I got a chance to play in the Emperor's Decree demo today, and the group I was in had a blast. Some things to note:

1. Due to a scheduling problem, one of the guys who was going to run demos didn't show up. As a result, we had 8 players. This didn't turn out as bad as you would think. There's been concern that there isn't enough stuff in the core box for more than 3 players, but we didn't have any problems. After the first couple of rounds in an encounter, you either know what the basic actions are, or you just need to take a quick look at the card. Most of the time, we didn't bother with the basic actions unless we were waiting on recharges. Would more cards help? Sure. Are they needed? No.

2. The dice pool isn't as wonky as I was expecting. Again, after a couple of rolls, everybody pretty much had it figured out. It can get a little confusing when the GM starts throwing in extra challenge dice, or you add extra fortune dice, but the chart at the back of the book reminds you of what cancels what.

3. Everybody at the table has played previous editions. Nobody had anything negative to say about the game. In fact, it was the general consensus that once you get past your preconceptions, it's a lot of fun.

4. Everybody at the table plays Dark Heresy or Rogue Trader, and we all agreed that combat did NOT take any longer, nor was it any more complicated, using the new mechanics.

5. The cards and tokens are helpful tools, but they were just that. Nothing more. I actually found them useful in helping to remember what special attacks I had. If you've played 3.5, you know what a pain it can be in the heat of combat to remember you have a feat that gives a +5 bonus when orcs wearing blue pants attack you. The cards help with that. Even still, I found myself forgetting when a skill specialization should have kicked in (no card for that!)

6. The new initiative system ROCKS. That's all to say about that. Having the PARTY decide who goes first helps add a nice tactical system to an otherwise somewhat abstract combat system. I could see where mini's could easily be used if you wanted to, but I liked the system as is.

7. Since our party was so large, we had to create some characters. This was actually quick and easy. You get a LOT for your character points!

8. Our GM had a bit of trouble adjusting encounter levels based on his quick read, but we think he did a great job.

We played through the entire scenario in 6 hours. The first combat encounter was a bit longer, mainly due to learning the new ways things are done (plus, 8 people!). We lost 2 party members, myself included.

I was a bit on the fence with this one, but I'm convinced now. It's on my must buy list.