The Space Wolves Flyer Handbook (First Draft)

[Karack Blackstone]

Edit: Second Draft: http://www.bolterandchainsword.com/topic/295529-the-space-wolves-flyer-handbook-first-draft/?p=3785561

 

The Space Wolves Flyer Handbook (First Draft)

 

Intro
 - Table of Contents
 - Why Flyers are a threat
 - Meeting the threat head on

 

Overview
 - All Flyers share certain traits
 - Mobile anti air platform

 - Mobile air cover

 

Flyers
 - Codex
 - Allied
 - Forge World
 
Transport Capacity
 - Some do, some don't
 - 6, 10 (Any), 12, 16, 20
 - Assault Ramp Transports

Weapons
 - The what for the who
 - Air hunting: Firing arcs and aerial combat
 - One shots versus the whole game

Tactics
 - Maneuvering
 - Dogfighting
 - Groundpounding
 - Staying Alive in the Air

 Enemy Flyers
 - Outmaneuvering
 - Get them before they get you
 - Flakk Missiles: Cover your air from the ground

Enemy Ground Anti Air
 - Hunt what hunts you, OR
 - Hunt on the ground to keep your Flyers airborne
 - Adjusting for Losses

Conclusion
 - Sum up
 - Pros and Cons of Flyers
 - Why Flyers are here to stay, just costly

 

---

 

Why Flyers are a threat

 

The biggest concern I had when fliers first came into the game was that there were no anti air options for many of the Codex armies.  The problem now is that the most effective way to deal with enemy air power is not the straight forward Flakk Missiles option on Long Fangs; rather, the better option is the Stormwolf.  As anyone has learned facing a flyer, only being able to hit on a six with a non skyfire weapon is a major issue.  Add to this that most anti air is other anti air, and the flying hunt begins anew in every game.

 

Meeting the threat head on

 

The Stormwolf and Stormfang are both solid anti air fliers; this guide will attempt to cover all SW and SM level Allied fliers for your improved education as to what is available, and how to best meet the foe in the air in a hopefully in your favor engagement.

 

Overview:

 

All Flyers share certain traits

 

Fliers in general all have rules, traits and other areas that tend to give them a unique area of the battlefield to dominate, and that is the air war.  In terms of fighting this war upstairs, one must have the means to step into the game.  The first clear rule of dealing with fliers is when firing at any air target, a ground target must have skyfire to shoot at full BS rating, or be forced to only hit on a six, rerolls included.  Another common area is that most fliers are either AV 11 or 12, or have a T 6 rating or better.  The humble boltgun firing from a squad of Grey Hunters needs sixes followed by yet more sixes to wound; this is not likely to happen.  Therefore, let's take this fight into the briefing room and see what can be gleaned from this report.

 

The fliers here are available for use, either as Codex, Allies or Unbound.

 

Mobile anti air platform

 

Gaining dominance in the air war is the name of the game, as well as the game itself.  The entire art of piloting is not easy to provide a simulation of here, however, the idea is to get good at maneuvering and downing the enemy before all your fliers are smoking craters.  Taking this task on is a heady one; don't let the learning curve shock you.  This is not the real life situation that real life jet jockies of all nations face; losing a model or two in a game just means setting it aside. 

 

As far as learning goes, it's a shark hunt in the air; consider wolf like tactics, jink if you need to, snap fire when you have to, and keep your honor as you scrap enemy air power with a vengeance.  The wolf hunt in the air is little different than the one on the ground.  It just takes forgetting that all the air abilities are summarized by rules, and the air fight is just another 2d battlefield.

 

Mobile air cover

 

Once the enemy is out of the air fight, you can focus on providing mobile air support to your ground troops.  Flyers all have the ability to choose whether or not to skyfire on their turn of shooting; sometimes you will want it, sometimes, one flyer will fire with it, another or more without said skyfire.

 

The most daunting thing about flying is covered above; it's just another 2d battlefield.  You will be a Sky Wolf soon enough.

