Ultramarines

This article or section involves Plot Armor so asinine, that its sheer bullshittery warps and breaks the very fabric of the setting's universe. Expect Rage, Butthurt and accusations of Mary Sue being flung around in an endless Skub debate. THEY MAKE IT HAPPEN. You have been warned.

Ultramarines
Battle Cry	"Courage and Honour!" and "We March for Macragge!"
Number	XIII
Founding	First Founding
Original Name	War-Born
Successor Chapters	Roughly 65% of all Chapters. Allegedly. However, a lot of those don’t know who their Primarch is or are very different from Guilliman. Generally, most post-Heresy loyalist chapters and traitor warbands claim Ultramarines as parent Chapter.
Chapter Master	Marneus Calgar
Primarch	Roboute Guilliman
Homeworld	Macragge
Strength	Above 1000 Marines
Specialty	Logistics. Otherwise a jack of all trades. Being the creator's pet. Obsessed with strategy, tactics and discipline. Basically Romans IN SPESS!!
Allegiance	Imperium
Colours	Ultramarine Blue, white & gold (For the most famous Second Company. Other Companies use different colors)

"Battles are won by slaughter and maneuver. The greater the general, the more he contributes in maneuver, the less he demands in slaughter."

– Winston S. Churchill

"Our Presence Remakes the Past!"

– The Banner of Macragge

"...And then we won."

– Marneus Calgar, after nearly every battle involving the Ultramarines

The Ultramarines (More commonly known as Ultrasmurfs) are a chapter of Space Marines, probably the most famous and well-known and mincy (both within the Warhammer 40,000 universe and without). Games Workshop considers the Ultramarines their chapter of choice, and the Ultramarines represent the standard upon which most other Space Marine chapters are based but strive to be different from as they are so mincy. Why Games Workshop would want a Space Marine chapter whose symbol is a toilet seat repulsive reverse vagina upside down Omega upsilon horseshoe International Phonetic Alphabet transcription for "uhh..." (℧) as their go-to chapter is beyond us. They have an easily recognizable blue-with-gold-trim colour scheme that the Thousand Sons decided to rip off post-heresy (after the Newcrons ripped off their Egyptian motif.) Of course technically that's only the second company, but who ever heard of an Ultramarine player not painting his army blue and gold? The blue colouration, coupled with the small size of the minis, has lead them to be nicknamed "Smurfs" by some everyone. It's a very, very old joke however, and it was never particularly funny even when the boys in blue were at their most insufferably Wardian. Rick Priestley was originally inspired to promote the Ultramarines heavily in publications of White Dwarf after a dream he had whilst staying around a friends house in which he claims the miniatures began speaking to him, this part allegedly had a role in his eventual dismissal from Games Workshop in 2010.

A squad of Tactical Marines are the protagonists of the 40k-based CGI movie surprisingly titled "Ultramarines". It's not bad per se (Dan Abnett did some of the writing, although the fact that it was only "some" shows) but could have been better.

Also, their pre-Heresy culture and appearance was basically the Romanized gothic tribes from near the end of the Roman Empire. So, they still had their manly barbarian on combined with strict discipline and coordination. Currently, though, they’re just straight up Roman. Interestingly, the Space Wolves back then were basically the pre-Romanized tribes.

Overview

All said and done, the Ultries can be badass.

The Ultramarines are perhaps the closest to what many would consider a 'modern' military among the Adeptus Astartes. Strategy, planning and the minimization of casualties is the basis of any Ultramarine battle-plan and their central concept is that of a well drilled, immaculate army of soldiers who execute their duty with professionalism and competence. "Information is victory" is essentially the Ultramarine way, more so than most other Chapters. Though they are much more relaxed with regards to discipline than the Forge World's favoured, or those other guys. Even before they had reunited with their Primarch, it had been noted that the XIIIth Legion (then called the War Born) was strongly inclined towards the adoption of carefully thought out battle plans, an established chain of command, and an aversion to inflicting collateral damage. These tendencies were intensified further by their extensive study and practice of the Codex Astartes, which covers a very broad range of battlefield situations and doctrines to live by. Thanks to each and every one of them training and living by it, their companies operate like a smoothly functioning combat machine with every unit functionally interlocking with every other. However, as much as this by-the-book discipline was their strength, it is often also, like the real-life ancient Roman Legions, their weakness, since the few situations that the Codex Astartes did not prepare them for tended to catch them flat-footed, lacking the flexibility to properly respond. More accurately, no Marine knows the whole Codex as it is too vast for even their minds. Each learns different parts of it. This means that while the whole Codex can be used for any situation, commanders don’t have all the pieces to the puzzle. The initial Tyranid invasion and the Damnos incident exemplify such situations, where the unconventional nature of their enemy nearly led to their defeat. It doesn't matter how smoothly your forces function if you don't actually have a way to win the battle.

