How would you play Aeronautica Imperialis solo?

[Brother Tyler]

Recently, @Inquisitor Eisenhorn brought the subject of cooperative gaming up in a discussion in the Amicus Aedes forum here. That evolved into discussion of playing solo. That discussion has potentially inspired a project in which members of the community might present their ideas for playing solo and cooperatively, either as individual projects or, if we can gather sufficient material, a consolidated project. For example, I

[Beaky Brigade]

I've never actually tried this but I've always thought it would be relatively simple to play solo against ground defences with a bombing mission.

If you wanted to give enemy aircraft "AI" rules, it would probably be best to play against ork squadrons as that could account for erratic or simple tactics that would come from randomly generated or simple "fly towards the nearest enemy" rules.

[Firedrake Cordova]

If you wanted to give enemy aircraft "AI" rules, it would probably be best to play against ork squadrons as that could account for erratic or simple tactics that would come from randomly generated or simple "fly towards the nearest enemy" rules.

Or Tau Remoras, as they're literally powered by AI :D

[N1SB]

I've had An Idea, I'm going to short-hand post it here. I even done up a logo:

"You can be me Wingman NEVAA, I don't wantz you stealin' me kills!"

I've had similar thoughts about Orks, I didn't even thinking about Tau Remoras until Brother Firedrake Cordova mentioned it! But here's why I went with Orks.

+++ SETUP +++

Flyboyz is a set of solo or co-op rules for Aeronautica Imperialis that (as far as this authour knows) can be applied to any mission.

Flyboyz represent those Ork hot shot "Red Wunz Go Fasta" mavericks who chase after their own kills instead of working with others to form flight formations, coordinating attacks...none of that unOrky behaviour. It happens that sort of Orky tactiks is easy to represent in Aeronautica Imperialis, because all Ork jet profiles are at their optimal range when they simply fly at their enemy as fast as possible, thus can be easily simulated in solo or co-op play.

To play, you need simply the regular Aeronautica Imperialis game (with rules, board, dice, tokens) and Ork jets (the miniatures, their stands, profiles). The solo or co-op players will need to roll dice and move the miniatures for the Flyboyz. 100 points per side, the minimum for a standard game, is recommended because the players will end up playing both sides of the battle (you should theoretically have less than 8 planes for the Flyboyz). You (and your co-op Wingman) should choose your lists, as well as the Flyboyz list, as you please.

+++ RULES +++

1. During the Choose Maneuvers phase

In a normal game of Aeronautica Imperialis against another player, during the first phase, the Maneuver phase, you use the Maneuver tokens labeled 1 to 8 to represent the 8 types of flight Maneuvers. During your (and your co-op Wingman's) turn, follow the normal rules. The Flyboyz, however, use those same tokens differently.

For the Flyboyz side, have a single one of each of the Maneuver tokens shuffled face down (i.e. have one 1 token, one 2 token, one 3 token, and so on) up to the number of jets in their army list (so if you have 5 Flyboyz jets, have tokens 1 to 5). Randomly distribute them face down on the jets.

The Flyboyz tokens do NOT represent Maneuvers...instead, they will be their activation order. You are randomly distributing them because they're so unpredictable, you can't tell which of them will act first...and frankly, because they're all chasing kills without coordinating with each other, neither can they!

2. During the Initiative phase

Roll for your (a co-op Wingman will roll for his own) Intiative, then roll for the Flyboyz Initiative. If the Flyboyz win, they will always choose to go first, as befits their style.

3. During the Tailing Fire phase

Play the Tailing Fire phase as per normal. Remember Flyboyz will always choose to go first if they won the initiative roll.

4. During the Movement phase

For your (and your co-op Wingman's) jets, play as normal. The alternate activations still apply, as per normal.

When the very first Flyboyz activation occurs, turn over all the randomly placed Maneuver tokens. If setup correctly, they should be numbered in sequence, one 1, one 2, one 3 and so forth. They will activate in the same order as their Maneuver tokens when it's their time to do so, so the Flyboy with the 1 token will go 1st, etc.

A Flyboy will attempt to move as close as possible to the nearest target. You will choose, at the moment of its activation, whichever maneuver allows it to do so (in most cases this should be 1. Level Flight or 5. Stall Turn if they overshoot), using its throttle to speed up if needed, changing altitudes to match it, without Stalling OR leaving the board IF POSSIBLE. If multiple targets are the same distance away, you may choose whichever the one that will favour you more (thus being disadvantageous to the Flyboyz). Move the Flyboy'z Maneuver token with him, he will keep it for the rest of the turn. Note that you can see their activation order now.

5. During the Firing phase

For your (and your co-op Wingman's) jets, play as normal. The alternate activations still apply, as per normal.

The Flyboyz will fire in the same order as their Maneuver tokens, just like when they were moving. They will shoot at the closest enemy jet, even if it was not their initial target during the Maneuver phase. You (and your co-op Wingman) may wish to consider this when deciding your own firing order.

6. During the End phase

Play the End Phase as per normal.

+++ DESIGN NOTES +++

The tl;dr of these solo/co-op Flyboyz rules is that, instead of choosing actual Maneuvers for the enemy Ork faction, you are retooling those same tokens to represent their activation order, which adds a random element, but in a way that lets you make meaningful tactical decisions. Flyboyz will always fly and shoot the closest target. Because this is not far different from having an actual active Ork player, it'll probably work well with this solo or co-op game mode. It was the simplest, most streamlined change using elements already from the base game, with a twist.

+++ UPDATE +++

I've just asked my good Warhammer friend, Timperial Guard, to try this. He's got ALL the Ork jets...also the guy who dragged me into this game.

Edited March 17, 2022 by N1SB