 

Flyers:

 

Codex

 

 - Stormwolf

 - Stormfang

 

Allied

 

 - Storm Raven

 - Stormtalon

 

Forge World

 

 - Storm Eagle

 - Caestus Assault Ram

 - Fire Raptor

 

Transport Capacity:

 

Some do, some don't

 

Do:

 - Stormwolf

 - Stormfang

 - Storm Eagle

 - Storm Raven

 - Caestus Assault Ram

 

Don't:

 - Fire Raptor

 - Stormtalon

 

6, 10 (Any), 12, 16, 20

 

6: Stormfang

10 (Any): Caestus Assault Ram

12: Storm Raven (Or 6 Jump Infantry) (+ A Dreadnought)

16: Stormwolf (Or 8 TDA Frames)

20: Storm Eagle (Or 10 TDA Frames)

 

Assault Ramp Transports

 

 - Stormwolf

 - Caestus Assault Ram

 - Storm Raven

 - Storm Eagle

 

Codex Fliers are the ones that come right out of Codex: Space Wolves.

Allied Fliers are available from Allying in other Space Marine detachments, or going Unbound if one just wants to use them.

Forge World are the fliers from the GW allied site by that name.  These have further books that have to be purchased to get their rules.

 

Assault Ramp Capable Transports are amongst the best fliers to get, as C:SW units are pretty heavily assault oriented.  Just make sure to follow the standard 6 inch deployment rule from the hatch, no matter where it is on the transport.

 

Weapons:
 

The what for the who

 

The weapons on your flyer will be decided by the role you choose for each aircraft to have; missiles, heavy bolters, hurricane bolters, and other anti infantry weapons that hit large numbers or put out many shots are one option.  The other option is anti armor, and includes twin linked lascannons, twin linked multi melta, and others.  The 2d aerial battlefield is a simulated dogfight, however, as will be discussed below, the vast majority of the anti armor options that can kill a tank as weapons can drop a flyer.

 

Air hunting: Firing arcs and aerial combat

 

This is the hard part, and will take some time; earning your wings is hard, and so is flying properly in a game, to a point.  The secret here is to know your options and do your best with what you can do at that time.  If you need to jink to avoid a shot, if the aircraft has twin linked weapons, consider that you at least will get a reroll on any misses with the first toss of the dice.  Always know a dogfight is vastly worse than just piloting a model around on the battlefield, a 2d one at that in WH40K.  Just keep in mind that no matter what occurs, your fliers are not forever lost and just come back next game for more chances to learn what it takes to be an aerial ace in combat.

 

One of the biggest issues of air targets is their arcs of fire.  Well, that's the thing; the weapons you give to a flyer favor hunting armor targets, or wound targets, or TEQ targets.  Use this to your advantage: always be willing to down another flyer with anti armor weapons, and hunt wound fliers with anti wound weapons.

 

Always try to keep a viable target of what you chose your flier to hunt in a game; that said, keep yourself in the air as well.  It's like knowing a thing, and thinking you know a thing: they are dangerously close, and just follow your instincts as you feel them inspiring you.  Time will inform this skill, hard won and lost fights as well.

 

One shots versus the whole game
 

Mostly (if not all) missile weapons, the high strength value available to a missile is balanced against its lack of being available to fire later.  Just keep in mind that if you're on a limited supply, or if the role you want for your flier(s) is one of anti armor, by and large one shot only weapons are either a points driven choice, or a preference of what your dice reward you with taking in a game.  Learn, adapt, and given the chance, hopefully win.

 

I personally don't like the idea of limited shots, however, when my Storm Eagle runs 315 points with all its equipment and options, well, that's 1/5th of a 1500 point list, and then some!  Take what you need, don't need what you don't take.

 

Tactics:

 

Maneuvering

 

Hover: Up to 18 inches, this mode of flight is for dropping off troops transported from inside the airframe.  Keep in mind, targets shooting at you DO NOT need skyfire to hit you; you can be shot at using their normal BS rating and the results can be devastating.

 

Flyer: 18 inches plus to 36 inches, allows access to a jink save if you moved far enough; this mode is for keeping your flier in the air and hopefully harder to hit.

