Finally got around to looking at this, but alas, this article won't be as big as I originally intended it to be. Given all that I've found out on this subject, the results were basically down to this:
40K wins, but only due to the rules.
Sort of seems limited doesn't it. Simply put, it was faster (and to a degree, slightly more simple) to play a game of 40K over Fantasy Battle. Given that you need less models and that they are all skirmish stance, it was more easier to move them about and to react to changes on the battlefield. Shooting is 40K is simply rolling on a table based on a models Ballistic Skill (BS) and while in Fantasy it's rolling on a BS table, there are also modifiers involved too. Also, that combat is easier with AP values simply ignoring armour of the same AP value (or worse) in 40K then it was to deduct the armour save modifier off armour value that's in Fantasy.
40K Example: Weapon has AP 4 so amour values of 4, 5 and 6 are ignored.
Fantasy Example: Attacker has Str 3 and has Great Weapon (+2 Str) to have Str 5. Against Armour Save of 3+, the save of that model is now 5+ (Str 5 = armour save modifier of -2, so 2 worse off 3 is 5).
Admittedly, Warhammer 40K 6th Edition has attempted to match it's Fantasy cousin with the introduction of more complicated rules. Some of these rules even seem a little too unnecessary for a game like this. Word also has it that the Fantasy team are looking into the complaints by players about the problems in 8th Edition with the hope that some will be rectified in the future 9th Edition release.
There are the general complaints that also go with this argument, such as trying to paint so many models that sorta look the same (Fantasy based one), which became more annoying thanks to the 'hordes' rule in 8th Edition, to the 40K complaints like there being too many Space Marine chapters. Both a legitimate complaints for me and indeed, I can relate to both. Yes, many do look the same (Night Goblin Unit for example) and you do need to do some serious converting and painting for such things (would like to point out that 40K's Imperial Guard and Ork boyz I will lump into this category too) and yes, I do believe that there are too many Space Marine chapters. For a group of limited genetically engineered super humans who don't have the tech to reproduce their gene seeds, there seems to be more now then there were during the Horus Heresy and that's not including those that have turned to Chaos since.
Both sides have equal arguments when it comes to the hobby and the lore, but both exist on the same side. One must also put aside the settings of Fantasy and Sci-fi as these are more personal likes over the actual games themselves. This leaves just the rules and so that's the only thing that seems justified by the research.
So where do I stand on this?
I play the games rarely and spend more time reading the stories and converting and painting. I have at least one usable army for both games and continually have ideas for new ones. That said, I prefer Fantasy over 40K. It's my personal preference, more of the hobby compared to the rules. That said, I do enjoy using the rules at times, with the constant disasters that befell my Skaven on a regular basis. I find the Fantasy universe more exciting then the 40K one, which I feel is lack luster as they have so much variation crammed into one world in Fantasy, yet for an entire galaxy that is 40K, there doesn't seem to be much there and what is there seems all the same. Again, this is purely my personal preference and is here to show the difference between a single individual over the general consensus.
So whether you agree or not, remember this: The Dark Gods exist in both and they are always watching.
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