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My best friend and I had a great experience at Gencon last year with a Games Workshop employee who ran us through a quick game, and sold us on it. (If you're out there... thanks!)

That said, this game is expensive, and even though I'm following the top advice of "Play what you like", and I've loved the Space Marines since I had an Orks vs Dwarves set as a kid 30ish years ago that came with a magazine and poster full dudes in power armor (that thing hung on my wall for years), so I chose them. Then I went Ultramarines simply because blue is my favorite color.

I currently own the following things, assembled (though not painted yet), and played 8-10 times in variously setup 800-1000 point matches against his Tau and another friend's Astra Militarum.
Primaris side of Dark Imperium (A couple HQ guys that I can't think of the name of, intercessors, inceptors, hellblasters)
Primaris side of Know No Fear (Same as above, just smaller numbers)
Space Marine Librarian in Terminator Armor
Space Marines Start Collecting (Tactical squad, another captain, and Venerable Dreadnought)
Primaris Repulsor
Roboute Guilliman

We typically play on the 4' x 2' mat that came with Know No Fear (unrelated, we're currently building a 6x4 board to play on so we can move up to 1500/2000 point games), using the Open War cards, and I love how versatile the marines are no matter what the objectives/twists/deployment zones are.

That said, I have a first-world problem. My wonderful wife went on a bit of a shopping spree out of my work bonus check. She picked up a bunch of "cool looking power armor guys" for me.
I now have a box of Primaris Inceptors, Primaris Redemptor Dreadnought, Space Marine Scout Squad, Primaris Intercessors, and Primaris Hellblasters all sitting on my desk new in the plastic.

Long story short... Is there a world where I would need this many of some of this stuff, or should I take some of it back and pick up Tactical Squads, bikes, Chief Librarian Tigurius or any other of the litany of marine stuff available that I see being played in Battle Reports all across Youtube? Seems like I almost never see the stuff I own, so it makes me question just how useful they'll actually be in games against non-friends.

I'm currently considering returning the hellblasters and intercessors ($120 total), and picking up a couple of Space Marine Tactical Squads and a Rhino (as I constantly see these in competitive lists). Maybe even the inceptors as I have 6 of them, but I really don't know what to replace them with.

TLR... beautiful wife went shopping-crazy, please help me spend it more efficiently (or tell me she's a genius lol)

FrenziedBlitz wrote:
My best friend and I had a great experience at Gencon last year with a Games Workshop employee who ran us through a quick game, and sold us on it. (If you're out there... thanks!)

That said, this game is expensive, and even though I'm following the top advice of "Play what you like", and I've loved Ultramarines since I had an Orks vs Dwarves set as a kid 30ish years ago that came with a magazine and poster full of them (that thing hung on my wall for years), so I chose them.

I currently own the following things, assembled (though not painted yet), and played 8-10 times in variously setup 800-1000 point matches against his Tau and another friend's Astra Militarum.
Primaris side of Dark Imperium (A couple HQ guys that I can't think of the name of, intercessors, inceptors, hellblasters)
Primaris side of Know No Fear (Same as above, just smaller numbers)
Space Marine Librarian in Terminator Armor
Space Marines Start Collecting (Tactical squad, another captain, and Venerable Dreadnought)
Primaris Repulsor
Roboute Guilliman

We typically play on the 4' x 2' mat that came with Know No Fear (unrelated, we're currently building a 6x4 board to play on so we can move up to 1500/2000 point games), using the Open War cards, and I love how versatile the marines are no matter what the objectives/twists/deployment zones are.

That said, I have a first-world problem. My wonderful wife went on a bit of a shopping spree out of my work bonus check. She picked up a bunch of "cool looking power armor guys" for me.
I now have a box of Primaris Inceptors, Primaris Redemptor Dreadnought, Space Marine Scout Squad, Primaris Intercessors, and Primaris Hellblasters all sitting on my desk new in the plastic.

