Battle Report: Aeronautica Imperialis: Dog Fight – 150pts, Ork vs Ork

Graham and I have fought multiple battles already but due to Real Life and Covid, haven’t done (or posted) anything in quite a while. Our previous “test” battles, I did the Imperial Navy vs Graham’s Winter Orcs. (No, seriously, Graham is going for a winter camouflage to be different. It just doesn’t show well on the camera.) So, knowing he bought the latest set (Talos Air War) which includes Tau and Imperials and knowing he was planning to fight with those, I planned to use my Bad Moon’s Air Farce. 

Naturally, Graham showed up with his Orcs because his other Air Forces aren’t ready. Too bad for you!

Orc Air Forces consist of the following aircraft (at present):

• Dakkajets:
  (Very fast, lotsa Shootas, only 2 Hull Points so very fragile)
• Fighta Bommers:
  (More rugged (3 Hull Points), same Dakka, but a turret and option to carry bombs)
• Eavy Bommer:
  (Flying ordinance carrier with 6 Hull Points and able to carry extra bombs and transport troops, good all-around Dakka)
• Grot Bommer:
  (Modified 'Eavy Bommer that carries Grot-guided bomms instead of regular Bombs. Lots of forward firing dakka)

Grot Bomms are “Autonomous Weapons” and have a bunch of special rules. Basically, they’re guided missiles. Grot pilots fly the “bomms “to their target, fire their rokkits and guide the bomms to their final target.  It’s a one-way trip for the Grots, but they either don’t realize it or don’t care.

Autonomous Weapons are launched in the firing phase and move forward D3+3”. Next turn, they continue to move D3+3” and are allowed to turn 1 hex-side. If the weapon finds itself beside a target it may detonate and attack 1 target. Roll a D6 and compare the results. On a 2+, The weapon hits, a 1 is a miss and the weapon continues to fly next turn. Grot Bomms damage on a 2+ but do an extra damage point on 4+ for a maximum of 2 damage points.

Graham and I chose to do the “Dogfight” mission as a refresher (haven’t played in over 3 months). To speed things up, I recorded the battle as a video using my phone. So pictures are frame grabs from the video. I “may” link this report to a Video later.

After planning and revealing our forced, I had to chuckle; they were nearly identical:

• 6 X Dakajets
• 1 X Fighta Bommer
• I took a Grot Bommer with extra Grot Bomms (4 total) and Extra Armor.

Graham took a ‘Eavy Bommer also extra Armor and extra Bombs (???). There were no ground targets but Graham setup his own “special” mission to get his bomber off the other table edge.

Setup:
Both our forces setup in opposite corners. All my forces were at Altitude 2, 1 speed less than max of all panes EXCEPT the Grot Bommer which was at Speed 3 (maximum when carrying extra armor).

Graham set all his aircraft at Altitude 4, I believe. This would haunt him later as he wasn’t paying attention to me.

Turn 1:

After orders were set, I won the roll-off for initiative and chose to move (and shoot) first.

I moved my Grott Bommer first; it wouldn’t matter as it was so slow. Graham decided to “group” his Dakkajets in a single mob and move moved them all at the same time. This was a house rule that was used at a mega battle at the GW store where we had 3-4 players a side and alternating movement on a per jet basis was impractical. I tried, unsuccessfully, to get Graham to change his mind, but he was insistent that it would make no difference. So, my “Blue” flight of 3 Dakkajets was in perfect position to accelerate to maximum speed, zoom climb two levels (losing 1 speed again), and turn and hit the “pod” of Dakkajets on the flank, out of his arc of fire. He did move his Fighta Bommer to my flank, but it was a risk I had to take. My second flight (Red Flight) of 3 Dakkajets stayed at Altitude 2 as I couldn’t get into a position where I could avoid fire and still shoot. The remaining planes all moved forward, maintaining their Altitudes.

In the Firing phase, I started with my “Blue Leader” Dakkajet as it was most vulnerable to counter-attack from Graham’s Fighta Bommer. Blue 1 successfully shot down his target, only to succumb to fire from the Fighta Bommer next ,as expected. My “Blue 2” managed to damage another Dakkajet but “Blue 3” failed to damage the same plane in spite of 4 hits!

Graham had no further targets due to the difference in altitudes. My lst activation was to fire a Grot Bomm from the Grot Bommer. The Bomm managed to move to the hex directly in front of another Dakkajet.  This caused some issues as Graham wanted to shoot it, but as it had no HP, and it was a weapon, it was not a lawful target.  We found out in the FAQ later that we DID play correctly: Grot Bomms cannot be targeted as they are weapons. If I ever post the video, you’ll hear a lot of grumbling about it. The Grot Bomm managed (barely) to damage the Dakkajet as it went off.

 Turn 2:

After Orders were set, I won Initiative again and elected to move & shoot first.

I didn’t record the movement phase to save memory on the camera, but, The Grot Bommer continued on at its maximum speed of 3 and dropped to Level 1 in case Graham tried to attack it (you can only climb or dive 2 levels maximum in this game). Two of Graham’s Dakkajets dove down and attacked my Grot Bommer from the starboard side, while my Fighta Bommer came to try and intercept them. Another of Grahams Dakkajets dove down to intercept my Fighta Bommer, so it was getting kind of crowded in that neck of the woods…

Meanwhile, two of my Dakkajets (Blue 2 & 3) swung over to intercept Graham’s Eavy Bommer while my Red Flight got into a turning, climbing and diving match against Graham’s remaining Dakkajets.

