Warhammer 40k's Seventh edition has been chugging on at a pretty good pace for a while now. Even with the break to launch Age of Sigmar (more on that later) we've seen a plethora of great product in the way of campaign books and new models.
This brings me to Death from the Skies! Originally printed during 6th editions short run, Death from the skies gave us the general structure and mechanics for flying war machines in the 41st millennium. Most of the original content was folded into the seventh edition rule book upon launch. But that won't stop Games Workshop, oh no! A new edition of Death from the skies has graced my local hobby shop, introducing two new flyers and a smattering of additional rules.
Overall I like the book. It's a bit hefty at $58 but I think once you've reviewed the new mechanics you'll find they seem like a worthwhile addition. To be honest, the only bad egg is the Dogfight Phase which feels shoe-horned in to an otherwise smooth game turn. This phase is pretty much a simple guessing game set up on a completely different table that can remove models from reserve before they even see play. First, it takes very little of the original mechanics into account, forcing the attacker and defender to instead choose between three maneuvers and revealing them at the same time. These maneuvers are matched on a chart and the result plays out on AN ENTIRELY SEPARATE TABLE. Complete waste of pages, and it could have been used to make some real dog fighting rules! Perhaps after a couple test runs I'll change my mind, but I don't see it happening any time soon.
After that comes the modified flyer rules. First, each flyer is now given one of three combat roles; bomber, fighter, or attack flyer. These describe for better or worse the respective flyers use during a regular game of 40k. In addition to these new classifications each flyer has two new stats called Agility and Pursuit. Here's where the fun begins! Pursuit adds to the Flat Out range of flyers giving them a slightly larger threat range. Agility allows you to make a 90 degree turn MID-FLIGHT! Agility acts like a regular attribute test; roll equal to or under your Agility and you're allowed to make that second turn. These two stats seem to make flyers more dynamic without completely re-writing the core mechanics of the flyer vehicle type. I hope more people bring out their flyers just to try them out.
Aside from the new rules, the bulk of the book is full of new detachments comprised of 3 to 4 flyers from a single codex with bonuses themed for that particular army. If you don't like your particular detachment there are rules for generic Flyer Wings that allow you to purchase three or more flyers as a single squadron that may stay in formation for a bonus or break off for regular play. I like the Flyer Wing option, because it allows players with a certain play style to break the mold and still get some kind of advantage for running three Nephilim Jetfighters, for example.
All but one of the Air War missions seems really fun; and the one that stinks is the one that requires the Dogfight phase! Who'd have guessed! I especially like the looks of the air drop mission, where you're surrounded by the enemy on all sides and the objective markers are dropped by incoming flyers at random. I think my store will probably run an event with at least one of these missions in the future.
Overall I think the book is worth it, after getting over my dislike for the dogfight system and taking the rest of the book in I think there's plenty here to get an entire air campaign going. Perhaps we'll see a real air to air dogfight in my shop soon!
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