What was your Favourite Edition of 40k?

[TrawlingCleaner]

 

 

Which edition (including 10th) was your jam? Or the one you had the most fun with?

What made you enjoy that edition so much?

Any stand-out moments?

Did you have a favourite army of the edition?

 

This thread isn't to yuck people's yum either. If someone likes an edition you don't, don't name fingers and point names. This is a postivie thread!

[crimsondave]

I liked 8th.  It was pretty simple.  Probably too simple but it made casual gaming easier.  I loved the way damage and AP changed to make sense.  I HATED the way damage and AP worked previously.  Hull points and penn tables gone.  Templates gone.  I really enjoyed the soup that was allowed for casual games among friends.  I know, power gaming ruined soup.  That’s when I stopped even considering playing pick up games.  That said, I just found it easier to have fun with it.  Once I just started ignoring scoring and rules that made the game harder, 9th was pretty fun too.  Guard actually didn’t suck completely in 5th, 8th, and 9th (I guess they’re ok in 10th but I haven’t really played to speak of to know.)  Overall though 8th.

 

On paper, 10th has potential.  I probably like the fundamentals better than 8th.  The codex roll out and consistency has been abysmal thus far though.

Edited March 12 by crimsondave

[ThaneOfTas]

Having played considerably fewer editions than many on this site likely have, I'm limited to 8th-10th.

 

8th honestly had my favourite codecies I think. The options and flexibility were still there, army rules were flavourful and fun, and there was way more lore!

 

9th had more polished and improved core rules, plus it introduced Crusade, which I love. The loss of options and flexibility was definitely starting to be sting, and the reduction in lore in the codecies wasn't pleasant. But on the whole I had a lot of fun.

 

In the lead up to the launch of tenth, as the WarComm team was explaining all of the rule changes, and even once I read through the core rules, I was incredibly excited for 10th. It felt like they were bringing back some of the better/more interesting parts of the pre 8th editions, with the return of USRs and attached characters, plus vehicles potentially finally being worth it to bring. But then the indexes and codecies started coming out... And since this is meant to be a positive thread I'll leave it there.

 

TL;DR, 9th is my favourite, followed by 8th, then 10th, although if we were to just take the core rules in isolation of the faction and list building rules, then 10th might edge out 9th.

[Bouargh]

In terms of prefered edition, I will go for the 4th one, mainly because it was my climazx in terms of number of games played. The SM codex introduced the traits table which was a very interresting approach and game gained depth with teh first extensive expansions such as cityfight. Probably my all times favourites. Due to big nostalgia for sure.

 

But 6th is not running too far from my top position. I played less; far less. But as edition objects, books from the 6th were great stuff. The Sentinels of Terra and the Clan Raukkan Codex supplements were bombshell.  Game wise the Allied Matrix was also a great idea. That eventually went wrong in pratice. But, hey, can´t be perfect everytime (otherwise there will be no need for issueing of new editions, won´t there? ). This allied matrix was an incentive for starting small new armies and tool them together. Even if it has been abandonned since, it is still the root cause for me for building at the time an IG allied contingent (Tanks!!!) or a small "count as" BA contingent...  

[DemonGSides]

Guard are pretty good in 10th if you lean into the indirect bonuses we get through our detachment rule. 

 

9th was the only one I've played enough of to say it was fun. 10th has been fine. Some problems (Force Organization) but otherwise it's been fine. 

[TrawlingCleaner]

Aha, figured out how to add a poll to an existing topic! Every day is a learning day!

Edited March 12 by TrawlingCleaner

[gaurdian31]

I started with 3rd so my favorite gaming memories are from that time. Had the 3rd ed Chaos codex and then a few months later came the 3.5 codex, which remains my favorite, and it had the Eye of Terror campaign book. 8th is my second favorite, I really did enjoy a lot of the rules changes, getting rid of things like templates and facing really made the game run a bit smoother, at least to me. Also it finally made it so that the Wraithlord and Dreadnought were treated the same. I always felt that dreads were may more squishy in previous editions even though they were both walkers.

[andes]

I voted for 8th, but I suspect 10th will end up my fav in the long run.

[Brother Captain Vakarian]

10th is far and away my favorite base rules set for 40K, having played 3rd-5th and 8th-10th. GW has also done an excellent job carrying on the Crusade rules into 10th and even improving them (otherwise I would have said 9th was my favorite). 
 

