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As i've been in the game since a teenager, i've ammased a lot of armies over the near 20 years.
As codices [is that the right plural?] get revised, i've noticed units are either dropped, improved or made useless. What am i to do with my armies from the dawn of the millenuim? Can i still play them using the rulebooks that were released with them or do i have to restructure the army in accordance with new books?

While there are some groups out there playing oldhammer (previous editions) most pick up games assume the latest codex. So if you want to get the old stuff on the table, you’ll probably want to grab the new book, figure out what you need to add to bring it up to speed, and knock the dust off.

Most old units should be able to counts-as something new. Very few things were totally dropped. That of course, is very subjective to your collection.

It seems all GW armies are on a power fluctuation over the rolling decades.

Take I and my ex-roommate's armies. I had orks, she had Dark Angels. We played for years, with those Orks destroying those Dark Angels time and time again. I got a lot of fearless bodies dishing out insane amounts of attacks in nearly indestructible transports, versus her weak, short ranged, over-priced green marines.

Now, the tables are turned. Her Dark Angels can rapid fire at full ballistic skill on my Orks when they charge in, while my trukks pop at a slight breeze, causing the boyz inside to get out and politely beat each other up, until there's barely anything left to fight. My fearsome killa kanz get scared, her Raven Wing are now the toughest troops around.

So, look closely at your old armies - your "weak" armies might be strong now, while your strong ones may be weak. Some may just need a unit or two added to bring them up to date (Can't go wrong tossing a Knight or two in) while others might find themselves sitting another edition out. (Orks, Dark Eldar, etc)

It's also worth noting that unless the unit has been completely removed, models always stay tournament-legal regardless of how old they are.

Depends. For instance, my Imperial Guard list is all vostroyans, released when those models were in fifth about 12 years ago.

They're all still completely legal, only thing that's changed is the Ordnance rule requiring me to rework a few leman russes. Not a big deal. I added a few forgeworld models, bought a wyvern kit, and I can easily play against pretty much anyone in the semi-casual meta I play at.

Old models should be fine, as long as their options are still legal. Usually GW only adds options, not removes. That's not always the case though ( I have 3rd edition Ogryn with 2 close combat weapons, and Rough Riders with Lasguns, a commissar on a horse with a stormbolter). In these cases, either you rip-up the model, use "counts-as", or let is sit on the shelf.

Other times complete units are removed. I have 10 Necron pariahs that are now pretending to be a unit of Lychguard (only unit with warscyths). In cases like this, I'm 99% certain there won't be issues, but you might have to accept sub-optimal weapons configurations.

 cuda1179 wrote:
...I have 10 Necron pariahs that are now pretending to be a unit of Lychguard (only unit with warscyths)...

(But the answer to this one just appeared! Call them Sisters of Silence and get the pariah field effect back.)

One of my main armies is a Space Marine army using nothing but models from before 1997. You can do just fine with old models, they're pretty much all still usable as is, or have close enough analogues.

Still looking for a good way to include my Griffon Siege Mortars without using FW rules.

 cuda1179 wrote:
Still looking for a good way to include my Griffon Siege Mortars without using FW rules.

Use em as Wyverns. They're both artillery tanks that got to shoot twin linked shells, it's close enough.

Old models never die, they just WYSIWYG their way into each new edition.

SJ

 jeffersonian000 wrote:
Old models never die, they just WYSIWYG their way into each new edition.

SJ

Perfect

GW's stance: Use whatever rules you have.

Players meanwhile tend to be stricter with what's allowed. Check your opponents/tournament rules.