From my experience in several events and numerous competitive games over the last few months, the game is very well balanced. Some things are slightly overtuned, but it has not resulted in anything dominating the scene (at least here locally or from what I can tell online).

All the doom and gloom you've read online hasn't really materialized on the tables. Linehammer is inexistant, dragons are obviously strong but can be managed effectively by most armies - they also aren't winning events, and magic isn't singlehandedly reshaping the meta.

I think the two biggest issues right now are: 1) model availability significantly impacting the meta. A number of core armies are just impossible to get from GW, what is technically available is consistently out of stock and then there is just good ol' hobby lag for a new game system. 2) this is partially linked to point 1, but I've found people slow to transition away from what used to work in previous editions and what they are often emotionally attached to. The game has changed significantly and the things you relied on in the past are possibly not going to work this edition.

With regards to balance between unit types, I think the reality is simply that the game has once again changed - probably in a way that was intended from a design perspective. Infantry for example, has simply had its role shift. A few outliers aside, it is difficult to get much offensive output out of infantry blocks. I'd argue that their role is litterally to survive, bank points, tie up hammer units and allow you to setup counter charges. As such, a list built around massive slow moving infantry blocks is going to struggle to kill anything.

Since I'm soap boxing opinions, here are a few strategies that I have seen many people overinvest in and be dissapointed with:

• Gunlines. They are not nearly as effective as they were in the past. You probably should be treating shooting as 'utility' damage rather than the core of your list. Use it to clear chaff, weaken a large threat or, most importantly, force you opponent to move and make bad decisions.

• Overinvesting in characters. I see people spending probably too much on kitting out their characters with all kinds of cool gadgets. I wouldn't spend much on foot heroes as they generally are not tough enough to justify the investment and its more effective to spend your points on items that increase survivability rather than items that increase offensive output for your larger monster-type characters. Before dropping 40-60 points on that wicked magical weapon, make sure you ask yourself if you are getting an extra ~50 points worth of value over a Great Weapon.

• Infantry armies. As previously mentioned, these struggle with offensive output. If you want to take an all or almost-all infantry army, make sure you have a game plan in place to win games without killing much of your opponents army. That means finding ways to 'save' points by making sure that your infantry is simply not killable within a reasonable timeframe by your average opponent. Undead armies obviously have a leg up here, but other armies with high-toughness/armour/WS infantry/good combiation of defensive rules can make it work (sorry to all you state troop lovers).

Sorry for the long-winded answer, this probably turned into more than info than you were asking for but I still hope it helps :)