 

Dogfighting

 

This is where things appear harder than they are: the air battlefield is just another 2d abstracted plane of the battlefield.  The only issue is the potential need for skyfire to interact with the air field from the ground field.  The real threat is enemy fliers.  The enemy is going to try and out hunt you; you will need to outhunt them.  So, how does one do this?  Trusting your instincts, learning how your fliers maneuver, and just good old fashioned skill, luck, and ingenuity.  Try; don't be afraid to do something new if it's a learning game. Play however you wish; fliers that leave the table go back into reserves, and that may be to your advantage.

 

Groundpounding

 

Hitting ground targets favors blast weapons, or multi shot arms as they generate the most hits.  Consider the ground the table under the 2d plane that is the air war.  Just hunt things from an angle they cannot easily return fire from; this can free up ground models to go after other targets as well.

 

Staying Alive in the Air

 

This is just going to take time; however, you might find yourself an ace in no time with the right set of circumstances.  Please realize I mean this without jest: there is always a chance to succeed, and don't let fliers let you down just because you're not doing well with them.  Flyers are like relearning WH40K from the ground up all over again, and it takes time to get better with the air war, just like when you first learned or are learning the game.

 

Enemy Flyers:

Outmaneuvering

 

Try things that might scare you; sometimes the dice reward, sometimes the dice fail you, however the lesson is still learned.  Figuring out when to be aggressive and when to play smart is a hands on experience.  Keeping in mind that the air war is just another 2d battlefield should greatly aid in all this as far as learning goes in game.

 

Most enemy aircraft or air wings will try to down your air power first; you are trying to do the same to your opponent(s).  Learning what works and what does not work is going to be difficult, however, the rewards when someone's flying croissant goes down in a blaze thanks to your expert tactical acumen from learning and trying some games with your new bird will really keep you coming back for more, even when things are not looking up at first, if you have some bad luck.

 

Get them before they get you

 

Hunt the enemy air power first; nothing wins battles like a friendly air support vehicle overhead raining steel death upon the foe.

 

Cover your air from the ground

 

Flakk Missiles are not points wise great; however, one or two might not be so bad, considering the Split Fire rule on Long Fangs.  If you take a ML with Flakk in every game, snap off a shot; at least it's not at a six only, and it might hit, doing who knows what!  At least if you force a glance or a pen, you can roll and possibly drop the thing without taking the controls of your own fliers to hunt from the air.

Enemy Ground Anti Air:

 

Hunt what hunts you, OR

 

If there are no enemy fliers, hunt whatever can hunt you; or if you think you can tie them up with other units, hunt their objective holders.  The dead cannot hold an objective, can they?

 

Hunt on the ground to keep your Flyers airborne

 

The further subsection for this, try to tank (get the attention of) whatever might go after your flier with something else.  If you tie it up, it might not shoot at the real threat and if it does, you get more chances to ruin that enemy's day by dragging down whatever is giving you a hard time.

 

Adjusting for Losses

 

If you can afford a flier, try to take at least one other option of hunting things that are in the air.  Even if it's two LF packs with a Flakk Missile Launcher each, and other weapons as you want them, the points are going to earn themselves back over time.  I know many rate points earned in a game best; well, let's try this then: points earned, lesson learned.  Points won, game on; consider that over time, it takes more than some effort to pick up a new skill, and the dice sometimes reflect this in their rolls.  Give yourself an out and take at least two or three anti air options, and over time, this will earn their points back as the enemy fliers will not be around long to change the course of the game.

Conclusion:

 

Sum up

 

Fliers, be they with Transport Capacity or not, are vital to winning the vertical war of the air dimension of WH40K.  This new level of the game is not as daunting as it might appear, as it is simply a second board located above the one beneath it; there are just some rules that delineate how the two board interact, amongst them being Skyfire.

 

Pros and Cons of Flyers

 

The single biggest pro and con is the points cost; the thing is, this new level of the battlefield is wide open, and one will either answer the call to the air war, or one will not.  By learning the air game as a slightly altered lesson of the ground game, the two battle boards brought together make the new WH40K a more dynamic game.  Toss in the new objective cards system, and it's really interesting to see how one adjusts as things come up in a fight.

 

Why Flyers are here to stay, just costly

 

Fliers are here, and they made such a huge impression that there's no real way to avoid using them at some point in time, or at least countering them as a baseline.  The best way to fight air power is with one's own fliers, the old adage of fight fire with fire.  It's as simple as another plane hunts another plane.

