With the recent word that old Marines are getting more wounds and a wargear boost, what is the point of the Primaris Intercessors now?
In case you missed it, GW confirmed that regular Marines are getting extra wounds in addition to a huge wargear update. With these two things on the way for pretty much everyone in power armor in October’s Space Marine Codex, it’s left us with a few questions.
What’s The Point of Primaris Intercessors Now?
Compared to the regular Tactical Squad, what’s the point of Intercessors now? We know that Tactical Marines are getting an extra wound and their boltgun is getting upgraded to 30″. So aside from a few boltgun variations and an extra attack on the Primaris side, Intercessors seem outclassed by their older brothers.
In reality, Intercessors are harder to transport and the most useful model in the unit is the sergeant with a melee weapon. On the other hand, for every five dudes in a Tactical Squad, you can take a Heavy or Special weapon in addition to whatever the Sergeant brings.
Side Note: Incursors and Infiltrators have their own utility unique to themselves. With the ability to drop a D3 mortal wound mine or deny deepstrike within 12″, we can still totally see a draw to bringing those units.
Will Primaris Be Getting An Extra Wound…
Leading us into our next question, we’re left with the model scale to bring into question. Primaris stand almost twice as tall as a regular Marine….but they have the same amount of wounds now? That doesn’t make any sense. That was the whole Primaris’ schtick when they first came out. With that said, could we also potentially see Primaris units go up another wound?
OBJECTION! What about the new Primaris dudes from Indomitus?
Even though we saw all kinds of new units inside Indomitus, it doesn’t mean that their datasheets can’t change inside the new Space Marine Codex. Technically, the datasheets that came inside the box could have been printed long ago and were just meant to be a “placeholder” until the new book arrives. Other than Primaris getting another wound, we can’t see what would warrant such a mismatch between model scale and stats.
Is This GW’s Way of Clearing Stock Before Sending Them To Legends?
GW’s grim reaper, Warhammer Legends, is a very real threat to regular Marines still. With the snap of GW’s fingers, we’ve seen regular Marines (among other units) sent to Warhammer Legends overnight, which is basically where good models go to die.
RIP Chaplain on Bike…
We obviously don’t know for sure, but some hobbyists have mentioned that GW could be clearing all the “stock” of old Marine kits by enticing people to buy them with hot new rules. Only to have them thrown into Legends once things cool off and their stock runs out.
And before you say that is not a possibility, Warhammer Fantasy players and the old 25mm round base sizes would argue that it is…
For example:
One of the most notorious units of 8th Edition, the Forge World Chaplain Dreadnought was a unit that existed forever. However, it was given some bonkers rules and everybody started taking them. Well, in the most recent Chapter Approved update (2020), the Chaplain Dreadnought, among a bunch of other Forge World units are nowhere to be found in the pages.
Is this some foreshadowing of a future Warhammer Legends update on the way, when the first codex books for 9th Edition drop?
At the end of the day, these are just a few of the big questions we have for the coming update, as no one saw this tiny marine update coming, and no one would expect a similar one for Primaris either…
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What do you think the answers to these three questions are? How do you feel about comparing Intercessors to Tactical Marines? Is it about like comparing apples to oranges?
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About the Author: Rob Baer
Rob Baer
Job Title: Managing Editor
Founded Spikey Bits in 2009
Socials: Rob Baer on Facebook and @catdaddymbg on X
About Rob Baer: Founder, Publisher, & Managing Editor of Spikey Bits, the leading tabletop gaming news website focused on the hobby side of wargaming and miniatures.
Rob also co-founded and currently hosts the Long War Podcast, which has over 350 episodes and focuses on tabletop miniatures gaming, specializing in Warhammer 40k. and spent six years writing for Bell of Lost Souls.
Every year, along with his co-hosts, he helps host the Long War 40k Doubles Tournament at Adepticon and the Long War 40k Doubles at Las Vegas Open, which attracts over 350 players from around the world.
Rob has won many Warhammer 40k Tournaments over the years, including multiple first-place finishes in Warhammer 40k Grand Tournaments over the years and even winning 1st place at the Adepticon 40k Team Tournament.
With over 30 years of experience in retail and distribution, Rob knows all the products and exactly which ones are the best. As a member of GAMA (Game Manufacturers Association), he advocates for gaming stores and manufacturers in these difficult times, always looking for the next big thing to feature for the miniatures hobby, helping everyone to provide the value consumers want.
While he’s played every edition of Warhammer 40k and Warhammer Fantasy (since 5th Edition) and has been hobbying on miniatures since the 1980s, Titans of all sizes will always be his favorite! It’s even rumored that his hobby vault rivals the Solemnance Galleries, containing rulebooks filled with lore from editions long past, ancient packs of black-bordered Magic Cards, and models made of both pewter and resin.
