I have found the new shades and glazes good. The old washes (and even older inks) were quite good for washing and glazing, but washing tended to glaze a bit too much and glazing required precision to prevent them from turning into washes. In my opinion the new separated shades and glazes work better in their respective tasks than the old washes. I'm also glad that the shades and glazes ranges include brighter colours than the old washes. I have still used my old yellow, orange and red inks because the wash range did not provide anything like them until now. And I'm already on my third pot of Agrax Earthshade, I love that stuff even more than Devlan Mud.
Dry compounds... I don't see any need for them. I have tried a couple and in my opinion they don't offer any advantages over regular paints.
I'm not sure but the new Base paints seem to be a bit brighter than Foundation paints. Foundations were a bit greyish and muted and I often painted a coat of regular paint over them. No need for that with the new Base paints. They seem to cover any primer as well as Foundations. Especially Balthasar Gold is a welcome addition, never has painting gold been as little work as with it.
Layers are basically the same as the old colour range, but there are many more. I'm not sure yet, but the amount of pigment seems a bit lesser than previously. Somehow they don't seem to cover as well as the old range.
Ushabti Bone has a bit greenish tint in it compared to good old Bleached Bone. I don't like.
The philosophy behind the new range seems to be that you paint a Base, then shade, then paint a couple of layers without needing to mix anything. Easy for beginners, but if you are an experienced painter, you don't really need half the stuff they are selling. Some, like bases and shades are a great convenience in especially batch painting, but I wouldn't buy any "Mega" sets with all the layer paints because paint is made for mixing.
-- Pasi