 

This thread is subject to needed editing and further clarification as needed.

[skeletoro]

Looks really promising to me!!

[Karack Blackstone]

Looks really promising to me!!

 

Thanks!

 

See anything it might need, any area that needs further or other clarification?

[Jaarl Stormfang]

You make a lot of mentions of learning out how to dogfight, outmanoeuvring, tactical acumen etc but don't actually give any details. How about a section where you give some tips on how to manoeuvre your flyer? Like how far to move, which side of the board to come on, a good pattern for a few turns worth of flying around. How to move relative to an enemy flyer (right angles? fly past and use a turret to shoot it from behind?). What about with 2 flyers? Supporting eachother? Move one further than the other? Stuff like that.

 

Good guide so far though.

[Kasper_Hawser]

Might also want to add how to use both Stormwolf and Stormfang. As i understand, the difference between the two will require drastically different stategies.

[Wraithwing]

Also, no need to keep mentioning real life aerial combat and the fact that it is just a 2d miniature game. Gets a bit repetitive, and no real need for it. 

[DanPesci]

Also obviously expanding on the do's and dont's, even a sentence or two for each as to why they are/arent preferable...realise its obviosuly early stages, and great work so far :D

[Reede]

A very good write-up in my opinion. There are a couple things I would look into changing.

 

Like it's been said, the constant reference back to real-life dog fights can get a bit repetitive, I'd remove a few of them and really stick it in one place.

 

You give a good synopsis of target priority, but I would definitely focus on some tactics in the maneuverability section and expand upon that.

 

I'd also give some good tactics for the assault (which, if I'm correct, you can only move 6" and still have a unit disembark from a Flyer in hover mode, whereas the article makes it sound as if you can move the whole 18").

 

That's all I can think of for now, but great work Brother Karack, our resident Skyclaw.

[viddar]

I have a quick question and this thread looks like the perfect place to ask it.

 

When you have a unit disembark from the storm wolf does it come from the front of the flyer base or where the front of the model?

 

I've only used one once and I came from the flyer base but my opponent thought I could come from the front hatch because while hovering the flyer counts as a skimmer.

[Valerian]

++Link to this thread added to Resources.++

[Valerian]

I have a quick question and this thread looks like the perfect place to ask it.

 

When you have a unit disembark from the storm wolf does it come from the front of the flyer base or where the front of the model?

 

 

You Disembark in contact to a Flyer's base (page 81).

[Karack Blackstone]

The Space Wolves Flyer Handbook

Hello reader, herein please find for your education the currently second draft of the Space Wolves Flyer Handbook.  Within these lines of text upon your data slate or cogitator are the basic guidelines and field manual to learning how to approach the 2d battlefield located above the conventional one, the air war.  It's that simple; the rules just simulate a real world dogfight.  These pages should be able to start you out well enough, sky warrior.

Intro
 - Table of Contents
 - Why Flyers are a threat
 - Meeting the threat head on

Overview
 - All Flyers share certain traits
 - Mobile anti air platform

 - Mobile air cover


Flyers
 - Codex
 - Allied
 - Forge World
 
Transport Capacity
 - Some do, some don't
 - 6, 10 (Any), 12, 16, 20
 - Assault Ramp Transports

Weapons
 - The what for the who
 - Air hunting: Firing arcs and aerial combat
 - One shots versus the whole game

Tactics
 - Maneuvering
 - Dogfighting (includes some guidelines)
 - Groundpounding
 - Staying Alive in the Air

 Enemy Flyers
 - Outmaneuvering
 - Get them before they get you
 - Cover your air from the ground

Enemy Ground Anti Air
 - Hunt what hunts you, OR
 - Hunt on the ground to keep your Flyers airborne
 - Adjusting for Losses

Conclusion
 - Sum up
 - Pros and Cons of Flyers
 - Why Flyers are here to stay, just costly

---

Why Flyers are a threat

The biggest concern I had when fliers first came into the game was that there were no anti air options for many of the Codex armies.  The problem now is that the most effective way to deal with enemy air power is not the straight forward Flakk Missiles option on Long Fangs; rather, the better option is another flyer.  As anyone has learned facing a flyer, only being able to hit on a six with a non skyfire weapon is a major issue.  Add to this that most anti air is other anti air, and the flying hunt begins anew in every game.

