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As the title says, I haven't touched 40k in a long, long time. I used to immerse myself in the lore and list-building, despite never actually fielding a solid army (I could never keep my attention on one!). I can still recount everything there is to know about the fluff, name all the Chapters and so on, but I wanted to see what the status of the game was as it is now.

I put the brakes on sometimes early-mid 6th edition. I was more interested in Warhammer FB at the time, since the strategy involved appealed to me more than the direction I thought 40k was taking. I wanted to play a game with formations and positioning, not roll buckets of dice and shoot pie plates across the entire table! Fast forward five years later: I don't know anything about 7th; Age of Sigmar has rekindled my interest in GW and I've invested a bit in that, although 40k continues to be the king of the scene locally.

What's the game like now? I made a few assumptions about 40k when I left, and I don't know how true they are. One was that it had become more of a static game - you could set up your titans and big machines and wipe anything off the table, resulting in a "who brought the biggest, shootiest thing" war. Another was that it had become an alpha strike contest, where the game was decided in who went first/second and could alpha the other into oblivion. Perhaps that was me being salty, but it felt that was the direction things were going at the time!
Now that Kill Team is out, which focuses on small-scale squad skirmishes (just my style!) I thought about looking into 40k again. 40k also being the king of wargames at my local store helped. So, how is it?

It very much depends on your local meta. If you play it competitively then it is much like you feared. Alpha strikes, death stars and titans rule the scene. However, if you find players who build more fluffy armies, and don't capitalize on the cheese available, then the games are quite fun. You'll still roll buckets of dice but the games will be much closer with fluffy armies. Formations allow for a lot of customization and variation in army lists.

For my local meta, most of the competitive players have moved on to Warmachine or X-wing, leaving the fluffy players to continue playing 40k. Which works out great for us. When it comes to tournaments though, we'll pull out all the stops and bring our cheesy armies. Competitive players come out of no-where for tournaments.

We haven't gotten into Kill Team yet but there is a local event for it soon (where we purchase models for a Kill Team in store, then build/paint them over the course of a week to play in a tournament at the end). It should be interesting.

The BRB rules haven't changed much from 6th except for the addition of a Psychic Phase, but the codices have all changed a lot. Every army has access to special formations now with their own rules.

Prepare for many varied replies, the most honest answer is "that depends" on how you want to play 40k.

The "bad":
For pick-up games or meeting with strangers to play it is problematic possibly unsuitable (points costs are rather unbalanced).
For competitive play, it seems to have a bit too much dependency on randomized rolls at the cost of tactics: army lists are the main basis for a win or loss.
The ability to play "unbound" and dependency on "maelstrom" for objectives leads to some rather comical combinations.
Many character abilities or psychic powers blended with units from other factions have lead to some challenging "death stars" in the game.
Formations are now more the focus than your specific army selection. Many free bonuses have been sources of contention.
The Sisters of Battle have been ignored for so long it is bordering on the "Squat" situation (Orks are hanging in there, IG/AM similar, CSM it remains to be seen with the new rules).
You will no longer see rules for models that do not exist already or not with the release of the codex/suppliment. Lessons learned from the "Chapterhouse" court case.

The "can go either way":
Many elements of Apocalypse rules have been formalized into the main like "Lords of War" units.
There is a separate psychic phase which for fantasy players is no big deal.
The old/new (not sure what to say) White Dwarf magazine is back to what it was/is so hopefully can be a good single-source for updates.
If you play Eldar or Tau you are a very happy player since their rules make winning the game a little easier (balance).
Aircraft are a big component of the game more than ever, the newer "Death from the Skies" seems to represent non-mandatory rules... remains to be seen where this goes.
There have been so many releases of paid documents (codex, supplements, warscrolls, formations) it is bordering on impossible to collect them all never-mind afford. We are more dependent than ever on your opponent knowing their rules and not fibbing.

The "good":
GW has started offering more box deals and mini-game deals that are very nice and compelling. They are the #1 exciting element of releases at this time.
Some truly nice plastic models have come out and made the game very exciting with factions that were discussed but never represented till now.
Now more than ever, it is possible to represent pretty much any mixed force you would want.
"Fluff" players can be quite pleased that pretty much anything can be fielded.
FAQs have started being updated again!
Forge World rules and models are "official".
30k many people are looking into where it has been claimed to be a more "balanced" game plus the older style spruced up a bit is looking good.
There is now a bit more blending between the two eras (35K??) so units can fit into the 40k system.

I think it really comes down to what you are looking for in the game.
If you have a bunch of friends to play with a certain "armistice" or house rules can tame some of the balancing.
Someone willing to have a go at scenarios can smooth out the rough spots in the game.

The "Kill Team" rules can be a fantastic way to get back into the game rather cheaply and get the game down to the size of battles it seems to be designed for.
My opinion of course.
Good luck!

Fundamentally, this thread is already running..

http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/700222.page

 Azreal13 wrote:
Fundamentally, this thread is already running..

http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/700222.page

Yes, more or less!

Let's all head over there for the continuing discussion on this topic - thanks!