By Robert Nowinski
The Primaris Reivers is considered to be one of the weakest units in the Space Marine Codex. However, the Reivers hold a special position in my heart and my army. They were the first Warhammer models I ever owned, and they were in the first edition of the Kill Team game’s starter set, which was back in the ninth edition of Warhammer 40k (a small-scale version of it).
In the main game of 40k, they count for 85 points for a 5 man and 170 for a 10 man. One of their main abilities is the ability to move 6” before the game starts. Still, there are better units with the same ability, and they have better guns for a similar point cost. When fighting within an inch of an enemy squad, they have to roll for battleshock, which if you fail you can’t hold onto objectives or use abilities to buff those who aren’t part of the unit. However, most units have a relatively easy time with the roll, so they don’t have to worry. Another big thing is when an enemy unit is within 6”, and they have to take one of these battleshock tests. They then have to subtract one from the result.
They can also equip 2 gear pieces that give them special abilities. One gear piece is a Grapple Launcher that allows the players to ignore any vertical distance while doing any kind of movement. The other piece is the Reiver Grav-chute, which allows them to be set up at least 9” away from the enemies deployment zone and all models they have. However, there are other models with this ability, such as scouts, that can move 6” as well, and they have more useful abilities. This combined with their 6” move and the grapple launcher can make them very fast. Both the Grapple Launcher and Grav-chute can be equipped on all models in the unit.
As for the weapons they can use, they all start out with special issue bolt pistols and combat knives. All of them can have the knife changed out for a bolt carbine and a close combat weapon. The sergeant of the squad can have the carbine and the knife. Both the carbine and the pistol have the keyword precision, which allows them to shoot at character models while leading a unit. If there isn’t a character in a unit, it does nothing to help. The carbine itself has a range of 24”. Each time you shoot with it, you roll 2 attack dice, and it can hit enemy models on a 3 or better. It has a strength of 4, which is average, and it has an AP (armor piercing) of zero, which means an opponent’s roll save dice with no modifiers. It deals one damage per successful wound. Overall, the gun isn’t too good, since it can only somewhat reliably wound on a 4+, and since it only deals 1 damage per shot, it can’t kill a lot either.
The guns share these profiles with many other Space Marine weapons as well, and they have better keywords, like ones that allow you to shoot and move more or hit more accurately if you don’t move. The pistol is poor, as well, with only 1 shot with a 12” range and a -1 to AP, but it can shoot while you are within an inch on an enemy unit. Every marine unit has them.
The Melee’s aren’t anything super good. They have similar profiles to the guns, and the knife has precision, but, again, no character means no bonuses/helpfulness. The Melee is also the same as most other units, so they don’t have a use.
Overall, the unit can be good for what they can do, but most ignore them because they are supposedly bad with their guns. They aren’t too horrible with the ability to move around the map, but there are better units to do that, as well, such as Outriders. So with that and Battleshock not doing much, they are considered bad or useless. However, they are also cheaper than the better units that can do the same thing, so they do have that bonus. Also, they are one of the few units in the Space Marine line that can focus on character models and stop them from buffing the unit they are with.
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