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I played extensively in 3rd edition (both blood angels and dark angels) and a very, very little bit in 2010 (Tau - 5th?). Now I have a small group forming, with 1 new nid player, 1 new deathguard player, and myself at a minimum, and I think I've got an old Ork player from 2nd that might be interested in getting some games in.

What have I missed? I know Gulliman is back, a lot of rules have come and gone, but its generally still the same game.

What should I play? Since I'm kind of running the group, I don't want to accidently bring the gun to the knife fight so to speak. Would it be better to run Tau or Dark Angels?

Any tips?

Thanks in advance, everyone!

Right now, of the two, Dark Angels are quite a bit stronger. Tau probably caught a little too much nerfbat (except Commanders) when the Index dropped. DA aren't overpowered, precisely, but they are competent.

My biggest tips:

1) The factions that are considered extremely potent right now are space marines, Guard, and some Tyranid builds. If your choice is between DA and Tau, its just up to preference. I do know that if you want your Tau to have less one-sided matches, take more stuff that Flies (transports, suits) rather than stuff that walks (infantry). The infantry gets higher range and firepower but trades it off for the inability to shoot after they've fallen back from combat. What tends to happen is either you absolutely blow your opponent away, or they get to you and you stand no chance.

2) Pick up the open war mission deck, and play with a lot of good, solid line of sight blocking terrain. The Open War missions are designed more with the faster pace of 8th in mind, many of the objectives not requiring the game to go on for a very long time. Also, they let you correct imbalances in your gaming group by giving advantages to one player or the other if you like. LOS blocking terrain is also a must now because of how the cover rules have changed - give your soldiers reasons to maneuver, and you'll be much happier.

My one piece of advice to you is "don't listen to internet hype". What most people would rant about is, in practice, only marginally more powerful than their counterparts. It's just that in a competitive setting you want every single advantage, so even a minute advantage warrants people going on multi-page tirades about how the game balance is destroyed.

8th edition has largely been relatively balanced, with very few really bad choices (unlike the last edition, where the gap between "Good" and "Bad" is wider than the grand canyon) so just pick whichever army speaks to you the best. Alternatively, if you're thinking about the longevity of the group, try picking something that offers variety among the armies (say there's already two marine players there, maybe go with the Tau just so there wouldn't be a third marine player. Even with their special snowflake rules, at the end of the day a marine is a marine).