The upcoming Aeronautica book from Forge World looks like it should do a great job of expanding the whole new aspect that has been added to the game of 40k with the release of 6th Edition. The concept of flyers. Now the war moves off the ground and into the sky above.
While the new rulebook has rules for flyers in it, there are only a few models right now that can make use of the new rules. Not every army has got them just yet it seems. The Imperium (Space Marines and Guard) make out the best so far using the rules from the book. They have four choices between them to choose from. Most armies don't have any flyers right now... unless you pick up this new book.
It promises fully updated 6th Edition rules for 34 flyers and 13 anti-aircraft units fielded by the Imperial Navy, Space Marines, Orks, Eldar, Tyranids, Tau Empire, Necrons, Dark Eldar and Chaos. They also toss in rules for two brand new aircraft: the Space Marine Storm Eagle Assault Gunship and the Imperial Navy Avenger Strike Fighter.
In addition to the vehicle data sheets, this book also adds wargear and special rules unique to flyers (new rules and wargear?). I do hope they include the data sheets for the few vehicles that had their rules already published in a previous issue of White Dwarf. It might be tough for folks to get a hold of those rules otherwise.
All in all, it sounds pretty cool actually. Looks like this might be a nice blend of Forge World and Games Workshop stuff and not just Forge World doing their own thing. My one concern is the price... with Forge World making the lion's share of the new flyers, will that be a hurdle for some gamers? I wonder if the larger priced vehicles will be the one reason gamers opt out of using flyers in their armies. Maybe flyers will really shine in things like Apocalypse, but not your smaller point games.
It will be interesting to see how they are used too. Will folks use them as dedicated air support or another form of transports for their troops.
Either way, I'm looking forward to bombing runs, missile strikes and fielding anti-aircraft capable units. I can tell you I really like the Crash and Burn rule in the new book too.
Make sure to check out these posts as they might help:
The Storm Eagle and adding flyers to your army
The Stormtalon Gunship and new flyers for 40k
