Still, itвЂ™s a very bad matchup for Orks and since the new Codex released Orks have only won around 25% of their matchups against Tyranids.Д¬raftworlds Eldar can also give Orks some real trouble with their ability to hit and run, give Orks -1 to hit, and generally drop in and blanket Orks in shuriken fire. The flip side is that having the dominant faction be one with a lot of big MONSTER units suddenly makes Squighog Boyz one of the gameвЂ™s more formidable units. On top of that, if thereвЂ™s a silver bullet answer to Ghaz in this edition, itвЂ™s the Reaper of Obliterax, which allows a Winged Hive Tyrant to swoop in and potentially fell the Warboss in a single combat. In the right situation, Orks can get the drop on Tyranids (this happened in a particularly humorous way at the Seattle Open, when a Tyranids player was introduced to the Surprize! Stratagem), though not often вЂ“ Tyranids trade very well with Orks and are still considerably more powerful on a point-by-point basis. Orks also have a reasonable matchup against Genestealer Cults, where they can do many of the same things well. Still, the ability to handle some of the tougher marine armies in melee means that Orks on the whole match up well against most power-armored armies except for Sisters, who have done very well against Orks since the Armour of Contempt Update. After the latest balance dataslate, these matchups look more like toss-ups, especially given that bonuses like the extra AP from Speedwaagh! just may not have an impact any more. Before Armour of Contempt, Orks had solid matchups into space marine armies, where they could trade very efficiently вЂ“ particularly in melee. Orks have the speed and melee power to compete against many of the gameвЂ™s armies вЂ“ especially if their dice get hot. So how does the field look for the Orks now? With Tyranids dominating, is there a place for the Orks to compete? The Positive: In any iteration of the list Orks can close the gaps between armies quickly and jam an enemy in their deployment zone, stunting their movement as the Orks emerge elsewhere.Д¬redit: Robert вЂњTheChirurgeonвЂќ Jones The Matchups Goffs, Blood Axes, and Speed Mobs all have play in the current meta, with Goffs in particular being among the more powerful choices thanks to support from Ghazghkull. Although not the gameвЂ™s top faction by any stretch, there are a number of Ork lists that can perform well and compete at high levels currently, even against pre-nerf Tyranids. Likewise, the new Armour of Contempt rule doesnвЂ™t change that much for Orks but makes it much more important to prioritize either AP0 or AP-3 weapons and makes calling a SpeedWaaagh! a little less useful with guns that are AP0 against marine targets.Дespite the loss of powerful indirect fire, Orks are still sitting on a number of very powerful datasheets, with guns that would be insane in any other faction and are only marginally balanced by having low Ballistic Skill. That said, people were already mostly leaving Rukkatrukks at home after the December dataslate, so itвЂ™s not like anything was lost there. The new Indirect Fire rules, which stack an extra -1 to BS and +1 save against units shooting without line of sight, essentially put the nail in the coffin on Rukkatrukks, which will now often be hitting on 5+ with the Heavy Squig Launcha and 6+ with the rest of its weapons. We say вЂњmostlyвЂќ here however because two major changes вЂ“ the Indirect Fire rules and Armour of Contempt вЂ“ both affect the faction, just in different ways. Faction OverviewДЄfter getting absolutely crushed in the December and February balance dataslates and points updates, Orks got a reprieve in the April Dataslate, slipping (mostly) under the radar.

In this article, weвЂ™re looking at how Orks have fared through the most recent dataslate and how they stack up competitively. Now with Tyranids looming on the horizon, weвЂ™re looking at several key factions and examining their place in this new emerging meta. Astra Militarum, Marines and Sisters were buffed, Harlequins, TвЂ™au, and Custodes were nerfed, and some key game rules were changed. Games Workshop dropped its Q2 Balance Dataslate for 40k in mid-April, dramatically changing a number of key factions.

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