Possibly making my return to 40K, convince me?!?

I got into 40K back in 3rd edition(luvd it) and played some 4th edition(hated it). Now with the new dark eldar book and models(which r sooo sick!), I'm considering getting back into 40K. Is it still the player who gets first turn wins? i.e you shot all my big stuff then I don't have anything left to take out your big stuff game? That's one ofthe reasons I dropped it. No tactics. Convince
Me to get back in. I'm considering playing dark eldar but I've also had an interest in blood anglels. What works what doesn't? How is the metagame? Are there more tactics involved? What's a good place to start with if I were to play dark eldar?

Well 5th is much better than 4th and closer to 3rd in my opinion, so if you liked 3rd I think you will like 5th. First turn syndrome is still a problem but it has been mitigated a bit by the person who goes first sets up first so you can set your force up in cover if your opponent is going first. Also with all of the new outflanking (coming from reserves on a side or your opponents edge) and with deep striking existing in armies in greater numbers the first turn syndrome is much reduced. There is also a new steal initiative rule where on a roll of a 6 before the game you can actually steal the first turn.

5th is very vehicle heavy, that being said the meta game revolves around having a lot of anti tank so vehicle heavy armies are not in my opinion top of the heap. (This coming from someone who plays a very vehicle heavy guard army) Many of the newer (and thus generally better) armies are very HtH focused and that is where most of the better armies reside IMO. (A number of people *will* disagree with me here I imagine) I think the top army is more than like Orks right now, a good Ork army played by a good play is absolutely devastating. Blood Angels, Space Wolves, CSM, and Imperial Guard probably round out the top 5, not in any particular order. Whether that holds true as the BA and SW codex age is up in the air, generally the new armies are better just because people do not know how to deal with them or know all of their special rules, whether the codex is better or not.

That being said I was like you, I loved 3rd edition, hated 4th so much I stopped playing for a while, but I enjoy 5th. Life has prevented me from playing to much but I think the rule set is very good. GWs army balance is still a joke but still not as bad as it is in Fantasy.

Melta spam is the only thing that irritates me.

But other than that I like 5th edition. Its a lot of fun to play.

5th is a great game the only problem, is that some codexes are better than others but fantasy and every other table top game has the same issue

So this weekend I picked up the dark eldar codex, I like what I see. So many possibilities.

Dark Eldar are good, but a really expensive army to play. You need to so many Dark Eldar Raiders to do well. Like at least 6 of them...oh and 3 ravagers. I wouldn't recommend Dark Eldar for a new player. Don't get me wrong, they're definitely competitive and can be lots of fun and very fast, but a huge monetary investment. Also, if you'd like some sample army lists let me know. I got the codex and I have an idea of what will work and what won't.

Here you go WHFB sucks i'll see you at the next 40k tournament.

I disagree with the "you need raiders to make them work." I play dark eldar and have a decent success rate with them. I think the "balanced" list for them is the best way to go. With so many underpointed models (wyches, warriors, beastmasters, reavers, scourges) its easy to want to take a bunch of your favorite units. I dont think this is the way to go at all. It makes your army too static and unable to cope with certain army builds. I take a balanced list of warriors, wyches, reavers, scourges, incubi, raiders, haemonculi, and talos. With so many targets to fire at (and most of them having feel no pain from the beginning of the game) its hard for people to decide on what to shoot down.

Truth is, i get second turn in most my games that i play with them, and i do just fine. Raiders are paper, and you will lost them, but think about the math. BTW this math is based on averages all around. 3+ to hit them from most units, 33% failure chance. 5+ invul save on your raiders/venoms, 33% chance to do no damage to you. Then the weapon the enemy is using also has a STR value that may or may not glance or penetrate, so add a few more % on that. The majority of the shots that come at you have the odds stacked against them anyway. So F you whoever said Raiders suck. Raiders are underpointed (coming from a DE player) and if they die, then who gives a crap. You are the fastest army in the game between the tanks, beasts, Fast attack choices, and all the fleet, use it to your advantage and cause some pain!