In the Firing Phase, My Fighta Bommer successfully shot down one of the Dakkajets going after the Grot Bommer but the turret failed to hit the Dakkajet that was making a run on my Fighta Bommer. Graham’s remaining Dakkajet attacking the Grot Bommer took his shot, but as there was a difference of 1 level, he required 6’s to hit! As a result, the Grot Bommer got away undamaged. My Blue 2 managed to damage Graham’s Eavy Bommer, but Blue 3 missed completely. Graham’s Fighta Bommer did manage to hit and damage the Grot Bommer in spite of being at medium (that’s Long for Orcs) range. Finally, my Red Flight shared a kill shooting down another of Graham’s Dakkajets. Graham’s Eavy Bommer successfully damaged one of the Dakkajets attacking it with its port-side guns and dorsal turret.My last Dakkajet took a Medium-Range shot at the Dakkajet attacking my Fighta Bommer. It managed to successfully inflict one damage point on the already damaged flyer and down it went. My Grot Bommer activated last, launching 2 Grot Bomms and placing Guns on the Dakkajet attacking it and the Fighta Bommer at medium range in front. The Bommer failed to damage the Dakkajet, but did damage the Fighta Bommer. Then the Grot Bomms moved and one ended up beside Graham’s Fighta Bommer and exploded at maximum capacity, adding another 2 points of damage and taking Graham’s Fighta Bommer out of the sky!

Very bad turn for Graham as he lost 3 Dakajets and a Fighta Bommer in a single turn with no losses to my own forces!

In the end phase, we realized one of Graham’s Dakkajets was tailing my Fighta Bommer, so it would get an extra round of shooting at the beginning of the next turn!

Turn 3:

Graham won initiative this time! Of course, he chose to go first so he could shoot first though with only 3 aircraft remaining, I don’t think it really made any difference.

Graham got to resolve his Tailing fire before we moved, but though he hit twice, he failed to damage the Fighta Bommer!

During the Movement phase, my Grot Bommer and the Fighta Bommer sort of side-slipped together for mutual protection. Blue flight cut speed and got onto Graham’s Eavy Bommer’s tail. Graham’s damaged Dakkajet continued to pursue the Grot Bommer. My Red Flight scattered around, trying to get a bead on (but failing) Graham’s last undamaged Dakkajet.

Graham’s damaged Dakkajet took aim and fired on the Grot Bommer, but was instead shot down by the Grot Boomer.The Grot Bommer launched its last Grot Bomm as part of its firing activation. This left Graham with 25% of his air force remaining. Assuming all his aircraft survived, next turn would be the last “Disengagement” turn. In spite of having 2 Dakkajets unloading 16 dice into the back of Graham’s Eavy Bommer, the Bommer remained unscathed! The rest of the shooting was dismal and the Grot Bomms were not able to reach targets.

In the End phase, My 2 Dakkajets were found to be tailing Graham’s Eavy Bommer and Graham’s undamaged Dakkajet was tailing one of my Dakkajets. However, next turn would be last turn and the opportunity to disengage without penalty.

Turn 4 – Disengagement:

Graham won initiative!

Graham’s Dakkajet was unable to damage my Dakkajet in the Tailing Fire. I couldn’t laugh because my 2 Dakkajets with 16 shots only managed to damage the Eavy Bommer once, which Graham saved with his Extra Armor!

In the Movement phase, Graham successfully disengaged his undamaged Dakkajet! Meanwhile my Dakkajets were swarming around his Eavy Bommer which failed to get off the table by 1 Hex!!! Finally, one of my Grot Bomms managed to make it right up the Eavy Bommer’s Tailpipe!

The Eavy Bommer managed to shoot down one of my damaged Dakkajets targeting the Bommer before the Dakkajet could fire. However, the Eavy Bommer took the remaining fire from the other Dakkajets and the 2-point explosion from the Grot Bomm and ended the battle with 5 hull points lost, limping out of the Engagement Area with one Hull Point!

ORK VICTORY!!!

Well, MY Orks anyway:

Bruce:                116 VPs

Graham:              50 VPs

Pilot Debriefing:

That was a really one-sided battle!

I think what got me the victory was partly my maneuvering through Altitudes as well as hexes.  That caught Graham off-guard for the first 2 turns. The other “Big” advantage was Graham insisting on keeping his Dakkajets in one formation, regardless whatever I was doing. By doing that, I was able to flank him on one side while baiting him on the other.

Second turn and I forced Graham to breakup his formation as he got Target Fixated on my Grot Bommer. As a result of him going for my Bommer, my Dakkas and Fighta Bommer got into position and took out most of his Dakkajets. Graham just couldn’t recover from that point.

The final thing that hurt Graham (besides Dice rolls – we’ve all been there) was Graham’s insisting on arming his Eavy Bommer with Wing Bombs. The Wing Bombs were a useless expense.He could have left the bombs off and put Rokkits on his Fighta Bommer or some of his Dakkajets or even on his Eavy Bommer as they cost the same amount as his Wing Bombs.