That being said, they are extremely good at adapting to a threat once the initial shock has passed. In the aftermath of their near-defeat to the Tyranids, the Chapter would go on to crush Hive Fleet Kraken as a coherent invasion force as well as create an entire unit dedicated to fighting this particular threat (Almost as if they are a chapter that is protected by a mystical armour), called the Tyrannic War Veterans. These specialists would become highly sought after by the Deathwatch due to their experience and knowledge and was even augmented by survivors from other Chapters that suffered the wrath of the Tyranids. During the Horus Heresy, an entire force of 1000 Ultramarines was decimated the initial Night Lord of invasion of Sotha. Despite being caught off guard at first due to their unfamiliarity with the Night Lord's unconventional tactics, they began to adapt fast to their enemy's fighting style and by the end of the battle, achieved a near 20-1 kill ratio over their traitorous cousins. Although they may be weak to a new enemy or new tactics, they have a superb reactivity once they have the information they need.

They’re not warriors or knights, but soldiers; a professional fighting force dedicated to defending the 500 Worlds of Ultramar and serving the interests of the larger Imperium beyond. A standing army that is the byproduct of a prosperous Star Empire to which they owe their existence. This is seen in their combat doctrine. They don’t have any specializations themselves because they are supposed to adapt to whatever situation presents itself and act accordingly. They are a fluid and malleable fighting force that is supposed to assess the situation, gain every scrap of intelligence/battle data they can, and then change themselves into whatever is required to get the job done; be it a blunt hammer or a precision blade. That being said, they do still have particular units which specialize at one thing or another. For instance, while the average Ultramarine will probably lose a duel to an average Dark Angel, the Invictus Suzerians can hold their own against even the best of the Lion's sons. By that same token however, a Suzerian won't out-snipe a Raven Guard Mor'Deythan. If not for being a bit too hard into the "honor and glory" thing, and being a bit too by-the-book, they would basically be Reasonable Marines.

The Primarch of the Ultramarines is Roboute Guilliman (aka Robot Girlyman and about a thousand other highly appropriate names: Big Bobby G, Rowboat Gillman, The BIG RG, Rawbutt Girlyman , The Great Papa Smurf, God-Emperor of smurfs Ex. Ex.) and it was he who wrote the (in?)famous Codex Astartes after the events of the Daddy Issue Invasion, prescribing each Space Marine chapter to a mere thousand warriors to ensure that no one man would ever command the loyalty of an entire Space Marine legion again. At least, that was the plan, but Roboute Guilliman himself never got to see it come to light, as he was mortally wounded by a poisonous attack from his bro, the Traitor Primarch Fulgrim, and he had been kept in stasis by the Ultramarines for thousands of years, only being revived through the actions of Archmagos Cawl and the Ynnari ten thousand years later (Working with Xenos? HERESY!).

