Imperial Marauder Bombers for Aeronautica Imperialis

Marauder Bombers for Aeronautica Imperialis - plastic kits from GW.

Some more Aeronautica Imperialis content. Now that we have some Ork ground targets for the players to bomb, it would be good to have some bombers to go after them! These two aircraft are just the ticket - many 40k fans will recognize the silhouette of the Marauder Bomber. These are plastic multi-part kits from GW, and came as part of the "Wings of Vengeance" box set GW released with their re-boot of the rules a couple of years ago.

Heavy bolters on the rear-facing turrets to keep pesky enemy fighters at bay!

Escorting bombers to a target, and defending fighters and flak guns trying to bring the bombers down, these are classic sorts of air combat missions. Aeronautica Imperialis allows for a trick-of-the-mind where we can channel what are essentially WW2/Korean War air combat missions into the far future of 40k, with fun little models. Of course, there are twists. The "basic" Marauder bomber is already armed to the teeth, but can carry even more ordnance on its wings - these options range from even more bombs, to ground attack missiles, to air-to-air missiles...so enemy attackers will have to watch carefully. Not only will the lascannons and heavy bolters provide protection, but the Marauder pilot could take out an attacker with a missile!

Twin lascannon battery on the front - a long-range defensive touch!

These models are really, really something. They are certainly involved to build, with many, many small parts - watch out for that. But it's worth it, if you are a fan of the setting. I really enjoyed working on these - and it's not like you need loads of them for a game. These two, together with a fighter escort, would keep plenty of Ork fighters and flak batteries busy.

Ready for their first mission. As newly-painted models, nothing could go wrong. Right?

One interesting aspect of the re-booted Aeronautica Imperialis is the hex-based maps...normally I'm not a fan of hex-based miniature games, but in the age of zoom and endless totally random COVID-19 restrictions, I have a new appreciation for them - they allow the possibility of trying the game over Zoom (or similar platforms - if you hate yourself, I recommend Microsoft Teams, and if you just hate the other people, try to get them on WebEx from Cisco, but I digress).  Maybe the Conscripts will be up for a bombing mission sometime soon!

The sun sets over Lake Superior on a cool evening in April, 2021.

I'll leave with a photo of a recent sunset on the shores of Lake Superior. Views like this, and this hobby, help me to stay (mostly) sane. I hope everyone out there has something similar to help them keep going. Thanks for reading. 

Ork Dakka Jet and Ground Assets

Ork Dakka Jet and ground assets - plastic models from GW.

Hi again everyone - my furhter efforts on my WW1 painting have been delayed by a sudden lurch back into GW territory. This is an Ork "Dakka Jet" and set of Ork "ground assets" for GW's 40k-themed air-combat game Aeronautica Imperialis. These have been sitting on my painting desk for months, and when I finished those 10mm Roman Auxilia, I thought I might as well finish these bits too. 

The dakka jet is the basic fighter for the Orks - can be upgraded with extra rockits for air-to-air combat, or given bombs for ground attack missions.

Aeronautica is a fun game - obviously the setting won't be everyone's cup of tea, but I enjoyed the original version of these rules that Forge World released many years ago. The re-booted version, with nice plastic models, is a lot of fun too. The rules are not complicated, and it is fun to have these little combat aircraft from the grim and dark future zipping around, blowing up stuff, and each other. 

A bunch of random colours and patterns...fun little models to paint, although it can be slow going.

The initial model range focused on the Imperial Navy and the Orks, but it has since expanded to include Imperial Army (Valkyries) and the Tau (really cool!). I started painting my initial sets last summer, with the expectation that I would finish all of the models in short order...but hobby squirrels run around in my brain and I get distracted. This is a particular issue when trying to paint Ork subjects...they don't really have a uniform look to their gear and kit, and so each model is something of an individual effort for me, which makes painting Ork stuff a slog. I've always been impressed at how Dallas could paint whole groups of Orks...I can never manage more than one or two at a time.

And so this poor Dakka Jet has been sitting even longer than the Roman Auxilia from my last post. Probably since last November, when I had been last working on Aeronautica stuff...this one Dakka Jet was sitting there at the corner of my painting table, falling on to the ground occasionally, with a couple of base colours already on, waiting for me to finish it. But for months I just could not find the inspiration - I didn't feel like painting check patterns at the time, and besides, I had momentum with some other projects - but I finally just picked up the brush last week, and now it is ready.

Ork ground assets...a bunker of some kind, and assorted flak batteries to protect it.

