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I just saw a copy of Stormcloud Attack at the local Hobby store (it's not the FLGS, just has a shelf of 40K stuff). It was the Faith/Heresy set with the HelDrake and Stormtalon. I was very tempted to buy it, but decided to hold off until I found out a little more about how the game with it actually plays. Yes, if I buy it, its for the included game, I've already got the models and don't *NEED* more, though they could be put to work in 40K if I did get them. I'm very leery of GW's rules writing - and, if there's a way to get the rules without having to buy the set, please let me know.

Haven't played it, but from what I saw of the rules it's not worth buying. It's better than the awful DFTS "rules" (though that's setting a really low bar) but it's still a pretty superficial game that suffers from the awkwardness of 28mm air combat on a standard table. If you want the models go ahead and get the box, it's a good deal. But if you want an air combat game and don't really care about the models there are better options out there.

Amazing game. Probably my favorite stand alone game yet. We have an ongoing tournament happening at the GW here and everyone is pretty in to it.

I've played it quite a few times now, and it is really good fun. We're looking at doing 'The Big Show' scenario tomorrow at my LGS.

It does work quite well - the different fighters do genuinely feel different to one another - almost every flyer has at least one "damn I wish I could do that" party piece*, and the shortened ranges** and move distances - whilst they feel a little odd initially - do mean that you get a nice 'twisty-turny' knife fight between flyers on a normal 40k scale board.

Also, Ace pilots are ***** dangerous (much like X-wing) - just to warn you. The ace rules don't look that amazing at first glance given that their flyer is no tougher or better armed, but an experienced double ace will eat 2-1 odds for breakfast and stand a pretty good chance even at 3-1.

if there's a way to get the rules without having to buy the set, please let me know.

There is. http://www.blacklibrary.com/all-products/stormcloud-attack-my-pilot-app.html
Has the rules set built in.

* The Stormtalon's Vector Thrust sideslip, or the Valkyrie's Hover, or the Eldar Flyer's Reverse, for example.

** roughly about half range. Assault cannons, for example, are a 10" range.

 Peregrine wrote:
Haven't played it, but from what I saw of the rules it's not worth buying. It's better than the awful DFTS "rules" (though that's setting a really low bar) but it's still a pretty superficial game that suffers from the awkwardness of 28mm air combat on a standard table. If you want the models go ahead and get the box, it's a good deal. But if you want an air combat game and don't really care about the models there are better options out there.

I would agree with this. I haven't played the game either; the rules look like they could be fun, but the flaw I could see with this would be similar to the problem you have when you play X Wing with just 3 ships - everyone flying around aimlessly trying to hit eachother. This may be different as I don't think each player takes their actions at the same time (correct me otherwise). However I feel this won't compare to a game like Lost Patrol in terms of a quick play out-of-the-box experience. And Lost Patrol costs £25 less.

Most certainly the sets are good value if you want the flyers - they also come with some unique ace pilot transfers, so pretty neat.

G.A

locarno24 wrote:
I've played it quite a few times now, and it is really good fun. We're looking at doing 'The Big Show' scenario tomorrow at my LGS.

It does work quite well - the different fighters do genuinely feel different to one another - almost every flyer has at least one "damn I wish I could do that" party piece*, and the shortened ranges** and move distances - whilst they feel a little odd initially - do mean that you get a nice 'twisty-turny' knife fight between flyers on a normal 40k scale board.

Also, Ace pilots are ***** dangerous (much like X-wing) - just to warn you. The ace rules don't look that amazing at first glance given that their flyer is no tougher or better armed, but an experienced double ace will eat 2-1 odds for breakfast and stand a pretty good chance even at 3-1.

if there's a way to get the rules without having to buy the set, please let me know.

There is. http://www.blacklibrary.com/all-products/stormcloud-attack-my-pilot-app.html
Has the rules set built in.

* The Stormtalon's Vector Thrust sideslip, or the Valkyrie's Hover, or the Eldar Flyer's Reverse, for example.

** roughly about half range. Assault cannons, for example, are a 10" range.

Ah, thanks - that'll save me $80-$100.

This may be different as I don't think each player takes their actions at the same time (correct me otherwise).

You alternate movement. Each player moves several times a turn, and gets to move ~ two base lengths and come about up to 90' each time, and gets a chance to shoot each time, so actually getting shots on one another isn't that hard.

The starter sets are also just that; starter sets - the scenarios include many-on-many dogfights.

Seconded on the fun part, this is a really fun game. It's like armada and x-wing but bigger and more campaign based.

From what i have seen, its one of those games that only gets REALLY good, when you have like 3 on 3 dog fights

 Backspacehacker wrote:
From what i have seen, its one of those games that only gets REALLY good, when you have like 3 on 3 dog fights

Urk. That could get expensive -and crowded - quick. Is standard play size 4' x 4'?

6 x 4.

2 on 2 dogfights work perfectly fine and are good fun. So are 'free for alls' or 'team on team' - so players only need one or two fighters each for a big game. One on one works, but I'd recommend using a pair of Ace pilots if you do that - the different ace abilities go a long way to making a one-on-one different every time.

Kestral and I played one and a half games. The games were one on one to get a feel for the rules. Bigger scrums I belive will be more fun. The rules are quirky but can make for a quick fun game. Maybe I will post a picture or two.


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Loving the Orky naval fighter!

Bigger scrums I belive will be more fun. The rules are quirky but can make for a quick fun game.

I can vouch for that. We had a 9-player Free For All last night to introduce the game to a lot of people.

Sort of report here

How does this compare to Aeronautica Imperialis? I loved that game.

And along those lines, has anyone come up with any datasheets for some of the Forgeworld models yet, specifically the Thunderbolt or Lightning? Which don't really have any close analogies in the GW range.

Forgeworld said they weren't going to do anything with Stormcloud attack.

I picked up the rules via the My Pilot app and looked through them; they sounded good enough that I'm picking up a copy of Faith & Heresy on Friday (another Stormtalon for me, Heldrake for my son). Hopefully we can have a game over the weekend and I'll try to post how it went.

I think that's a shame Forgeworld won't do their vehicles for Stormcloud - I myself want to stat up the Tyranid Harpy/Crone for this game (if the Heldrake can play, don't see why those two can't).

Got the game tonight, played a quick battle between models I've already put together (Stormtalon vs. Heldrake). We played a little under an hour, didn't finish - but my Stormtalon had taken 3 Structural damage and Heldrake had taken 1, but fixed it. Damn wingover and talon strike.

I'm surprised how even the 1 vs 1 game was fairly interesting. A little miffed there's no points values listed for the flyers as I doubt they're all balanced between each other (especially with the weapon load-out changes), and how the models hang over the bases causes some issues with getting precise movement.

There's a couple of fiddly rules that look like they'd be worth ignoring for a more streamlined game - tailing/head-on modifiers, snap shot return fire and the Damage repair rolls seem a bit overly generous. It's nothing that ruins the game, but I think it would have been just as well without it, though a bit more challenging.

One thing I wish they'd done is have the aircraft stats on a separate sheet or card and wish the reference sheet had the damage tables on the back. Having to flip through the book to refer to the stats gets a bit annoying (especially when you flip to the wrong imperial flyer).

Overall though, it's an enjoyable game. If you have the spare money, I'd recommend it. It'd be a lot more affordable as Epic scale (Wonder how close this is to Imperial Aernautica)