i picked it up today. It's pretty good. the characters are overwhelmingly powerful, and the AI in skirmishes is fairly weak. The orcs just send wave after wave of soldiers at your archers.
I haven't got to play real multiplayer yet, but i imagine there could be some pretty good fights, as rushes are pretty hard to pull off in this game.
It's awesome watching the riders of rohan charge and decimate an enemy, though.
Overall, it's playable, but dawn of war is still better.
I really don't care for being forced to build on certain locations, so your pretty strapped down to parts of the map.
The castles are cool though.