40K: The Next Imperial Primarch
The Imperium has to on deck for a new Primarch – but who’s it going to be!?
Things have changed quite a bit since the last time we visited this topic. 8th Edition has launched. Mortarion has arrived in all his glory. And we’ve gotten more than a handful of new 40k Codexes. Taking a look at all the new evidence, we’re thinking we can deduce the next Space Marine Primarch that Games Workshop will produce! So, get out your Sherlock Hat, grab your magnifying glass, and join us on our quest to deduce the next Imperial Primarch!
First Clue: Codex Releases
So far, we’ve gotten 8 Codexes announced this year. Now, back im July they announced they were gunning for 10 books by the end of the year. We now know that Astra Militarum is up next. That means Craftworld Eldar and Tyranids are after that. So that leaves 2 more codexes for the end of the year – and looking at the calendar, the end of the year is a lot closer than it feels!
If they release 2 books in October (Astra Militarum and whoever is next), that leaves 4 weekends in November for 3 codex releases (GW typically doesn’t do a Codex for December). And we still don’t know what’s after that third book! The point is that whatever comes out after Tyranids/Eldar needs to be a book that is relatively quick and easy for Games Workshop to do. We here at BoLS have been theorizing that it’s going to be two Space Marine books to finish out the year.
That means it’s likely going to be Space Wolves, Blood Angels, or Dark Angels. Think about it, they don’t really need new models – the Primaris Marines have them covered. They already have unique kits for each one of those Space Marine Factions as well. We think that those three books will probably be similar to the Grey Knights release – not much in the way of new models (except for a single major character or HQ option).
Releasing 2 out of 3 of those this year makes a lot of sense: It’s not terribly difficult, you don’t need a fancy new kit unit (other than an HQ or Primarch), and it sets up the one that didn’t come out to get some love at the start of next year.
Second Clue: Forge World
Forge World recently put out a teaser for some new doors. Maybe it was just random chance – but did you notice which chapter’s they used?
Yes – that’s right! It’s Blood Angels and Dark Angel’s Iconography! Now, why would they do that? Was this Forge World’s way of subtly tipping their hand? Maybe. It could also just be what they had ready to show off. It really depends on how much faith you have in GW communicating with FW to coordinate releases. Or maybe this is just a really fancy resin red herring…
Third Clue: Curse of the Wulfen / Wrath of Magnus / Gathering Storm
After the events of Curse of Wulfen/Wrath of Magnus both the Lion and the Wolf were hinted at returning. Lion El’Jonson’s chamber was apparently empty… And after the events that completely rocked the Fenris System and the Giant Warp Scar that has torn the Galaxy in half, how much more “Wolf-timey” do we need to get before Russ returns?!
Also, let’s not discount the events of Gathering Storm. Cypher made it all the way to the Imperial Palace! Whatever message he was trying to get to the Emperor, he has never been closer. Now, sure, Cypher was captured and imprisoned. But also remember that he quickly went missing again. So what happened? Is he still on Holy Terra? Is he just planning on how he’ll get into the Throne Room of the Emperor? What is the cryptic “message” he has to deliver!? And does that involve The Lion? That’s the question…
Forth Clue: Codex Space Marines
In our original list, we went through the likelihood of each of the Primarchs coming back. We’re going to rule out any Primarch from Chapters that were bundled in the Codex Space Marines. Why? Well we’re basing this off the fact that they already have rules in a Codex – they have their unique Chapter Tactic, Stratagem, Relics, and Warlord Traits. It’s hard to justify a Chapter like the Salamanders getting their own book now.
So that really narrows it down to the Space Wolves, Blood Angels, and the Dark Angels (again). Now, of those 3, one of them has a Primarch that’s already dead. Like – they have the body and everything! And it’s not like the Marines are buddies with a race that can manipulate souls or anything. And we’ve never seen a Primarch come back from being virtually dead by technomagic and handwavium before. Nah – Sanguinius is totally dead.
Follow The Logic
That really just leaves two candidates. Just like Sherlock Homes, we’ve already deduced which Primarch is next. Are you ready?
We just had a Chaos Primarch come out with Mortarion, for parity’s sake we need to have an Imperial Primarch. That means it can’t be the Dark Angel’s Primarch Lion El’Jonson (cause we all know he’s a traitor). So that leaves the one and only Leman Russ:
It’s Elementary!
We think that Leman Russ will be the next Primarch and we’re hoping that he arrives late November for December, a Winter Month – Vikings like the cold, right?! Maybe he can be riding in the sleigh as Santa this year:
Who do you think the next Primarch will be and why?
