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Currently they are able to create units that can cross over between 30k and 40k. This gives FW a larger market for their models. If normal marines don't exsist in 40k those models are no longer selling to the same audiance. So they would have to create seperate models for 30k and primaris special 40k vehicals which while they would probably sell due to the general lack of primaris vehicals, don't help forgeworld with 30k so they would have to split their resources.

Primaris are ridiculous. Their rules are fething stupid. Terminators, JP infantry, regular marines can enter a land raider, but primaris cant ? Primaris marines and inceptors can use the repulsor, but Terminators, regular marines, marines with JP cant ? Thats idiotic. Heavy or special weapons ? No, only plasma. CC weapons ? Only chainswords and powerswords. Pathetic.

I don't think marines are ever going away. There's going to need to be a LOT more primaris releases just to cover all the generic marine stuff, and then there's all the special faction specific units (BA/SW/GK) that will need to be redone, and then you have to explain why stuff like Deathwing just disappeared.

And even then, when marines go away, most marines become primaris marine by default. Bolter marines? Intercessors. Plasma cannon marine? Hellblaster. Assault marines? Give them two plasmaguns or two bolters and they're Intercessors. Life goes on.

Even if the old Marine statline gets "phased out" you will still be able to use the models as Primaris Marines moving forward.

 p5freak wrote:
Primaris are ridiculous. Their rules are fething stupid. Terminators, JP infantry, regular marines can enter a land raider, but primaris cant ? Primaris marines and inceptors can use the repulsor, but Terminators, regular marines, marines with JP cant ? Thats idiotic. Heavy or special weapons ? No, only plasma. CC weapons ? Only chainswords and powerswords. Pathetic.

They feel like they're a weird half-faction that got tucked inside another faction as there wasn't enough stuff/confidence in product line/rules for a full initial release.

 daedalus wrote:
I don't think marines are ever going away. There's going to need to be a LOT more primaris releases just to cover all the generic marine stuff, and then there's all the special faction specific units (BA/SW/GK) that will need to be redone, and then you have to explain why stuff like Deathwing just disappeared.

And even then, when marines go away, most marines become primaris marine by default. Bolter marines? Intercessors. Plasma cannon marine? Hellblaster. Assault marines? Give them two plasmaguns or two bolters and they're Intercessors. Life goes on.

You don't think they're going to get to that eventually? I'm sure we'll see more different types of Primaris as we go along, maybe not a lot, and maybe not that often, and maybe not with quite as many variations as smolmarines but they'll happen. At the very least I'd be surprised if they don't upgrade some of the more chapter specific units to Primaris eventually.

Of course, I'm also fairly certain they'll do plastic Sisters Of Battle, eventually, if the heat death of the universe doesn't come first.

craggy wrote:

if the heat death of the universe doesn't come first.

Okay, well, I guess it's possible. That's the thing about how I feel about the primaris. Will they eventually replace everything with primaris versions of it before the end of humanity or GW (whichever comes first)? Hell, I dunno. I guess anything is possible.

Will they do it in a practical amount of time where it matters to me or anyone else currently (or prospectively) involved in the game? Nah. I see it far more likely that they get spun off into their own deal when they have enough units for a full army and become Yet Another Marine Faction. There's literally nothing about them that is marine-like except their appearance. Stat-wise they feel more like xenos units than they do imperium ones. Maybe that's all part of a greater shift, but I'm skeptical.

craggy wrote:

You don't think they're going to get to that eventually? I'm sure we'll see more different types of Primaris as we go along, maybe not a lot, and maybe not that often, and maybe not with quite as many variations as smolmarines but they'll happen. At the very least I'd be surprised if they don't upgrade some of the more chapter specific units to Primaris eventually.

Yeah. Consider how many Stormcast kits there are already an they're pretty new. I'd expect a new Primaris wave pretty soon.

I think your fine; there are far too many unique marine units that can not be ported over to primaris, like assault marines. Primaris can only pull off facsimiles of basic marine units; think of them like a side grade marine option like sternguard veterans rather than a new army.

 daedalus wrote:
Will they eventually replace everything with primaris versions

At which point you can just use your old non-Primaris marines as Primaris marines

Problem solved.

-

 Crimson wrote:

craggy wrote:

You don't think they're going to get to that eventually? I'm sure we'll see more different types of Primaris as we go along, maybe not a lot, and maybe not that often, and maybe not with quite as many variations as smolmarines but they'll happen. At the very least I'd be surprised if they don't upgrade some of the more chapter specific units to Primaris eventually.

Yeah. Consider how many Stormcast kits there are already an they're pretty new. I'd expect a new Primaris wave pretty soon.

We've had our primaris wave. It was the primaris release. You're slightly deluded to think they'll suddenly create an army's worth of models to replace all the marines and then stop producing them.
Also regarding the heroes in Japan, when they were released, 8th and the primaris were not far away, so GW was certainly aware of what it was doing, even if we weren't.

 CREEEEEEEEED wrote:

We've had our primaris wave. It was the primaris release.

LOL no! It was just the beginning. More is guaranteed. All marine releases (aside some HH stuff) will be Primaris from now on.

You're slightly deluded to think they'll suddenly create an army's worth of models to replace all the marines and then stop producing them.

It will take a while, but it will happen.

