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What is the strategic value of aircraft and how does that align with the rest of an army in 40k?

Maybe they need to give a Dogfight action for aircraft - treat it like close combat, except its shooting and put it in the CC phase.

So they come onto the table in the movement phase, shoot at ground targets and then can 'dogfight' an enemy air craft within the X" range of a dogfight action (12"?) and they both fight each other with their dogfight guns.

ie you'd either have the dogfight rule in the gun they can use, or assume all can dogfight unless the weapon has 'ground strike' in it. or something to that effect.


Then you get a unique playstyle with aircraft, but it only works against other aircraft and their actions against the ground are more like normal unit actions.


You can also have special effects from ground attacks up to air craft that for instance stop them shooting at the ground, but not in a dogfight.

You can then have the only way to 'kill' an aircraft is in a dogfight, while AA attacks are used to 'pin' the aircraft so it has no impact on your units.

When the dakkajet was first introduced back in 3rd edition Speed Freaks, there wasn't a physical model. Infact one wasn't needed. If memory serves, all units on the table took a few wounds as the plane strafed the table top. It was done at the beginning of the game and never showed up again.

So while, I feel that some aircraft could be represented with the hover rule and still stick around on the table top, maybe the supersonic ones could just draw a line across the table every other turn and any unit the line passes over takes some sort of damage.

ccs wrote:

 Kid_Kyoto wrote:
Y'know thinking about the AA guns they included in the last Horus Heresy box, and the AA Tarantulas I wonder there won't be a big push for HH-era fliers.

Maybe that's where the Thunderbolt went?

The Thunderbolt has always been in HH.

But not in glorious plastic

It's recent disappearance from 40k rules makes me wonder if is about to become a plastic 30k kit.

The Avenger is still Tourney Legal in 40k... and the best looking plane in the Imperial arsenal.

If I had a little more money... I would buy one.

 Lathe Biosas wrote:
The Avenger is still Tourney Legal in 40k... and the best looking plane in the Imperial arsenal.

If I had a little more money... I would buy one.

Have to disagree since the Xiphon exists.

 Lathe Biosas wrote:
The Avenger is still Tourney Legal in 40k... and the best looking plane in the Imperial arsenal.

If I had a little more money... I would buy one.

the Avenger and Lightning are both still in 40k rules, and the Thunderbolt model is still being sold but the rules disappeared. It might just be a weird error but it's possible there's something coming.

it's feels like GW making 40K a platoon level battles at best. And you don't have aircrafts in platoon. And anything larger they move to HH where we have battalion size combat and larger

 kabaakaba wrote:
it's feels like GW making 40K a platoon level battles at best. And you don't have aircrafts in platoon. And anything larger they move to HH where we have battalion size combat and larger

Baneblades, Knights, and tourney-legal actual Titans disagree.

 BorderCountess wrote:

 kabaakaba wrote:
it's feels like GW making 40K a platoon level battles at best. And you don't have aircrafts in platoon. And anything larger they move to HH where we have battalion size combat and larger

Baneblades, Knights, and tourney-legal actual Titans disagree.

Sort of, the bigger stuff in HH is accurate still, but there is a blurring of the lines for 40k, the big tank with supporting dudes isn't exactly a hard visualisation for 40k level game. When it's a whole armoured column the wheels come off though.

Ok, i count it wrong, you can bring LR tank company in 2K game. But i doubt anyone gonna have fun in that game