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A brief back-story for perspective to what I am going to ask. I started playing 40K when it was in it's 2ed back in '93. I played Dark Angels and Orks with a small group of friends including the one who introduced me to the hobby. We played extensively. I still have the Dark Millennium box and various accessories. We put the hobby away in the garage about 10 years ago. It's only been in the last year that we decided to get back into it. We purchased the new codexes and rules. We also dusted off our old armies and started updating them with newer models, newer paint, modifications, etc. And then we started to play...

So much has changed that the game is almost unrecognizable from the game we played a decade ago.. o.k. I exaggerate, but only a little. To get the hang of the new rules we started with 500pts and then up to 750pts battles. I'm strictly playing Orks for now. My friend is playing Ultramarines, each of us with the newest possible codexes. Something feels out of whack. In the 2ed days, I always lost. I was a terrible player and had a hard time with the strategy of the game. Everybody whipped me, nearly 99% of the time.

Now, I can't be beaten. My Orks walk over my friend's smurfs almost every battle and he's not at all happy about it. Each battle, regardless of the goal: Annihilation, Seize Ground, Capture and Control, all he does is stand on or near each unit's initial deployment area and shoot at me as I run as fast as I can towards him. Every game becomes an Annihilation game with him trying to wipe me out as I try to accomplish the mission goal. He will never, ever try to capture and control anything. It's very frustration and tiresome but he insists that this is the way the new rules insist he play whether or not he likes it. He says that Space Marines can no longer fire effectively if they move, that is unless he is within 12" of my Boys, which he is never going to be able to do as that draws him into my assault zone, where I almost always destroy him.

It seems to me, and correct me if I am wrong, but it seems that the new rules have crippled the Space Marines in order to force you into using vehicles. I have a few small vehicles for my Orks, but he doesn't have any for his Smurfs. Am I wrong in thinking that it's practically impossible to have a footslogging Ultramarine army? Is it that hard to create a 750pt army without drop-pods and Rhinos that can do anything but sit still and shoot?

All really great advice. He just purchased a Dread for his smurfs but no vehicles like Rhino's, etc., not even a bike.

I read the DA codex last night and one big change jumped out at me and I think explains the point of his stress. In 2ed, Marines were a continually forward moving force; bolters could fire at full range while moving if I recall correctly. In 5ed, with the primary weapon being rapid-fire, the SM has to get within 12" to be effective. The SM has been somewhat hobbled by way of changes to their standard issue wargear. Confirming all of this requires me mining my garage for 2ed books which isn't going to happen anytime soon.

I'll be playing DA soon vs his CSM and Eldar. I have a Rhino and am going to scratch-build a drop pod to avoid the situation he seems to be in. I guess I'm just amazed at how such a subtle change has such a dramatic effect on the overall way an entire army can be played... Not even complaining, just wowed.