Long story short... Is there a world where I would need this many of some of this stuff, or should I take some of it back and pick up Tactical Squads, bikes, Chief Librarian Tigurius or any other of the litany of marine stuff available that I see being played in Battle Reports all across Youtube? Seems like I almost never see the stuff I own, so it makes me question just how useful they'll actually be in games against non-friends.

I'm currently considering returning the hellblasters and intercessors ($120 total), and picking up a couple of Space Marine Tactical Squads and a Rhino (as I constantly see these in competitive lists). Maybe even the inceptors as I have 6 of them, but I really don't know what to replace them with.

TLR... beautiful wife went shopping-crazy, please help me spend it more efficiently (or tell me she's a genius lol)

She is a genius.

You don't need or want a Rhino; if you're looking for a tank you want a Razorback. Rhinos have no guns and are good at nothing, because none of your guys really need transporting, Razorbacks have twin assault cannons or twin lascannons and aren't as expensive as a Predator.

I'd probably say to keep the Intercessors and Hellblasters. I kind of like Hellblasters, but I'm also Space Wolves and I can get them to the enemy to burn things using my strategem.

I'm not certain how I feel about Intercessors. I think they have purpose, but aren't really army-core material. UM ones are probably pretty good at pushing the frontline, and I wouldn't turn them down if I had them.

Scouts are definitely very good.

I know that I don't like Inceptors. They look bad, and they don't perform at all, at least in my experience.

I've seen a Redemptor Dread in action exactly once, and I was unimpressed. Again, if you're looking for tanks, Razorbacks. Alternatively, I wouldn't turn down Predators in a list.

This is a tough question, because the answer has more to do with what you want to play. Expanding your army is one of the funnest parts of the game! You sort of need to decide where you want to go if you are using the force charts from the main book. Do you need more HQ's? (Personally, I LOVE having a librarian. Fun, more variety of options, and love the background). My armies tend to spend about 500 points on HQ's (I do not use named guys, just my choice). Roughly 2-400 points on troop choices (again, need at least 3 for most, and 6 for a double brigade). Then the rest on my hard hitters, elites etc.
Search for what you like. I happen to run White Scars...so bike heavy, but I do think what you have mentioned seems very troop choice heavy (by my count you have somewhere like 15-20 of each of the basic primaris guys?) For me, a mixture of 20-30 troops on the board is good, but some people have a lot of success with more since primaris guys can put some damage out.
Go through the available stuff on the GW webpage, see what they do in the rules, and go from there.

Sounds like you're having a good time and a great opponent or two, and that is really what matters!

You actually have a very fantastic start, and your wife got you some of the best value there.

Hellblasters are excellent at what they do: pumping out tons of painful plasma downwind.

You could probably return the Intercessors, but I'd personally keep the Hellblasters. Skip on the Rhino, they're a bit expensive for what they do, and none of the Primaris stuff can ride in it. Another Tactical squad would't be bad, though, since there's a lot of ways you can build them.

You've got a great start my dood.

Dude. Your wife is a Cerulean Angel sent from the Emperor.

All the stuff she got you is mint. All. The. Stuff.

I don't know what batreps you've been watching, but Tac squads are generally considered the least useful of our 3 troop choices; Scouts for concealed deployment and stopping deep strikers, and Intercessors for max durability while camping an objective.

Inceptors are great now with either loadout given their new price since Chapter Approved. That being said, if you already have 6 of them, you could probably return that for Tigurious, since he is very good.

The Redemptor dread is probably not right for smaller games (though I have used him and I frekking LOVE him), but he's still good at larger points. I prefer Dreads over tanks and other vehicles because they benefit from Chapter Tactics, but others can argue the point I'm sure.

And the Hellblasters...oh my. Hellblasters are great. Just, hands down, very good.

Intercessors are great - keep them.

Mrs L has got me a couple of bits before (like a Shadowsword!), she knows enough to either ask me what I want or take me along to act like a mumbling child pointing at things.. and being spoken to like said mumbling child much to the amusement of the store staff generally.

