With the new edition of Warhammer 40000 coming later this month, I decided to take a look at the current state of each of my armies at the end of 8th edition and what I’m looking forward to for them in 9th edition.
When I picked up the Dark Imperium boxed set three years ago, I decided to build the space marines as a new primaris-only army. To lean into that theme, I wanted to pick one of the Ultima Founding chapters rather than an existing chapter, and after a bit of thought I settled on the Fulminators. According to the lore in the 8th edition rulebook, they were one of the first primaris chapters created by Belisarius Cawl and they were named for the storms on Mars.
When expanding my army from the core force from Dark Imperium, I decided I wanted to build them as an aggressive strike force that had mobile firepower.
Army Overview
For HQ units, the army has a Captain in Gravis Armour, Primaris Lieutenants, and a Primaris Librarian. I almost always have the Captain as my Warlord and give him the Adept of the Codex warlord trait to regenerate some command points and the Reliquary of Gathalamor to hinder enemy psykers.
For Troops, I have three units of Intercessors to fill out a battalion. Two of the units have the standard bolt rifles while the third is equipped with auto bolt rifles. I chose the auto bolt rifles to add a bit of variety and to keep with the army’s theme of a fast-moving strike force.
For Elites, the army has a Primaris Ancient, an Aggressor Squad, and a Redemptor Dreadnought. The Ancient’s ability to let models shoot one last time when they die has been really powerful. Aggressors have a terrifying number of shots with their boltstorm gauntlets and fragstorm grenades that can quickly cut through lighter enemy units while their high toughness makes them extra durable to anti-infantry weapons. I gave my Redemptor the heavy onslaught gatling gun, a heavy flamer, fragstorm grenade launchers, and a rocket pod. I feel like that mix gives it great firepower against infantry while its fist can threaten tanks and monsters.
The army only has one unit for both Fast Attack and Heavy Support. The Fast Attack choice is an Inceptor squad with assault bolters that enters the battle from high orbit in order to unleash their firepower wherever it is needed mid-game. For Heavy Support, I have a unit of Hellblasters with standard plasma incinerators. The Hellblasters can be key against elite infantry and enemy tanks, but they are also vulnerable to enemy fire so I generally deploy them in my Repulsor for protection until they are needed.
As a Dedicated Transport, the army has a Repulsor that acts as both a transport and as a mobile fire support unit. I opted to equip my Repulsor with a las-talon and a twin lascannon to optimize it for anti-tank firepower while its gatling cannon, stubbers, and grenade launchers can be used against enemy infantry.
Into the New Edition
I think my Fulminators are well-positioned for 9th edition. They fit into a single battalion detachment so they will be able to maximize command points. The change to fly that no longer allows falling back and shooting would hurt the Repulsor and Inceptors, but I run them as an Ultramarines successor so they will still be able to shoot after falling back. Vehicles no longer taking a penalty when moving and shooting heavy weapons will definitely make the Redemptor more fun since I won’t be forced to suffer less efficient shooting in order to have it move up the battlefield. The army will also be gaining a bunch of new unit options based on previews.
Expansion Possibilities
I have a few units that I’ve been thinking about adding to the Fulminators for a while, and there are a few new units that have been previewed that I think would be a good fit for the army’s theme. I’d like to add a fourth Intercessor squad equipped with a special weapon on the sergeant and intended to use with the Veteran Intercessors stratagem.
I also like a few units from the Vanguard releases. I like Suppressors from an aesthetic point-of-view. I think a unit of Infiltrators would be nice to have for their ability to deploy outside of their deployment zone to be well positioned to hold a point in the middle of the board. I also think an Impulsor would make a good second transport choice to help the army be more mobile.
For new units in 9th edition, I think the Outriders and Invader ATV are great matches for the army’s theme of a fast-moving strike force. The Outriders will add a fast-moving assault unit to the army while the ATV looks like it could offer a fast-moving multi-melta as another anti-tank option for the army.
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