I'm fan of smaller games. I set up my 500 point game to have a splash of everything. Dreadnought here, Company master there, Devestators here, Scout snipers there...
I'm one of those guys that has been into 40K for a while, but really got into it during 5th. We were all newbies, and the 6 of us all got into it together. We bought armies that were way too big for the amount we knew of the game, so most of our games consisted of flipping through rulebooks and arguing.
Once 6th came around, we decided it was time to play smaller games and really get the rules down for what we knew. A couple of my friends left the hobby altogether because they never had a chance to learn all the rules. Otherwise, it really sped up the games, making our turns more frequent, allowing us to practice the basics better.
But yeah, why I like small games:
1. The map looks wayyyy bigger!
2. Faster paced action.
3. It makes my HQ choices feel more important. (I understand they are still important in big games)
4. With unbound lists, making a small game is even easier!
5. Great for learning.
So how many points do you like in your list? Sometimes we play games with 700 points, and 50 "Bonus Points" that can only be spent on upgrades.