Remeber when

our jet bikes were the fastest in 40k 24" turbo boost move
sniper squads, 10 warrior's + 2DL's cost 100pts
Kruellagh the Vile, Archon of the Emasculators
Archons being able to ride jetbikes, skyboards.
Comabt drug dispensor

Yes to all of the above.

Archon since 2004.

Yep back in the day our jetbikes had a 4+ armor save that became an invul(!) when using turboboost.

Dont know why they took that away from us, especially when looking at eldar jetbikes' 3+ save

I remember it. Just didn't play DE back then, I didn't like the models.

hellion skyboards had a 5+ invo (jink) save against shooting
wyches could take a blaster and shredder
mandrakes had "hidden" deployment

Wyches had no invul in cc
combat drugs let you charge 12"

When groteques where immune to low S shooting

@The_Burning_Eye wrote:

I remember it. Just didn't play DE back then, I didn't like the models.

This ^^

@darthken239 wrote:

Archons being able to ride jetbikes, skyboards.

My first Dracon, Faustus:

@darthken239 wrote:

Kruellagh the Vile, Archon of the Emasculators

Although this is a little disingenous, as I only got the mini recently as part of a bulk lot of knackered old DE models.

Razorsnares let you pull a model 2" away into base contact

Hydraknives doubled the wielder's attacks, after bonuses.

Splinter rifles were S3.

We had some pretty useless upgrades back then, too. Soul seeker ammunition anyone? 10 points to reroll hits and ignore cover (12 years before ignore cover was trendy!) , except only on one character with a splinter rifle. At S3. Never change, GW.

Moving 12" with a raider, shooting the dark lance at full BS, getting a 4++ for it and then jumping wyches out to charge 12"

Wych weapons denying +1 A for an enemy having 2 CCW and making anything under Str 4 half WS Mmm good times :p

And it was always funny to get a little greedy with the combat drugs and roll a triple.

And VECT!! An actual kit.

And Wyches could take two blasters. It was always funny to see if they would blow up that transport. ☺
And consolidation into combat FTW. My Archon didn't need a jetbike. He was so killy that his toughness didn't matter. He ran around on the battle only leaving piles of bodies in his wake.
The combat drugs dispenser, no Archon would ever leave the webway without one! Do you need Street, Reading to hit an extra attack? Back then drugs killed like a boss. I had almost more Archons die to drugs than to enemies

Incubi with Shredder and Blaster

and a tactics guide

The splinter rifle was slightly better than a lasgun, in that splinter rifles were AP 5. The most advanced race in the galaxy, and we got AP 5 lasguns.

I remember Wyches before the codex update. They had the same stats and cost the same points as they do now, but without Night Vision, Dodge, and Power From Pain. They had to pay extra for plasma grenades. On the other hand, Wych weapons were free, and they could have Haywire grenades...

I keep forgetting that Archons aren't the murdermachines they were back then. Generally speaking, my army would get blown out of the sky, and then my Archon would dismantle the enemy army more or less by herself. Today, when I charge my Archon into combat, I end up thinking, "Wait, that's it? What happened? Are you tired?"

My old jet bike archon with agoniser

@Calyptra wrote:

The splinter rifle was slightly better than a lasgun, in that splinter rifles were AP 5. The most advanced race in the galaxy, and we got AP 5 languishing.

I remember Wyches before the codex update. They had the same stats and cost the same points as they do now, but without Night Vision, Dodge, and Power From Pain. They had to pay extra for plasma grenades. On the other hand, Wych weapons were free, and they could have Haywire grenades...

Not entirely true. Wych Weapons costed 1 point per person. All Wyches needed to take them but they were a no-brainer. Reduce the number of attacks by 1, as long as they don't have double your strength AND half their WS if they roll to hit.
Back then rolling WS boost really mattered vs MEQ ☺.

Splinter rifles did suck and we didn't have that much choice in viable units.

It is fun looking back but I am glad we did get this new codex.

Mandrakes had the most amusing deployment of all.....

Oh man, if mandrakes still had the old deployment...bonkers! They'd easily be my favorite unit in the game. I'd probably fill my elite slots with them just to mess with my tau friend.

Kheradruakh's deploy back then was even funnier.
Anyone remember the 3rd ed rulebook with the army lists? Lascannons on raiders?
I never ever got to play a jetbike archon, I could never figure out a way to make one cool enough, then I stopped playing and didn't jump back in again until 6th edition. Wounded.

Oh, the days when a Jetbike/Punisher/Druggy Archon would... just.... slaughter.

Half of the time I didn't even bother going for a full-on Archon. The Dracon was plenty to get the job done.

Heh. And taking Warriors as a retinue for the Archon? Did anyone ever try that? Ever?

No. I do not think that we did.

Since splinter rifles sucked back then, I used to pack a sybarite with an agonizer into each of my raider squads, and use them as an agonizer delivery system to support whatever other squads were on the table.

Also, 3 disintegrators were standard for ravagers back then, since disintegrator cannons were a LOT better than they are now, with STR7 AP2 blast templates. I once nearly tabled a Daemonhunters player in a tournament by wiping out all of his Grey Knight terminators with dissie templates.

Beastmasters used to be the cheapest way to get an agonizer. They were 15 pts, and came with an agonizer and a splinter pistol.

I used to put a haemonculus on a jetbike, in order to get a T5 HQ. He would zip around and do destructor (liquefier gun) drive-bys.

I would also give my archon a punisher to boost his STR to 4, which could then be boosted to 5 or 6 via drugs and (I think) animus vitae.

Also, back then, agonizers could glance vehicles on a 6. It would be nice if they could still do that.

@jbwms713 wrote:

Heh.  And taking Warriors as a retinue for the Archon?  Did anyone ever try that?  Ever?

No.  I do not think that we did.

I would put in 2 warriors with splinter cannons, but the rest of the retinue would be incubi.

Remember when delivering original, quality and fun products to make the hobby better was more important then cutting corners and churning out lack luster tabloid rubbish while treating their loyal fanbase as cash cows to be milked for all their worth was the norm? Ah the good old days.

I miss originality