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.... and wanted to get some feedback from the good folks here at Dakka.  From my initial read, seems like an easy to play but really fun game.  I really do enjoy the games with only like 10 pages of core rules but that open the door to a lot of complexity.  Just shows that simple =/= dumb all the time.

So, have you played it?  What's it like?  Which units are good/bad?

Thanks!

Ozymandias, King of Kings

Posted By Ozymandias on 08/14/2007 2:49 PM
.... and wanted to get some feedback from the good folks here at Dakka.  From my initial read, seems like an easy to play but really fun game.  I really do enjoy the games with only like 10 pages of core rules but that open the door to a lot of complexity.  Just shows that simple =/= dumb all the time.

So, have you played it?  What's it like?  Which units are good/bad?

Thanks!

Ozymandias, King of Kings

I am getting into it myself. Though very lightly. This game is doomed to fail due to lack of being able to be easily found. Specialist games are easier to get than these rules/models. And we know where specialist is at right now...

Anyways, great game. I have played many flight games such as AI and its very similar to how the others have played, so its familiar ground. (Crimson skies, etc.)

As far as good units? Kinda depends on what you play and what you expect to see your opponents field. If there is no ground defenses, then straight air superiority is the deal. But ground defenses seem to be gaining in popularity (with the 2 players here.. yeah real popular) so a plane or two to take care of bombing straffes might not be a bad idea for future consideration.

Gotta have some fighter escorts for the larger flyers. This allows the more expensive flyers to complete their missions without a large amount of haranguing. The escorts keep the flies off of their backs, as it were.

But I am collecting eldar, which are quite expensive point wise. so my advice is somewhat biased towards their tactics.

I think the problem isn't just the difficulty in finding it, it's also the will to plop down $85-90 for a single rule book that may not have any others to play it with. Then of course the mini's aren't cheap either, for the ones that only FW make that is. I'd love to give it a shot but I just can't justify it at this time.

I think the way to go with things like Specialist Games and AI is to collect two (or more) armies, so you can play with anyone. If they like it, they'll probably buy their own army.

I have four Epic armies, and have gotten a few games in as a result that I otherwise would not have been able to.

The models seem to be interchangeable with Epic, so maybe start there and branch out if you can find enough people to play with. I wouldn't hold your breath, though. Since moving to the US I'm not finding anyone to play 40K with, much less Gothic and Epic.

Pariah, feel like parting with any Tyranids?

Posted By Hellfury on 08/14/2007 3:00 PM

This game is doomed to fail due to lack of being able to be easily found. Specialist games are easier to get than these rules/models.

I've never had any trouble finding the Forge World website and their Online Store.

Look, I'll even give you a link:

http://www.forgeworld.co.uk/acatalog/Aeronautica_Imperialis.html

See? Easy.

BYE

Posted By Ozymandias on 08/14/2007 2:49 PM
Just shows that simple =/= dumb all the time.

When it isn't written by GW, yes.

BYE

Personally I'd go to www.theminiaturespage.com and ask this. They have a lot more experience with different games than I or most Dakka posters and can tell you if it's worthwhile or if there isn't a better alternative.

I picked it up when it first came out, and like Pariah Press suggested, I bought two armies. Since then, a lot of the people at my FLGS have seen me and a friend playing and started to get into it. We've got about 4 regulars and another 5 who just bought in.

It's a lot of fun to play, but the big key to the game is being able to "read" your opponent. Even the massively death-dealing Vampire Hunter is dead meat if it can't ever point its guns at another fighter. If you can predict where your opponent is going to go consistently, you're gonna win. My friend compares it to Poker in that it's more about the players then the cards (or dice in this case).

My location is pretty lucky in that the local LA Battle Bunker sells AI stuff in store and ForgeWorld at the recent GamesDay made a killing off my local game club. So in my case, it's been really easy to find the minis. I've also ordered off the ForgeWorld website for advance orders and never had a problem there either. Fighters are ~$10 a pop and realistically you'll be fine with about 4 or so to start with. The rulebook is $70 though, not 90. Maybe shipping is bumping it up there, though. Say $120 to get into the game or 160 for two armies.

The Eldar are utterly spectacular in this game. The combination of high speed, manuverability and holo-fields make them the high performers here. They're balanced by high cost, so you'll almost always be outnumbered in the air. Another bad side is that beginning players just compare statlines and see the Eldar advantages. As I said earlier, AI is about player skill more then anything and these same players really get bummed out when they get shot down by a humble Lightning.

