Phantine Air Corps
GW canon
Category
Regiment
Description
The pilots first flew Lightnings, later Thunderbolts and Marauder bombers; they are organised in Wings and Flights. Commander Bree Jagdea, a graduate of the Combat School at Hessenville, led the Lightning wing Umbra Flight, which had grown to twelve active aircraft by the Enothis campaign. Among the best-known pilots are the experienced Major August Kaminsky, a mentor to the younger airmen, and the gifted but vain Vander Marquall, who is plagued by self-doubt.
In the Phantine campaign Jagdea's wings were attached to an Astra Militarum task force; they protected the drogues that carried the troops across the cloud oceans, and Jagdea herself was shot down during the assault on Cirenholm. Together with the Tanith First and Only the dome cities of Cirenholm and Ouranberg were recaptured. On Enothis the pilots of the Phantine XX Fighter Corps held the enemy off in the air until the ground forces could regroup; the Chaos ace Khrel Kas Obarkon hunted them, and at the cost of the heaviest losses they destroyed a Chaos mass carrier. The corps is known from Dan Abnett's “The Guns of Tanith” and “Double Eagle”; in “Interceptor City” (2025) Bree Jagdea returns to combat over the ruined hive city of Vesperus.
Arm of service
Airborne and air units
Additional Information
Homeworld
Phantine (industrial world in the Sabbat cluster; the surface lies beneath a toxic layer more than five kilometres thick, the “Scald” — only mountain peaks and hive towers are habitable)
Nickname
“The Skyborne” for the drop regiments; the flying formations are divided into the Phantine Fighter Corps and Phantine Bomber Command, among them the Phantine XX Fighter Corps
Specialisation
A highly unusual regiment: it fields no conventional ground force, but atmospheric fighter and bomber formations supporting the ground troops of the Astra Militarum. The sole exception is the Phantine Skyborne, drop and parachute infantry for airborne operations on hive platforms
Principal equipment
Lightning fighters (including Umbra Flight in the Phantine campaign), later Thunderbolt fighters and Marauder bombers (Halo Squadron). The Skyborne jump with “Type Five Icarus-pattern Personal Descent Units” and wear cream tunics, quilted jackets and high jump boots. Organised in Wings and Flights; by the Enothis campaign Umbra Flight had grown to twelve active aircraft
Commanders
Commander Bree Jagdea (Umbra Flight; graduate of the Combat School at Hessenville, shot down during the assault on Cirenholm); Oskar Viltry (Halo Squadron, killed 773.M41); Wilhelm Hayes (Orbis Squadron, killed 773.M41)
Notable members
Major August Kaminsky (73 kills), an experienced mentor to the younger pilots; Milan Blansher (32 kills); Vander Marquall, gifted but vain and plagued by self-doubt; Wassimir Kyrklan; Enric Darrow
Battles and events
Sabbat Worlds Crusade; liberation of Urdesh Minor; Phantine campaign: protection of the drogues that carried the task force across the cloud oceans, and recapture of the dome cities of Cirenholm and Ouranberg together with the Tanith First and Only; campaign on Enothis against the Chaos ace Khrel Kas Obarkon, with the heaviest losses, but also the destruction of a Chaos mass carrier and air support for the retreating Pardus tanks
Known from
Dan Abnett: “The Guns of Tanith” (fifth volume of the Gaunt's Ghosts series; Phantine), “Double Eagle” (2005; Enothis) and “Interceptor City” (2025; Bree Jagdea over Vesperus)
Sources
Dan Abnett, “The Guns of Tanith”, “Double Eagle” and “Interceptor City”; Lexicanum
The pictures in this entry are fan art made for Anvil of War — not official depictions by Games Workshop. All famous regiments →