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Thanks all for the replies.

As it stands (based from the replies) it looks like

3.5 chaos is the most popular by a mile, followed by Orks (4th ed) and 5th DE.

Interesting perspectives, and just out of curiosity who wrote the 3.5 Chaos dex?

I would say Tyranid 2nd ed. The storys in that were amazing. Especially the one that was about a lictor hunting down an imperial guard squad in the jungle... very predator esq. One of the favourite codex storys ive ever read, only beaten by the seige of kislev in the old old chaos army book from fantasy.
Plus that was back when carnifexes looked scary rather than an elephant man spin off.

 DrSchwartz wrote:
Thanks all for the replies.

As it stands (based from the replies) it looks like

3.5 chaos is the most popular by a mile, followed by Orks (4th ed) and 5th DE.

Interesting perspectives, and just out of curiosity who wrote the 3.5 Chaos dex?

Several Authors are listed, Andy Chambers, Pete Haines, Andy Hoare, Graham McNeill, and Phil Kelly, oddly enough.

6ed C:SM - versatility, balance, customizability
3ed Daemonhunters and Witchhunters - climate, customizability,dat RPG-like feel
3,5ed CSM - customizability, climate, overpowered though.
3ed - Necrons supreme climate, unique ruleset

Gotta go with the latest sw codex. It tok me from a aobr box set to dropping 2k the last few months haha. Fluff really cemented my decision to go full in on this game and I'm loving it. Hell my wife assembled my new sanctum imperialis for me last night while I painted, and she doesn't even play lol.

Grey Knights 5th Edition.

Mind-boggling variety of armies from ultra-elite Draigo-Wing to the ultimate Inquisition-retinue-hobby-sandbox.

Much needed fluff-revival.

Lots of a "2nd- edition- style fun" 40k that steers away from the dour pretentiousness of much of 40K (including the old Daemonhunters books).

Great "interlocking" fluff with Blood Angels and Necrons that actually tie different Codexes together into the 40K Universe.

Also, Grey Knighs = Badass

 Ascalam wrote:
Orks.

Three editions, and it's still playable.

Not that it couldn't use a few tweaks, of course....

I've not read all of them, but trying not to be biased I still say Orks. It's now the oldest yet still solid. And compared to the others it is such a fun read. Space Marines are all "we're the best" and I don't think the Tyranids survive any battle described in their own Codex!

5th Edition Dark Eldar and 6th Edition Tau for me.

I started at the tale end of 4th, so my opinion is slightly biased towards later works. But I loved the 4th edition daemon book in 5th edition. The whole damn book was playable, I loved running monster mashes, and it scaled well: it was usable at any point limit. Princes were extremely flexible, and in an edition that favored tank-busting, daemons could skip the 'grinders and laugh at high strength 1-shots. Army wide eternal warrior, solid elite units (they were all usable except the BoNs). The book was hardly overpowered, but it wasn't a pushover that many claimed. The damage that GK could cause to them sucked though. They rocked before the addition hit. The addition made them busted (aside from GK opponents).

 timetowaste85 wrote:
I started at the tale end of 4th, so my opinion is slightly biased towards later works. But I loved the 4th edition daemon book in 5th edition. The whole damn book was playable, I loved running monster mashes, and it scaled well: it was usable at any point limit. Princes were extremely flexible, and in an edition that favored tank-busting, daemons could skip the 'grinders and laugh at high strength 1-shots. Army wide eternal warrior, solid elite units (they were all usable except the BoNs). The book was hardly overpowered, but it wasn't a pushover that many claimed. The damage that GK could cause to them sucked though. They rocked before the addition hit. The addition made them busted (aside from GK opponents).

Yes.
In addition, the way the fluff is written is top notch. It successfully fleshes out the Daemons yet keeping them utterly inhuman, with a touch of Moorcock, Lovecraft and some mythology to make things funny.