It's been a while since I updated this, mainly because I've been taking a break from Wargaming. I had gotten into too many games and not enough people to play them with, so they've been sitting on my shelves, gathering dust.
Keep an eye on eBay as I consolidate.
Of the several games I have, I plan to keep only a couple... the ones which I know people who play. One of those is Warhammer 40,000, but I'm not sure whether that means I'll actually stay in it.
It's this Primaris marines business. This may very well be the death knell for my Warhammer 40,000 'career.' That's sad, because I've really been into it for a really long time. I'm even one of those guys who occasionally shows up at a convention wearing a full scale Space Marine suit. (A Black Templar, if you're curious.)
I knew when we first started getting Primaris sets that these were going to ultimately replace the classic Space Marines entirely. The models are properly scaled to other models in the game, they're far more effective on the tabletop than the older marines, and now all the named Space Marine characters are getting upgraded to the Primaris state.
Why? Well it's simple.
Space Marines have been around for a long, long time. I've got a couple of squads in my army that I've had for about 30 years now. Over that time, I've been building my army and at this point, I really don't need much more, if anything. My army is complete. Now, with a lot of guys like me out there, Games Workshop really has to work hard to get us to buy stuff. Sure, occasionally there's a new type of Space Marine unit that hasn't existed before, like Crusaders... or sometimes a new type of tank... Maybe some new characters, or whatever.
But what if there were a way to get all these players who have established and complete armies to buy, essentially, a whole new army over the next few years? Especially when the models are more expensive and you just can't do without them?
Meet Primaris.
Space Marines, but more powerful, so you just have to have them in your force, more expensive, so GW is going to make a mint on selling them, and the models themselves are more impressive and just look better.
"But stop all this moaning." you might say. "Your existing army doesn't HAVE to go away. The Codex still has rules for all your old stuff." Sure it does. For now. And no, not all. Got a pre-primaris Pedro Kantor, Grimaldus or Helbrecht? I betcha this next Codex will only have the Primaris versions.
"You're still moaning." You say. "You can just use the old model. The great thing about 40K is that it has the 'counts-as' rule." Yeah that's true, but let's be honest. How long (if at all) will officially sanctioned tournaments allow that? Or even unofficial tourneys? Think about it. The non-Primaris model is smaller, which means it has an advantage when using terrain to take cover behind. Is it a game-shattering issue? No, but it'll get worse. What about models that won't have a Primaris equivalent? How far can you push 'counts-as?'
The last issue I have here is the fluff. Let's be honest again... Primaris are a straight-up retcon. Nobody ever heard of them before, never have they been mentioned or even hinted at, and now all of a sudden they've been around since the Horus Heresy and have seen enough action that the 'Primaris Ancient' is a thing.
Look, I'm not trying to talk you into not playing Primaris marines. They're cool models, they're powerful as hell, and they are the future of Space Marines. I get that. If you like them, then more power to you. Go buy 'em, paint 'em and play them to your heart's content. I even understand why GW is doing it. I'm a believer in capitalism and GW is, first and foremost, a for-profit company. That's fine.
Let's just be honest about what's happening and why.
All I'm saying is I'm really not interested in re-purchasing my army when I've already got the Black Templars XVI Crusade completed. Yes, I have some Primaris models and yes, I've used them and yes, I know how good they are, but at this point I'm just not looking to start over.
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