Let’s talk about some ideas for running an effective mechanized Primaris force.

Mechanized armies have always fascinated me. Whether it was real life mechanized armies in the 2nd World War, or columns of fictional tanks kicking up dust on faraway worlds, I’ve been equally entranced by them. It should be no wonder that I gravitated to Imperial Guard armies for many years. Despite my love for the Guard, I’ve always found the look of Space Marine tanks to be pretty cool as well, and their smaller elite armies always seemed to lend themselves well to mechanized forces. Well, we’ve got a new Codex out, and some new tanks to play around with, so I wanted to take a look and see if I could make a worthwhile all Primaris mech force. Here is what I’ve come up with.

The Army

Battalion – Ultramarines

Primaris Captain with Powersword and Master Crafted Auto Bolt Rifle – 86 pts.

Primaris Librarian – 98 pts

5x Intercessors w/ Bolt Rifle, 1x Grenade Launcher, 1x Thunderhammer – 102 pts

5x Intercessors w/ Bolt Rifle, 1x Grenade Launcher, 1x Thunderhammer – 102 pts

5x Intercessors w/ Bolt Rifle, 1x Grenade Launcher, 1x Thunderhammer – 102 pts

Impulsor w/ 2x Stormbolters – 79 pts

Impulsor w/ 2x Stormbolters – 79 pts

Repulsor Executioner w/ auto launchers, 2x Fragstrom Grenade Launchers, 1x Heavy Laser Destroyer, 1x Heavy Onslaught Gatling Cannon, 1x Icarus Rocket Pod, 1x Ironhail Heavy Stubber, 2x Stormbolters, 1x Twin Heavy Bolter, 1x Twin Icarus Ironhail Heavy Stubber- 336 pts

Battalion – Ultramarines

Primaris LT w/ Master Crafted Auto Bolt Rifle – 69 pts

Primaris Chaplain – 77 pts

Primaris Ancient – 69 pts

5x Intercessors w/ Bolt Rifle, 1x Grenade Launcher, 1x Thunderhammer – 102 pts

5x Intercessors w/ Bolt Rifle, 1x Grenade Launcher, 1x Thunderhammer – 102 pts

5x Intercessors w/ Bolt Rifle, 1x Grenade Launcher, 1x Thunderhammer – 102 pts

Impulsor w/ 2x Stormbolters – 79 pts

Impulsor w/ 2x Stormbolters – 79 pts

Repulsor Executioner w/ auto launchers, 2x Fragstrom Grenade Launchers, 1x Heavy Laser Destroyer, 1x Heavy Onslaught Gatling Cannon, 1x Icarus Rocket Pod, 1x Ironhail Heavy Stubber, 2x Stormbolters, 1x Twin Heavy Bolter, 1x Twin Icarus Ironhail Heavy Stubber- 336 pts

1999 pts, 13 CP

Pre-Battle Choices

Before the battle starts, we are going to do a few things. First, I’m going to spend 6 of my CP to upgrade all my Intercessor squads to Veterans. We are going to give the Ancient the Standard of Macragge Inviolate for free. For 3 more CP we are going to give the Chaplain the Reliquary of Vengeance, the Lt the Seal of Oath and the Captain the Burning Blade. I’m going to make the Captain our warlord and give him the Champion of Humanity trait. For two more CP, we could give out two more warlord traits, but I don’t super feel the need; it’s an option. I could also give someone the Master Crafted weapon relic, but don’t have a great target here. Since we’ve already spent 9 our of 13 CP, I’m going to call it there, leaving us a few for the battle. The Librarian will know Null Zone and Might of Heroes.

Running the Army

Setting up the army is pretty straightforward. You’ve got six vehicles each with a transport capacity of 6, allowing for 36 models to ride in the transports. As luck would have it, you’ve only got 35 infantry models so everyone gets a ride. Put one Intercessor squad in each transport and characters spread around as needed. Overall this force represents a totally mechanized army that can rapidly deploy and attack the enemy.

For heavy firepower, you’ve got the two Repulsor Executioners, which can throw out a LOT of damage. Using the Seal of Oath, you can lay the smackdown on any single enemy target. Combining all this will Null Zone, and you should be able to cripple or kill a knight in one turn. If you switch over to Tactical Doctrine, your Executioners, being Ultramarines, can even move their full distance and still fire twice.

A large part of the army is its 6 Intercessor squads. Four of them will be able to rapidly deploy in their Impulsors, getting up in the enemy face right away, and pumping out close-range firepower. These are great for early game objective grabbing. While the Intercessors are decent at shooting, assault is really going to be where they shine. On the charge each Intercessor gets 4 attacks, combine the Standard of Macragge and your Reliquary of Vengeance, and on a key turn, you are jumping up to 6 attacks each. The Thunderhammer sergeants can get up to 7 attacks, and with 6 of them, you can put out the pain with 42 Tunderhammer attacks.

The role of the Ancient, LT, and Libby should be pretty obvious and don’t need a lot of explanation. The Chaplain is likely just going to stick with Litany of Hate, to help those Thunderhammers hit home. The Captain has been set up to be a character killer; he’s able to put out a lot of accurate attacks. I think the characters all work well to support the best of the army and help fill out the needed battalions.

Overall the army seems like a pretty fun mid-tier list. It’s got a nice theme but is held back by the cost of Primaris transports. I wish running 3-4 Repulsors was an option, as that would look really cool, but at that point, it’s too expansive to fit stuff inside of them. I think the army can hit hard and fast in both shooting and combat. It’s not likely to tear up the competitive scene. While it can deal with one knight OK, 3-4 will end it. Still, I think it would be a really fun list to mess around with. And that’s a big part of the game – right?

Let us know what you think of this army, down in the comments!

Editor’s Note: Rule of Three does not apply to Troops or Dedicated Transports.