The Ultramarines base their ideals upon the teachings of super-Ultra Smurf daddy, who ended up on a neo-Roman planet and soon adopted their way of thinking. They believe in individual strength to strengthen the whole (and not for the betterment of one self), and in following the rules, however strict they might be. This way, order is maintained in all things. Courage is, naturally, also a big thing to them, since it goes with the idea of the individual working to better the whole. All this means that the Ultramarines are very, very good at doing their job, as long as they are prepared for it and works alongside the rest of their Chapter, but tend to be rather stumped when a situation which their planning and reasoning can't immediately deal with, comes up. When such situations do occur, such as the First Tyrannic War, they tend to have to take a bit of time to adapt. Being an army of mini-Guillimans, an elucidating example of their tendencies can be gleaned from a set of wargames that Guilliman had with Corax back in the halcyon days. Corax, who was one of the Imperium's best tacticians, beat Guilliman in three battlefield scenarios in which he outmaneuvered Guilliman through the use of Moritats and ad-hoc civilian saboteur squads. Guilliman, who initially hadn't considered the use of either unit due to them being so unorthodox, caught on to their usefulness after the three defeats. Once he'd gotten Corax's number, Corax never beat him again. Corax himself said of the games: "I won battles against him, but never a war." That's basically the Ultramarines in a nutshell; you may win some battles against them with unorthodox tactics and imagination. But odds are they are going to figure you out, and once they do, you are in a lot of trouble.

Ehh... Could you get your ass off the altar, Claudius?

The Ultramarines are also notorious for disregarding much of the wider Imperium in favour of their own worlds, the famed 500 Worlds of Ultramar. This has earned them much hate from in-universe factions, who don't like how they essentially go "Screw you guys, we'll just make our own, sort of working empire! With blackjack! And hookers!"; One of Fulgrim's iterators, who had the ear of powerful members of Terran court, once said that "The Lord of Ultramar sees little else besides the primacy of his own culture.", and also Malcador and the Emperor were not surprised when Guilliman chose to defend his 500 worlds rather than get his hands dirty with the Horus Heresy. Which is, of course, the complete opposite of Ultramar’s “protect the greater whole” philosophy, but GW has always been stupid like that. Many elegen/tg/entlemen dislike this as well, since it sort of makes the Ultries seem they know better than the rest of the Imperium, while still being lauded as being some of the most honourable Chapters in the entire galaxy.

In the Ultramarines' defense however, they're probably the most successful space marine chapter in the galaxy, considering that they defend and maintain hundreds of worlds, and those worlds are some of the most prosperous, meritocratic worlds in the entire Imperium. Plus, the Ultramarines have an affinity with the common people, as they believe that it's their sworn duty to protect the innocent, like the Salamanders but not quite to the same degree. Even with their duties in Ultramar, the Chapter still sends warriors out into the wider galaxy, making significant contributions at Armageddon and at Cadia during the 13th black crusade. That said, their propensity to focus on defending Ultramar (alongside other Chapters in or near Ultramar) could also be the simple pragmatism of recognizing that a thousand (or a few thousand with the nearby Chapters considered) Marines cannot really do much more than that without heavily diluting their force projection. And besides, Guilliman was getting involved with the Horus Heresy until Ultramar got cut off by the Ruinstorm. Plus on top of all that, most of the Imperium sucks because of the choices of the people running the show. There's no reason most of the rest of the Imperium's worlds couldn't implement the sorts of policy decisions that make Ultramar as prosperous as it is; it's not as though Ultramar keeps any of it secret. Since they choose not to, the Ultramarines' attitude is may essentially just be "ok look, when the rest of you want to stop being retarded, you let us know. We've got more than enough work to do as it is, so until then, we'll be over here not dealing with your shit".

All of the other Space Marine legions save one (or maybe two, depending on how you look at it, maybe three if you count anger and most likely four when thinking about it) adopted the Codex and split up into multitudes of smaller chapters, and most Space Marine chapters today follow the practices found within it, although some like the Space Wolves and the Black Templars have refrained from implementing it. This is because, generally speaking, it really is a very good general reference for tactical and strategic planning; Guilliman's strategic capabilities were, after all, only rivaled by Dorn and Horus in the entire Imperium. However, the Ultramarines and more than a few of their Successor Chapters are very rigid in their compliance to it. Where most other Chapters like the Imperial Fists and Raven Guard looks to it for guidance when encountering unfamiliar situations, the Ultramarines see the Codex as a sort of "holy book" and follow its instructions to the letter. Ironically, Guilliman himself believed this to be misguided and noted that the Codex was never meant to replace the ability to act on one's own judgments. But Irony is a strong force in 40K universe.

