Warhammer 40K: Primaris Captains Are The Worst
Let’s talk about how Captains are holding back the all Primaris army.
Among the staunch defenders of humanity in the 41st Millennium few groups are as a revered as the Space Marine captains. On the tabletop Captains play a significant role, as one of the common, and often deadly, leaders of Space Marine forces. In the past years, the Smash Captain build of Blood Angels Captain has become a staple. I’ve talked about a few powerful Captain builds over the past year and they’ve shown themselves to be one of the most deadly and versatile units in the game. However one thing stands out, in a world where Captains are major players in the meta, Primaris Captains… kinda suck. In fact they are so lame they are holding back the whole Primaris sub-faction.
The Worst Options
With the exception of Techmarines, all Space Marine characters have a Primaris and a Classic version. In most cases both versions have some advantages. For reasons we’ll discusses later in regards to Captains, often the Classic version is a bit better. However despite this the Primaris version, of an ancient, Chaplain, Apothecary, Librarian, etc. does the unit’s primary job just as well. Taking one of these units isn’t really a bad choice. On the other hand Primaris Captains, outside of a handful of corner cases are universally worse than their Classic counterparts. This is due to three main limited factors, speed, durability and options. In each of these cases Prmaris Captains fail and as a result simply can’t fill the same role.
Slowpokes
Speed and the ability to maneuver on the table are major factors in determining how good a unit is, especially a close combat focused one. In this regard Primaris Captains are at a huge disadvantage. Classic Marines have the option to take both bikes and jumpacks, each in their own way greatly improving the unit’s mobility. In addition a number of movement stratagems boost the movement of bikes and jump packs. Even the natural slow Terminator Captains get the ability to Deep Strike. In general Primaris Captains lack any way to boost their movement outside of a few stratagems. The only real exception to this is the Phobos Armor Captains, however their options are so limited that their slightly increased mobility doesn’t do them much good. In addition the limited transport options for Primaris units hold them back even more. While the Impulsor is their best bet, Gravis Captains, who need it the most, can’t make use of them.
Durability
On the face of it Primaris Captains should be more durable than Classic Marines. They start off base with an extra wound and the Gravis Captain on top of that gets another additional wound plus improved toughness. If you were to do nothing else they would indeed be more durable, however most of the time it doesn’t work out that way. While Primaris Captains have an extra wound Classic Marines have easy access to both a 2+ save and 3++ save in the form of storm shields and Terminator armor. In a game with high damage high AP weapons both of these tend to be of far more use then the extra wound. In addition some of these options provide the benefits a Primaris has. A Captain in Cataphractii Armor has the same number of wounds as a Primaris Captain, while gaining both a 2+ and a 3++ save, while a Biker Captain with a Stormsheild has the same wounds as a Primaris Catpain, a 3++ save and the improved toughness of a Gravis Captain, while gaining massive increased mobility. Primaris do have limited access to 2+ and 3++ saves through relics, but it rarely worth wasting a relic on that, especially when a Classic can get it without needing to spend relics.
Few Options
All of the above already kinda of feeds into the ideas of limited options. It’s clear Primaris have fewer options for both increased speed and durability when compared to Classic Marines. The final kicker however comes with the far more limited weapon options. Now the Phobos and regular Primaris Captain have access to decent if not amazing ranged weapons, which if buffed with relics are about on par with a Classic Marines ranged weapons. Sadly the Gravis Captain is stuck with the very underwhelming boltstorm gauntlet. However ranged weapons aren’t why you really want a captain. When it comes to close combat options it’s no contest, because the Primaris are crippled here. The Phobos Captain is stuck with a combat knife, the Gravis Captain gets a boltstorm gauntlet (effectively a powerfist) and a power sword, while the basic captain has a choice between a power sword and a power fist. None of these are actually good close combat weapons. These Primaris units have a few pitiful choices compared to Classic Captains, in fact they have less options then an Intercessor Sergeant does.
Not only are their weapon options bad but due to their limited nature they are barred from taking most relics (where the good stuff is). Only the power sword can be replaced with a relic out of the core codex, while the power fist and combat knife have chapter specific replacements. The boltstorm gauntlet has no relic version and isn’t actually a power fist. None of these options match the sheer damage of a relic thunderhammer or the number of attacks of a Teeth of Terra. This means despite their extra attack Primaris Captains put out significantly less damage than their Classic Counterparts.
Poor Primaris
All of this comes together to show that in almost any situation, unless you are looking to play pure Primaris for personal reasons there is no reason to take a Primaris Captain over a Classic one. The only real exception is a handful of pretty corner case Phobos Captain builds. Classic Captains are faster, more deadly and more durable. They will simply perform better on the battlefield. Even if you are low on points and looking for a bargain the basic Classic Captain is a cheaper option then the Primaris Captain. This has lead to years of Classic Captains being a major player in the game, from Blood Angel Smash Captain detachments to a verity of builds with the new codex, while Primaris Captains, with the exception of named characters, remain mostly unplayed. At this point they are so weak I wouldn’t be that sad if a Custodus took them out back for a mercy kill. Hopefully this will be addressed soon. The lack of viable captains is holding back the all Primaris army which is clearly something people want. Just take a look at the host of Primaris Smash Captain conversions out there. Moreover it makes little sense that Captains have so few options compared to sergeants.
Hopefully the next Codex, which I assume is coming in September right after 9th drops (rumors), will fix this. Because those minis sue are pretty, and I wouldn’t mind seeing Primaris Captain versions of Inceptors, plus some hammers.
Let us know what you think about Primaris Captains, down in the comments!