 CREEEEEEEEED wrote:

 Crimson wrote:

craggy wrote:

You don't think they're going to get to that eventually? I'm sure we'll see more different types of Primaris as we go along, maybe not a lot, and maybe not that often, and maybe not with quite as many variations as smolmarines but they'll happen. At the very least I'd be surprised if they don't upgrade some of the more chapter specific units to Primaris eventually.

Yeah. Consider how many Stormcast kits there are already an they're pretty new. I'd expect a new Primaris wave pretty soon.

We've had our primaris wave. It was the primaris release. You're slightly deluded to think they'll suddenly create an army's worth of models to replace all the marines and then stop producing them.
Also regarding the heroes in Japan, when they were released, 8th and the primaris were not far away, so GW was certainly aware of what it was doing, even if we weren't.

GW is going to finish their codex release schedule at some point. And once they've done that, why not Primaris marines?

(Sure, everyone including me wants to see something like plastic Sisters or Aspect Warriors, but when did that ever stop GW?)

 Brutus_Apex wrote:
Squat Marines will be around for a while, but you will never again see a new non-Primaris Marine model. For all intents and purposes they are an obsolete model range.

Cite your sources.

Long as we're discussing conspiracy, my uncle said that Primaris Marines melt steel beams! I mean, have you ever seen one NOT melt a steel beam?

Seriously, the things GW is up to.

I don't think even GW know what they're going to do at this point. They're chasing the sales. People can quote desire for true scale marines as the reason Primaris exist, but that's probably only a side motivation to the fact that they had produced a virtually full range of models for the faction and needed a way to keep marine players buying new marines. The marine line's success in many ways was its downfall.

I expect for the next couple of years that GW will generally expand the Primaris offerings while keeping an eye on sales, and that will drive what direction they push in eventually. But as to squatting the old marines, why would they? They have an extensive range of plastic kits that a lot of investment went into. If they're still generating significant revenue, they will continue to sell.

As for what to buy, I'm another who doesn't like the way the old marines and the primaris look together, and counter to a lot of folks I'm more in the old marine camp. The Primaris have the advantage of a better looking scale/proportions, and mostly better poses (not as many taking-a-poop-standing-up poses), however for the most part I'm not a fan of the new aesthetic. The basic MkX armour is OK, but most of the rest of it I'm not fond of at all. The classic marine range, despite its flaws, is the marine aesthetic that I know and love, and the same goes for the lore. I don't want aggressors, I want terminators dammit.

I really like the primaris look. I also think they look profoundly stupid on the table with regular marines.

Personally, I think what happened was that GW pulled a classic GW: They said, "Oh, everyone on that internet thingy gets excited about truescale marines. Lets do some of those!"

And then they did it.

And then realized that people wouldn't like half their marines being a head taller than the other half, and they DIDN'T want to outright invalidate the iconic thing they've make all their money off of that they have a giant statue of .

And then they scrambled to come up with something to rationalize being able to do whatever you wanted to with your toys and this was the best they could manage.


I mean, the alternative might as well involve black cloaks, twirled mustaches, and a compulsive urge to tie women to railroad tracks. It is that silly.

Here's the deal.

Primaris are the new marines. Short of perhaps a couple random characters, new marine releases will be Primaris related. So what does that mean? Your Space Marines will still exist, and Forgeworld will still be churning out HH/30K era marine stuff, etc. However, over the next 5-10 years, slowly we'll see the basic marines fade. They won't be wiped out of a codex, probably not even in the eventual 9th edition of the game, but the days of new and exciting kits are probably dead. The point will come where Primaris kits outnumber or out-play normal marine kits and slowly but surely old sprues/kits will be quietly discontinued. Not eliminated from the game...but this is how it'll play out.

There are tons (and I mean tons) of available Space Marine kits, so you're not exactly hurting for choices, but if your decision to buy an army is based on hope that you'll get occasional new kits, then Space Marines may not be the best choice. It's not that they won't be unplayable, not for a loooong time, but what you have now is what you're likely to have.

The only chance this doesn't happen is if Primaris model kit sales are in the dumps (and I suspect they're not). It would take a catastrophic lack of sales/financial disaster for GW to steer the ship back toward "little" marines again.

Frankly, I would be fine if normal marines pretty much stayed as they are and just got "grandfathered" support in the way that Sisters do. Normal marines don't need new units, and they haven't for several editions. *cough* Centurions *cough*.

The existence of Primaris models from a business perspective makes a ton of sense for GW, and I'm glad theyre trying to do it without erasing traditional marines.

There's still room for a better Terminator kit though. That'd be nice.

That question is totally irrelevant sorry.

 Insectum7 wrote:
...There's still room for a better Terminator kit though. That'd be nice.

I'm still kind of annoyed at the Cataphractii/Tartaros kits, since someone decided that they needed 40k-Terminator-esque loadouts and you still need resin arms if you want a proper functioning 30k Terminator squad that isn't paying for powerfists on everyone.

Regular SM have too many units to chose from. They should be ok even without releasing new kits for a decade at least.

And since GW basically relesases mostly SM I bet that within a few years they'll start produce new kits of regular marines once again.

What was the last new-unit Eldar to be released? They seem to be doing fine with their "legacy" armory.

There will always, it seems, be some new variant of space marines being released. That's fine. As long as I can still field my Tacs, Devs, Asaults and Terminators I'll be pretty happy.

Honestly, you can get Primaris super cheap on ebay but due to the lore for them I refuse to like them.