Meeting the threat head on

The Stormwolf and Stormfang are both solid anti air fliers; this guide will attempt to cover all SW and SM level Allied fliers for your improved education as to what is available, and how to best meet the foe in the air in a hopefully in your favor engagement.

Overview:

All Fliers share certain traits

Fliers in general all have rules, traits and other areas that tend to give them a unique area of the battlefield to dominate, and that is the air war.  In terms of fighting this war upstairs, one must have the means to step into the game.  The first clear rule of dealing with fliers is when firing at any air target, a ground target must have skyfire to shoot at full BS rating, or be forced to only hit on a six, rerolls included.  Another common area is that most fliers are either AV 11 or 12, or have a T 6 rating or better.  The humble boltgun firing from a squad of Grey Hunters needs sixes followed by yet more sixes to wound; this is not likely to happen.  Therefore, let's take this fight into the briefing room and see what can be gleaned from this report.

The fliers here are available for use, either as Codex, Allied, or Forge World.

Mobile anti air platform

Gaining dominance in the air war is the name of the game, as well as the game itself.  The entire art of piloting is not easy to provide a simulation of here, however, the idea is to get good at maneuvering and downing the enemy before all your fliers are smoking craters.

As far as learning goes, it's a shark hunt in the air; consider wolf like tactics, jink if you need to, snap fire when you have to, and keep your honor as you scrap enemy air power with a vengeance.  The wolf hunt in the air is little different than the one on the ground.  It just takes forgetting that all the air abilities are summarized by rules.

Mobile air cover

Once the enemy is out of the air fight, you can focus on providing mobile air support to your ground troops.  Flyers all have the ability to choose whether or not to skyfire on their turn of shooting; sometimes you will want it, sometimes, one flyer will fire with it, another or more without said skyfire.

Flyers:

Codex

 - Stormwolf

 - Stormfang

Allied

 - Storm Raven

 - Stormtalon

Forge World

 - Storm Eagle

 - Caestus Assault Ram

 - Fire Raptor

Transport Capacity:

Some do, some don't

Do:

 - Stormwolf

 - Stormfang

 - Storm Eagle

 - Storm Raven

 - Caestus Assault Ram

Don't:

 - Fire Raptor

 - Stormtalon

6, 10 (Any), 12, 16, 20

6: Stormfang

10 (Any): Caestus Assault Ram

12: Storm Raven (Or 6 Jump Infantry) (+ A Dreadnought)

16: Stormwolf (Or 8 TDA Frames)

20: Storm Eagle (Or 10 TDA Frames)

Assault Ramp Transports

 - Stormwolf

 - Caestus Assault Ram

 - Storm Raven

 - Storm Eagle

Codex Fliers are the ones that come right out of Codex: Space Wolves.

Allied Fliers are available from Allying in other Space Marine detachments, or going Unbound if one just wants to use them.

Forge World are the fliers from the GW allied site by that name.  These have further books that have to be purchased to get their rules.

Assault Ramp Capable Transports are amongst the best fliers to get, as C:SW units are pretty heavily assault oriented.  Just make sure to follow the standard 6 inch deployment rule from the hatch, no matter where it is on the transport.

Weapons:

The what for the who

One of the biggest issues of air weapons is their arcs of fire.  When firing a weapon, the arc it has is limited by the rules: fixed forward weapons have a 90 Degree arc, side sponsons bring a varying degree arc, and turret weapons can fire 360 degrees.  The weapons you give to a flyer favor hunting armor targets, or wound targets, or TEQ targets.  Use this to your advantage: always be willing to down another flyer with anti armor weapons, and hunt wound fliers with anti wound weapons.

The weapons on your flyer will be decided by the role you choose for each aircraft to have; missiles, heavy bolters, hurricane bolters, and other anti infantry weapons that hit large numbers or put out many shots are one option.  The other option is anti armor, and includes twin linked lascannons, twin linked multi melta, and others.  The 2d aerial battlefield is a simulated dogfight, however, as will be discussed below, the vast majority of the anti armor options that can kill a tank as weapons can drop a flyer.

