Aeronautica Imperialis: Battle Report- Bandits Off Station Alpha

This game was played as part of the Fued of the Red Clouds campaign in the fall of 2012.  It uses aircraft rules from the campaign booklet with some scratchbuilt models.

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Bandits off Station Alpha:
Blakroe the Aspirant had ordered one of his veteran Vend'Gho pilots to escort a flight group of Dregs as they tested the flight characteristics of their new aircraft. During routine maneuvers, they flight was attacked by a squadron of Dark Eldar raiders. What a great opportunity to test out the qualities of the Dregs and their new mad aircraft designs. 

Dark Eldar:
3 Ravens

Chaos:
Hellfang- Pilot: Lon B'herd
2 Hellfuries- Pilot: Sq'Ak and Svif'Vind
2 Hellspikes- Pilots: H'wol and T'llon

Set-up:
The chaos forces are in a line formation heading away from the Dark Eldar attack. They are moving at speed 4 and at varied high altitudes. Lon B'herd and his Hellfang are at the center with Hellfuries to his right and Hellspikes to his left. The Dark Eldar come on the board behind the Chaos formation at full speed and max altitude. 



 

Turn 1:
Intiative: Dark Eldar

The Dark Eldar close in on the Chaos fighters amazingly fast! The Chaos squadron breaks hard to the right, with the Hellfang diving towards the Hard Deck. 

Shooting:
Everyone is just out of range. 

Turn 2:
Initiative: Dark Eldar
The Dark Eldar cut through the Chaos formation. The Hellfang tries to turn back into the melee, as do the Hellfuries. The Hellspikes stay on the outer edges of the Furball. 

Oh no, looks like the Dark Eldar have a pretty good firing position. Those rookie Hellfury pilots may have just made a fatal mistake. 



Shooting:
Dark Eldar 2 roars in and unloads on Hellfury 2 at point blank range. The Hellfury explodes into a fireball, and the dreg Sq'Ak is killed in the explosion. 

Turn 3:
Initiative: Chaos

Spooked by the death of his wing man, the Svif'Vind in the last Hellfury power dives away. The Dark Eldar turn back into the fight, but some poor choices of maneuver cards leave them vulnerable. The Chaos numbers pay off with some good positioning. 



Shooting:
H'wok in Hellspike 1 ends up way too close to Dark Eldar 3 for a shot with his Las-cannons. However, T'llon in Hellspike 2 has moved into a trailing position of Dark Eldar 2, and opens fire. However, the shots go wide. Stupid dreg. 

The Hellfang lines up just below Dark Eldar 1, and opens fire at mid-range. Shells and Laser beams slice across the sky, but fail to hit their mark. The Dark Eldar vow to be more vigilant. 

Turn 4:
Initiative: Chaos

Tailing Fire: Hellspike 2 opens fire on Dark Eldar 2. The laser cannon beam flashes into the flickering shape of the Raven, but seems to pass through harmlessly thanks to the Raven's shadow field. 

Movement:
Hellfury 2 turns away and climbs, looking for a way to get back into the fight. Dark Eldar 1 slows down dramatically and turns to run parallel to the Hellfury's course. 

Shooting:
The Lon B'herd in the Hellfang has Dark Eldar 3 in his sights at the optimal range and course. He pulls the trigger and his auto-cannons tear up the fuselage of the Dark Eldar craft, but fail to find a weak spot! 4 hits and no 4+'s for damage! Come on! In return, Dark Eldar 3's Dark Lance bites deep into the Hellfang's chassis, and the machine begins to smoke incense. 



Turn 5: Disengagement Turn as we ran out of time. 
Initiative: Chaos 

Movement:
A terrible Power Dive keeps the Hellfang in a dangerous position as Dark Eldar 2 and 3 fall in behind him. Meanwhile Hellspike 2 tries to slip in for a side shot on Dark Eldar 2. 



Shooting: 
Hellspike 2 fires the last charge from his Lascannons, and misses Dark Eldar 2. Dark Eldar 1 homes in on the damaged Hellfang, and opens up. His Splinter Cannons find their mark and shred the wing of the plane. However, Lon B'herd ejects in time. 



Conclusion:
Ouch! That hurt. My wife had been complaining about being out maneuvered as the Tau, so I offered to let her test out the Dark Eldar. Big mistake. I had her outnumbered 6 hits to 3, and I still got creamed! I lost a pilot too.

Well, enough belly aching, let's talk about how the aircraft performed. The Hellfang actually worked better than last time I used it. However, it suffered from poor power dives in both games. I guess it wasn't designed for diving.  The plane had impressive mid-range firepower, like other Chaos planes; but I just couldn't make it stick. I'm still not sure if the lower maneuverability is worth the trade-off for a las-cannon and an extra hit. 

The Hellspikes' low ammo makes them an interesting aircraft. They seem to be a role player, and dog fighting may not be that role. However, they still had the same nimbleness you would expect in a Chaos craft. The Hellfuries again failed to do anything useful except draw fire and get killed. I'm still not sure what to think about them.