Aeronautica Imperialis: Jäger und Bomber

Avenger Strike Fighter

The Avenger is the strafing craft of choice for the Imperial Navy, created for attacks of opportunity against mass columns of armour and troop transports. Plus, it looks really cool…

In Aeronautica Imperialis, it’s a very solid ground attack plane for its size, and a more than capable dogfighter, which makes them quite versatile. The main feature – the avenger bolt cannon – is a beast at mid-range. Take a look at these stats and see for yourself!

4+ Damage, plus extra on a 6, isn’t bad at all when you’re rolling five dice! Bolt on a pair of lascannons or autocannons to tailor their firepower to your target of choice, add some extra missiles or bombs, and you’ve got a lot of damage output in a quick, light frame.

While similar in some ways to the Lightning Strike Fighter, the Avenger fills a different role in your roster. It can kick out more firepower, but it’s not quite as fast or agile.* The Avenger works best in a well-coordinated attack with the rest of your squadron, where it’s got a better shot at lining up the juiciest targets, protecting the more cumbersome aircraft, and setting up the perfect strafing run.

Watch out for the Max Altitude of 4, though, which could allow some enemies to fly higher than you and reduce the effectiveness of your firepower. And also keep in mind you can’t strafe a ground target and drop bombs on the same turn, so choose wisely.

While zippy little fighters are fun and all, we know T’au Air Caste players have been waiting patiently** for the really, really big guns. Well, Patient Hunters, let us introduce you to your new best friend.

Tiger Shark AX-1-0

Now THOSE are some Greater Good guns! What you’re witnessing is not one, but two heavy rail cannons that happen to have a Tiger Shark wrapped around them. This thing is an airborne assassin.

We know, it’s really easy to confuse this with the EXTREMELY SIMILARLY NAMED Tiger Shark AX-1-0-2, or AX-1-0-3, or even the AX-1-0-4! Luckily, the truly massive cannons are pretty hard to miss on the tabletop.

This is not a subtle aircraft. It’s good at one thing – taking out high-value targets before they can enter effective range – and it’s very, very good at it. If you’re concerned about your enemies getting up close and personal, you can choose instead to mount a pair of heavy plasma accelerators, changing up the AX-1-0’s role significantly. You can also spend 3 points to mount either cyclic ion blaster drones or long-barreled burst cannon drones to add a bit of versatility to this otherwise highly-specialised plane.

There’s Plenty More to Come

While we promised to bring you a new scenario in every Flight Plan, we had to take a break this month, given the lockdown. We hope the full rules for these two aircraft are just as exciting!

We can’t wait for things to get back up and running, and you’ll hear a lot more about the Taros Air War Campaign Book in which you can find these rules and more.

---

* To be fair, the Lightning sets the bar pretty high in terms of speed and agility…
** Must be that “Kauyon” thing we’ve heard so much about, right?

Quelle: Games Workshop