I’d like to see a bit more customizeability to datasheets (and to characters in particular) than the 10th codices allow. Crusade scratches that itch well enough for 40K, however, and there’s other games with greater customization for when I really want that.
 

Ultimately, the game itself has to be fun to play, and 10th’s core rules do the best job of accomplishing that of any core rules set that I’ve had the opportunity to play.  

[Scribe]

5th, not close.

[Emperor Ming]

4,5,6 was sort of the golden age

 

7 so bad they had to reset the game

 

8th was good

 

9th was 7th edition in disguise, worse probably since there was the votann apology, when does gw ever say sorry, so must have been worse

[Halandaar]

Tough question. I've played the game in some capacity in every edition barring 1st (before my time) and 4th ("too cool for that" phase), and every edition had elements I think are good. If you could synthesize a single game from the best bits of every ruleset I'm sure that would be the winner, but they all had their weaknesses too.

 

I think overall it's 5th Edition; it was sort of the perfect midpoint between the stripped-back nature of 3rd Edition and the decurion-excesses of 7th Edition. It had detail and customisability, but also cool premade named characters and unit profiles that you were encouraged to build yourself before those started getting pruned away.

 

1 hour ago, ThaneOfTas said:

In the lead up to the launch of tenth, as the WarComm team was explaining all of the rule changes, and even once I read through the core rules, I was incredibly excited for 10th. It felt like they were bringing back some of the better/more interesting parts of the pre 8th editions, with the return of USRs and attached characters, plus vehicles potentially finally being worth it to bring. But then the indexes and codecies started coming out... And since this is meant to be a positive thread I'll leave it there.

 

I'm with you there. The buildup for tenth had me keen to play it. The reality is somewhat different.

[TheArtilleryman]

I started during 2nd but I voted 3rd. This (1998-2001ish) is a time of great nostalgia for me because it was when I played the most games and pretty much had the rules memorised for everything. It was a time of great rivalry between my marines or eldar and my best mate’s Khorne berserkers. It was a time of visiting the store at the weekends and hanging around there just for fun and to chat to the staff, when they were chuffed just to talk about the hobby and not determined to push you to buy stuff.

 

Several rule books sit on my shelf but I can’t say as I could tell you the differences between them all. I’m not sure if I would think it the best edition now if I sat down and did a direct comparison between all editions. But 3rd was certainly the one I had the most fun playing. I’m much more of a collector rather than a gamer these days and have dipped in and out of each edition as it comes.

[Shovellovin]

I started playing 2nd edition so that is where my fondest memories of 40K occurred. At the time, I worked at an FLGS and had a large group of customers that became friends to play games with whenever I wanted. That was also when my brother started playing. We all made the move to 3rd edition and had some really epic moments but 2nd edition still holds my heart because it was the first edition that I played. I fell out of the hobby missing 4th - 7th editions.

 

I had fun with 8th and 9th editions. I purchased Leviathan but haven't played a game of 10th.

[phandaal]

1 hour ago, Emperor Ming said:

9th was 7th edition in disguise, worse probably since there was the votann apology, when does gw ever say sorry, so must have been worse

 

That makes it better! All shall acknowledge and bow before the power of the Dwarven master race. Even the mighty James Workshop!

[gideon stargreave]

43 minutes ago, TheArtilleryman said:

I started during 2nd but I voted 3rd. This (1998-2001ish) is a time of great nostalgia for me because it was when I played the most games and pretty much had the rules memorised for everything. It was a time of great rivalry between my marines or eldar and my best mate’s Khorne berserkers. It was a time of visiting the store at the weekends and hanging around there just for fun and to chat to the staff, when they were chuffed just to talk about the hobby and not determined to push you to buy stuff.

 

Several rule books sit on my shelf but I can’t say as I could tell you the differences between them all. I’m not sure if I would think it the best edition now if I sat down and did a direct comparison between all editions. But 3rd was certainly the one I had the most fun playing. I’m much more of a collector rather than a gamer these days and have dipped in and out of each edition as it comes.

Interesting insight about the quality of the staff. 
 

I played from 2nd to 7th and all the editions worked for me in different ways, but by far, the company was better to deal with up til 4th ish. So my favourite will be 3rd, not for gaming, but for in person community and loyalty to customers 

[The Spitehorde]

I started in the RT era and quit not long into 2nd, coming back to it in 9th.

