Aeronautica Imperialis – Imperial and Ork Ground Assets

The release of Aeronautica Imperialis was much broader, compared to other product lines introduced by Games Workshop. Among the individual kits is one for terrain, the Imperial and Ork Ground Assets.

The flat box costs 32,50 EUR and covers a single large plastic sprue, along with a simple assembly instruction. Unlike other terrain sets, this doesn't come with a Warscroll for use. Those are covered in the Rynn's campaign supplement.

The sprue is properly packed and more or less mirrored by 180°. Casting is good, clean details and a low amount of mould lines.

There are two landing zone markers along with a total of 12 numerical marker, which are double sided and cover the roman numerals 1 to 12 (but not the same number on both sides, 1 to 6 on one side and 7 to 12 on the other, twice).

The imperial assets cover two different kind of anti-air guns. A total of six, covering two Manticore Missile Batteries and four Hydra Flak Batteries. They don't need to be glued to the base, just pin them and they stay moveable.

They even fit the back of the Reaver Titans.

Similar set up for the orkish anti-air guns, four Flak Platforms and two 'Eavy Flak Kannons. Again, only need to glue the guns themself, the upper part is pinned to the base and stays moveable.

As missions markers / objectives are two bunkers each of the orks and imperial forces.

The complete content of this kit can be seen here.

A scale comparison of the imperial assets next to a Thunderbolt and the orkish assets next to the Dakkajet.

Just for comparison, this is the sprue from the Adeptus Titanicus boxed set, that covers a couple of guns and strategic objectives. They are in the same scale, which means the Imperial and Ork Ground Assets could be used with Adeptus Titanicus as well. You can see, that the newer ground assets have a much sharper cast and crispier details compared to the accessories from the AT kit.

Conclusion
On the one side, this is well made terrain for the 8mm scaled games by Games Workshop, and maybe even more interesting for Adeptus Titanicus than Aeronautica Imperialis. 12 AA-guns at roughly 2 EUR per piece, plus a bit of additional items and markers. Sounds okay. Beside that, individual upgrade sprues of that size are currently priced around the 32,50 EUR range. That makes this set fit right in with the current range in the broad sense.

But to be honest, I would have expected this to be part of the boxed set, similar to the accessories sprue in the small and large boxed set of Adeptus Titanicus. Maybe, if Games Workshop would have put this sprue, along with the whole 86 page campaign book (that covers the basic rules as well) in the Wings of Vengeance set and would have made it a bit more expensive (or dropped the flyers and let the player set up their own squadrons), it would be a better value. This very spread out release, especially of smaller items, leaves an unsatisfying taste to it. I have no intention to bash the release, but just put that into perspective. The Adeptus Titanicus Horus Heresy rule set is set at 45 EUR, covers a 96 page rule book as a hardcover and the sprue shown above. Sprue and hard cover of Aeronautica do already cost you 61,50 EUR as a bundle, and don't come with command terminals, dice, templates and a card stack of gear, like the Horus Heresy boxed set does. I am aware of the pricing by Games Workshop, but this just feels out of place compared to their own (Specialist Games / Forge World) product ranges, for example the Civitas Imperialis covers 4 whole sprues for the same price.

At Warhammer Fest UK 2019 in May there was additional terrain announced for Adeptus Titanicus, most likely being released by Forge World. The content of this set, at least the Imperial half, will be a proper fit for the game, as the missiles of the Hydra and Manticore can be used ground to ground as well (at least in Warhammer 40k).

Warhammer 40,000 and Aeronautica Imperialis are brands by Games Workshop.

The reviewed product item was provided by the manufacturer.