 - Twin Linked Lascannon: while not the greatest at having a way to get really solid hits, they can perform quite well as their base strength is very high.  Fixed positions on most SM air frames, the Storm Talon has a turret that permits a wider arc of fire.
 - Twin Linked Multi Melta: the primary anti air weapon, on the Stormwolf and Stormfang sponsons most of the aircraft itself can use up a bit of the distance to get into 12 inches of the foe to fire well.  While the Storm Eagle and Storm Raven each have a single nose mounted TLMM, this array of guns in a single mount allows for a massive threat.  Having two on a single aircraft means the enemy really is going to be inclined to drag down your flier.
 - Missiles: Coming in many varieties, from anti air to anti infantry, the role you want them to play is what dictates how to use them.

Air hunting: Firing arcs and aerial combat

This is not easy to describe, however, I will take a stab at it.  Fliers have some weapons that have fixed firing arcs; these weapons are listed normally, and measurements are taken from their barrels when determining range.  The arc for a fixed weapon is 90 degrees; a turret fires any direction, or 360 degrees, and sponsons can fire in any direction that they may be successfully pointed.  Learning these arcs is important: try to memorize the available directions the weapons on your flier can actually get to, as any overlap is where you want to zero in on the enemy, as this will allow you to bring to bear more than one weapon.  These mutually stacking areas of attack on the flier vary per aircraft for us.

Always try to keep a viable target of what you chose your flier to hunt in a game; that said, keep yourself in the air as well.  

One shots versus the whole game

Mostly (if not all) missile weapons, the high strength value available to a missile is balanced against its lack of being available to fire later.  Just keep in mind that if you're on a limited supply, or if the role you want for your flier(s) is one of anti armor, by and large one shot only weapons are either a points driven choice, or a preference of what your dice reward you with taking in a game.  Learn, adapt, and given the chance, hopefully win.

I personally don't like the idea of limited shots, however, when my Storm Eagle runs 315 points with all its equipment and options, well, that's 1/5th of a 1500 point list, and then some!  Take what you need, don't need what you don't take.

Tactics:

Maneuvering

The secret to downing enemy fliers is learning to bring your guns to bear on the foe without leaving oneself overly exposed to return fire.  Maneuvering is a tricky business; with no grid on either battlefield, it's instinct and learning, as well as getting good at chasing down the foe.  Take for example arriving from your table edge as the turn starts: pick where you want to be about two to three turns from now, and try to have a plan for this turn, and the connecting ones figured out as the fight is going on, both above and below.  If you want to just pop something and get back into reserve, aim for the target and strafe run.  If you want to drop off infantry, that's where it gets more involved.  Taking the fight to the foe in the air also can mean downing an enemy flier fast, and then zooming towards the target landing zone, or nearby, and then hovering and going up to six inches to be allowed to deploy your glory hounds.

Hover: Up to 18 inches, this mode of flight is for dropping off troops transported from inside the airframe.  Keep in mind, targets shooting at you DO NOT need skyfire to hit you; you can be shot at using their normal BS rating and the results can be devastating.

Flyer: 18 inches plus to 36 inches, allows access to a jink save if you moved far enough; this mode is for keeping your flier in the air and hopefully harder to hit.

Transports landing to deploy infantry: Up to 6 inches, as the vehicle is landing and sending the warriors to the fore of the enemy lines.  Rear hatch transports (Stormfang) disembark from the rear, within 6 inches of the aft hatch.  All the Assault fliers mentioned above disembark from the front hatch, as well as any side hatches, with the unit in cohesion and within two inches of each other.

Dogfighting

Hunt well, and hunt with the realization that a flier is a rather precious resource, and yet is just as in need of being sacrificed when the time is right, so long as it has nothing inside itself.  If you are trying to get both a flier to drop off infantry, as well as air hunt, then that makes things more complicated, yet still approachable.

