Yeah, that's my thought on it exactly. These are the kind of Duardin I'd dare put side by side with the latest AoS releases. The 6th ed ones would feel a tad out of place. Although it does break away from traditional fantasy, now that we're 2 years in (almost) I must say the new style is growing on me. At least, enough to keep the two styles separate. And then it's quite fun to see AoS develop its own style this way.
As for balance and shooting, well... They are reviewing the balance of some armies in the new General's Handbook that's announced. I wouldn't get my hopes up too much, but if they were to come to a yearly update that would be a significant improvement over the past WFB iterations.
I've never fielded Witch Elves lately, but I have faced Stormcast shooting quite a few times. I often felt outmatched, until the points were brought in (which kind of points out the community didn't balance it properly either

). Most shooters are more vulnerable to combat and I've seen a fair few ways to get into combat by turn 1, turn 2 at the latest. With the changing initiative, there's still a 50% chance you'll get the top of turn 2 even when the gunners got the top of turn 1.
Also terrain! loads of it! AoS is built for very dynamic boards.
I haven't faced the notorious Orc gunline yet. I've heard GW probably forgot to make a few buffs exclusive to combat, and by applying it to all attacks, it made the Orc shooting too powerful

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Furnace of Arcana, a warhammer blog with delusional grandeur.
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