Aeronautica Imperialis

Ross, one of my mates, has gotten me onto Aeronautica Imperialis. It's a Games Workshop game, now in its 2nd Edition, recreating dogfights in the Warhammer 40,000 universe. I've got the core/basic game, which includes the rules, a map, tokens and dice, 4 Imperial Navy, and 5 Ork fighters and bombers.

The game itself can play relatively quickly once the players have some familiarity with the rules - each Turn consists of players selecting each planes Ace Maneuver (of which, there are about half a dozen - the more advanced the plane, the more maneuverable it is), rolling off for initiative, then taking alternating turns first, moving, then shooting. Speed and altitude both need to be managed and there are a few other twists and turns like tailing.

The Planes

I spent some time magnetising some of the models for fun (yes, that means some of the turrets can be twisted etc), but truth be told, it's not really worth the effort. The Imperial fighters do allow for the swap-out of their front gun carriage so the two different variants can be readily differentiated - again I'm not sure it's worth the effort. During the process of painting, I lost and mislaid some bits (+ the dog ran off with some!), so while I was trying to production line the work, it ended up anything but. The end result was compromised somewhat, but we all know that something painted is 100% more likely to be played with than a pile of gray plastic.

The Bases

I dismantled the flight bases, undercoated them black, then painted them up. Nothing really special to mention except for the good sense I had to bluetac them down onto a board - that allowed me to keep them together while they were being painted while allowing for easy manipulation - making for a real production line approach that worked well.

Game Cards

The game comes with various reference sheets, however, I felt I could do with something better for my game box. After a little bit of google-fu and some work on my desktop publishing software, I prepared and printed out the following:

Plane Cards

I scanned the original rule book's plane profiles, printed, and then mounted them onto thick cardstock.

Maneuver Cards

I was left a little frustrated during a recent game at our club - the Ace Maneuvers are kind of simple, but only once you get them. I was looking for some concrete advice about how to interpret the rules and stumbled upon this site. Borrowing the idea, I prepared, printed, and mounted my own Ace Maneuver cards onto cardboard.

We used these cards during our latest Club game and they really speeded up play.

What's next?

I definitely want to make a travel box for the game, something like I've previously done for Lost Patrol and Space Hulk. I've a few tool boxes that I've converted and used for other game before, so I might even splash out and buy a new one from Bunnings - it need not be as big as some, but something I can carry while riding my bike down to the club... that would be perfect.