 

I wouldn't want to go back to RT or 2nd, they just took soooooooooo long to play. Even the smallest of games felt like a marathon. Out of 9th and 10th i'd pick the former over the latter. I miss the psychic phase (even though my lot didn't exactly benefit from it  ) and I absolutely loathe battleshock. 

[crimsondave]

1 hour ago, The Spitehorde said:

I started in the RT era and quit not long into 2nd, coming back to it in 9th.

 

I wouldn't want to go back to RT or 2nd, they just took soooooooooo long to play. Even the smallest of games felt like a marathon. Out of 9th and 10th i'd pick the former over the latter. I miss the psychic phase (even though my lot didn't exactly benefit from it  ) and I absolutely loathe battleshock. 

RT was fun for what it was.  An experimental D&D mixed with Kill Team.  Playing a modern 2,000 pt game would take days.  
 

But name me one edition since where an Eldar dude could steal a Land Raider.

Edited March 12 by crimsondave

[TheArtilleryman]

1 hour ago, gideon stargreave said:

Interesting insight about the quality of the staff. 

Few years ago, probably just before AoS I went into a local GW. Store assistant jumped me the second I walked through the door “how are you doing? What army do you collect?” I said I was vaguely interested in Chaos Warriors. He immediately thrust a £45 box of Dragon Ogres into my hand and said “you should get these.” Hard to convey just how pushy he was.

 

To their credit, I had a more recent visit to the newer relocated Warhammer store in the same city and the staff were much better. Definitely still not the same vibe it used to be though.

 

I love having the BRB no matter what edition. I really liked the one with the three books in the slip case. Can’t remember which edition that was though. Also the huge greenish BRB had the most amazing lore (I really wish it would say what edition it is somewhere inside without us having to guess).

 

Edit: OMG can’t believe AoS came out 9 years ago. Wow

Edited March 12 by TheArtilleryman

[The Spitehorde]

3 minutes ago, crimsondave said:

RT was fun for what it was.  An experimental D&D mixed with Kill Team.  Playing a modern 2,000 pt game would take days.  
 

But name me one edition since where an Eldar dude could steal a Land Raider.

 

That's a good point. I seem to remember a half Eldar Space Marine character as well...

 

I do miss that level of sheer insanity from time to time 

[sarabando]

3rd to 5th imo was the peak. 

[TheArtilleryman]

14 minutes ago, The Spitehorde said:

 

That's a good point. I seem to remember a half Eldar Space Marine character as well...

 

I do miss that level of sheer insanity from time to time 

I liked it when the Callidus could literally replace a model in your opponent’s army with her polymorphine. Halfway through the game and the general is suddenly getting shanked by one of his own bodyguards. It messed with their head because they never knew which unit the assassin was in.

Edited March 12 by TheArtilleryman

[Halandaar]

19 minutes ago, TheArtilleryman said:

I love having the BRB no matter what edition. I really liked the one with the three books in the slip case. Can’t remember which edition that was though.

 

7th Edition. I also liked the book presented that way, so you could just take the rules part out with you instead of having to haul the whole thing around. That said, A5 paperback rulebooks were readily available back then too.

 

19 minutes ago, TheArtilleryman said:

Also the huge greenish BRB had the most amazing lore (I really wish it would say what edition it is somewhere inside without us having to guess).

 

4th Edition I think!

[TheArtilleryman]

7 minutes ago, Halandaar said:

 

7th Edition. I also liked the book presented that way, so you could just take the rules part out with you instead of having to haul the whole thing around. That said, A5 paperback rulebooks were readily available back then too.

 

 

4th Edition I think!

Actually just found this pic. The 6th BRB is the green one that is such a good lore book. 7th is the one with 3 books in the slipcase, as you said:

 

 

Edited March 12 by TheArtilleryman

[Doghouse]

Hands down absolutely has to be first for me, I'd never seen anything like it as a child and it was a time of such imagination and creativity that massively influenced my life. The first plastic space marines blew my mind, it was such an exciting time to be in the hobby as a youngster and even White Dwarf was a must have addition to the game for all the mind blowing articles and models. I learnt how to convert and paint without restrictions to limit my young imagination and I got to pass this love of the hobby onto other hobbyists ever since. I got to grow up with the game being formed by legends such as Rick Priestly, Jes Goodwin, John Blanche and all who will forever be rock stars to me.

 

I loved the rules, I loved the artwork and I loved the models, it was wonderful and I can say with all honesty first edition genuinely changed my life.