As per the suggestion from
40kHobbiest, Flyers should be suggested. These guys could throw a few monkey wrenches in the game for a few reasons, and, now that they're in mainstream rules, we'll see them a bit more often. Here we're going to talk about their advantages, disadvantages, and how to take them down.
Alright, let's talk about the basics. We already had Skimmers, and they were, well, skimmers. They had a whole bunch of advantages, and some disadvantages. Personally, I love using them. There's a lot they bring to the table that works well with how I do things. As the hobby, and interest, grew, they made Forge World, and started making resin flyers, which they needed rules for. Initially, these were just rules for fun games, not to be used in tourneys or the like. However, with 6th Ed, they decided to make them official. They are a different, yet similar, beast to skimmers, but are used in many of the same ways. Here's the rundown:
Let's hear the good news first...
We'll start with advantages. Right off the bat is their Zooming movement ability. This makes it, as standard, an 18" Combat Speed and 36" Cruising Speed. That'll take a decent amount of firepower pretty much anywhere you want it on the table. This is especially effective with transport vehicles. When flying at either Cruising or Combat Speeds, they may fire up to four weapons at their regular BS. That's pretty huge. Many transport flyers also give you the opportunity to drop their troops off mid-flight, Deep Strike style. All shots against a flyer (unless using a Skyfire model/weapon) are Snap Shots, and Blast and Template weapons have no effect (for the record, I think blast weapons should work with a direct hit). They can leave the table and come back on later, and, lastly, any Immobilized result only locks their movement speed in place. This is a lot. A whole hell of a lot. You have, basically, a vehicle that's almost impossible to hit, being able to move across the board in a turn,
while dropping off troops and firing
four weapons in the process. Not to mention the Flyers that can use Hover, therefore switching between roles of Flyers and Skimmers within the game. You're able to deliver a
TON of firepower wherever you want it, when you want it, and that deserves respect.
Alright, and the downsides:
First off, Zooming flyers must move a minimum of 18". If they don't or can't, they wreck themselves. Secondly, they must start the game in Reserve. Third, they may only make a pivot of up to 90 degrees in the beginning of the movement phase. Last, they are usually fairly expensive. (You get what you pay for). Now we get to go through how these are going to impact your game.
The first might not seem that bad, but it can still happen. You declare the move, and find out your opponent's squad is in the way. Now you have to move it back, and it wrecks. At least it could explode on top of them. By now, I'm sure you have read how I feel about Reserves. This rule actually ruins one of my IG builds (3 Squadrons of Valkyries and Vendettas, full of troops. Drop the main forces on the objective turn 1, and use the Air support to ruin troops and vehicles. Oh, and there would be a squadron loaded with troops equipped with meltaguns and demolition charges just to finish ruining my opponent's deployment zone). It's unreliable, and you can't make a functional army based on Reserves, in my experience.The last issue we need to address is the pivot. Again, this doesn't seem like a major issue, but it leaves the Flyer vulnerable. All its weapons are forward-facing, and this denies you the ability to fight a rear-facing model/unit, or attack the same unit two turns in a row.
What this means to the game:
You essentially have a very fast attack method that is very hard to take down. The low armor value doesn't mean a whole lot when you only hit on 6's. Playing with flyers means you can do a decent amount of damage, while a significant portion of your opponent's firepower is focused on your few models. Which means it's not focused on your forces. A well-placed flyer, or squadron, is capable of doing a lot of damage, and soaking up a lot of firepower. This means that players who do not have flyers should possibly invest in a few models with the Skyfire option, as a safeguard. One would have to be careful to make sure they have Interceptor, as well, or else you'll have weapons that are almost useless most games. I don't predict lots of them, but they're value on the table does change things, and a player would need to be prepared, either through emplacements or other things. I would suggest picking Flyers that are more Anti-Armor oriented, as having a fast anti-tank platform is incredibly valuable. The toughness, and the fact that you can distract a large number of forces only adds to that. Overall, I'm thinking about adding some to my play style, as this is a lot of advantages. The disadvantage to using flyers for your anti-tank, is your enemy's armor is loose and deadly until you can get them on the board. Overall, I think it's a win some, lose some situation. Flyers should
not be discounted as just a new gimmick.
