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Since I'm sitting on a pile of (conquest) Primaris and am sick of orks for my occasional 40k game, I figured "why not?".

I'm going for primaris and agonizing other different chapters, but what stroke me is that I can't identify a decent melee option for Primaris, like Terms, Vanguards or chapter specific units like wolfens seems to be.
Even regarding HQ, there is only one that looks mobile and beefy, the bikeplain.
Since SM are a jack of all-trade and having at least some melee is useful and fun, how do Primaris players do?
Do I have to go for a non-codex compliant chapter if I want some hard hitters in my Primaris army?

The go to melee unit for Primaris is currently Bladeguard. Unfortunately, the changes to Armour of Contempt make them less efficient compared to firstborn units like Relic Terminators or chapter specific units like Sanguinary Guard. Assault Intercessors are not terrible but pretty milqueotoast by today's meta standards and aren't really dedicated melee specialists. GW haven't really made anything beyond Aggressors and Bladeguard at the moment for melee when it comes to the generic Primaris line, so you'll have to rely more on the chapter tactics and what strats/wargear they have to emphasize the CC focus of your army rather than just the units.

Orks generally have terrible ap. Blade guards at 2+ will do just fine. Orks have a lot of T8 witch is a problem because you will be wounding on 5+.

The flamer powerfist models can also work. Redemptor dreadnoughts are great. The plasma is a good source for D3 in a primaris army.

Well, I'd play SM more as a shooty army trying to keep the enemy at arm's length.
Then you need cc units for counter attack.
This does not hold for chapters like BA which have specific chapter tactics.

 Niiai wrote:
Orks generally have terrible ap. Blade guards at 2+ will do just fine. Orks have a lot of T8 witch is a problem because you will be wounding on 5+.

The flamer powerfist models can also work. Redemptor dreadnoughts are great. The plasma is a good source for D3 in a primaris army.

I'm pretty sure when he says he's sick of Orks, it's not in terms of playing against them but playing with them.

Aggressors are pretty meh as far as CC, goes, that's usually not why you're taking them. Especially with the -1D everywhere.

Have you looked at the Outrider Bikes?
A guy at the shop plays these in his WS list & they always seem to do faily well+. I think most of their punch comes from just unit & general SM rules.

That's what I was thinking, well I have a bunch of conquest aggressors, so I might convert a squad of true scale termis.
Or going black templars or space wolves (for wulfen).
Thanks guys.

I have a Primaris only army that hasn't seen the table as much as maybe I'd like.

I can't say there is much in the way of dedicated melee still for Primaris. There's Bladeguard Vets and Aggressors as mentioned. Technically, you can throw in Assault Intercessors, Reivers, Outriders and Redemptors to some extent. And if you really want to catch your opponent out, healthy Speeders do more than I expect.

Ultimately, with Primaris, I find it is not about dedicated melee with Primaris, but general purpose melee with them. Pretty much all Primaris attack more often than regular marines which gives them a slight edge in a lot of situations that would otherwise be a push. Even if Primaris have to weather an attack, they can still hit back with a decent number of attacks. It isn't likely to win against melee specialist, but I find it still does okay versus general purpose or ranged specialists. I treat Primaris melee more as a mopping up of crippled units that expect them to win fights solely on martial ability. And with that, they can be expected to yield fairly consistent, if low, results.

I feel this sort of thing gets overlooked in the high-contrast lens of optimal play. I'm not saying it's great, but it isn't nothing either. And I have had games where a 5-man squad of Intercessors wreck a unit of Tyranid Warriors that thought they had easy prey on their hands claws. Without a doubt, Primaris still struggle a lot fighting great and amazing melee, and could use more tools to balance/make use of their fighting ability. In the presence, lacking that, making due with what you have is key to getting the most out of Primaris.

I'd actually argue Assault Intercessors are fantastic overall. 4 attacks on grunts on the round it matters, the Sarge swings a LOT with the Power Sword or Fist, and AoC ensures they can reach melee slightly easier.

EviscerationPlague wrote:
I'd actually argue Assault Intercessors are fantastic overall. 4 attacks on grunts on the round it matters, the Sarge swings a LOT with the Power Sword or Fist, and AoC ensures they can reach melee slightly easier.

They are amazing. Don't forget they also typically strike at AP-2, which is insane for a troop.

Plus I think the 'fight twice' stratagem is locked to assault intercessors, too.

Assault Intercessors are decent for CC-troops and Bladeguard Veterans are still solid even without AoC.

Aggressors aren't a CC-unit as much as a shooty/hybrid-unit that can punch decently hard. (With flamers they are essentially a cheaper but worse version of Assault Centurions.)

Reivers are a trap if you're looking for CC-punch, I'm still waiting for them to become decent.

But yeah, locking yourself out of Firstborn when focusing on close combat isn't ideal: Just on top of my head, Vanguard, Assault/Relic Terminators and Assault Centurions are all better CC-choices than their Primaris "counterparts".