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karlosovic wrote:

The worst 2 things about Editions 3-6 are:
1) AP level being an all or nothing affair where an anti-tank missile has no effect what-so-ever on terminator armour, but an anti-tank laser (lascannon which is only one point better) makes it like the guy has no armour at all. It's too simple and it's a crap mechanic
2) Cover being a save instead of effecting your chance to hit. It means that either your armour or your cover becomes irrelevant in any given situation, which is stupid. Take for instance a unit of guard shooting at a unit of space marines. Can the lasgun kill a space marine? yes. Would the space marine's chance of survival be increased by taking cover behind a wall? Yes - but not in this game... so why not?

Totally agree. Save modifiers and to-hit modifiers would be great reintroductions..... as would wargear cards.


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Martel732 wrote:
Codex Eldar, CSM, and Tyranids were enough to make me never want to see 2nd edition ever again. Any "glory" in the 2nd edition rules were totally swept away by these three books.

My entire 40k experience, up until I got back into the hobby just as 6th was coming in, was of getting my ass handed to me by tyranids, and occasionally eldar (I mean that occasionally I played against them, I always got beat). I don't think there's much doubt that there wasn't a great balance across the codicies, but there was parts of the core game rules that would really help improve this current edition. In my opinion, obviously.

Great discussion this. Love to see so many folks who have enjoyed the hobby with varying degrees of enthusiasm across the editions.

I just hope as the hobby morphs into whatever that we don't kill off a new generation of long term hobbyists with kid repellant pricing. We all want to be debating 10th and 12th editions.

Right now the core rules are the best they have ever been.

But the early 4th edition codex line up was perfect. We'll never see that terrific of a meta again. CSM still had a great codex, the original and far superior trait table for space marines, still had legit craftworld eldar running round, nidzilla was coming up, it was a great time to be playing. Those codexes were the most fun to play that have every existed in the game.

I never got to play 4th ed Nidzilla

I don't know why they nerfed it away. It was fun to play against and I think the nid players liked it. It wasn't OP at all in the era of every-squad has a vet sarge with power fist. Dreadnoughts were sweet, tactical terminators were pretty boss because of the assault cannon, which they could take two of, IG had doctrines and you saw some really funky guard armies, it was just a lot of fun. Now everything seems pretty bland in comparison. I mean, people moan about the 5 man las plas, but I saw a lot more 10 man tactical squads with las plas or melta melta and an apothecary vet sarge or a vet sarge in terminator armor. Marines were pretty sweet but not really OP. Only thing I really recall being OP was the holo-field crystal targetting matrix eldar falcons. Now I can't even remember the last time I saw a falcon on the table. Oooo and the old starcannons. Memories.

I voted that my favorite edition was 2nd edition. Not only does it strike my feelings of nostalgia, as it was the edition way back when I got into 40K, but there are elements of the gameplay that simply don;t exist in the later editions. For example, if you play extremely small points value games (500) and then remove all the rules for squad cohesion, you literally have the gameplay of Necromunda, but with all the major races instead of gangs. Which also has the added benefit, just like Necromunda did, where the smaller number of models in play in any one time completely removes all of the clunky slowness of the HtH phase from 2nd edition, where two units fighting essentially gave you 10+ individual combats to resolve, and then you had all the other HtH to resolve, too!


For my larger mass battles of 40K I only play with friends and the wife, so I am going back and using the 4th edition rules, as it is the newest rulebook I own.

I was heavily into the game during the days of 3rd and 4th edition, and if I play games set as if they were in that year after 4th edition dropped, I have what I consider to be the largest and most enjoyable selection of gaming material available for 40K. I have many of the 3rd edition codexes to draw from (save for 4th edition ones like Eldar and Tau Empire that are quite large improvements on 3rd edition). I I need any of the others, they can be had for around 5 dollars on Amazon as no one wants them anymore. I also can draw from all the Chapter Approved compilations I own, so my Kroot Mercs and my Legion of the Damned army can actually be played again. Not to mention that Deathwatch can actually take to the field under their rules, instead of being Sternguard counts-as with Kantor being a necessity. Then I can throw things in like Codex: Cityfight/SCities of Death, and when i want to play Space Wolves 13th Company, or field my Eldar as an Ulthwe Strike Force, I can pull out Codex Eye of Terror, and Codex Armageddon for my buddy to play his Black Templars.

