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Experimental 40k Rules:
These rules are based around the idea that the key to winning a game is the best tactical use of your forces, with elites and fast attack traditionally leading the assault, troops digging in and securing, and everything else bolstering these efforts. I also think they make the objective mission rules only slightly more complicated (when they are dumbed down and simplistic to begin with) for the return of a much more balanced and interesting system. These rules are heavily inspired by Dawn of War (but actually the game wasn't on my mind at all when I thought it up last night....)

Missions: Annihilation = Victory Points (call them kill points instead...real, logical kill points, not the slowed ones GW thought up)

Missions: Seize Ground and Capture + Control

The players roll off. The winner chooses to be the attacker or the defender. If he is the attacker, he goes first and sets up first. If he is the defender, he goes second and deploys second.

The forces of each army are divided into these categories:

Spearhead Forces: Elites, Fast Attack, (HQ:Attacker)
Support Forces: Heavy Support, (HQ: Defender), Supplemental
Scoring Forces: Troops

These choices are based around tactical ideas. Elites and Fast Attacks lead the fight into the enemy, striking into their heart, while troops follow behind and dig in. And also it takes directly from a line in the BRB that HQ units "can be a powerful spearhead for an attacking army, or strong core for a defensive one." It makes sense for Heroic leaders to be leading the charge into enemy lines as attackers, or bolstering the defense and providing a leadership anchor for a defensive line. Notice how some armies will more often want to set up as defender, being better at defending, like my Imperial Guard (where the HQs don't really want to lead assaults....they are wussies.) With every force category having a role and a way of earning points, the dominant strategy is no longer just max out on troops and other units come into their own.

D3+2 objectives are placed on the board one by one during terrain setup. I'm thinking of also getting some way for there to be 1-2 more objectives on the Defender's side (since he's holding the ground.)

Claiming an empty objective

If, at the end of your player turn, one of your units is within 3” of an objective marker that was completely unoccupied at the start of your player turn, you earn the following objective points for claiming the empty objective depending on the unit type:

Spearhead: 1.5pts
Scoring: 1.0pts
Support: 0.5pts

Commentary: This system would give an incentive to go and grab those objectives right away. And, the best unit to do it with would be Elites or Fast attack, meaning all Armies could do well with some fast moving scouts to grab those far away objectives. With the current system, the only logical strategy is to just sit back for 4 turns, then make a last minute grab for the objectives.

Winning an objective

If, at the end of your player turn, one of your units is within 3” of an objective marker that was occupied by enemy forces at the beginning of your player turn, but now there are no enemy forces within 3” of an objective marker, you have won the objective and earn the following objective points depending on the unit type:

Spearhead: 2.0pts
Scoring: 1.5pts
Support: 1.0pts

Commentary: This would give people a huge incentive to FIGHT over objectives. If they can take it from an enemy, the benefit is huge.

Controlling objectives

For every full game turn either player has a unit within 3” of an objective with no enemy units within 3” of the objective, the attacker or the defender earn the following objective points based on the unit type:

Spearhead: 0.5pts
Scoring: 1.5pts
Support: 1.0pts

Commentary: This just logically flows from the above. If you go out and grab an objective and sit on it, the longer your opponent lets you have it, the greater benefit to you.

Contested Objectives

For every full game turn both players have a unit within 3” of an objective, the players each earn the following objective points based on the unit type(s) present:

Same type: +0/+0
Scoring over Spearhead: +1/+0
Scoring over Support: +0.5/+0
Support over Spearhead: +0.5/+0

Commentary: More straight logic from the above ideas. Scoring units get the advantage for contesting objectives.

The player with the most objective points at the end of the game wins. Also, I'm thinking there could be some kind of tiered system similar to victory points, with 0.0 to 0.5 difference being a draw, 1.0-1.5 being a marginal victory, 1.5-2.0 being a solid victory, 2.0+ being a massacre, or something of the like. It would have to depend logically on the number of objectives.

Overall commentary: What this system does, is it adds more depth to objectives than simply having a 4th ed shootout for 4 turns then grabbing objectives at the end. It also rewards the player for using his forces a certain way. Spearheads get the most points for grabbing unoccupied objectives or wresting them from the enemy, but don't help much for sticking around afterwards. Scoring units give you the most points for any role, but especially taking objectives and sitting on them. Support units can get some points for any role, but their mostly used for sitting on objectives and just providing a massive firebase (these are the guys who can actually sit back and shoot). They are a slightly weaker choice in objectives but obviously a stronger choice in annihilation where their firepower kills more things. Such is the balance of this system.

my thoughts, the more complicated you make things, the less fun they are for less "rules oriented" people

I like the idea. I may try to work with it to create a more simplified version (but still better than GWs version).

I did something similar although less complicated for 4th Edition, and have since updated it for 5th. It is still called Dawn of War, though, since that is what I called it before 5th came out

Mission: Dawn of War

A small skirmish escalates into an all-out war as armies battle for control of vital territory while defending their own bunkers.

Deployment:

Pitched Battle.

Special Rules:

Bunker. Each player must place one bunker within their deployment zone after sides have been chosen but before units are deployed. The bunker must be occupied on the first Turn, although it need not be occupied on any Turn thereafter. The bunker is AV14 and follows the same rules as on pages 78-81 of the rule book.

Hold Those Objectives! Players must control objectives to win the game. After the players have chosen sides take one objective (a figure base will do, but use something more elaborate if you have it) and place it in the centre of the table. Each player takes two more objectives each, and places them. Players alternate placing objectives, with the player who chose sides going first, and no objective can be within 12" of any other objective nor within 12" of any table edge.

A player controls an objective in any given Turn by having a model from any scoring unit within 3" of it and no enemy models contesting it.

Each objective lets the player bring their forces to the field faster. For each objective that is controlled, a player will get a +1 on all reserve rolls, to a maximum of 2+.

Victory Pile. For each Turn you control an objective, place a counter (a dice will do) in a pile – one per Turn per objective controlled. If the enemy takes control of an objective directly from you, remove one counter from your pile and put it in his pile. Note that simply losing control of the objective (ie. the objective returns to neutral control because your Troops have left or have been killed by shooting) will not result in you losing a counter – your opponent has to actually take control of it from you for that to happen.

If you breach your enemy's bunker, add two counters to your pile.

For every Turn that models from one of your units are inside (not atop) your enemy's bunker, add one counter to your pile per model. To qualify a model must end the Turn alive and inside the bunker (this means that Necrons who are awaiting a WBB roll will not qualify as they are not alive at the end of the Turn).

Difficult Lines Of Supply. It is not easy getting forces to the battle. Contrary to the usual reserve rules, the unmodified roll required for a unit to arrive from reserve is:-
Turn 1 Turn 2 Turn 3 Turn 4 Turn 5 Turn 6
Reserve unit arrives on:- N/A 6+ 5+ 4+ 3+ 2+
The actual roll, of course, is modified by each objective the player holds (see above).

Targeting Beacon. If a reserve unit can deep-strike the player may deep-strike it anywhere within 6" of an objective controlled by that player. A unit deep-striking in this manner does not roll for scatter. The player may chose to deep-strike the unit normally, however, in which case the usual rules apply.

Game Length:

As normal

Objectives:

The player with the most counters in his pile at the end of the game wins. If both players have the same amount, then the winner is the one with more Kill Points.