In the Aeronautica game many missions involve bombing runs - that makes sense, it is a common sort of mission for combat aircraft. You need something to bomb - that is where these "ground assets" come in, both as targets and as additional defences. The bunker-looking thing serves as a target for the incoming bombers, while the assortment of Ork flak emplacements which would protect this and add to the fun in the game. These were all sold in very nice sprue packs - each with a bunker and group of ground defence pieces. Sadly, these packs no longer seem to be available.

Another view of the ground assets...these are in the same "scale" as the models for "Adeptus Titanicus"....

So there we are...my first GW and first sci-fi models painted in many months! Now that I am looking once more at GW stuff under my brushes, my hobby orbit is likely to spend a little more time in that world, meaning the WW1 project may have to take a back seat for a time. We'll see...goodness knows there is still lots of time for painting thanks to f*cking COVID. Thanks for reading, hope you are all doing OK out there. Cheers.

Imperial Thunderbolts for Aeronautica Imperialis

Flight of Imperial Thunderbolts for "Aeronautica Imperialis".

I've been dabbling in "Aeronautica Imperialis", GW's air-combat game set in the Warhammer 40k universe. I finished some Ork Dakka Jets back in the summer, and some Ork Fighta Bommerz in November - but to play the game, they would need some opponents! So here is a group of Imperial Thunderbolt Fighters, ready to protect The Emperor's skies and keep them clear of evil xenos...

I used the decals from the box set - basic, but they get the job done!

These are multi-part plastic kits from GW. Again, these are really, really well done - just be cautious with assembly, as there are some truly small and fiddly bits on these sprues that will disappear into a carpet and never be seen again if you drop them...

A standard Thunderbolt - quad autocannons and a pair of lascannons.

 

You have some options in terms of assembly - there is the standard Thunderbolt fighter, which is armed with quad autocannons and a pair of lascannons. But you can also build the "Thunderbolt Fury" variant, which sports avenger cannons in place of the autocannons. The avenger cannons hit a little harder (and a funny aside here - the description in the rules implies the avenger cannons run out of ammunition sooner, but then the actual stats show them with unlimited ammo, same as the autocannons - one of many odd contradictions in these rules - it's almost like GW subcontracted the rulebook production out to Warlord Games, but I digress).

The "Fury" variant - rocking the avenger autocannons on the nose. This is the flight leader - I figured he would take the plane with the cooler weapons...

 

Assortment of missiles to augment the fighting abilities of the Thunderbolt.

 

Just as the Ork planes in the game can get added weapons in the forms of rockets, bombs and "custom shootas", so the Thunderbolts can also be armed with air-to-air missiles, air-to-ground missiles, bombs or a mix, to complete various missions. Overall, these are great models, lots of fun to paint up.

A Thunderbolt closes with an Ork Fighta Bommer in "Aeronautica Imperialis" action.

Because the game is hex-based, we were able to give it a try over Zoom a few weeks ago - it was just a small game, two opposing patrols encountering each other, but after just one run-through, I can say the game looks to be a lot of fun. With the larger scale of aircraft, there will be some limits to the size of the game you can stage (although I believe it is possible to purchase larger game mats with hexes on them, which could open things up), but "Aeronautica" is a good bit of fun!

An Ork Dakka Jet makes a point-blank pass at an Imperial Thunderbolt...this is basically the way the Orks need to succeed in the game...

 

That's all for now - I hope to share another couple of add-ons to this fun game before long. And, of course, with winter nearly here in the formal sense, a number of us will be preparing for the start of the Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge - I hope you will enjoy our efforts!

Thanks for reading - hope you are staying safe and staying sane! 

Ork Fighta Bommerz For Aeronautica Imperialis

Headz up! Here come more Ork flyers!

Back in the summer, I posted about a new project - the re-booted Aeronautica Imperialis air combat game from GW. I predicted this would be a "summer project", and proceeded to...not touch any of the models during the ensuing summer months. Granted, I was busy preparing to move, but that's my squirrel-like hobby brain for you: one minute, something is "the next big project", and suddenly it ends up on the back-burner...oh well, I like to think a lot of hobby folk have the same challenges. :)

Tail guns turrets - both behind the cockpit and right in the tail assembly - provide extra protection.

Since the new version of Aeronautica is a hex-based game, I thought it might have some potential to play over Zoom, and so I dug the stuff out and took a brush to it again. I am still working on models from the starter box. I made a start back in July, finishing the three "Dakka Jets" which had come in the box set, and so I turned to work on the other Ork craft that came in the set, the two "Fighta Bommerz". I finished them off last week. 

