First Impression Great
I got the final release yesterday, and thusfar, am very satisfied. Great mechanics, beautiful graphics. They've done a terrific job so far. I was skeptical about Bandai, but that skepticism was unfounded.
Let me talk about what I don't like:
1.) Races: You get Chaos, Empire, High Elves, and Skaven
There are a few mercenary units that can be added, but the selection is rather limited. Also, for each of the races, they only took a handful of units from the army books. They did a great job with the units that were included, and the mechanics work great. I am very hopeful that they will eventually fill in a lot of missing units from the table-top game.
2.) The point system
The game uses gold as a metric for armies, instead of points. In concept it accomplishes the same thing while putting it into a tangible concept that unfamiliar players can grasp. However, I haven't looked too closely, but I'm not entirely sure the point system falls in-line with the table top. Not a bad thing, as this is a PC game, and not the table top, but I also miss some options that are unique to specific units.
3.) The army painter.
I was expecting more customization options. I like the fact that you can differentiate members of a unit to a high degree, but the army painter in Dawn of War is much better. The army painters of both games leave a little to be desired over some rudimentary tools developed to aid table-top painters. Again, I am trying to compare this game to it's table-top kin, and I know it's not meant to be a replacement. I only mention it because the army painter in W40K: Dawn of War is a much better tool.
4.) Campaigns:
I was really hoping for a High-Elven and Skaven campaign. Not having completed either of the 2 campaigns included, I'm not sure exactly what is in store, but I already get the feeling that not enough attention has been paid to the two non-human races in the game.
5.) Technical Issues:
Nothing really big here, and it might just be my system. However, I just purchased a $5000 gaming system from Alienware, so if my hardware doesn't live up to the requirements, then this game is really advanced. There are some points, when ordering my units to complete an action, where hte game hangs for a few seconds, and the sounds repeats itself rapidly. Like I said, it's not a major issue, but it does happen rather frequently. At least once per map.
So, with these 5 things I don't like, you may be expecting a low score. However, I think the game is great overall, shows lots of potential for the future, and is fun as heck to play right now. Anticipation was killer, and probably too high, but this one was still worth the money.