If i want any of the cool model kits from 6th edition, like a Triarch Stalker for my Oldcrons, I simply use the Vehicle Design Rules from Chapter Approved.

Skimmers were a bane of 4th edition, but big deal. I have the only Eldar army, and it's got a whopping two grav-tank chassis (customizable for each variant) and two Vypers, so it's not exactly like I'm "that f'ing guy" as people on Dakka have accused me of after hearing that I like 4th edition and also play Eldar.

I started in late 1991, so only a couple of years before second edition came out. It has been fun watching the game evolve from a fun but extremely clunky skirmish game to a very refined unit-based game. While I think 1st edition had more character than any edition since (not to mention unbridled, unharnessed creativity and enthusiasm), the sixth edition ruleset is the best, as far as I'm concerned. I wish they'd have done away with True Line of Sight, but you can't have your way all the time, I suppose.

 AegisGrimm wrote:
I voted that my favorite edition was 2nd edition. Not only does it strike my feelings of nostalgia, as it was the edition way back when I got into 40K, but there are elements of the gameplay that simply don;t exist in the later editions. For example, if you play extremely small points value games (500) and then remove all the rules for squad cohesion, you literally have the gameplay of Necromunda, but with all the major races instead of gangs. Which also has the added benefit, just like Necromunda did, where the smaller number of models in play in any one time completely removes all of the clunky slowness of the HtH phase from 2nd edition, where two units fighting essentially gave you 10+ individual combats to resolve, and then you had all the other HtH to resolve, too!


For my larger mass battles of 40K I only play with friends and the wife, so I am going back and using the 4th edition rules, as it is the newest rulebook I own.

I was heavily into the game during the days of 3rd and 4th edition, and if I play games set as if they were in that year after 4th edition dropped, I have what I consider to be the largest and most enjoyable selection of gaming material available for 40K. I have many of the 3rd edition codexes to draw from (save for 4th edition ones like Eldar and Tau Empire that are quite large improvements on 3rd edition). I I need any of the others, they can be had for around 5 dollars on Amazon as no one wants them anymore. I also can draw from all the Chapter Approved compilations I own, so my Kroot Mercs and my Legion of the Damned army can actually be played again. Not to mention that Deathwatch can actually take to the field under their rules, instead of being Sternguard counts-as with Kantor being a necessity. Then I can throw things in like Codex: Cityfight/SCities of Death, and when i want to play Space Wolves 13th Company, or field my Eldar as an Ulthwe Strike Force, I can pull out Codex Eye of Terror, and Codex Armageddon for my buddy to play his Black Templars.

If i want any of the cool model kits from 6th edition, like a Triarch Stalker for my Oldcrons, I simply use the Vehicle Design Rules from Chapter Approved.

Skimmers were a bane of 4th edition, but big deal. I have the only Eldar army, and it's got a whopping two grav-tank chassis (customizable for each variant) and two Vypers, so it's not exactly like I'm "that f'ing guy" as people on Dakka have accused me of after hearing that I like 4th edition and also play Eldar.

I didn't cast a vote, as I'm not qualified to say. I've bought White Dwarfs for years and read up on the hobby (I liked the setting) but only recently got into actually playing with 6th edition. That said, one of my biggest disappointments has actually been how..different the hobby seems to be at the moment from the white dwarf nonsense I read a decade ago. I remember being entranced by articles on making your own terrain, kitbashing things, etc. Articles stuffed with slapdash rules for playing obscure factions with other codex rules or the like, and a lot of stuff that just seems to have fallen away in the last two editions. Maybe it was observing more than playing back in the day, but the culture seemed to have so much more emphasis on the.. fun and story-telling side of things. Making your own crazy stuff and playing around with it.

I had eventually chalked up most of this to my imagination, but having read the quoted bit, I'm wondering if I shouldn't go back and explore previous editions.

 kazian wrote:
I didn't cast a vote, as I'm not qualified to say. I've bought White Dwarfs for years and read up on the hobby (I liked the setting) but only recently got into actually playing with 6th edition. That said, one of my biggest disappointments has actually been how..different the hobby seems to be at the moment from the white dwarf nonsense I read a decade ago. I remember being entranced by articles on making your own terrain, kitbashing things, etc. Articles stuffed with slapdash rules for playing obscure factions with other codex rules or the like, and a lot of stuff that just seems to have fallen away in the last two editions. Maybe it was observing more than playing back in the day, but the culture seemed to have so much more emphasis on the.. fun and story-telling side of things. Making your own crazy stuff and playing around with it.

