Death from the Skies Compendium
With the release of the new flyer compendium and it only being available from 'Games Workshop' direct at the moment. Al has kindly completed a review from his own perspective having purchased the book. Below you will find his thoughts on the books content and it should give you insight as to what this compendium has in it.
AT £20, the book is 72 pages long. Soft-cover reminiscent
of the old Campaign book covers (e.g. Black Crusade)
The back cover is just a load of pictures of the flyers
for sale.
Page 5 - 20: "The Battle of Cadrim" - This
looks like a slightly extended version of the section in White Dwarf when the Stormtalon came out. It includes the same pictures of the White Scars armies etc.
Page 23 - 29: Air War Missions.
Mission 1: Deadly Bridgehead: Space Marines with Necron
allies, against Orks.
Mission 2: Scramble; Space Marines vs Orks.
Mission 3: Aerial Assault: Necrons vs Orks with Space
Marine allies.
Mission 4: Death from the Skies: Necrons V Marines.
Page 32 - 40: Burning Skies - Looks like a reprint of the
Crusade of Fire rules.
Page 40 - 55: Gallery pictures.
Now we're coming to the important bit.
Page 56: Stormraven Bestiary: It includes the FAQ
updates. eg. a Dreadnaught taking s10 hits if the flyer explodes and is
zooming. The important note is Blood Angels and Grey Knights armies use the
rules printed here though their Stormravens have additional wargear options
and rules - see the army list for details. Also, new piece of artwork. An Ultramarine Stormraven.
Page 57: Storm Talon: Still 2 HP. It now has the Strafing
Run rules. Type (Flyer, Hover). Escort craft rules looks to be clarified to avoid
anything BS-ey. Can't escort anything using Outflank / Deepstrike. Plus other
stuff. NO supersonic rules.
Page 58: Valkyrie/Vendetta: Exactly the same as the Imperial Guard Codex, but with HP's added in - Same as rulebook. Also the Grav Chute Insertion
rules have been updated with the FAQ rules.
Page 59: Voidraven / Razorwing: I'm assuming these are the
same? Razorwing Armour 10, Voidraven Armour 11. Night Vision/Supersonic rules.
Page 60: Doom Scythe: Looks the same as before.
Page 61: Night Scythe: Broadly the same as before. They
clarify the embarked unit doesn't take damage when destroyed. Also they enter
through normal reserves? No mention of re-embarking on a night scythe...
However. "If a night scythe has moved more than 24", the disembarking
unit may only fire snap shots".
Page 62: Dakkajet: No Hover. However, Strafing run,
supersonic. Fighta Ace upgrade has been renamed to 'flyboss' - it basically
gives him Strafing Run against things you don't get strafing run against....
Aside from that, same as before.
Page 63: Burna Bomber, Blitza Bomber: Seems the same as
before, with obvious changes. No hover. Supersonic, waaagh plane! Points costs
and upgrades are identical to White Dwarf.
Page 64: Wargear. A burna bomb is a bomb... Death Ray
looks like it has rules changes... It hurts friendly models too. It can't hurt
zooming flyers or flying monstrous creatures.
Page 65: Wargear. Everything looks the same.
Page 66: Stormstrike Missiles: I dunno what to say, they
actually seem to kick rear end... S8, AP2, concussive.
Page 68: Army List:
Storm Raven: Heavy Support: Yup, Space Marines and Black Templars get Stormraven. Nothing for space puppies. Grey Knights and Blood Angels don't get
stormstrike missiles. The rest looks broadly similar.
Storm Talon: Marines/Black Templars only (typical). Fast
Attack. A lot cheaper in points. The most expensive version is 10 points
cheaper than before.
Page 69: Army List:
Valkyrie And Vendetta: Identical to earlier rules.
Page 70:
Razorwing, Voidraven, Doom Scythe, Night Scythe:
I think these are identical to their normal rules.
Page 71: The Ork Flyers: In all honesty, they seem the
same as the white dwarf. I think someone with more of an Ork brain will need to
pick out the differences.
Page 72: Summary Page.
So, there you go. That's what you’re getting for your
£20, and that's what the FLGS are losing out on.
So, in summary, it seems only Black Templars and
Codex Marines players really need to buy it.
Please also take a look a the 'FAQs and ERRATA February Update' post to check out some of the changes that have been clarified.
Please feel free to comment on this review and share your thoughts! Just remember to keep them constructive.
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Thanks once again to Al for the guest article: The two things that I am disappointed with being a Grey Knight player are;
ReplyDelete1) Grey Knight can't use Stormtalons: That would have been awesome, after all the are supposed to have access to the best equipment in the Imperium.
2)Stormravens should be given the option to upgrade to stormstrike missiles to give the Stormraven more clout!
Overall though, thanks to this review I have made up my mind to buy the compendium, as I would quite like to play the missions in them and also have the up to date rules.
It is a shame that some of the content in the book has not been done through FAQs and I do believe that this release should have waited for other army fliers to have been released. Unless they are going to release another compendium later in the year? Food for thought!
Still no eldar flier? comeon GW give us xenos some lovin. Unless the eldar are really to change that much in the next codex.
ReplyDeleteSo, the Night Scythe still costs the same as 100 Searchlights?
ReplyDeleteMine's just arrived, I find it incredible that they can publish rules for Space Wolf pilots but not give them a flyer!
ReplyDeleteThis is true, I was only talking about this last night at my local gaming club. I guess we will have to wait and see if something new is released. I have a feeling Space Wolves will have a new codex early to mid next year if the current trend continues. But I do agree with you and is very confusing at times.
DeleteAny thoughts?