Imperial Navy has the greatest amount of planes in the game and are good solid performers. The baseline for the game, as it is. What's interesting is that they fight much better in the midrange then up close at pointblank, which leads to a lot of manuevering to get opponents further away. They're currently the only race that can do high-level bombing (although Chaos and Ork heavy bombers just came out) so no need to get down in the weeds to kill tanks. They use small quick Valkyries as troop transports rather then the large transporters of other races, so there's another difference.

Tau fly similarly to the Imperials, but their weaponry is focused for close-range crunch power. All Tau also have Burst Cannon Turrets which allow them to shoot outside the standard forward arc, which is a nice trick. A subtle advantage is that they can fly slower then other races, which can lead to a lot of overshoots on your opponent's end. I don't have any play experience with the Manta, but it's one of those "my whole fighter squadron vs. your Manta" type engagements.

Orks are high-speed, CAN'T fly slow and throw tons of lead at pointblank range. Relatively inexpensive (point-wise) fighters lead to numeric advantages. Grot Bombs are kamikaze weapons launched from Fighta-Bombaz which let the Ork player chase down other fighters and try to ram into them. They're rather limited right now in their choice of planes, but a new Bomma model is being released next month.

Chaos is the king of hordes. Tons of really cheap and quick fighters with exceptional firepower for their size. The bad news is that they're quite literally one-hit wonders as they have no armour. But hey, why would Chaos worry about stuff like that? Very Tie-Fighterish I suppose. They've just gotten a heavy bomber which is absolutely monster-sized and has the nice ability to incendiary bomb ground targets which destroys anything it touches regardless of protection.

Posted By H.B.M.C. on 08/15/2007 1:50 AM

Posted By Ozymandias on 08/14/2007 2:49 PM
Just shows that simple =/= dumb all the time.

When it isn't written by GW, yes.

BYE

Well, seeing that Forgeworld is owned by GW and all of its employees are GW employees, that doesn't really make much sense.  In fact, the rulebook has "Games Workshop" on the binding and on the first page.  Looks like a GW game to me.

Ozymandias, King of Kings

spmsubi and others:

Thanks, that was a lot of help. I'm thinking of picking up an Imperial force with Thunderbolts and Lightnings and a Chaos force with some of those hell-thingies. Then later pick up some bombers for some bombing run scenarios.

The book was pricey, but it is a beautiful book and I love the color sections and the technical details of the ships. Even my non-gamer fiancee was impressed by the game and was oogling the Tau aircraft. Maybe a Tau force is in order...

Oh, and I heard that in the not-too-distant future they are releasing a supplement to AI with more rules, more aircraft, and more scenarios. Haven't heard that mentioned so I thought I'd pass it along.

Ozymandias, King of Kings

Posted By H.B.M.C. on 08/15/2007 1:49 AM

Posted By Hellfury on 08/14/2007 3:00 PM

This game is doomed to fail due to lack of being able to be easily found. Specialist games are easier to get than these rules/models.

I've never had any trouble finding the Forge World website and their Online Store.

Look, I'll even give you a link:

http://www.forgeworld.co.uk/acatalog/Aeronautica_Imperialis.html

See? Easy.

BYE

Whoah! Is that, like, on that intarnet thingie?

I heard about that place once.


Its a fringe game based on a fringe game in a fringe hobby, from an even more fringe company than its already fringe parent company.

its so much fringe, it makes this chic look subtle and stylish:

That's a nice jacket.

Posted By Spacegoat on 08/14/2007 6:59 PM
Pariah, feel like parting with any Tyranids?

  Heh.  No Tyranids.  I have Space Marines, Imperial Guard, Adeptus Mechanicus, and Squats.  Keep those Tyranids away from my Squats! 

  There were a few aircraft from the mainstream Epic game (and it was mainstream, as the 3rd core system) such as Tzeentch Daemon Engines that could be fun to bring into AI, though I suspect they'll look a bit small next to Forgeworld's big Epic flyers. 

  You should see my tiny first-generation Thunderhawk Gunship.  It's smaller than a 40K-scale marine. 

mmmmm Squats...

Forgeworld's catalogue has the AI stuff in their Epic section aswell, so I figured that they were compatible.

But no kidding, some of those older sculpts were tiny. I'll be scratch building my own Haridan to bulk things out a bit.