An ork Dakkajet bursts into flame after being strafed by an Imperial Navy Thunderhbolt-class heavy fighter. (Click on photo for larger image.)

“If the warships of the Imperial Navy are its titanic wings, the combat aircraft of the Aeronautica Imperialis are its talons, sweeping down to rend and tear the enemies of Mankind.“—Warhammer 40K Wiki

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IMPERIAL VOXCAST (6 501 746.M41)—Ork aircraft have launched several major attacks against Hegira’s capital, Susa City, in recent days, an escalation that has led to massive aerial dogfights that have tested Imperial air defenses.

The first battle of this new ork aggression was reported three days ago, when a sole ork Dakkajet wandered into the city’s outer defensive zone—the first aerial intrusion into this region since mid-745.M41.

Imperial Navy aircraft constantly patrol the city, and the first aircraft on the scene was an Avenger Strike Fighter piloted by Flying Officer Olic Zane,  an ace pilot credited with shooting down 11 xeno aircraft over the past two years.

The dogfight lasted less than two minutes. Although the Dakkajet managed to put 11 shells into Zane’s aircraft, the Imperial fighter survived the damage, and Zane fired a Hellstrike missile that destroyed the tail of the xeno aircraft, which spun out of control until it crashed in the desert.

First assault

The next two days saw a dramatic escalation in ork aerial activity. Two days ago, 82 aircraft—a combination of Dakkajets and Fightas—approached the city. Their approach registering on anti-air auspexes, and Imperial Navy officers ordered the launch of 120 aircraft—including Avenger, Lightning, and Thunderbolt-class fighters—in response.

For the next three hours, Imperial and ork aircraft battled within sight of the city walls. To most observers, the aircraft appeared as small dots in the sky, weaving and circling, with occasional flashes of light from tracer shells, bright lascannon beams, and trails of black smoke as aircraft fell to their doom or exploded mid-air.

The massive dogfight ended at dusk, as visibility declined and aircraft began running low on fuel.

Approximately 21 Imperial aircraft and an estimated 61 ork aircraft were lost in the fighting, Fighter Command Headquarters reported, Sixteen Imperial pilots managed to grav-chute to safety and were picked up by air rescue teams.

As orks chase an Imperial Avenger Strike Fighter, two Thunderbolt Heavy Fighters arrive to even the odds of the dogfight. (Click on photo for larger image.)

 Second assault

The heaviest fighting occurred yesterday when the greenskin invaders apparently committed to the largest aerial of the past decade, launching waves of aircraft that included, for the first time in six years, more than 100 Fighta-Bommers and Blitza-Bommers.

All told, as many as 1,000 ork aircraft tested the Imperial Navy’s air defenses, which were challenged by 520 Imperial aircraft.

“The fighting was intense, but as our aircraft were closer to their airfields, they could fire their weapons, return to base, reload and refuel, and rejoin the battle,” Wing Commander Randulf Grendel said during a public briefing this morning.

“This allowed our fighter pilots to contest successfully the greater numbers of ork aircraft, which were effectively armed but, thank the Emperor, manned by pilots with an abysmal ability to hit anything they target.”

One Imperial pilot, Flying Officer Hektor Verance of No. 17 Squadron, managed to shoot down six enemy planes over three sorties, making him the first officer in six years to become an ace in a single day.

His first credited kill came early in the morning. Flying a Thunderbolt heavy fighter, Verance and his wingman came to the rescue of an Avenger-class fighter that was attacked by two Dakkajets and two Fighta-Bommers.

“Seeing the Avenger was damaged and trailing smoke, Officer Verance joined the battle and targeted a Fighta-Bommer with auto-cannons and lascannons,” Grendel said. “The ork aircraft exploded, and Verance turned to avoid the explosion’s debris—and found himself approaching a Dakkajet that was trailing the Avenger.”

“Officer Verance opened fire and brought down that aircraft as well, earning him two credited kills within the first three minutes of combat.”

As his wingman’s aircraft is damaged, Flying Officer Hektor Verance (top aircraft) engages in a nose-to-nose firefight with all guns blazing. Verance won the fight. (Click on photo for larger image.)

Pause in fighting

It was difficult for pilots to rest that night, as the exhausted naval officers assumed the orks would launch a third attack the next morning. But the greenskins never came.

“We’re not certain why the orks called off their attacks,” Grendel said. “The greenskins normally do not stop for rest, and we expected at least some of the xenos to take to the sky simply because the fighting was fierce and thus almost irresistible to ignore.”

Long-range auspexes failed to see a single enemy aircraft in the air, he added, which is remarkable when only 110 enemy aircraft were shot down, compared to 41 Imperial planes.

“Somewhere out to the west are nearly 900 operable military aircraft, yet not a one is in the sky,” Grendel said. “It is in explicable given the ork mentality, and we have sent reconnaissance aircraft, low-level surveillance drones, and orbital satellites to work seeking an explanation.”

But the Imperial Navy will be ready when the orks return, he added. “An Imperial transport has just arrived in system  and is transporting two fresh fighter wings—each with 30 aircraft—that will arrive in a week’s time.”

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TheGM: TheGaffer and I just bought ourselves each a starter box of Aeronautica Imperialis and a few extra planes on e-bay. It’s a fun and quick little game, and I like the rules. They’re reasonably simple, but learning how to dogfight has a steep learning curve. 

But that’s okay. You usually don’t do well with Warhammer 40K when you start, but getting a game down in an hour—and having to actually think hard about your tactics—is what wargaming is all about. 

The rules are out of print but still around for sale. I’ll write a review at some point.

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The Corvus Cluster is a Warhammer 40K blog documenting our gaming adventures in the fantastical sci-fi universe of Games Workshop.