You can see some of the underwing ordnance available for these fighter-bommerz.

These craft are more "multi-role" than the Dakka Jets. Where the Dakka Jets are essentially Ork MiGs, the Fighta Bommerz can engage Imperial interceptors and ground targets. They have enough maneuverability to dogfight a bit, and they also have rear turrets for extra protection against enemy interceptors who outmaneuver them. 

You can mount bombs, or extra guns - or both - under the wings to provide some extra flexibility for different missions. These aircraft have no internal bomb bay, so if there is going to be a ground attack aspect to the mission you will need to put bombs or rockets on under the wings. The model kits come with all of the possible options to mount under the wings, but there is no reasonable way to magnetize the weapon mounts on these models, so I just added an assortment - one of the craft has bombs, the other has some extra "shootaz".

From this view you can just make out the smaller "shootas" mounted right into the tail assemblies.

These new models Aeronautic Imperialis models are very, very well done by GW, quite intricate and detailed. The Ork craft are spot on with the current "look" of the 40k Orks, and any fan of the 40k greenskins will likely enjoy the assortment of models available. I find this look to be neat, but also a bit of a struggle to paint, as the slap-dash nature of their construction is one that does not necessarily lend itself to orderly assembly-style painting. The consistency of Ork equipment and vehicles is only very broad and and general, and each one would be a little different in so many ways.

Ready for the "skies" - hope to get a game in with these sometime and try out the new rules!

All this to say that, for smaller models, these took up more time than I would have hoped. That said, I enjoyed the whacky outcome. I am now turning my attention to the Imperial craft from the box set, so the Orks will have someone/something to shoot at. Stay tuned for more on that - in the interim, thanks for visiting the blog - hope you are safe, sane and able to enjoy your hobby amidst the lockdowns. 

Ork Dakka Jets For The New Aeronautica Imperialis

Ork Dakka Jets from GW's "Aeronautica Imperialis" buzz the countertop in my kitchen.

The summer weather continues to slow my painting, but I'm still messing around with a few small "projects" for the summer - one of these will be "Aeronautica Imperialis", GW's aerial combat game set in their Warhammer 40k universe. These are models of Ork "Dakka Jets", plastic kits from GW that came with the initial (re)release of the game last year, the "Wings of Vengeance" set.

These new models are much larger than the previous versions...but also very, very nice, I have to say.

These models are new to me, but the game itself is not totally new. "Wings of Vengeance" came out last year, but "Aeronautica Imperialis" itself is even older than that. It was originally a set of rules released by Forge World many years ago - Dallas picked up a copy, and the Conscripts have enjoyed many games of Aeronautica over the years.

Overheard view.

The original version of the game was a nice, clean and fun set of rules. It made use of the old Epic range of flyers, models which were subsequently sold through Forge World for a time. Dallas has an excellent collection of the old metal ork and Imperial fighters and bombers from the long-departed Epic game, augmented selectively with a few resin flyers from Forge World. The Forge World collection, back when it existed, was ostensibly the same scale as Epic, although the flyer models were much larger.

Much simpler scheme on this model.

This new version has built on that tradition - indeed, many of the rules will be familiar to anyone who has played the original version of Aeronautica Imperialis. But there are two significant changes. First, the movement and maneuver are now hex-based, instead of using the card template system in the original rules. Personally, I think the card template system is better, as it frees you from needing a hex-marked gaming surface. At the same time, it is easier and easier to get different game mats marked with things like hexes, so that is not such a big deal. Certainly, I think you could play without the hex map, as long as you have some hex-shaped markers to help with the maneuvers.

This one makes me think of the old US P-47 Thunderbolt from WW2 for some reason...

The second big change is found in the models themselves. In a move that will be familiar to fans of "Adeptus Titanicus", GW up-scaled the models when they re-issued Aeronautica (in fact, they are supposedly in a scale to match the new range of Titans). The new models are absolutely gorgeous, but they will not really fit at all with any of the older models...not an issue for me, but this will certainly turn some players off, no doubt. These Dakka Jets are two or three times larger than the old metal Ork fighters from the Epic game, and I suspect they are a health portion larger than the later resin models from Forge World.

Another view of the formation...those fancy flight bases will need to be painted!

The "Wings of Vengeance" box is set amid the campaign around the Ork invasion of Rynn's World. The box comes with a small selection of models for the Orks and Imperial air fleets to get you started. These "Dakka Jets" are the basic fighter/interceptors for the Orks - fast, maneuverable but not very armoured. They can be augmented with bombs and rockets to give some extra punch.

