Vulkan was one of the 20 superhuman primarchs and a Perpetual created by the Emperor of Mankind from altered versions of His own DNA to lead His Great Crusade and reunite the scattered peoples of Humanity within the Imperium of Man. You’ll enjoy fielding the Salamanders Warhammer 40k faction on the tabletop if youthink ‘firepower’ should be a literal term – they have a number of bonuses that give them a deadly advantage when setting their enemies alight. Possessed • Garden of Nurgle • Defilers • Juggernauts of Khorne • Plague Marines • Noise Marines • Rubricae • Eye of Terror • Terminus Est

Of course, with the short ranged nature of such weapons and Vulkan’s focus on them comes a forced hand for Salamanders players wishing to employ the Forgefather; you need to use Salamanders led by Vulkan either in massed Rhinos or massed Drop Pods. This is because of those short ranges, and the added benefits that Salamanders get for using template weapons; the Chapter Tactics and the commander all favour army builds that maximise those weapons. Using such a force either on foot or without melta or template weapons simply wastes the competitive reasons for taking Vulkan and Salamanders in the first place. Like most of the other Space Marine special characters, you really need to build your army around these important force-changing models to get the most out of what they provide. Otherwise, why not just a combat monster Chapter Master or a supporting Master of the Forge instead? So again, I must stress the point; as good as Vulkan is overall, you are best off using him in a highly mobile mechanized force. The choice of delivery system for your melta and template weapons will generally come down to preference, though I am a firm believer in drop pods for a Vulkan list. They get the short-ranged guns into range immediately, and give you the best possible alpha strike of any Space Marine Drop Pod list. It said that over one thousand standard years after the events of the Horus Heresy, Vulkan hid these nine artefacts around the galaxy for his Chapter to find, as a test to see if they were worthy of his leadership. Of these nine relics, five have been recovered, three of which, the Spear of Vulkan, Kesare's Mantle and the Gauntlet of the Forge, are wielded by the Chapter's cuurent Forgefather, Vulkan He'stan. Two, the Chalice of Fire and the Eye of Vulkan, remain on the Nocturnean moon of Prometheus in the Chapter's fortress-monastery, while the last four artefacts, the Engine of Woes, the Obsidian Chariot, the Unbound Flame and the Song of Entropy, have yet to be discovered. The Spear of Vulkan, which can burn ceramite [1]. He'stan often throws the Spear, enabling the strength of the weapon to be used at range. [2a] After the battle at Antaem, Vulkan set about remaking and re-forging his Legion, keen to keep the honour, the spirit of self-sacrifice for the Imperium and bravery he found, but also determined that it should stand together and become more disciplined both in its temper and wiser in its pursuit of battle. Firstly, Vulkan was swift to gather together its disparate deployments and unify it once again as a whole, although he was careful to honour the past commitments it had made, such as the maintenance of a permanent garrison at Geryon Deep who stood guard should the Manticore ever return. Anyway, I can't see it. Primaris characters got new versions of their old wargear usually, and Vulkan has two primarch relics on him. They can't replace them, can't really give him gear no one else in primaris range has (unless they make huge exception for him), I can maybe see it when primaris get power spears/relic blades/flamers, not earlier.Err... The Primaris Rubicon'd named character ALL have their OG weapons. Calgar, Shrike (well, he got a new pistol and the Raven's Talons got a redesign, but now they actually look like Corax designed them so /shrug), Tigurius, Kor'sarro Khan.... they all have their weapons from their previous incarnation. Tigurius even has his special Psychic Hood. I vote Primaris and a Rubicon failure. (Though I'd accept a compromise of He'stan dying in other circumstances, and the replacement just being a non-Rubicon 'boring' [more compelling, to me] Primaris.) It is believed that Vulkan did not become unified with his own Legion for some years after his rediscovery, but instead stayed alongside the Emperor under His direct tutelage, during which time his presence was kept from the wider Imperium (although not from the other Primarchs who had been discovered to that time). During this period, Vulkan pursued with frightening speed and comprehension learning in the arts of war, history and science, displaying a ferocious intelligence, and also wisdom and compassion that were perhaps at odds with the role he had been destined to play as a general and breaker of worlds as all Primarchs were made to be. He fought at the side of the Emperor in battle -- a colossal, nameless warrior in emerald armour scaled like a dragon of ancient Terran myth -- and studied closely in the weapon-forges of Mars and with his brother-Primarch Ferrus Manus, whose discovery had gone before his own. When the time came, as much dictated by circumstance as by choice, for Vulkan to take charge of the XVIII th Legion he did so well-prepared for the task ahead, and set about reforging them on the anvil of war. You have suffered. I know this. You have come to the abyss, and almost surrendered yourselves to it. That changes now. I am father, general, lord and mentor. I shall teach you if I can, and pass on the knowledge I have gained. Honour, self-sacrifice, self-reliance, brotherhood. It is our Promethean creed and all must adhere to it if we are to prosper. Let this be the first lesson..." As Forgefather, He'stan has worked his way from system to system in search of the nine artefacts of Vulkan, his only clues coming from the Tome of Fire, which is extremely difficult to interpret, let alone put into use. Instead of calling solely on members of the fourth company, He'stan can call on any number of Salamanders to aid him in his quest. The Salamanders are more than happy to cleanse an area of a world on a rumour that a piece of their history is there. [1]

Vulkan He’stan is about one of the most gifted Salamanders to ever live, and his quest for the nine relics is the stuff of 40k legend.An ember that hints at the location of the Artefact of Vulkan known only by the name Unbound Flame...