40K Deep Thought: Primaris Inch Closer to Domination
The Primaris have marched into the game in three waves of releases. Look how close they are to completely take over the Astartes.
Can you believe that in 3 short years, the Primaris have dug their way into the top tier of the meta, eclipsing their 30-year classic brothers? The take over isn’t complete by any means, but the newly announced set of 9th Edition Primaris are inching ever closer to a total takeover.
It seems like yesterday.
There are still corners of the Space Marine range where the Classic Marines hold out. A couple of things are going on here. First, the Classic Marine range is enormous – thirty years old enormous. So, of course, there are some little unique corners here and there the Primaris haven’t replaced…yet. The Classic Marines have a dedicated anti-aircraft vehicle for crying out loud… that’s an extensive unit list.
So let’s put our heads together and came up with the areas of the army in broad brushstrokes where the latest 9th Edition Primaris wave has moved in and where it still has some gaps. I think the list will surprise you at how many units can be replaced by so few, and how fast GW could make a world where Classic Marine are more of a nostalgic legacy of the Grimdark than a bulwark versus the darkness.
Primaris New Solutions
Heavy Assault Unit
This is a traditional walking unit with heavy armor and equipped for assault. This army role would replace things like terminators (all of them), assault centurions, and the like in player’s lists.
The answer – The new Bladeguard are very close to answering this issue. The Storm Shields are fantastic. We don’t have stats for them, but that looks like standard 3+ armor instead of the Terminator’s 2+. You never know. Assault Termys can also get really nasty stuff like lightning claws and hammers, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see the Bladeguard get additional weapon options.
Light Assault Unit
This replaces things like Vanguard and Assault Squads. The unit should be lightly equipped, fast-moving, and armed with lighter melee weapons than the above unit.
The answer – Hello new Assault Intercessors. These guys don’t have the jump packs of the Classic Marine Assault Squads, but with the increased movement of the core game and readily available Primaris transports, it probably doesn’t matter. Impulsors here we come. The big news is the combination of the Bladeguard and Assault Intercessors means there is now a viable assault element to an all Primaris army if you want it.
This replaces a lot of the need for Classic marine melee squads. I would not be surprised to see a melee version of Suppressors in the future to handle the jump pack issue.
Heavy Weapon Infantry
This army role needs to replace things like Devastators and the Thunderfire cannon. Infantry toting the REALLY heavy stuff – above and beyond what the Hellblasters field.
The answer – Hello whatever these are (Hellfurys?) These guys are wearing heavy Gravis armor and toting some type of melta heavy weapons. That will give the Primaris line a dedicated anti-big stuff unit to compliment Hellblasters. Between the two there is a viable answer to taking down the tough stuff in the game without falling back on a bunch of Classic heavy weapons. The indirect fire Thunderfire however is still a potent tool that needs a Primaris version.
Bikers/Speeders
This army role needs to replace all the bikes, attack bikes, and the Land Speeders. Something that can be equipped in various ways and is fast, and slightly more durable than Incursors.
The answer – Primaris Outriders. The new kit looks great, and I assume it’s only a matter of time till the bike variant kits start to come out (Primaris Attack Bike, Recon Bike, Bike Captain, etc). That sound you hear is White Scars players around the world passing out in excitement.
Remaining Classic Holdouts
With these 4 major areas covered by the beautiful new Primaris minis, the Classic Marines still have some aces in the hole. Don’t count the old boys out yet. Here are some corners of the range where they still offer Marine players’ abilities you just can’t get in Primaris flavor.
Support Vehicles
This one covers a lot. The Classic Marines have things like the Predator, Whirlwind, Vindicator, Razorback, Hunter, and Stalker all based on the Rhino chassis.
The answer – Combo kit based on the Impulsor. Like we saw with the Imperial Knight and its additional weapon options, make a sprue that closes the El Camino rear hull of the Impulsor, has a generic small turret up there, and a handful of weapon options. They can always add more later.
Medium Recon Vehicle
This covers all the Land Speeders and variants. Basically a fast mover that is tougher than a bike, but not a full-sized tank like an Impulsor. It gives you a cheap weapons platform to zoom around to support the fast movers and get in flanking shots you can’t get from the big guns sitting back in your deployment zone.
The answer – A new Primaris Medium Speeder. We already have some blurry pics of something that might be it, but we’ll have to wait.
Flyers
The Classic range has a decent set of flyers from the Stormhawk to the big chunky Stormraven. The Primaris can’t rule the ground without taking to the skies at some point.
The answer – The easy solution is to add the PRIMARIS keyword to their datasheets in a future codex… done, and maybe throw in a tiny Primaris helmet sprue). But If I were a betting man, I’d expect an all new Primaris flyer combo-kit.
3 Kits!
Yup, 3 kits is all it will take. Just 3 kits would replace almost the entire Classic Marine unit range. I think the ideal time to introduce these would be alongside the standalone Space Marine codexes (DA, BA, SW, DW) along with more of their respective Characters Crossing the Rubicon.
~ My big question – should every old Classic kit be replaced with a new kit, or should some be updated to be both Classic and Primaris keywords (flyers,etc…)? How would you do it?
