Warhammer 40K: Sprues And Rules – Aeronautica Imperialis
Come for pics of the new sprues inside the Aeronautica Imperialis box, stay for a preview of the movement/maneuvering rules and hex maps.
Soon Wings of Vengeance will be filling the skies above the worlds of 40K’s grim, dark galaxy with planes that swoop and zoom and explode, while Orky flying aces dressed inexplicably like cariacatures of WWI/II fighter pilots scream into the night.
It’s awesome, is what I’m saying. And if you’re wondering just how awesome it’s going to be, the whole game is full of bits like this–AND SPEAKING OF BITS–here are just a few you’ll find inside the box.
These are Adeptus Titanicus scaled vehicles. Here you can see some of the sprues you’ll be assembling, you can see some of the new bits for the Thunderbolt Fury, a new configuration never-before-seen in 40K.
The game is more than just the scale and composition of its models though. It’s played on a Hex Grid, as you can see in the various Area of Engagement maps that are soon o be available. The one included in the box is a double-sided mat ready to battle over:
Whether you’re fighting in the bombed out ruins of a city or fighting over defensive installations…
These maps make it easy to throw down and battle. And hex grids means hex bases, each of which come with predone firing arcs and facings and trackers for speed and altitude, so you can get a ton of relevant info at a glance. These look super helpful, and will help keep the battlefield from getting cluttered up with tokens and markers and so on.
That brings us to the most important part of this flying game. Because as you can see there’s speed and facing–and that means movement mechanics, which we’ve seen just a little of so far. Movement is at the heart of any dogfighting game, which comes down to positioning, turning, and keeping the enemy in your sights while staying out of theirs. In order to do that, you’ll want to use Ace Maneuvers:
As you can see, this game is designed for hexes. How or even if this might translate to a mapless 3d system is up in the air (along with the models), but for now it looks like classic aerial battles are here for 40K.
What do you think of the new rules? Sprues? Let us know in the comments!