The models are very nice, faithful recreations of the strange look of GW's 40k Orks. So many rivets and random plates, all bolted/slapped together. It's a sort of shabby-clap-trap-but-still-somehow-scary Ork "technology", stuff that seems to work mostly because the Orks believe it will work. I haven't painted much Ork stuff over the years - it was fun to try (and mostly fail) to come up with checkerboard type markings, but on the whole, I'm pleased with how these turned out.

The bases are quite fancy - but a little annoying. They are so prominent that they will need to be painted at some point, I think. But they do not come apart very easily in order to facilitate priming and painting...so that will be a tricky business. I think I'll save that step for last.

You can see a couple of bombs peaking out from beneath the wings - giving this Dakka Jet some ability to hit ground targets.

Earlier this year GW released another Aeronautica set, "Skies of Fire", set during the Taros campaign and involving the Tau. While I am much, much keener on the Tau kit than the Ork stuff, but Orks are fun, and I thought they would be fun models to practice on in order to get used to painting these small model aircraft. My goal for the summer is to get through the Ork and Imperial models from the first box set, and we'll see where things go from there.

Thanks very much for reading, hope you are having a great summer!

30 Seconds Over New Rynn City: Aeronautica Imperialis Battle Report

Last Thursday I wanted to set up something we hadn't played for awhile. But I also thought it would be cool to do another game in keeping with our current and long-running Rogue Trader "Invasion of Rynn's World" campaign. The solution was "Aeronautica Imperialis", the short-lived aerial combat game from Forge World, set in the 40K universe.

I found a suitable scenario in the AI rulebook. An Ork air fleet is tasked with taking out some ammo supply bunkers on the outskirts of New Rynn City. Imperial interceptor aircraft and ground defences must defend the targets. The Orks had a Blasta Bommer, two Fighta-Bommers, and two squadrons each of three Fightas. The Imperials had two heavy flak guns and two squadrons of Thunderbolts, one of two and the other of three aircraft.

The models I have for AI are mainly the old Epic aircraft, cast in white metal. They're great models.
 

The Ork Fighta-Bommers are converted Imperial Marauders from Epic. I greenstuff'd on some Orky looking engine covers and rivets and gave 'em a red paintjob.
 

The Blasta Bommer is a resin Forge World piece. A gorgeous model but a bit of a challenge to assemble as the resin on the rear stabilizers was pretty warped. Lots of fiddly little gun barrels too, and unfortunately some were casualties of our recent house move :-(

Fightas are Epic pieces and are super-fun to paint. Very characterful and Orky little models.

Here's a nice shot of the beginnings of the furball. Aeronautica Imperialis uses clever little "maneuver cards" that also act like templates for the maneuvers. Pre-plotting is limited to choosing a maneuver for your plane for the next turn. Speed is set at the start of each turn (shown on the red dice) and altitude is a function of maneuvers picked (green dice).
 

The two sides dice for initiative at the start of each turn and the winner picks one plane to move, and play alternates back and forth. Shooting alternates too, with the initiative winner picking the first plane to shoot. Fighters generally take two points of damage to bring down but some weapons can do more than one point per hit. Ork big shootas, for example, roll 8 dice at short range! Hits are scored on a 5 or 6 if the target is at the same altitude as the firer - if they're one range band apart it takes a roll of 6.

A Thunderbolt catches one of the Ork Fightas in a deflection shot. Conscripts Greg and Mike ran the Imperial side, and if it wasn't for bad luck they'd've had no luck at all. Usually Mike can be relied upon for hot die rolling but not this night. Both Greg's and Mike's dice were appalling.

The Orks drew first blood with a shootdown of a Thunderbolt. Kills went back and forth for a bit but the Orks had more planes in the air so could absorb more losses.

Fighta and Fighta-Bommer

The Orks left the heavy lifting to the Blasta Bommer and it obliterated one of the bunkers on its first bomb run. Then the huge Bommer ended up flying off the table! A Fighta-Bommer hit the other bunker and although the doors were blasted off, the ammo inside failed to detonate.

The Orks had much better dice luck than the Imperials in the dogfight and after about 7 turns the Imperials had lost too many planes to continue - after taking 50% losses the remainder must bug out. So although the Orks only busted one bunker, we had to give them the win as they forced the other side off the table.

I really like AI for a straightforward aerial fight. There isn't a ton of record keeping required but the maneuver cards keep things flavorful and moderately tactical. The models are great too, and it's easy to put on a game. It's one of those Specialist Games that never should have died.

