Rules nostalgia

[apologist]

Adeptus Titanicus and Warhammer: The Old World got me thinking. Both are games that are essentially a pick-and-mix of the best bits of previous editions of the game, blended with some new elements.

 

I wondered what your take on something similar for Warhammer 40,000 would be. After all, however much we love a particular edition, there's often something that another one does better.

 

Assuming any necessary gaps are neatly blended over to make things work functionally, which edition had the best rules for:

• Army building
• Missions
• Vehicles
• Close combat
• Line of sight
• Terrain
• Characters
• Large games
• Small games
• [Insert facet of the game here]?

 

And on a related note, do you prefer rules per individual unit, or universal special rules? 

 

Entirely subjective of course, so feel free to be as discursive as possible.

Edited August 5 by apologist

[Harrowmaster]

Here's my take on this: 

• The Heresy Force Org Chart allows for more scope than the old 40k one (1-3 HQ and 0-4 Elites, everything else is the same). 
• There have been a good spread of missions from 4th-7th, I don't have a particular favourite. 
• 4th/5th ed vehicle rules (HPs make them too fragile compared to monsters). 
• 6th ed combat (no musical wounds, overwatch is a thing, no backdoor assaults). 
• I've always been a fan of the 5th ed true line of sight rules, as long as you have a reasonable gaming group and no WAAC players modelling for advantage. 
• 4th/5th ed terrain rules for the various types. 
• 6th/7th ed for characters (challenges are really cool). 
• 6th edition onwards for large games. 
• 4th edition/5th edition for small games (everything costs more, missions are designed for smaller armies). 
• I miss blast templates, I get not everyone likes them as they were really awkward at times but I enjoyed them and they made the game feel so much better than the current blast rule.

I much prefer universal special rules because it's easier to reference and having multiple bespoke versions of stubborn or rage seems unnecessary.