Dogfighting takes time to learn, here are some tips to try out, some guidelines, more than actual rules.
 - Try and use your battlefield to direct your air strike
 - Use about a 30 degree turn from your board edge towards the middle of the battlefield to allow yourself the most room to fly if you need it.
 - The 45 degree turn is going to send you towards the enemy lines.
 - A straight at the enemy deployment is a strafing run flying pattern.  Use the fact that fliers go back into reserves to your advantage when using this approach.
 - Deploying from along your table edge is hard, but will get easier over time.  Assume your flier's footprint is its base; leave the area open unless going in to deploy infantry.
 - When plotting your next moves with a flier, keep the enemy anti air in mind as pillars that can reach into the air, with umbrellas on them upside down as representations of their ability to interfere with your flying.
 - Here's an example of some flying: Arrive on start of turn in zoom mode, choosing one table corner to come in from.  Staying in zoom mode, go 20 inches towards the center, angling to drop into hover next turn behind a building and     deploy troops.  Once safely into hover and moving up to six inches, infantry is dropped off behind a piece of cover big enought to protect the flier and keep it from being shot down.
 - Another: Arrive start of turn from reserve in zoom mode, towards the center of the table with target in sight.  Zooming, fly towards the target bringing weapons to bear.  Fire in the shooting phase once in range, and fly over the     target and behind, going back into reserves once leaving the table edge.
 - One more: Arrive from your table edge in zoom mode, aiming across the long edge of one's own table edge.  Make a bee line for the open ground near the center, starting from the table side opposite the one you want to end up on.  Turning 90 degrees at the start of the next turn, you will have most of the table open to plot out your next moves, providing many options to how the battle shall go; strafe, drop off, or a mix and match air mission.

Fliers that leave the table go back into reserves, and that may be to your advantage.

I think a flier can choose to be in zoom mode (18+ to 36 inches) or hover mode (Up to 18 inches) when arriving from reserves.  The issue is, hover is no Skyfire rule needed to shoot at you.  Try to mix and match your flight modes until you get good at deploying based off of the examples above, and take a look at how to improve this guide as well.  I or the mods can edit this to reflect new lessons learned as soon as possible, so please keep feedback in mind.

Groundpounding

Hitting ground targets favors blast weapons, or multi shot arms as they generate the most hits.  Consider the ground the table under the 2d plane that is the air war.  Just hunt things from an angle they cannot easily return fire from; this can free up ground models to go after other targets as well.

Staying Alive in the Air

Jink can save your life; also, going back into reserve can remove the pressure from other air power.  What can be important is knowing that jink (unless I'm remembering the rules wrong) does not prevent going into hover flight mode, thus permitting a drop off even when your flier can only fire snap shots.  This needs to be verified, however it is useful in that most good weapons are twin linked, and thus snap fire is a nuisance, not a game ending thing.

Enemy Flyers:


Outmaneuvering

Try things that might scare you; sometimes the dice reward, sometimes the dice fail you, however the lesson is still learned.  Figuring out when to be aggressive and when to play smart is a hands on experience.

Most enemy aircraft or air wings will try to down your air power first; you are trying to do the same to your opponent(s).  Learning what works and what does not work is going to be difficult, however, the rewards when someone's flying croissant goes down in a blaze thanks to your expert tactical acumen from learning and trying some games with your new bird will really keep you coming back for more, even when things are not looking up at first, if you have some bad luck.

Get them before they get you

Hunt the enemy air power first; nothing wins battles like a friendly air support vehicle overhead raining steel death upon the foe.

Cover your air from the ground

Flakk Missiles are not points wise great; however, one or two might not be so bad, considering the Split Fire rule on Long Fangs.  If you take a ML with Flakk in every game, snap off a shot; at least it's not at a six only, and it might hit, doing who knows what!  At least if you force a glance or a pen, you can roll and possibly drop the thing without taking the controls of your own fliers to hunt from the air.


Enemy Ground Anti Air:

Hunt what hunts you, OR

If there are no enemy fliers, hunt whatever can hunt you; or if you think you can tie them up with other units, hunt their objective holders.  The dead cannot hold an objective, can they?

Hunt on the ground to keep your Flyers airborne

The further subsection for this, try to tank (get the attention of) whatever might go after your flier with something else.  If you tie it up, it might not shoot at the real threat and if it does, you get more chances to ruin that enemy's day by dragging down whatever is giving you a hard time.

