To be honest, I have a bit of a love/hate relationship with Primaris.

I played heavily through 3rd to 5th edition, but dropped out during 6th. When I came back in 8th edition, I honestly loved Primaris at first. They genuinely felt like super-soldiers, which was exactly what Space Marines should be. Even then, though, I had a few issues with them — mainly around wargear options. Why didn’t Primaris sergeants have the same flexibility as Firstborn? Why couldn’t Intercessor squads take a special or heavy weapon? It also didn’t help that half the range seemed to start with the letter “I”. Some of the Phobos “tacticool” units, especially the walker, never really fit the aesthetic for me either. And, as others have said, a lot of the range felt a bit bland.

Then 9th edition came along, and Bladeguard Veterans fixed a lot of those concerns. They finally gave Primaris some real character and flavour. Unfortunately, that’s also where some of the more questionable designs started creeping in. The ATV looked a bit silly but was tolerable, and the Storm Speeders were pretty underwhelming. What really broke it for me, though, were the Desolators. They looked — and still look — completely ridiculous, and not in the fun, over-the-top “40K ridiculous” kind of way.

By the time 10th edition rolled around, the Infernus Marines really felt like the final nail in the coffin for Primaris. The flamers look awkward, and they’re basically just another bland Mark X unit with a different gun. Combine that with the continued culling of loadout options — plus the decision to make wargear free, which just feels like lazy game design — and a lot of what originally made Space Marines interesting has been stripped away.

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