The Ultramarines are also the base source of about 80% of the Geneseed for new Space Marine chapters, mainly for two reasons, and totally not because GW wants to push vanilla marines as much as possible to new players. The first in-universe reason is that, during all times of the Great Crusade and the Horus Heresy, the Ultramarines were by far the largest Legion (numbering around 250-300.000 Marines) and it made the split into a multitude of chapters, many of which are still around today, much easier on them than on certain other chapters. This was further compounded by the fact that the Ultramarines were largely intact after the Heresy, whereas many of the other Legions, smaller even to begin with, had been absolutely decimated. The Salamanders, Raven Guard, and Iron Hands had all nearly ceased to exist after the Dropsite Massacre, and the Imperial Fists, Space Wolves, Blood Angels, and White Scars had all been similarly assblasted either right before, or during, the Siege of Terra. The only two Legions that were still kicking about in relatively large numbers after the Heresy were the Dark Angels and the Ultramarines, as neither Legion had been involved in either event. The Dark Angels however, then suffered a catastrophe when the Legion returned to Caliban. With Luthor's betrayal of the Lion and the destruction of their homeworld, the First Legion was still going strong compared to most of their cousins, but were not nearly so numerous as they might have been. The second is that Ultramarine geneseed proved to be simply the most reliable, largely free of mutation (unless someone tries to deliberately mess with it) or other quirks of personality some other successor chapters express. It also had a very low rate of rejection compared to most other Legions. The only other similarly stable, easily implanted Loyalist geneseed repositories were those of the Dark Angels and Imperial Fists, both of whom ended up having either quite a few successor chapters themselves, or just a few chapters with one absurdly huge chapter. If anything, the psychological tendency it imposes is compliance with group conformity, which is far more preferable for the High Lords of Terra (the only group allowed to sanction new foundings or give later recognition to chapters unofficially founded or after loyalist secessions from loyalist chapters) than the various other obsessions that may result.

The third, secret reason the Ultramarines have so many Successors is due to Guilliman and the Mechanicus hiding other legion traitors as Ultramarines. Since the Ultramarines are so numerous, no one would question just another one of their successor chapters. Plus since Guilliman spent a bunch of time after the Heresy as the Imperium's Lord Commander (aka boss man), he would have had ample opportunity to fudge as many of the Loyalist Traitors' chapter origins as he pleased. During the Great Crusade, the Ultramarines and Imperial Fists received reinforcements for the Lost II and XI legions. However, the Ultramarines were also not nearly as devastated during or just after the Heresy as the Imperial Fists were. Guilliman would then also hide loyalists from the traitor legions as his sons including the Silver Skulls. Later foundings using traitor stock may also include (but are not limited to) the Red Scorpions, the Storm Wardens, the Fire Angels, the Sons of Antaeus, the Mortifactors, and the Iron Snakes. There's also a very strong possibility that the Minotaurs fall into this group. How exactly this works for them being "reliable as Ultramarine geneseed" is unknown since you would think the people testing Geneseed would notice the difference between, say, Word Bearer and Ultramarine stock. Also, if Ultramarine geneseed is so reliable, wouldn't the traitor stock spread out through their successor be a dead giveaway? Finally, Guilliman had his mindwiped so he wouldn't know who had traitor geneseed in his ranks. This means that many of his successor chapters may have some traitor geneseed mixed into the pool which must raise some eyebrows once in a while when it gets examined. Maybe the guys doing the geneseed tests just have asterisks next to those cases and count them as "unusual, but acceptable deviancy to never, ever question, ever". However, it's just as likely that Guilliman has people in the Mechanicum hierarchy, like Cawl, who are still actively covering for the Loyalist Traitors.

Because they are the poster-boys for Space Marines, they are perhaps the most famous Chapter in the general 40k fandom, but are widely hated by many denizens of /tg/. This may initially have been due to their popularity - the Space Marines in general suffer something of a backlash from fa/tg/uys because of their overwhelming popularity with the annoying young children that infest the hobby, and the Ultramarines are the most popular of them all - but of recent editions the blatant favouritism displayed by certain Games Workshop writers towards the Chapter have earned them considerable ire, especially from fans of other Space Marine chapters that get slagged off in the process. This is mainly the fault of Matthew Ward's 5th edition Space Marine Codex, which explicitly claimed that the Ultramarines were superior to all other Space Marines (In 2nd edition it was explicitly stated.) and was not helped by Ward's own poor fluff-writing skills (see Quotes below). However, more recent fluff has served to bring the Ultramarines back to their "Space Roman" roots, making them far less objectionable than they were in the past. Forge World's Horus Heresy line has been particularly kind to them, giving them a variety of stylish Heresy-era gear, all of them with that "The Glory That Was Rome" vibe.

