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I attempted this a few years ago when only four were released (Horus, Fulgrim, Angron, Mortarion). I used proxy models of course. Needless to say having Mortarion insta-kill my friend's Swarmlord with one attack was hilarious. As was watching two entire Termagaunt squads try to shoot him to death. Meanwhile Horus was tieing up another mate's Ultramarines.

Fun all around. This is something I'd like to try again, hopefully this time with their actual models (which means spending money *sigh*)!

To oppose such a force, I would naturally allow my would-be opponents to field entire armies against the eight Primarchs, as I'd imagine their combined point cost would be well into the high thousands. I would only be able to field the Primarchs themselves and nothing else, not even their specific bodyguards. If every Eldar Phoenix Lord can square off against a large Tyranid swarm (back cover of an old WD issue), the same should be a cinch for eight of the Emperor's sons.

Assuming I do get to do this for real again, is there anything in particular I should watch out for? I'm fully aware the Primarchs are not invincible. Imagine that: facing off against the combined might of Horus, Guilliman, Angron, Ferrus Manus, Fulgrim, Perturabo, Mortarion, Konrad Curze, and Corax!!

Notes
1) Leman Russ doesn't count towards the total number until Book Seven.
2) If Leman Russ' wolf buddies are an auto-include then they're the sole exception to the "no-one-else" rule.
3) Fulgrim, Perturabo, Ferrus, Corax and Lorgar would all have their pre-heresy profiles. I want to imagine them as actual bros, not the bunch of bickering brats they became.

Since this is Games Workshop we're talking about, I'll assume that Primarchs have something to prevent insta-death from various weapons, correct?

All primarchs have EW, and generally a 2+/3+ and a 3++ to a 5++. The best way to kill them is either through D weapons, or weight of fire. Or tying them up with either a 2++ unit/invis unit.

So in other words, my would-be opponents would stand little to no chance against EIGHT, let alone ONE? Not being rude I'm just curious. If it wouldn't be fun for everyone then there is no point...

...especially once pre-heresy Magnus gets onto the field haha

I'd suggest doing the old wave style game. Every unit which is wiped out comes back onto the board from their edge --- see how long the Primarchs last. That'd be fun unless you're three hours in and no one has died. If you have eight models, I'd assume the loss of one or two would be a huge shift in the game, etc.

NeoAigaion wrote:
So in other words, my would-be opponents would stand little to no chance against EIGHT, let alone ONE? Not being rude I'm just curious. If it wouldn't be fun for everyone then there is no point...

...especially once pre-heresy Magnus gets onto the field haha

Well, primarchs can be tied up, they only have so many attacks, and if you toss a cheap, large, fearless squad at them, there isn't much most of them can do to clear it out by themselves.

The things you'd have to watch out for are Psychic powers and things the Primarch can't catch but can reasonably shoot them. I've fought 3 different Primarchs multiple times and I've only lost once, and it was due to some horrific 30K dreadnaught list were EVERYTHING was a dreadnaught + Ferrus Manus. As Dark Eldar and Harlequins I've managed to strand, circle and eventually swarm the Primarchs and they could do very little about it.

Psy-shriek, Harlequin powers, several Venoms and the Solitaire are all good counters to Primarchs.

I think you'll want to get the marine legions book so that you have their full rules and points

In all honesty, i'd expect prymarchs to loose against a well rounded opponent's army most of the time. A squad of grav cents can delete a primarch a turn from 24" away. Any 6 on a d-weapon or stomp will also kill them dead. Genestealer cults could probably just rend half of them turn one for a fraction of points. Furthermore, any tanky squad can take on a couple of primarchs like no big deal. Something invisible or with a re-rollable invul save or even just a horde of fearless meatshields can switch them down and would cost like 5 times less.

So, they're not really all that hot vs 40k stuff common in current meta. But that's gona be epic vs a fun fluffy list anywayz.