I don't think the army lists in the books should not be used.
One list allows the mixing of IG and SM which i think should not be an option, purely because it can lead to cherry picking units easier (marine troops, backed up by Russ, hellhounds and basilisks for example). The second list is really nasty, power wise, when compared to other SM lists (and this is listed in the designer notes) and the extra objective is not a fair balance for either player. It means that the people playing this game are not doing the same game as everyone else in a round.
So in short:
Characters - Yes
Vehicles - Yes
Army Lists - No
Would like to comment on this..even though I'm not attending. (Seeing as I was going to bring a Tyrants Legion list if I could make it
)
The Tyrants Legion list is balanced. Why?
- You don't get to use the nice rules from the IG in this list.
- You need to take SM troops to unlock some SM units.
- You are obligated to field a Legion Venturion from a certain points limit (crappy IC I've found out)
- You're also obligated to take at least 1 Auxilia unit as troops.
The Siege Assault Vanguard list is a powerful one true.
But it is totally balanced due to the Siege Objective. Why?
- Your opponent gets to place the objective!
- No matter the mission victory rules, if you have NOT claimed the objective (contested is not enough) or wiped out your opponent then you can never get better then a draw.
Plus is has some interresting options left out (no drop podding siege army
)
I don't see any problem with the badab rules being used, although i think that if some one is going to use special characters from that book, they shouldn't use special characters from other books (the ones set in 41st millennium) as it wouldn't seem right fluff wise
As to the time line thing. True they represent characters from that time era. Most of who are still around.
As to fluff wise....I've seen people put lists down with Vulkan and ultramarine special characters....how is that fluffwise correct?
As a tip...never put to much stock in fluff.
Tyrants legion is easy, it doesn't allow additional special characters (except Huron and the free downloadable one on FW site)
As to the Siege Assault list, it's not a time based list. It's more a strategic list.
But as far as going for or against FW lists...if you are going to exclude certain content then I'd advice you to also take a look at the IA8 list. Which is also a horrendously powerfull list. (see the problem with trying to exclude certain lists, you always get pointed to another IA book etc
) Or the Armoured Company list that O:nk already mentioned...some would claim that it's also an over the top powergame list.