I've always liked Orks since I got into 40k. In fact I have liked them way before I got into 40k; when I was a wee bear I would look at White Dwarf in my local news agents and remember seeing Ork models. The ramshackle appearance with angled joints with riveted panels was a great look.
I haven't played Orks for quite a while now, about a year if I remember right. I used to own a Battlewagon Brigade army and a Kan Wall army. I made the mistake of trading my Battlewagons for Kans and the Kan Wall didn't work for me; the army is too slow and thanks to terrain the army can either bottleneck and if going through terrain can get seriously bogged down. I remember once I didn't reach combat until turn 5! That's ridiculous!
The state of da Ork codex
6th ed wasn't kind to the Ork codex in any shape or form and the Ork army has really suffered.
One of the Orks' best units was the Deffkopta. This unit could scout forward using turbo boost and then on the Orks' first turn get an assault off with the buzzsaw (power klaw) - excellent for alpha strike and stopping the opponent doing anything before they start.
Now you cannot assault if you go first, and if you do still use Deffkoptas, then which opponent is going to let you assault them? Chances are slim of Koptas making it into the fight. Same applies for Koptas coming in from reserves, they were great for assaulting and tying up units with their outflanking moves.
While I am not a fan of Kommandos, I have heard people rave about them and I think it is worth mentioning that these guys could do the same trick as the Deffkopta and that is assault from outflank. As you cannot assault from outflank and as Orks are an assault army this makes the Kommandos particularly useless.
Assault has screwed the Orks too thanks to overwatch; Orks' leather jackets are paper thin and a good roll of overwatch means the Orks may not even make it into the fight at all.
Furious charge lost the bonus initiative, though I don't think this is worth mentioning too much as most Orks are I2 (so would be I3 on the charge), though Nobz and the Warboss etc have suffered.
When Orks call for a waaaaaagh! they got fleet, which in 5th meant you could assault after running if I remember correctly. This would increase the Orks assault range by about 4". Now it just gives a re-roll and of course is a one time use.
The KFF (kustom force field) is an item of wargear what got shafted - it used to give a 4+ cover save but now it is 5+. Ok a 5+ cover save is better than nothing, but when you are using Battlewagon Brigade you only have a low number of vehicles and every loss counts. Considering the points the KFF costs it seems a little too harsh for the little protection it gives.
The best way for an assault army to get into the fight quickly is by using fast moving units i.e beasts, jump infantry, cavalry etc or transports. As vehicles have been nerfed the Orks' assault range has been slightly reduced to 19" (previously 20"), though the main bug bear is Ork vehicles like to ram other tanks thanks to the deffrolla, if a unit of Orks has just bailed out a vehicle then the vehicle isn't going to have a huge threat radius and moving only 6" means it is still within threat range from enemy units.
Making da gubbinz work
The Orks have suffered quite a bit thanks to the changes 6th ed brought. The Ork codex isn't the best, but it is not the worst codex, that goes to Battle Sisters. But the Ork codex isn't mega amazing, though you can still make some use out of it.
Warboss - this guy is still hard as nails for little points. Best thing is if you take the Warboss then Nobz or Meganobz become troops, this can free up the elites for other units and help to increase number of Battlewagons in an army.
Meganobz - these guys got the stiff end of the stick as for some bizarre reason do not get the same options as the normal Nobz. Thanks to the power weapon nerf, 2+ armour is a lot more survivable and these guys can come in useful for beating up basic enemy grunts.
Nobz - still a good unit, but expensive. More interestingly the original Nob Biker list may make a return as the changes to bikes means S10 will be needed to instagib the multi wound Ork Nobz.
Lootas - a cracking unit, though bit expensive, great for ripping hull points off vehicles.
Dakkajet - this is the reason I said Orks aren't as bad as some other books, many books out there do not have access to serious skyfire power and have to use the quad gun. The Dakkajet can knock out 9 x S6 shots which are twin-linked, shooting can be improved depending on what target the Dakkajet is firing at and if a waaagh! is called then the fire power is doubled!
Big Gunz - thanks to the changes in artillery, the Grots using these are now T7!
Fixing da Orks
Ever since the Orks have come out they have filled the role of a comedy army. I do not really like this as it gives the impression the Orks are nothing more than a rag tag gang of green clowns. The books portray Orks as ferocious blood thirsty barbarians who invade worlds to destroy/eat the populations and capture technology. The first fix will be removing the comedy element.
A lot of the points costs need to drop, a lot of units are very expensive and a bit meh to add salt to the wound.
Battlewagons should become dedicated transports (Trukks are crap) and a Battlefortress become heavy support.
Meganobz need the same options as Nobz, god knows why they didn't in the first place.
Additional ground based anti air is needed such as the Ork Flakk Trukk.
Orks really need a strength boost as well, S3 isn't good enough as base. They should also get to re-roll all failed assault distances too.
Other silly things should change too i.e the boss pole, why do Orks have to pay for a positive and negative when other armies just get the positives?
Final Thoughtz
Can the Ork codex be competitive? No, I do not think it can. I think it may do ok against certain codices i.e Chaos Space Marines and certain builds maybe Chaos Daemons flying cirus, though this is due to the low model count going in the Orks' favour. Tau and Eldar will completely destroy Orks, though they destroy anything. Necrons, Imperial Guard and most Marine codices will have a reasonable fight on their hands from the Orks and I think that's only because of weight of the Ork numbers.
Orks players, do you think the Ork codex can still bring the punch to the fight?