Aeronautica Imperialis: Taros

[plastic_slug]

I got some bad news visiting one of the game stores in my circle, the largest one, although it is a two hour drive for me. They have dropped Aeronautica, Titanicus, Blood Bowl, and Kill Team. Everything they still had was on the clearance table for these games. Only Specialist still being sold there is Necromunda. They never even got the Taros stuff in; decision was made before its release. 

[Mandragola]

Damn. Hope you got some bargains. Not a great sign for the game if big shops can't sell it.

[Fajita Fan]

Without rules tying AI to AT I can sympathize with people not wanting to start new game systems that can be orphaned rather fast. 40k and AoS will continue to be the draw and having multiple games in other scales (with maaaaaybe BFG on the horizon) will be a risk for people to invest in.

 

Some GW managers don’t allow people to play any game they don’t physically stock so you can’t get BB, AI, or AT games there. Pretty sad, I think anything you purchased at a GW should be welcomed.

[plastic_slug]

Now, this store is so far away from me that I only visit a few times a year, not play there. But clearly no one out there was playing these games where it was worth their time and money to stock them. It was disappointing to see the games with no traction in a much larger area than my usual haunts. 

[Fajita Fan]

So I can't find my Thunderbolts and Marauders I never got around to painting after priming them, they're in a box somewhere.  

 

I did, however, pick a paint scheme for my Valkyries.  My troop transport Valkyries will be painted like Coast Guard HH-60 Jayhawks.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sikorsky_MH-60_Jayhawk

 

I figure this is a bright scheme that will contrast nicely with the rest of my WW2 style fighters.  I'm thinking for the Vendettas to go full Airwolf:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ULfmowbNlK0

 

If you were a kid in the 90s you might've seen that show and I think the black/white would look alright but might be confused for orcas. Maybe that's not a bad theme either? 

Edited June 21, 2020 by Fajita Fan

[Fajita Fan]

Goodness am I getting old or are these kits getting harder and harder to assemble? Did 3 Valks tonight, two rescues with missile pods off and an Inquisitor with the pods/lascannon, and the contact points are getting harder to glue  I also lost a landing skid that went flying off when I trimmed it off the sprue.  Overall the kit is really nice but the details are just minuscule...

 

How are you all finding the Tau to assemble? Mine ship this week. 

[Firedrake Cordova]

Overall the kit is really nice but the details are just minuscule...

I'm finding the same thing.  To be honest, I've come to the realisation that I need magnifying tools to paint the details beyond drybrushing ...

[Arendious]

I've started considering getting some jeweler's glasses.

 

I'm looking forward to seeing how your Coastie-Valks turn out, Fajita. My own plans for an eventual set of Valks is two of them as CSAR birds, with a 4-ship of Avengers as 'Sandy' escorts.

[Fajita Fan]

3 Valks are primed, 2 white and 1 black. I’m actually kinda excited to paint INCG rescue birds.  I love the idea of USAF style CSAR units too but I think that would be even better in an AI/AT crossover!!!

 

One of my HS teachers was a Sandy pilot in Vietnam and if I knew his squadron I’d think about painting that. I already sprayed my Tbolts silver to make them like P51s but that would be even more appropriate for the Lightning’s in the box that’s coming this week. What would make a better* wild weasel unit, ground attack Tbolts or Vendettas?

 

*by “better” I mean fluffy of course

Edited June 22, 2020 by Fajita Fan

[Arendious]

Given the Imperium's (or at least GW's) persistence in using inappropriate platforms for roles - Arvuses.

[Fajita Fan]

Very fair, Tbolt it is.

Edit: for those who didn’t grow up with a fairly obsessive fascination with airplanes Wild Weasels were the squadrons of ground attack craft the USAF used to hunt down enemy SAM sites. There were several planes used in the role like the Thunderchief, Phantom, Falcon, and I think the Navy used Intruders. They’d run across the flight path of B52s on their way to North Vietnam to smoke out SAM radars and then try to bomb them because Buffs can’t dodge even on a 6+.

These were just about the bravest pilots out there and their squadron patches say “You gotta be :cussting me” because that’s apparently what the first unit said when the mission role was explained to them. There’s a neat documentary on Netflix or Prime called “Thud Pilots” IIRC.

 

Note: be careful when googling, do NOT google “wicked weasel” on your work computer.

Edited June 23, 2020 by Fajita Fan

[Burni]

Hmmm, yesterday's Skies of Fire article has a whiff of "this isn't selling, let's do an article to remind people it exists". Obviously people are watching their money at the moment (and rightly so) and a new 40K ed is imminent, so maybe it's just one of those things. But it doesn't help paint a rosey picture for AI.

[Fajita Fan]

Oh they’ll drop this like a hot potato and blame us.

 

So a Vendetta can be armed with “one additional” twin lascannon but the wing pylons each hold one. The pair of rocket pods and pair of missiles are both plural but the TL lascannon is singular. Does that mean you buy two TL lascannons for 8 points or do both lascannons mounted for each wing count as one TL las for 4 points?

[Iron Hands Fanatic]

Oh they’ll drop this like a hot potato and blame us.

 

So a Vendetta can be armed with “one additional” twin lascannon but the wing pylons each hold one. The pair of rocket pods and pair of missiles are both plural but the TL lascannon is singular. Does that mean you buy two TL lascannons for 8 points or do both lascannons mounted for each wing count as one TL las for 4 points?

 

The 'Twin lascannon' (nose mount) option is 0-2-1 firepower dice, whereas the 'Twin-linked lascannon' (wing mount) option is 0-4-2, suggesting that the wing option represents both pairs

 

Have to admit, the fact that the book still says "chosen from the following list at * points each" even when there's only one option is a bit misleading (it does the same thing for the Vulture's punisher cannons)

[Mendi Warrior]

 

Note: be careful when googling, do NOT google “wicked weasel” on your work computer.

 

Lol, still small scale stuff but models are of another kind 

 

More seriously, when do you think we can expect to see the new resin models for AI?

[Fajita Fan]

 

Oh they’ll drop this like a hot potato and blame us.

 

So a Vendetta can be armed with “one additional” twin lascannon but the wing pylons each hold one. The pair of rocket pods and pair of missiles are both plural but the TL lascannon is singular. Does that mean you buy two TL lascannons for 8 points or do both lascannons mounted for each wing count as one TL las for 4 points?

 

The 'Twin lascannon' (nose mount) option is 0-2-1 firepower dice, whereas the 'Twin-linked lascannon' (wing mount) option is 0-4-2, suggesting that the wing option represents both pairs

 

Have to admit, the fact that the book still says "chosen from the following list at * points each" even when there's only one option is a bit misleading (it does the same thing for the Vulture's punisher cannons)

 

I just noticed the damage was doubled but you caught my mistake.