First Edition History

Fig.1.1: An Ultramarine, note the Beakie.

This article or section is about something oldschool - and awesome. Make sure your rose-tinted glasses are on nice and tight, and prepare for a lovely walk down nostalgia lane.

Back in the first edition of Warhammer 40,000, in an article co-written by Rick Priestley. The XIIIth Legion were actually traitors and were banished to the Eye of Terror along with the other traitor legions. The modern day 40k Ultramarines were established on new years day 001.M32, which would make them a Third Founding chapter. They received all of the gene-"sperm" & implants, rituals and paraphernalia of the original legion.

Not only that, they only received lordship over the world of Macragge AFTER the First Tyrannic War. And though they did have different names for all of their company captains and command staff, they were/are still commanded by a man named Marneus Calgar.

The implications of this would be startling if we use the "everything is canon, but not necessarily true" stance that GW has adopted when regarding fluff inconsistencies. Hinting that Guilliman's marines were heretics and traitors and were eventually banished from the Imperium.

However, attempting to reconcile this old origin story with "modern" Ultramarines is extremely difficult, we can only coherently insert it into the current state of play if we assume there is a second chapter out there called the "Ultra-Marines" with a chapter master and homeworld of the same name and the same level of involvement with the Tyrannic Wars. Though what completely knocks this old fluff out is that it also has possession of the body of Roboute Guilliman so it has to be a retcon though it still opens the door to conspiracy theories or that Marneus Calgar is in command of multiple Chapters.

The other possibility is that when the Ultramarines were declared traitor and forced into the eye of terror, Guilliman, recognising his plans for Imperium Secondus were about to topple with the death of Sanguinius (who had been declared ruler as a means to placate the Emperor and the other legions), Guilliman had himself cloned and a portion of his legions most pure geneseed moved to the Eastern Fringe and Macragge to ensure survival of the Ultramarines, The Ultramar Empire and the Imperium Secondus concept as its eventuality. This occurred just as the rest of the legion (Including the original primarch) were declared traitor and forced into the eye. It would also suggest, given the appearance of Guilliman's wounded body in stasis on Macragge, that it was in-fact the clone that was killed by Fulgrim and the real primarch still resides either in the eye of terror or the immaterium with the remains of the Ultramarine Traitor Legion.

In either case, somehow one of the two possible Guilliman's was returned to Macragge and placed in stasis post-mortem after being Mortally-Wounded. If you accept the cloning of Guilliman, this all makes sense; he wanted to ensure his empire survived and having been declared traitor, cloned himself and sent the clone to rule over the new Imperium, the clone being mortally wounded by Fulgrim en-route. Or somehow, and for some reason, a traitor primarch was dragged out of the eye of terror and kept in stasis on the opposite side of the galaxy. Given the stupidity of that second line of thought, the clone being the primarch on Macragge is a much more likely situation... Especially as if his wounds heal and the clone recovers he would be able to continue acting out the original Guilliman's plans for a second imperium with its epicentre based within the Ultramar Empire and using Space Marines created from the remains of the purest legion-stock geneseed.

Or, infinitely more likely, it's just old fluff which went the way of the Squats after Rogue Trader, and we should hope so, because if it isn't, we also have to reconcile the space marines being entirely beaky space cops. However, there is a ton from Rogue Trader that was not retconned. And besides, the fandom considers Rogue Trader to be the final authority in all things wherever there are lore conflicts (unless one side is significantly more awesome than the other).

Besides, who’s to say that current Ultramarines are the Legio XIII? There are two purged Legions whose numbers were absorbed by the XIII. This makes it easy to connect 1st edition with later renditions as it would mean that Rogue Trader was right about XIII being traitors. If the remaining “Ultramarines” were from the two destroyed legions. The traitorous sons of Guilliman purged by him and his adopted sons who later got revenge with the help of the Alpha Legion.

