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I've always run Shooty armies. I've been wanting to switch it up, though, so I picked up the new BA codex. In my local meta flyers are pretty common, forcing me to add some type of skyfire to every list. Since I should be locked in combat, is it that required?

Yes, unless every unit is combat dedcated. If you have a reasonable amount of support units, they will get ripped up in a flyer heavy meta. One stormraven and a sicaran with either schism of mars or battle of keylek should suffice. These are also good units to go against non-air.

If you only have a couple of cheap support units, it maybe counter productive to invest in AA.

Anti air is costly for a BA army.
As said by Poly Ranger, you have to think twice before including a pricey Stormraven.

So I think I'm going to end up throwing something with anti-air in my list.

The stormraven isn't something I want to use, simply because of how ugly it looks. I know its 25 extra points, but do you think a Fire raptor can do the job?

An ADL with a quad gun operated by some Marines is a solid investment.
The enemy will react with his flyers accordingly.

 wuestenfux wrote:
An ADL with a quad gun operated by some Marines is a solid investment.
The enemy will react with his flyers accordingly.

This is my favorite option. It is a good place to put some scout snipers. That way you aren't really blowing a ton of points if there are no flyers because tho cover is worth it.

 TranSpyre wrote:
So I think I'm going to end up throwing something with anti-air in my list.

The stormraven isn't something I want to use, simply because of how ugly it looks. I know its 25 extra points, but do you think a Fire raptor can do the job?

And then some. Much much better gun ship.