Primarchs and Primaris

Warhammer players have always been a vocal group of hobby gamers and usually they are very vocal about things they don't like. Since the release of 8th edition two things (three if you count demands for plastic Sisters of Battle) that seem to be most prevalent are the inclusion of primaris marines and primarchs into the game. Both of which have stirred up debate on both sides of the argument.

The problem with primaris marines seems twofold. Firstly people don't like the size of the miniatures when compared to the regular space marines. Despite years of clamouring for true scale marines this has upset people. My own plague marines have the same problem though, in that the new models are more primaris size and I've had to go out and buy whole new units otherwise my army looks out of scale. I'm not complaining though and you need to remember that primaris are meant to be bigger marines. Not an argument I truly understand.

The bigger issue for people seems to be, oddly, the fluff behind their creation. There are some seriously heated arguments on forums over this. Mostly it seems to boil down to the false idea that only the Emperor of Mankind was genius enough to manipulate the genetic resources to create space marines. These players seem to be forgetting that space marines are simply genetically engineered humans pushed to the extreme. Once Belasarius Cawl gets his hands on the primarch's samples (which he did in the aftermath of the horus heresy, if I'm not mistaken) it would not be difficult to start work on creating a better breed of marine than has been around for the last ten thousand years. Plus, you can take a regular marine and transform them into a primaris - although some die in the process.

I fail to see how that is not in keeping with the established fluff. If you read into it there is nothing that contradicts any of what we already know. Maybe it is just a case that gamers don't like change and it's going to take time for acceptance of these new units.


However, that isn't the only topic of contention. There are also complaints about the inclusion of primarchs into the game. Quite frequently I see rants about the return of "herohammer" and how these characters appear all the time and that it's not fun. If you've read this blog for even just a few entries or battle reports then you'll know that I am an extremely casual player and with that in mind I've got a couple things to share here:

1. Given the choice of an army with or without a special character, I would always say go for it. It's much more fun to see the big heroes and villains on the table rather than generic characters. The same applies to the primarchs. They are strong units but this is 8th edition where even Mortarion can be brought low by enough bolt pistols or cultists with autopistols. I don't think "herohammer" is the same issue that it was 20 odd years ago.

2. With 8th edition the timeline has advanced 100 years or so. We have at last moved into the 42nd millennium and there is something that I think players need to bare in mind:

While we are not having "end times" this is the beginning of the end. Night is falling across the Imperium. Mankind's enemies are circling, licking their blades and preparing to cut our throats. We are no longer playing meaningless battles over airless asteroids, nameless worlds or ruined cities. Games of 8th edition are now playing out the major engagements of the age. Demi-gods and monsters stride across the battlefields of the 42nd millennium like the titans of ancient legend. These are the wars that will save or destroy mankind. We need our greatest heroes and villains leading our forces across the tabletop. The future of Warhammer 40,000 is EPIC!

Don't worry about primarchs and special characters being played. This is the time to play them and enjoy the experience.