Death from the Skies and Dark Angels

[ValourousHeart]

I know death from the skies is getting a of static... but instead of focusing on the negatives, I thought the unforgiven could help each other master these new rules.

 

As such I think the part of the rules that will give most players difficulty are the attack patterns.

I don't think anyone will have trouble getting into a pattern when they deploy.

But how to stay in patterns while turning and how to switch between patterns could be an issue for some of us.

 

I wrote a post in the Official Rules section about turning the VEHEMENCE pattern.

 

I started with that one because it wasn't obvious for me initially how that pattern could be maintained when turning until I started pushing models around.

 

Here is the link to that post.

http://www.bolterandchainsword.com/topic/322302-death-from-the-skies-questions/?p=4409292

 

I hope this ends up being beneficial for some of you.

And if anyone has a better idea about how to do this, I know I for one, would be very appreciative for anything you guys have to offer.

[PhilB]

Some good ideas in here ValoursHeart, thank you for taking the time.

I'll be trying out both the new flyer rules and the new Abductor Squadron for the first time tonight against the Dark Eldar.

I'm thinking of theming the force around a rapid response group with the 3 flyers, 2 flanking RWASs & a drop pod Demi Co for null deployment. I imagine that if he doesn't bring any flyers the air superiority rule will be quite beneficial.

[ValourousHeart]

Perhaps but your Dark Talon will have to be in reserves in order to get the +/-2.

And it won't be useful at all if he doesn't reserve anything.

 

It honestly might be better having the Dark Talon on the board making use of the BS 5 blind canon vs ground targets.

Keep it in formation and it becomes BS 6 vs ground targets.

[PhilB]

I think we may be talking about different things. The air superiority rule (not detachment) gives the player with flyers in reserve + or - 1 to reserve rolls and the other player -1 to reserve rolls.

[PhilB]

So I tried out the new Abductor Squadron & DftS rules on Friday night.

I was looking forward to trying out a dogfight phase but as it turned out my opponent went really heavy on the Covens book and in an extremely rare occurrence didn't have any Razorwings.

My flyer wing, 3 additional drop pods & both RWAS's rocked up turn 2 with me rolling triple 2s on the pods so the air superiority rule was paying dividends right off the bat.

After jiggling around with my 3 flyers for about 10mins I managed to bring them on in the intolerance (ignores cover) attack pattern but damn it was a lot of work getting them all in formation whilst moving the required distance, coming in from my board edge & getting the Dark Talon in range of something worth it shooting at.

The two NJFs absolutely nailed 2 Raiders with their ignores cover shooting (skimmers are 'air targets' luckily) and the DT instant deathed a hand full of Grotesques that were playing body guard for the warlord Haemonculus, a rather impressive entrance I remember thinking.

However after that because of terrain, models, the minimum movement of zooming flyers & the lowly 18" range of the DT I didn't manage to form an attack pattern for the rest of the game. It's worth noting that out of 5 attempts to break turn I only managed 1 successfully, boo!

Whist the wing performed brilliantly the turn they came in, the attack patterns feel like a one off gimmick before you split you wing up to engage their targets, there was just too much going on to form up for another run and you'd waste a lot of turns manoeuvring to get into position. That said, I'm still not sold on 500 points worth of aircraft in an 1,850 point game either, to be completely honest, I'd rather take an Imperial Knight lol.

[ValourousHeart]

Let me start off by saying that I am a firm believer that it is possible to keep your flyers with a pattern bonus for the entire game.  You may want to switch between patterns for any number of reasons, and you may choose to break pattern to deal with a specific threat.  Those are tactical choices you will make during the game. However it should be understood that this is a skill set that has not been required in this game before, so it should be understandable that it might not be second nature to us just yet.  But that is a far cry from not being possible, or being a gimmick.

 

I am glad you had some success with your flyers... I had a couple of fun games this weekend with them as well.  I tried out the first mission in DFTS, the one with only flyers... it was fun, but there is still a lot to learn.  Let's see if we can work out a strategy to overcome the issues you experienced in your game.

