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I had the pleasure of speaking at length with Andy Chambers about this very issue at one of the Games Day seminars (back when the seminars were actually a chance to interact with the Games Designers, not the marketing sock-puppets of today).

It was wonderfully balanced!

Having said that it was the editon where combat ruled, sweeping advances made units almost immune and I played BA and 'Nids

Steelmage99 wrote:
One should keep in mind that 3rd edition wasn't really intended to be a complete playable edition of 40K.

3rd was the first step in a process that ended with 5th.

I had the pleasure of speaking at length with Andy Chambers about this very issue at one of the Games Day seminars <snip>

Ain't gon' lie, that sounds like he fed you a heap of BS.

It sounds like they came up with a story when there was backlash from players over the radical shift in the game. Why would they need to "slowly build" the game again? That doesn't make any sense. It isn't like this is some long, drawn out scientific process with an R&D phase, lol.

What they did was try to radically redesign the game, and did a poor job of it. Then their fan base, who had gotten excited and spent a ton of money buying the new product, didn't like it. Now it was PR and excuse making time.

It's important to remember what era of the game this was.

Yeah I don't see why they would have needed to "slowly rebuild" the game. What was keeping them from just doing the whole rebuild in one edition?

 Dr. Delorean wrote:

One of the best parts of that edition is the eye of terror and craft world eldar dexs' which were extremely unique and flavorful army lists used to create very specific forces. They were just awesome and added a great deal of flavor to the games.

I want to see if I can get my hands on these, as well as Codex: Armageddon (that was 3rd ed, wasn't it?) simply because I never got to experience them firsthand, either playing with them or against them. Hell, I might add them into the campaign if they can be included effectively.

Yes, Armageddon was 3rd edition. Also was C: Eye of Terror. I had a Slaanesh Lost and the Damned army that was basically Chaos IG led by a few CSM. One of the more fun armies to build and field. Can't use some of the models now, but they still look good.

I still play with the 4th edition rulebook so I can use all my fun 3rd edition material, like Armageddon/Eye of Terror lists, Cityfight, and my Chapter Approved books. I bought them, and spent my time painting minis for them, there's no way in hell I will abandon them. I don;t play in current tournaments or game stores (there are none in the area), so who cares?

I love me some 13th Company with their Wolfen. And Kroot Mercs. And my "Cursed Founding" Legion of the Damned army. All that fun material that GW no longer supports.....sigh......

That sounds like my idea of a good game, Aegis, and pretty much what I was thinking of doing.

I remember the fun times I had, battling around obstacles like toilet paper rolls painted silver, and hedges made out of scouring pads...'twas truly a golden age (at least that's what it looks like whilst I wear these nifty red-tinted shades)

In seriousness though, I think the best times I've had playing 40k were in 4th edition.

 Dr. Delorean wrote:
I think the best times I've had playing 40k were in 4th edition.

I second that!

I LIKED all the editions, but 3E was in no way awesome for shooty armies. It was just nasty to get swept like that. Still, just the models were awesome and I couldsee past it all. Lol.

Well if you were smart enough to properly space out your squads then you would not get consolidated into. I played IG exclusively in third and while the rhino rush was annoying there were ways of dealing with it. Its not like you are going to be surprised by the tactic.

The Blood Angel players locally were the cheesiest WAAC gits I have ever met, ever. That army really was a WAAC magnet.

The IG army in the BBB weighed against the other BBB armies was very good if you totally optimized for shooting. Seriously, when I got first turn I KNEW I was winning that game.

If you look at any of the old threads from the time third was changing, you'll see a lot of the same anger when one edition changes to the next. Players were saying their armiies have been gutted, they're quitting the game, sending open letters of condemnation to GW, etc.