Adjusting for Losses

If you can afford a flier, try to take at least one other option of hunting things that are in the air.  Even if it's two LF packs with a Flakk Missile Launcher each, and other weapons as you want them, the points are going to earn themselves back over time.  I know many rate points earned in a game best; well, let's try this then: points earned, lesson learned.  Points won, game on; consider that over time, it takes more than some effort to pick up a new skill, and the dice sometimes reflect this in their rolls.  Give yourself an out and take at least two or three anti air options, and over time, this will earn their points back as the enemy fliers will not be around long to change the course of the game.


Conclusion:

Sum up

Fliers, be they with Transport Capacity or not, are vital to winning the vertical war of the air dimension of WH40K.  This new level of the game is not as daunting as it might appear, as it is simply a second board located above the one beneath it; there are just some rules that delineate how the two board interact, amongst them being Skyfire.

Pros and Cons of Flyers

The single biggest pro and con is the points cost; the thing is, this new level of the battlefield is wide open, and one will either answer the call to the air war, or one will not.  By learning the air game as a slightly altered lesson of the ground game, the two battle boards brought together make the new WH40K a more dynamic game.  Toss in the new objective cards system, and it's really interesting to see how one adjusts as things come up in a fight.

Why Flyers are here to stay, just costly

Fliers are here, and they made such a huge impression that there's no real way to avoid using them at some point in time, or at least countering them as a baseline.  The best way to fight air power is with one's own fliers, the old adage of fight fire with fire.  It's as simple as another plane hunts another plane best.

This post may replace the first one at any time.  Does this look better?

[Baulder]

Hi, sorry to hijack the thread a bit but I figure here was the most suitable place for this comment/question.

 

Is it worth considering (if still available) taking the 50pts upgrade for wolves from death from the skies? That could greatly influence how you play the flyer. With the ability to regen hull points allowing you to opt for a more daring approach. Whereas the 12" morale bubble may make you opt for a 'friendly airspace' supportive roll and finally the beastslayer may alter how you select targets.

 

Having never looked into the death from the skies book I am not sure if it still relevant in this edition. But I can't see it being removed as it is relatively recent. Indeed, nothing in the FAQ seems to indicate that this updated cannot be taken. But as I say I don't know the book so there may be other conditions on running DftS rules.

 

http://www.bolterandchainsword.com/topic/271402-death-from-the-skies/?p=3312617

http://www.blacklibrary.com/Downloads/Product/PDF/Warhammer-40k/7th-faq/Death_from_the_Skies_v1.0_May14.pdf

[Karack Blackstone]

Hi, sorry to hijack the thread a bit but I figure here was the most suitable place for this comment/question.

 

Is it worth considering (if still available) taking the 50pts upgrade for wolves from death from the skies? That could greatly influence how you play the flyer. With the ability to regen hull points allowing you to opt for a more daring approach. Whereas the 12" morale bubble may make you opt for a 'friendly airspace' supportive roll and finally the beastslayer may alter how you select targets.

 

Having never looked into the death from the skies book I am not sure if it still relevant in this edition. But I can't see it being removed as it is relatively recent. Indeed, nothing in the FAQ seems to indicate that this updated cannot be taken. But as I say I don't know the book so there may be other conditions on running DftS rules.

 

http://www.bolterandchainsword.com/topic/271402-death-from-the-skies/?p=3312617

http://www.blacklibrary.com/Downloads/Product/PDF/Warhammer-40k/7th-faq/Death_from_the_Skies_v1.0_May14.pdf

 

50 points for upgrading a pilot might be difficult to justify, however, if you want to go with an ace and take your chances with the roll, it's about the same price for an attached IP to a squad within one of the Codex fliers out of our 7th Edition Codex.

 

Those 50 points are yours to do with as you please; there are likely cases to be made for many different uses of those points, so consider what you want those points to be doing, and if the pilot being an ace is something you feel is justified, go ahead and use the ace pilot.

 

So, in short, yes, you can: just remember, points are really tight and in high competition this edition, so consider carefully before you commit to both a really high points cost flier as well as adding an additional tax of 50 points to give yourself an upgraded pilot.

[Baulder]

Fair enough, just an idea. Maybe tax is a bad term for it though, I'd go with optional upgrade rather than essential.