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40K: Primaris Marines are the Nü Black

4 Minute Read
Jul 5 2017
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Black Blow Fly here again to discuss the Nü Marines and I think they are the awesome.

Funnily enough it seems like they are receiving some push back and even more funny it seems to be mostly coming from Space Marine players of all places. Sure their background is a lil wonky but in the world of grimdark anything can and does happen from time to time. Nü Marines remind me a lot of Thunder Warriors and that works for me. My first 8th edItion army is going to be purely composed of Nü Marine units. I realize that some people feel threatened that Nü Marines will invalidate their armies but to me that’s a silly outlook and here’s why.

You Don’t Have to Use Them

First you don’t have to use them and until they get some transports I don’t see them being all that competitive… but sure they are still pretty good (refer to the 3rd point below). However if you do want to use them then they’ll integrate well into any Space Marine army. If you don’t want to use them just don’t worry about it. It’s not like GW is going to stop selling all the Beta Marine units any time soon.

They Will Settle Into the Fluff

Second I’ve already mentioned their background is a lil wonky. Some people have gone so far as to claim Roboute Guilliman is going to attempt a coup to overtake control of the Imperium… lol. Remember when Mat Ward was screwing up the lore for chapters such as Blood Angels allying with Necrons and Lord Draigo living in the warp ? How dumb was that but I seem to remember Grey Knights being extremely popular back in 5th edition. How about Phil Kelly and Thunder Wolf cavalry ? A lot of people thought that was silly too but again they are popular irregardless of whether or not these types of things are a good fit in the story line. I’m not saying the lore isn’t important as most people say this is what really drew them into the hobby in the first place… BUT things do change and you just can’t deny ole Tzneetch his right. Given enough time everything settles down and is accepted one way or another.

What Marines SHOULD Be

Third and this very important – Nü Marines represent what a Space Marine should be as compared to the old Beta Marines. Nü Marines’ stat line is in line with how I imagine a Space Marine should be in terms of game play. Look it all the great units xenos armies like Eldar, Necrons and Tau got back in 6th and 7th editions… it’s about time Space Marines finally got some love of their own. Also in many ways the Nü Marine is true scale compared to the old Beta Marine. Some people don’t want to admit it but it is what it is. So it’s best to get used to it and move on. I remember the first picture of a Nü Marine leaked onto the interwebz… it got passed off as being a shopped photo but turns out it is the real deal.

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Made for New Players

Fourth and this is another big one… Primaris Marine units that have been released are easy to play in 8th edition. In many ways Primaris Marines are the first new army for the new edition. As an example consider a Captain in Gravis Armor buffing a squad of Hellblasters… being able to reliably overcharge their S8 2 damage guns since they can reroll ones to hit is amazing and they are a threat to any enemy unit. Intercessors can outgun enemy units with shorter range since theirs is a nice big juicy 30″… for example they can easily pick apart a tactical squad and never even take any return fire power. Inceptors are T5 with 10″ movement sporting heavy bolter pistols… sure they might get charged but they can fall back and still shoot since they are so FLY heh. They can deep strike so nothing is safe and terminators don’t like them since they have to roll a 3+ armor save.

I could go on but I think I’ve made my case so I’ll let it rest for now.

~If you love Space Marines then I bet there’s a place for Nü Marines in your heart too. Don’t be another hater.

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Author: Steve Turner
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