Death From The Skies Arrives! A quick Review

Well it has arrived, my copy of Death from the Skies arrived this morning, after the postie forced it through the door (note to postie - if the package is bigger then the letter box its not meant to go through it) and already I've read it.


Initial thoughts are - WTF did I pay for? this book is roughly the size of a new White Dwarf if not slightly smaller, the only thing that actually stops it being identical is the cover seems slightly thicker! personally I feel the most ripped off i have ever being by GW, the product seems small, pathetic and certainly not worth the money. OK i appreciate this is just a stop gap measure but til the codex comes out for the appropriate army this is a true money spinner from GW - if FW hadn't saved the day earlier with some amazing customer service this moan would have being much worse

Ok so on to the actual pages, they are well laid out as we have come to expect from GW with some very nice artwork too. Most of the models we see aren't new and are just from the studio armies but then again looking at fliers is fun even if you have seen them before.

Rules wise nothing new really from reading my current codex and rulebook, there some amendments of course but if you have any specific questions please ask, will be quicker and more fulfilling to answer them for you below :) I think from what i can see the aces are a nice idea and one i will be looking in to in great detail, again apologies but not knowing much about 6th ed and fliers i would rather answer your questions.

The campaign idea, like with crusade of fire, is mediocre, however it does give some good ideas (and a few tactics) and makes a change to see some white space marines as opposed to blue. Some thought has gone in to the two new missions you get and comparing them to previous games they look entertaining, i was just hoping for a few more i guess.

One thing i do like though is the burning skies "stand alone" game idea. that and the special manouvres really are the stand out rules for me in the book and something i will be looking at getting some 6th ed games under my belt for.

There are some nice showcase models and as mentioned while they are the studio models they are good. The one thing i personally think is missing from a modelling side is the conversions or scratchbuilds you see in some of the other codex model sections.

In summary, this is an OK stop gap measure, however it is definitely over priced and is far from codex standard. For the information it brings though it is very useful - good to have all the updated rules in to one place - just wish there was more to the book. Would I recommend it? to a single solo purchaser no, if however there are 3-4+ of you that game together regularly then yes, all chip in and buy one copy that way you will all have the rules and it wont cost the earth that way.
For me the book, mainly due to its small size and high cost only rates a 2 and 1/2 stars.

So once again as i havent played 6th ed if there are any specific questions or queries about the book please ask and i will do my best to answer them for you.


An update from Forgeworld via their forgeworld facebook page, they have advised we consider this an official FAQ:

The rules don't overlap onto Imperial Armour Aeronautica. Any of our flyers that list Deep Strike among their special rules can still Deep Strike.
Stormravens cannot carry Contemptors.
Storm Eagles aren't available to Blood Angels. There's a price for refusing to reveal STC data.

an interesting update and a shame about stormravens but even more so about the storm eagles, i know a number of people fancying these but it certainly does cut the number of buyers down :(


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 storm talon 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[i] allies, against Orks.
Mission 2: Scramble; Space Marines V Orks
Mission 3: Aerial Assault: Necrons V 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 Beastiary: It includes the FAQ updates. EG, a Dreadnaught taking s10 hits if the flyer explodes and is zooming. The important note is [i]Blood Angels and Grey Knights armies use the rules printed here though their storm ravens have additional wargear options and rules - see the army list for details. Also, new piece of artwork. An ultrasmurf storm raven.

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 / Deepstriking. Plus other stuff. NO supersonic rules

Page 58: Valkyrie/Vendetta: Exactly the same as the IG 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: DoomScythe: Looks the same as before
Page 61: NightScythe: 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 rembarking 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! Edit: Yep, 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, marines and templars get storm raven. 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 diffferences.

Page 72: Summary Page.



an update and response to peoples queries are in the comments below, if you have any more queries or specifics you would like to know let me know and i will hopefully get them answered for you asap.


UPDATE:
Once again Darog at Darog's Company has published these great photos of Death From the Skies.

REFERENCE



PILOT SKILLS

These are like Warlord Traits and you pay for them.