Obsessions in progress

This is the start of a small Citadel Ork army for Rogue Trader. Yes, Rogue Trader. I've collected an Ork army of metal Citadel models from the 1987-1989 period. I even have two of the crazy old Ork Dreadnoughts... the Orks number about 45 in total, and I have 25 or so metal Space Marines from the same period to be the Opfor. Not sure why the RT obsession has gripped, perhaps it's just nostalgia for my teenage gaming years. In any event it should be fun to once more play the old rules that originally started me into the "Games Workshop Hobby" - and that was even before there was such a thing as the "Games Workshop Hobby."

More goofy terrain for Epic/Aeronautica Imperialis. Random syringe parts, bits from a 1/35 T-62 that got built for Futurkom, some GW bits and a large Flames of War base...

... become an offshore Promethium drilling platform. Once painted this should be a fun objective/terrain piece for Aeronautica games.

Unlike most objectives I've built this one actually has some capacity for self-defence!

Battle Report: Cam Lights It Up....Honestly...

Greg's crack pilots in the briefing room

Last week Dallas hosted an Aeronautica Imperialis game - 6mm scale futuristic air combat, set in the Warhammer 40k universe. The outcome was frankly disturbing for everyone concerned, as Cam absolutely lit up the game.

The scenario features Ork fighters and fighter-bombers, including some kind of "suppa bomba" or something (basically an Ork B-25), attacking Imperial armoured vehicles. An Imperial fighter squadron was on hand to defend - and if they felt like it, attack the Ork vehicles as well. Both sides (critically it would turn out) had some AA defences on the ground - two flak "wagonz" for the Orks, and three Hydra AAA vehicles for the Imperials.

Dallas, Brian, Dave V and Bill took to the air for the Orks, while Cam and I flew the Imperial side. Cam had a section of two Thunderbolts and also controlled the AA. I had a squadron of five - that's five - thunderbolts, including one ace. We faced an ork flight of about 10 planes (?), including the new super bomma (which looked awesome - Dallas did an amazing job on it).

I was pretty sure we would rip the Orks - "we" being my awesome, five-plane squadron. Cam would chip in. Little did I suspect that Cam had his own, three part strategy:

1 - Amazing accurate AA fire.

The Imperium may have a mixed record on planes, but obviously has some kind of advanced optics lab for its AA guns

2 - Blazing hot dice rolls.

Cam's AA gunners slaughtered Ork pilots with red hot rolling

3 - Super star ace pilots.

"Hard deck my ass! We nailed those SOBs!"

The Orks raced across the table. I pushed ahead to engage. I had Brian and Dallas lined up in my sights, and was reaching for the kill-stencils when it emerged that my ground crew had loaded the Thunderbolts with paint rounds. We missed everything, while Brian started to blast my pilots. I lost one fighter in the first round, another one damaged, and all of the swearing in the world was not helping.

Dallas and the gang were feeling pretty smug, then Cam opened fire, and the tables turned rapidly. Cam's flak batteries picked at least two ork planes per turn. Cam's fighters - he had two of them - managed to damage an Ork tank, shoot down three Ork fighters, and generally cause mayhem.

The orks strafed and bombed, but thanks to Cam, they basically flew home empty-handed - those that flew home at all. I should note in their defence they did everything they were supposed to do, complete with some wonky flying that kept us guessing. We also had made an error on how easy it was for the Hydras to hit - we were hitting on "5"s and "6"s - it should have been "6"s. Still, Cam rolled plenty of those. I don't think it would have made much difference.

Also, Bill had a tough outing with the big bomber - Cam's flak venitlated the thing(of course), although it was not shot down. But just about every single bomb and strafing run did not wound any vehicles. In addition to great gunnery, Hydra tanks are apparently manufactured with unobtanium armour.

My superstar pilots? Out of five planes, three were shot down, for only one - ONE - kill. We were a net burden to the Imperial side. We won as it was, but our margin would have been greater if we HAD NOT EVEN PARTICIPATED. What a great feeling. On the plus side, I think I won some pretty sweet initiative rolls. Pretty lame when that is your main talking point, but there it is!

Dallas took some pics of the game. I look forward to seeing them on the blog - in particular the huge Ork plane from Forge World. It looks awesome. Thanks again to Dallas for hosting, and to everyone for coming out. If Cam keeps this up, may God have mercy on us all....

"Thanks for winning those initiative rolls, Maverick."

Crazy furball over the target zone

Ork Blasta-Bomma - poor focus due to Ork cameraman cr@pping himself from flak