The Primaris Lore makes you wonder: Is Cawl’s invention the savior or downfall of humanity? Without a doubt though, The Primaris Space Marines are fearsome!
The Primaris Finally Arrive!
The Awakening of Sleeping Beauty (Roboute Guilliman) signaled the coming-out party of the Primaris. They arrived to help the Imperium just in time to see the last days of the 41st Millennium and the Thirteenth Black Crusade draw to a close. If only they had been around for the beginning of the Thirteenth Black Crusade instead of the end… Either way, they have come to stay and are winning battles across the Galaxy.
Belisarius Cawl has been relishing in their victories, Guillimane slept for so long he feared he may never get to show his genetic enhancing skills. Now, he finally has the pleasure of showing the Universe just how much better his version of the gene-seed is. The Primaris’ powerful enhancements allow them to accomplish feats a normal marine could only dream of.
Origins Of The Bigger, Stronger, Faster Gene-Seed
The seed of their creation lies in the aftermath of the Horus Heresy. The Horus Heresy had just finished destroying nearly all of the Imperium. Roboute understood to survive, the Marines would need to evolve once more. Just before he started the longest human hibernation on recorded history, Roboute tasked Cawl with a duty of unknown proportions. To create a more stable and overall better gene-seed. This task would take ten thousand years to complete.
It seems like he milked the hourly rate a little… Ten thousand years seems a little extreme if we’re being honest. Cawl worked through the ages to complete his masterpiece while Roboute slept like a baby through all the turmoil. And now, when the Imperium is poised on the brink of annihilation once again, the Primaris Space Marines have been unleashed to fight against the Chaos hordes of the Despoiler. They must rise to the challenge and defeat the great Despoiler.
A Secret Army
Tens of thousands of Primaris Marines were secretly created by Cawl over the millennium. That wasn’t enough for the over-achiever Guilliman though, he had Cawl create thousands more the second he awoke. How did he keep this a secret for so long? He held them all in stasis within the Zar-Quaesitor, Cawl’s flagship. They slept in their little capsules unaware of the worlds waiting for them. Once awakened they had no time to ask questions. Around half of the original batch of Primaris was used to form the new Chapters of the Ultima Founding.
The rest were gathered into great armies known as the Unnumbered Sons. Through the rigors of the Indomitus Crusade, their numbers were thinned through warfare and from reinforcing existing Chapters. They were widely accepted into the ranks as true brothers. In times of strife, the Imperium needs all the help it can get! Almost 95% of chapters accepted the enhanced marines into their ranks. Only a few stalwart holdouts still refuse the reinforcements.
Bearing The Mark of their Primarch
Despite being better in nearly every way than a normal marine (they let the regular marines know every day, don’t worry) they still bear the gene-seed of their Primarch. The main worry about the Primaris comes from the more unique chapters. The genetic flaws and quirks of the stranger chapters have not been fully tested, who knows how this will deteriorate the Primaris over time.
Cawl got his metallic hands on genetic samples from all twenty of the original Primarchs. Through shady dealings, he also managed to get samples from Primarchs thought long lost. Roboute made it clear though, only make Primaris from those who stayed loyal to the Emperor. Can’t have a host of Chaos Primaris running amok in the Galaxy. We have enough problems as it is!
The Same but different
Sinew Coils, the Magnificat, and the Belisarian Furnace. That’s ten thousand years worth of research right there. Those are the three major new implants that make the Primaris more powerful. Again, not sure how that took ten thousand years… The implants make them bigger and stronger than any set of previous marines.
Cawl’s biggest victory was the stability in the gene-seed he accomplished. Before, each new generation of Marines would be slightly worse and further from their Primarch than the last. With this new gene-seed, they only vary by 0.001% every generation. For the coming Millenia Primaris will be almost identical to the ones we see today.
With so many new models coming out we want to know what you think of these bigger and stronger marines.
Let us know in the comments of our Facebook Hobby Group, and make sure you enter the latest monthly giveaway for FREE today! This post contains affiliate links, as an Amazon Associate Spikey Bits earns from qualifying purchases.
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About the Author: Travis Pasch
Travis Pasch
Job Title: Head Writer & Editor
Socials: @paschbass
About Travis Pasch: Travis has been a Warhammer 40k hobbyist since the 1990s, playing the game since Third Edition. Through extensive traveling, he’s seen a lot of the miniatures hobby from across the world, giving him a unique perspective on the latest gaming topics and trends.
Travis’s brother even owns a commission painting studio, where he’s picked up a lot of good advice and techniques for painting Warhammer and tabletop miniatures over the years, as well. Travis joined the Spikey Bits team in 2019 and has been the lead writer since 2020.
Currently, he’s working on converting all his 40k Adeptus Mechanicus models and becoming a true tech enjoyer, complete with both sad and happy robot noises!
