Goatboy’s Warhammer 40K: Firstborn Marines Still Got Game
Goatboy here to talk about why Warhammer 40K’s Classic Marines still got game in the era of Primaris.
After this NOLA weekend I got some things to talk about with Firstborn Marines. Or more so what is lacking in the Primaris side that the Firstborn fill up with some punchy awesome goodness. I do believe will see Firstborn go away at some point but right now there are a few rules and abilities that are currently lacking in the Cawl Brah’s and their rules and abilities. I don’t want direct copies but feel there are a few things that could easily be built to help cover these gaps.
Solid Rides
First of all the deployment options available to Primaris kind of suck. You have so many restrictions based on the armor you are wearing and the rides you can take. This is most of the most annoying pieces and really removes some of the “Space Marine” feel from the Primaris guys. The Impulsor not being able to take all your models (Grav Fat Boy Armor) and not having a drop pod option is really annoying. I think GW should just let Drop Pods carry your Primaris with bigger armor taking more space just like you did with the Centurion bodies.
Would it be too good to drop in Eradicators? Maybe but we see that with Devastators and if the Grav booties take up 3 spaces then you will only see a squad of 3 come out. Plus we don’t have to see a Primaris Drop Pod in the future as the Pod model itself is alright still. The Impulsor not being able to take some things is annoying too and it isn’t like we have a true “Primaris” terminator we have to worry about. I think the overall book just needs to have a true review of how you deploy your Marines and it needs more options to do so.
Squad Weapon Upgrades
From there it is a quick jump into the overall lack of “high” powered weapons in the regular Primaris options. I know we all have annoyance with the old Las/Plas options but the regular Primaris need some kind of heavy weapon option that isn’t a close combat weapon. Make this a new Lascannon with some kind of assault element or some other neat option. They just need a big gun instead of just a unit of guys that all have the same Plasma style weapon. Nor do we want just a small unit of bigger guys with all specific melta weaponry. The game has become a lot of troop options with cool upgrades to be able to handle most things and the Primaris feel like they are missing that.
Assault Fast Movers
Where are my Primaris Jump assault options? It always feels like we were on the edge of seeing some with Stryke and his Raven Guard but it just feels like a huge missing piece. Vanguard Vets are a pain in the butt as they are just cheap enough and tough enough to be a pain so why not look at making something uniquely Primaris. Big fat Jump Boyz with Lightning Claws or a huge chainsword would be pretty awesome. Give them an auto Reroll charge and some kind of smash in ability (extra attacks, strength, mortal wounds) and you get something cool. Make a basic one that has the Chainsword and Heavy Bolt Pistol and go all in on a Vanguard Vet like group. Just don’t give them a ton of Storm Shields as that is where it gets annoying. It just feels like a big waste as we have this awesome Jump looking unit and could easily throw on some cool close combat options to make it work right.
Customizable Captains
Thankfully the Black Templars really go crazy on making cool Primaris characters and while we didn’t get a Bike Primaris Captain we did see a lot more upgrade options for those things. I would love to see more of this as we see a lot of Firstborn Captains built from Primaris bodies but covered in cool Firstborn Options. These are all things that seem like slam dunks and could make a super awesome character box with a ton of upgrade ability.
What Firstborn pieces do you feel are missing from the Primaris? What if we let Primaris ride in a bunch of stuff that you know they won’t make a Primaris version of? Could we see a bunch of cool Assault or Rapid Fire Lascannons in the future?
