Why Orks Are Bad: Part IV

Almost finished the wall-of-text...

Part the Fourth: Specific Rules and Meta

Now we will look at some other, more specific ways that Orks suffer in the 5E metagame. There are many changes that were brought on by the new ruleset, and not all of them were good. In fact, some of them were downright crippling to Orks, while others are merely a hindrance.

Changes to weapon usabilities mean that both Melta and flamer weapons are much, much more common than they were before. Melta we have already covered in the vehicles discussion above, but flamers are also worth specifically picking out. They are- and always have been- a very good weapon against Orks, who are among their most stereotypical targets. However, with the advent of 5E, they became effective enough against other targets to warrant inclusion in most people's take-all-comers lists, rather than being a specialist weapon that was more rarely used. For Orks, this means they had to expect that most types of armies would bring much more effective firepower against them, and that crossing that final ~12" gap would be a real difficulty.

Another big strike were the changes to the No Retreat! rule and combat resolution in general. Although it sometimes helps them (forcing the enemy to make impossible Ld checks due to casualties), it is not uncommon for Orks to lose a combat against a competent enemy force- at which point the tide begins to turn very quickly indeed, as the end-of-combat wounds quickly stack up and chew away at the Orks only advantage, numbers. Other armies (like Tyranids) also have to deal with this, but generally have ways of mitigating it or working around it (Catalyst, leaving Synapse, etc.) Orks are stuck with it, and it is a tool easily used against them by smart opponents.

Several of the recent army releases have put Orks in a bad position as well- Imperial Guard can bring vehicles in large numbers and tend to wield pie plates and flamers with impunity, as noted earlier. Tyranids have greatly superior combat ability on nearly all fronts and can often muster superior shooting as well, as their guns can't be shut down with a damage roll. Blood Angels and Space Wolves are both CC-focused MEQ forces that have many of the advantages expected of Marines, but also have the melee strength to chew up mobs of Orks once they have been softened up a bit- or sometimes simply dive straight in for the kill. With all of these armies being popular "new" choices (used loosely, as some are half a year or more old at this point), they are a common sight at tournaments and ones that makes most Ork armies worry about their prospects.

- Abuse Puppy in Why Orks Are Bad, Despite What the Internet Thinks