In search of a Warhammer 40K edition

[Marchomer]

I'm approaching to the Warhammer 40K universe... and I'm asking myself:

What's the most playable edition? What's the most balanced? What's your favorite edition? What's the best one? Who was born first? The egg or the duck?

I have a 3th edition rulebook I got for nothing during a GW offer when I was on holiday in Milan some years ago, GW gave to everyone who bought a battalion a free rulebook of the previous edition.
I find this edition quite good (and good priced ), but I'd like to know what you think about it... you are more experienced than me, I'd like to hear some suggestions!

[BobbieTheDamned]

For skirmishing I still think 2nd edition was best.

3rd,4th and 5th are all really similar almost to the point that opposing players could be using different rule books and not have any problem. In my opinion 4th is the best out of the lot rules wise, though I do like how the victory conditions for 5th work.

[MortiS-the-Lost]

Got to say 2nd was also my favorite edition of 40k to play and Rogue Trader (1st) makes for interesting gaming too as it's a lot more open ended

I can't really 'recommend' either edition though, due to the difficulty of getting hold of the books and material (not to mention the Miniatures) you'll need to start playing. 40k has changed at lot since those days and you'll find many troop types, weapons and even whole armies are incompatible between earlier and later editions

[Marchomer]

Thanks for the suggestions guys!
I examined the various editions. I like Rogue Trader, the style and the approach of the book remind me WHFB 3rd edition, I find something I really like, the book is very comprehensive (I saw there are banned races too, like dwarfs, slanns and zoats) and the style is more Punk and less Gothic than the newer editions... but I find it a little chaotic (just like the Fantasy version), and for a non-English guy this thing is very stressful! The 2nd edition is nice too but I think the right edition for me is the one I've already have got: The third edition. This book is quite complete too and is the only one  that have a big organized section with playable army lists (I appreciate this kind of things) and like Rob said, I saw that 3th edition is virtually identical to the 4th or 5th edition, so I don't understand why to use the them.

I'm now remembering I have an old White Dwarf with the rules to create new vehicles, this could be another point in 3rd edition's favour!

[MortiS-the-Lost]

Another factor to consider will be who you're going to be playing with, if it's your regular gaming group you should all be able to agree on an edition between you and find one that you all prefure - however, if your looking to play at your local GW store or at a Gaming Club or a tornament you'll probably be forced to use the most recent edition

[Marchomer]

Well, surely your considerations are outstanding factors.
In my case the Gaming Club is my hobby-cellar and my opponents are my regular Talisman/HACK!/D&D/Risk!/Trivial/Snakes and ladders/Flip a coin group (newbie like me in WH40K). So we have no kind of limitation, we only have to try the rules and play!

Sadly  in Sicily wargaming is a rare hobby... it's almost impossible to find an heaven like Triple Helix here!
Actually, you have been drawn to my attention that I'm more stocked than the local store of my city...

Ok, sorry... I've finished with the OT!

[Billiam Babble]

There's something nice about going back to the Rogue Trader rules - or even just the 2nd edition (on it's own) because the games are fairly balanced and complete without the escalation of the codexes.   Rogue Trader is a lovely book just to read.   Naturally it might be down to which models you like, because there are many specialist weapons and army lists that vanish for good (I'm thinking of some really weird Ork stuff).  My only foray into 40K was collecting chaos in 2nd ed, but specialising in swarms of disposable human cultists - made up of modified necromunda figures, at least that was the plan, and Demon World armies with beastmen (which could double-up as WHQ extras!) but they got ushered out on the next edition, but hey I'll get over it ...
  The question is with Rogue Trader, Zoats might be interesting, but how do you really feel about giant primates with digital finger weapons?

Damnit, I should just give in and buy the new RPG or Dark Heresy ...

Crikey, I'm surprised I even have an opinion on this.

Edit: just re-read your post - go for third edition! :)

[Billiam Babble]

Marchomer wrote

Actually, you have been drawn to my attention that I'm more stocked than the local store of my city...

Perhaps it's time to set up your own gaming import business.

[MortiS-the-Lost]

Another suggestion I thought I might put forth is not actually 40k itself, but Space Crusade (known as StarQuest in your part of the world). You get to play with 40k miniatures of all different races in a dungeon type environment and it's a multi-player and GM game, thought it might just be the sort of thing you'd be interested in.

My group are currently playing through a Space Crusade campaign while I take a break from writing MortiS Quest, so you can expect a lot of support on the forum (we've added a few new monsters already!)

Check out the Space Crusade and Space Hulk Forum Section

and for a rambling  article about how the game plays look no further than Here!

[Marchomer]

Billiam Babble wrote

Perhaps it's time to set up your own gaming import business.

LOL!

It could be great, but in Sicily this quote could be synonymous of "shortly go out of business". I've seen a lot of shops I rally liked, fall under the evil hand of the... uuuh... mmh.... actually I don't know the exact reason, but a lot of the shops I knew went out of business (in my second city 4/6 shops disappeared, maybe I bring bad luck... so sorry if The Lost and The Damned will die!).


@Mortis:

Yes, I know Space Crusade, I played it a long time ago and I tried to find it for a good price some month ago!
Nowadays, I'm thinking to self-made my own SC when I will got some more WH40K miniatures , but this is the third step (the second step will be Space Hulk).

It's all on my N.G.S. section W4 (Nerdy Game Schedule section WH40K).

P.S. I already follow the SC section in the forum, and obviously your progress too

[Legiocustodes]

Hmmm a complicated question indeed!

From a background and sheer originality perspective then I have to say rogue trader is by far and away the best edition! It always feels so fresh and vibrant when I play it, even if it can be a little chaotic and unpredictable. However it is not without it's limitations, firstly size wise, it really is a skirmish/light rpg at heart and thus if you play with more than twenty models aside then things can get real confusing, especially if you're using all those random tables and charts to generate troops and equipment! Secondly which version of rogue trader do you use... Over it's lifespan (1987-1993) it received an update book almost every year (Chapter Approved 1988, Compendium 1989, Compilation 1991, Vehicle Manual 1992, Battle Manual 1992) all of which significantly altered one or more aspects of gameplay, not to mention the various updates in the now rare White Dwarf articles from that period! Thus a game of 1987 RT is a whole different beast to a game of 1992 RT.

For streamlined, fast play gaming 3rd edition is your best bet as this ripped out many of the more complicated (though many would argue more interesting) rules from earlier editions. However I always feel a little hollow with these and subsequent rules, simply because my armies feel like a swathe of generic toys as opposed to units of individual personalities!!

I currently mostly play the latest fifth edition simply because this is the one that is catered for by GW and also because it is easier to find opponents who play this version. It's ok, and is a little more ineresting than third/fourth edition, but is still a little bland for my liking!!

That said I have just acquired a pristine copy of second edition and dark millennium and so my gaming group and I will be giving this a go pretty soon! I shall let you know how it goes!!

[Marchomer]

Thank you Legiocustodes!
I had a lot of games with the WH40k 3rd edition rules set, I find it faster than others (and I like the "speed factor" in a game), it's very accessorized too, I'm talking about the Vehicles Design Rules (and I like vehicles), the old trial rules for vehicles and the assault phase, in addition I got almost all the White Dwarf articles published for the 3rd edition.

So I think this is my edition, but I'm always happy to hear comments and thoughts about rules and editions, especially on the 2nd edition... uhmm... I'm a rules set geek.

MortiS-the-Lost wrote

Welcome to The Lost and the Damned Forum, why not tell us a little about your self on the Introductions Page 

Sorry MortiS!

[MortiS-the-Lost]

Indeed! Welcome aboard and please make a post on the Introductions Page