Aeronautica Imperialis will be rolled into Legions Imperialis, and here are the rules on how Aircraft will work in the game!
If you’ve patiently waited for Epic Warhammer 40k to return, it’s being rebranded in the Horus Heresy era as Legions Imperialis. While we’ve seen plenty of the miniatures in the starter box, it’s always nice to get more details of how the game will play out on the tabletop.
GW announced the game will be pushed back some, but this gives us some more time to decide on the game by looking at the rules! If you want to see some of the core rules, you can check those out here. Let’s jump into the new rules.
A New Era of Aerial Combat: Legions Imperialis Aircraft Rules
The new rules for aircraft in Legions Imperialis come from Warhammer Community.
There are many planes on offer to the generals of the Horus Heresy – courtesy of Aeronautica Imperialis, from which you can use nearly all of your Imperial aircraft. These flying machines work slightly differently to the rest of the game, starting the game in Reserve and roaring across the field to strafe, bomb, intercept, and deliver troops to vital areas. Here’s how it works.
Well, to start, considering there won’t be any Xenos races in the game, you can’t use those models in LI, yet unfortunetly.
Models with the Flyer special rule all work the same way. They begin off the battlefield, and may only be issued an Advance Order or a March Order. When activated in the Movement phase, they begin touching the battlefield edge – anywhere within 8” of your battlefield edge – and then move in a straight line, making at most a single 90-degree turn.
They fire as normal in the Combat phase, and can draw line of sight (if not necessarily range) to every model on the battlefield. At the end of the round, they’re removed and placed back into Reserve, ready to go again – just keep a note of the Wounds they’ve suffered.
Flyers can’t engage in close combat, can’t hold an objective, and can’t block enemy movement. Unless they’re targeted by units with the Skyfire trait (which most flyers have), they can only be hit on a natural roll of 6, and they ignore template weapons (unless they have Skyfire).
They are pretty crazy in the fact that they start every turn off the board, can draw line of sight to every model, and then get removed after every single turn, to just come back the next. It makes sense they can’t block movement, hold objectives, or engage in combat.
However, they are going to be super hard to hit and should be pretty annoying for your opponent to deal with. Fast movers indeed…
Interceptors Rules
Interceptors are the lightest class of fighter in the game – their job is to shoot down heavier aircraft, so they get bonus attacks against another Flyer after they complete their movement, courtesy of the Interceptor special rule.
They are allowed some free shots at other aircraft and could be an excellent way to take down your opponent’s aircraft.
This attack comes on top of their regular shooting, giving them an edge in any dogfight. There are four Interceptors available initially – the Xiphon Interceptor for the Legiones Astartes, and the Thunderbolt, Lightning, and Avenger for the Solar Auxilia. The Avenger is a bit of an all-rounder, with armaments designed both to shoot planes out of the sky, and to cause havoc among tanks and infantry. It even has the capacity for a little bombing…
They have a decent amount of weapon options and plenty of dice, meaning plenty of extra options to destroy your opponent’s ships!
Bombers Rules
These are your heavier hitters. They tend to be larger, tougher, and more heavily armed, and they love to seek out and destroy hard targets. The Solar Auxilia Marauder Bomber is the main bombing threat at present, via the Bombing Run weapon trait.
A weapon with this trait can even damage Structures, and troops garrisoned within. Once a run has been completed, the Flyer continues its movement and may fire the rest of its weapons as normal.
This lets you fly around the board and bomb any enemies within range and even have the potential to destroy structures.
Transports Rules
But what of iconic aircraft, such as the Thunderhawk Gunship, the Storm Eagle, and the humble Arvus Lighter? Their job is to ferry troops to where they’re needed most on the battlefield, via a series of special rules: Transport, Assault Transport, and Large Assault Transport.
Units carried in a transport can only be issued with Advance or March Orders, so they can only move and shoot when they get out. Assault transports allow troops to charge right out of the cargo bay into close combat, and large transports can carry walkers and units with the Bulky trait (Terminators, for instance). That makes the Thunderhawk Gunship a threat on multiple counts.
If you want to deploy your troops rapidly and put them into the heart of the fighting, take a Thunderhawk!
The Thunderhawk is serious business in Legions Imperialis – a squadron of up to three gunships can deposit several chunky Detachments of Dreadnoughts and Terminators right into the thick of things, while laying down heavy fire from their dorsal turbo-laser destructors and hellstrike missiles.
As you would expect, the Thunderhawk is quite tough, has a ton of weapons, and can transport a bunch of Space Marines!
Prepare to take flight and dominate the heavens! With the introduction of these aircraft rules, Legions Imperialis is setting the stage for epic skyward clashes!
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What do you think about the new aircraft rules for Legions Imperialis?
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About the Author: Travis Pasch
Travis Pasch
Job Title: Head Writer & Editor
Socials: @paschbass
About Travis Pasch: Travis has been a Warhammer 40k hobbyist since the 1990s, playing the game since Third Edition. Through extensive traveling, he’s seen a lot of the miniatures hobby from across the world, giving him a unique perspective on the latest gaming topics and trends.
Travis’s brother even owns a commission painting studio, where he’s picked up a lot of good advice and techniques for painting Warhammer and tabletop miniatures over the years, as well. Travis joined the Spikey Bits team in 2019 and has been the lead writer since 2020.
Currently, he’s working on converting all his 40k Adeptus Mechanicus models and becoming a true tech enjoyer, complete with both sad and happy robot noises!