Biggest downside is she knows what the stuff actually costs...

Shes also got more unbuilt grey plastic and metal than me, which I'm slowly pinching to build

Definitely keep the Hellblasters, they're one of the best units Marines have.

Choice between Intercessors and Tacticals is kinda a wash. Neither are amazing, but they're troops and you gotta have some troops. personally I'd keep the Intercessors, as they look way better, and are slightly better at one of the main jobs of troops (sitting on an objective and not dying.)

Inceptors are decent, and it is nice thing to have some units with deep strike capability. They won't do wonders, but you can drop them into optimal firing position and the enemy has to react to them. They're pretty fragile for their point's though, so you probably don't want to have loads of them.

In any case, at this point is probably safer to not invest heavily on non-primaris marine stuff; like it or not, the future will belong to the Primaris.

Oh, and one of the reasons why you see a lot of non-primaris stuff in battle reports, is that this is what people have. The Primaris are brand new, and not many people have had time to build full armies out of them. Granted, some the non-primaris stuff is also good (definitely keep the scouts.)

One thing about the actual boxes, rather then the DI starter monopose, is that you can build options that you don’t already have. While some of the builds might be regarded as “optimal” it can be nice to have the others on the shelf.

Everything she got you is a winner. No bad calls in that. You can easily use it all, and it will give you some variety.

Wow, she sorted you right out! Don't look a gift horse in the mouth, she sounds really sweet and supportive of you.

Keep most of it, build and paint it really well, and take every chance you can to show your appreciation. And inceptors are chronically underrated. Build them plasma amd drop them in with a jump captain, and they'll do great work for you. As others have said, rhino might not be much use...

Personally, as someone else just starting out, I would say keep them all.

1. - Those units are all actually pretty decent, and they give you more flexibility, which is something you said you like about your army.
2. - Especially when starting out, I think having a variety is more fun than trying to make an optimized build. Discovering for yourself how everything works and plays is one of the joys that the internet seems determined to take away.
2. - A wife who supports your hobby is amazing. My wife and I both model and paint, and it's great knowing that we're in it together.

Like Grouch said, keep them, build them, paint them, show them off. When she asks, "Hey, what happened to those models I got you?" it's way, way nicer to be able to say, "Here they are - they're gorgeous, but not as gorgeous as you" and not "I traded them in for this Rhino."

BTW, you totally should let your wife to write your lists, she obviously has much better grasp of which units are good than you!

I was going to do a huge multi-quote... but that was taking too long.

Thank you all for the great advice. And yes, my wife is definitely a genius, and my own personal Cerulean Angel from the Emperor. For 20 years she's always been very supportive of my hobbies, even the expensive ones She'll never play this though, but she did love some Pathfinder Adventure Card Game, so maybe if Warhammer ever comes out with one of those.
That said, I told my wife about some of the responses and she was cracking up

It really seems like the general consensus is that, while things like the inceptors are a bit of a middling unit, everyone seems to really like all of the stuff that I have.
You guys love the Hellblasters, and I definitely agree, they have been the heroes of my friendly games... the longer those live, the bigger my margin of victory. If they go down too early, I'm likely going down with them. I wasn't sure with points if i could ever fit more than 10, but playing 2000 points I've seen a lot of lists with as many as 20 of them (which is what I have now).

I also hadn't considered being able to do something like build a squad of intercessors with the assault guns (instead of the rapid fire that come with DI and KNF), or the inceptors with plasma. That's a great point. I can just imagine a bunch of assault intercessors hopping out of a Razorback (thanks for the advice on that, looked in the codex and love the look of those things) and sprinting towards my friend's fragile guardsmen.

To the batreps question, I watch MiniWarGaming, WintersSEO, and Tabletop Tactics (but I typically only watch the ones with Ultramarines in them).

I think, based on this thread, that I might just keep it all. Not really anybody has had anything extremely negative to say, about any of the units (which is a bit surprising in an online community).
I'll have to let her know that the internet says she is definitely better than me about picking stuff out.