilarity. Can pay for even more Grot Bombs.
- Mega Bommer - Tactical Nuke Inbound. The largest Aeronautica model to date, the Mega Bommer boasts the highest structure in the game at a whopping 10, with guns, guns, and more guns. Its also equipped with the "mega bomm," which is canonically just a tatical nuclear weapon. Careful though, this model is Forge World only, so price is certainly a concern.
Upgrades
- Pair of Rokkits- A one use barrage best at short range. Gives the Orks some much needed punch to supplement their weaker guns. Can be used on air or ground targets.
- Pair of Wing Bombs- A short range but powerful bomb.
- Pair of Big Bombs- The same, but bigger.
- Kustom Big Shootas- Two more big shoota shots in the front arc at short and medium. The answer to "Do I want more Dakka?" is always, "YES".
- Belching Smoke- A one use 6+ invuln against ammo 1, 2, or 3 weapons.
- Fly Boss- A once per game reroll for this aircraft.
- Wazmek Speshul- GO FAST. Increase your max and min speed by 1.
- Extra Armor- A 6+ invuln that reduces your max speed by 1
Ground Defences
- Flak Platform- First of all, it's criminal this is no longer called the Flakka-Dakka Gun. But it's a pretty good low level defense battery. Has the risk of being overflown.
- 'Eavy Flak Cannon- A heavier hitting emplacement with fewer shots and the chance of extra damage on a 6. Effective up to Altitude 4 out of 5.
Where the Ork aircraft are flying scrap heaps, the Imperial Navy aircraft are flying bricks adhering to the Imperium’s policy of brute forcing as much as possible. The Imperials are the kings of medium range, dropping a surprising amount of hard hitting dakka. If you can keep your opponents in the sweet spot you'll be able to fuel the golden throne with their sweet, sweet tears.
Aircraft
- Thunderbolt fighter – Work horse of the Aeronautica Imperialis. A very capable air to air fighter with enough hardpoints to sling some air to ground hate.
- Thunderbolt Fury – A surprisingly cheap upgrade to the Thunderbolt. The Avenger Boltcannon has one more shot at close and medium range while also doing extra damage on a roll of 6. Generally the better option, unless you really need to save points.
- It should be asked how the fuck this makes sense, as the dedicated ground attack craft of the Navy, the Avenger itself, only carries one cannon and sacrifices a lot of space to do so. This little shit managed to get two.
- Marauder bomber – Front facing lascannons, turrets on top and at the rear makes this one tough cookie. Throws a hilarious amount of dice when bombing things. Want even more? You can take four pairs of Hellstrikes or bombs on the wing pylons. Or you could choose the same number of Skystrikes and to make a dogfighting Land Raider.
- Marauder Destroyer – The Imperium looked at the Marauder and said "Needs more GUN." Trades lascannons for autocannons, the tail heavy bolter for an assault cannon, and some bomb capacity for troop space. Most expensive imperial airplane but easily worth the cost for the amount of battlespace role's it can perform. rivals ork aircraft for close range dakka it can put out.
- Lightning and Lightning Strike - 2 structure planes with ok - bad weapons that make up for it with an incredible Throttle of 3 and the ability to perform maneuvers 1-7. In the right hands, this thing is murder. Not in the right hands, it has a tendency to explode.
- Avenger Strike - Like a Thunderbolt, but for ground attack and worse. At 20 points base, it is cheaper than a thunderbolt, but its additional weapon options (which are quite useful) both put it at the exact same cost. For this, you get one worse Throttle, Structure, and Max Altitude. At two points less than a Thuderbolt Fury, though, it isn't impossible that this could find a place in your list.
Upgrades
- Skystrike Missile- A medium to long range anti-air missile. Extra damage on a 6
- Hellstrike Missile- A short to long range air-to-ground missile. Extra damage on a 6
- Wing Bombs- Exactly what it sounds like. A short range high power bomb.
- Ejector Seats- The chance to save the crew on a 5+. Reduces a kill to 75% of its value instead of 100%
- Flares/Chaff- A one use 6+ invuln against ammo 1, 2, or 3 weapons
- Infrared Targeting- Allows you to ignore night fighting and bad weather a medium range*Imperial Ace- A once per game reroll
- Armored Cockpit- A permanent 6+ invuln
Ground Defences
- Hydra Flak Battery- A slightly worse low level defense platform than its Orkish counterpart.
- Manticore Missile Battery- Overfly this, bitch. A SAM system nearly capable of orbital targeting. Doesn't get many shots, but it'll make you feel it when it hits.
- Basilisk Anti-Aircraft Gun- The most expensive Imperial ground assets at 9 points. Like the Manticore, it doesn’t get many shots, but it damages on a 2+ and causes extra damage on a 6+. Effective altitude of 4. All told, not horrible.
External Links
- The Airspace Compilation, a fan-made supplement featuring units added to 40K since Aeronautica Imperialis was released, as well as some content for some posting-board campaigns.