Legions Imperialis is the ultimate game of combined arms, where infantry battalions fight alongside armoured companies, banners of Knights, and mighty Titan maniples. But there’s a crucial fifth element to these planetary battles of the 31st Millennium – air support.
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.
Flyer
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).
Interceptors
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.
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…
Bombers
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.
Transports
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.
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.
That’s not it for Flyers – you’ll have noticed special rules such as Hover, Point Defence, and Jink. The last of these we’ve discussed previously – it’s a special Save to represent evasive manoeuvres. As for the other rules… you’ll just have to wait until Legions Imperialis is released!