 

You mentioned terrain presenting a difficulty in placing your flyers.  Flyers ignore terrain and can even stop over impassable terrain.  So I am not sure what happened in the game that caused terrain to be an issue.  Now enemy units are a very understandable issue, and vs a horde army it can be very tricky placing flyers.  I recommend moving flyers before other units in your army unless you plan on moving a flyer to where one of your units used to be.

 

As for patterns, if you are planning on keeping with the Abductor Squadron, there are really only 3 patterns to remember.  Start off with the Vigilance pattern... get this pattern down, as the other 2 patterns are based on it... It is just a question of where you are placing that 3rd flyer.  According to the pictures there is some areas for fudging as far as placement is concerned.  The distance between flyers is measured from somewhere on the tail to the tip of the wing.  And the nose of the 2nd flyer in the pictures is generally ahead of the tip of the tail of the first flyer.  You can also deduce from the movement rules for flyers that no formation takes up more space than 18 inches from line the nose of the lead flyer is on to the line the nose of the flyer in the rear is on.  This is because the front flyer can't move further than 36 and the last flyer can't move less than 18.

 

PRE-MEASURING - it is legal, and relatively simple to do at several times during the turn without giving away your plans for next turn.  Your flyers have to move at least 18 inches per turn, and no more than 36 inches.  Your Rift Cannon has a range of 18 inches, your Blacksword Missiles have a range of 36, and if you are in INTOLERANCE with a Nephilim in the rear position then your Avenger/Lascannon 48 inch range will be 36 inches ahead of the front flyer.  Use your weapon ranges to see if where you are planning to move next turn is clear or if you'll need to turn 90 degrees.

 

So for the Nephilim and Dark Talon, coming on from reserves, here are the numbers you need to remember.

 

VIGILANCE - nose of rear flyer can be 18-30 inches from the point the formation entered the board, and the nose of the lead flyer has to be about 6 inches ahead of the rear flyer.  This means that the front flyer will be 24-36 inches from the point of entry.  You can use the wingtips as a guide, and as long as they are inline and about 5-7 inches apart your 2 flyers will be in the tightest arrangement of this pattern.

 

Turning - If you make 90 degree turns, you WILL stay in pattern.  If you want to make less than 90 degree turns then you will need turn the 2 flyers at different angles and move them at different speeds to maintain the pattern.  I recommend keeping your turns to between 75 and 90 degrees.  Something else to consider is having the flyers trade position when you move so that the flyer that was in the lead is now in rear.  This should gives you several options for how to move your flyers and stay in formation.

 

Goal - you basically want to have your flyers running laps around the board with the option to leave at any moment.  So come in on one flank and move forward toward your opponent's table edge.  Turn 90 and fly down your opponent's deployment zone.  Either keep flying down your opponent's deployment zone, turn 90 into the board or turn 90 off the board.  With subtle encouragement you can force your opponent to move into a 18 x 18 square in the middle of the table.  When he does this he'll think that he is safe because your flyers will keep passing him every turn.  But in reality you have just denied him any of the objectives outside of that square and linebreaker.  And a nicely timed vortex could really ruin his day.

 

INTOLERANCE - most of the rules for the VIGILANCE hold true for the INTOLERANCE.  Big changes are coming onto the board.  The rear flyer can only move 18-24 inches in order to leave room for the other 2 flyers.  The middle flyer has to go 24-30 and the front flyer has to go 30-36.  Again you only need about 6 inches between lines you put your nose on.

 

Turning - It is possible to turn the flyers in this pattern in angles less than 90.  But will require a solid understanding of trig and vectors.  It is far easier to do with 2 flyers than it is with 3... So save yourself the hassle and just turn 90.  Turning 90 and moving the lead flyer 18-24 and the other 2 flyers 30-36 will bring you into the VEHEMENCE pattern.

 

Goal - Again the goal is to flyer a ring around the table cutting down all units hugging the edge of the board.

 

I covered the VEHEMENCE pattern in the original post, so I won't bore anyone with reposting it again.  I will however mention that It might be more advisable to bring flyers on in the VEHEMENCE pattern as it takes up less space and you can line up your target which wouldn't get cover anyway.  And then shifting into the INTOLERANCE pattern as you turn for your run down the your opponent's deployment zone.