I had eventually chalked up most of this to my imagination, but having read the quoted bit, I'm wondering if I shouldn't go back and explore previous editions.

First edition had a TON of that. Heck, even the rulebooks included advice for creating your own stuff (such as a hover tank being made from a deodorant container and a plastic spoon.

It seems to me that GW has tried to put more of that vibe into sixth edition. By that, I mean that they appear to embrace the story-telling and creativity aspects of the hobby. This is something I support wholeheartedly.

Played a couple games at the tail end of fourth, played all through fifth and tried sixth. Dislike sixth, fourth was okay, fifth was my favorite. I actually hate 6th enough that it put me off 40k and a friend is helping me sell my stuff to local players.

 kazian wrote:
I didn't cast a vote, as I'm not qualified to say. I've bought White Dwarfs for years and read up on the hobby (I liked the setting) but only recently got into actually playing with 6th edition. That said, one of my biggest disappointments has actually been how..different the hobby seems to be at the moment from the white dwarf nonsense I read a decade ago. I remember being entranced by articles on making your own terrain, kitbashing things, etc. Articles stuffed with slapdash rules for playing obscure factions with other codex rules or the like, and a lot of stuff that just seems to have fallen away in the last two editions. Maybe it was observing more than playing back in the day, but the culture seemed to have so much more emphasis on the.. fun and story-telling side of things. Making your own crazy stuff and playing around with it.

I had eventually chalked up most of this to my imagination, but having read the quoted bit, I'm wondering if I shouldn't go back and explore previous editions.

No you're not imagining it. As with anything, I suppose, Games Workshop has, over the years, become more business oriented. What started as a hobby system produced by enthusiasts has fallen victim to it's own success. It's now run as a mean-spirited money-grubbing corporation, that just happens to still employ some enthusiasts. But where once you'd find articles on how to build some terrain or conversions using household objects, now "FLGS" disallow anything beyond "kitbashing" from their own product range and corporate lawyers suing anyone who tries to build on the 'hobby'

It's still a great game though, with great miniatures, and as long as your accept the company for what they are now (a business first, second and third, and eventually somewhere down the line - a "hobby") then there's fun and enjoyment to be had

Just don't play Eldar if you want to field an ADL

I liked the feel of the game up until about 5th edition. Back then the game was like a guy waving you over saying "Come on, let's have some fun!" Now it's more like "Hey, you! You should come buy this stuff!"

I mean, look at the lineup of extra stuff of years past. Kroot Merc armies. Feral Orks. Vehicle Design Rules. Deathwatch squads. Kill Team.

You don't get very much more than a glimmer of that any more, and what existed is no longer able to be used.

I like 6th, while it has some pants on head slowed things, i think 6th is best

I would say that 6th is the best. I started with RT 1st ed. I absolutely hated 3rd ed.

I would be happy to go with newer editions, if they had the sheer amound of material available for them that the older editions have. 4th is it for me because I didn't like the Assault phase of 3rd, and I hate all the USR's, so 4th is the happy medium that I also don't have to buy the rulebook for.

I also have a disgust towards 50 dollar codexes and supplements, when I have all the ones from 3rd/4th that I paid 20 dollars (or less, for the smaller supplemental ones like Space Wolves) for when they were new.

You should see how many editions of codexes I have then. Especially as a Space Wolf and Catachan player... having to buy both main + supplemental codexes through 3/4th edition for those armies


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not to mention how frustrating it was to look up a freakin special rule....
What's a Runic Staff do? look up the entry in the wolf codex..."same as psychic hood - look up main space marine codex".... AH FFS what a wild goose chase to find what something does!

Mind you, it's still like that. Look up the wargear section of any modern codex and inevitably you'll find several of items which contain plaenty of lines worth of description... but no rule - just a direction to some other page or some other book!

I'm having a blast with overwatch, snapshooting heavy weapons on the move, and flyers. Been playing since 3rd, and other than the nostalgia of playing my first games and reading the fluff for the first time, 6th has been the most enjoyable edition for me.