Name & Breaking the Hyphen

The Ultramarines are not named because they are 'Ultra' as in 'Superior'. They're called "Ultramarines" because their home sector is Ultramar and the demonym is Ultramarine. Think of how people from America are Americans. Taking it as literally as possible, they're the "People of Ultramar," which plays back into their theme of being a part of their home's society. Their armour colouring is "coincidentally" called Ultramarine, which is generally described as being a slightly grapish (in contrast to Phthalo's greenish) blue. So, pronounce it like “Ultramar-ine”. Not that you will since “Ultra Marine” sounds better and is easier to say.

The overseas section of the Spanish Empire was referred to as Ultramar (waaaaaaaaaaay beyond the sea). Given the great distance between Ultramar and Terra, it's a fitting analogy.

In early versions of the Lore, "Ultramarines" (As they are now known) are spelt in a myriad of different ways. Rick Priestly himself describing them as "Ultra-Marines". Other versions include "Ultra Marines", "The Ultra-Marine Chapter" and "Smurfs" *BLAM* amongst many other iterations. In all instances, and all cases (even accounting for the First Edition lore above) it can be assumed the lore refers to the same Chapter or Legion. Punctuation matters, just not in 40K...

Ultramarines post-Ward

This article or section involves Matthew Ward, Spiritual Liege, who is universally-reviled on /tg/. Because this article or section covers Ward's copious amounts of derp and rage, fans of the 40K series are advised that if they proceed onward, they will see fluff and crunch violation of a level rarely seen.

Ultramarines, from the days of Awesome.

"Our love is nothing but the blues, baby, how blue can you get?"

– B.B. King

"Listen to your blue-clad wretches yelling of courage and honour, courage and honour, courage and honour. Do you even know the meaning of those words? Courage is fighting the kingdom which enslaves you, no matter that their armies outnumber yours by ten-thousand to one. You know nothing of courage. Honour is resisting a tyrant when all others suckle and grow fat on the hypocrisy he feeds them. You know nothing of honour."

– Angron, proving that a stopped clock is right twice a day

Unless you are new here, then you should be well informed by now over the really skubtastic history involving the Ultramarines and the dreaded Ward. While Ward was indeed responsible for the immense butthurt and rage caused on /tg/ and to 1d4Chan itself (Seriously just look at the pages history, it was a war on green and red edits), Ward himself wasn't completely at fault here, Games Workshop is just as much to blame for their irresponsible and careless attitude in handling fluff to a clearly biased player and gave him the green light to write whatever things Ward could come out with. However after Ward's quite unexpected departure in 2014 (He came back in 2016 though, just hope he can control his Ultramarine urges now(he can’t)), the Ultramarines have been getting....less of the limelight like they used to back in the heydays of Codex: Space Marines 5th Edition. Nowadays, the Blood Angels, Space Wolves, Dark Angels and even the Deathwatch are getting more in the spotlight. While the Ultramarines are still the de facto mascots of WH40K, it seems that the post-Ward era has seen the return of more... diverse forms of Space Marine Chapters. Furthermore, the Horus Heresy lineups made by our favorite Forgeworld has been giving the Ultramarines and the rest of the Space Marine Legions an equal respect in both their lore and crunch which was unthinkable back in the day, "The Salamanders and Raven Guard get their own moment to shine without the Ultras overshadowing them? How preposterous!" would be the most likely answer if went back in time and told our past selves over this.

Additionally the Forgeworld model for Roboute Guilliman has been well received by fans with some commenting that of all the Primarch models, Guilliman's was one of the best designed and posed (although the truth is that his armour has went from Greco-Roman in style to Marvel, and in spite of all his Mary Sue-ness, he's still likely to get stomped over by an Imperial Knight or Assault Terminators). What does this mean for our (in)famous blueberries? A redemption of sorts? Winning back the crowd? Earning back the respect it once had? The answer could be all of them. Whatever is the case, the legacy of Ward and the Ultramarine fiasco did impact the way players see the Ultramarines and the Space Marines to an extent either negatively or positively (More inclined to the negativity though). But seeing as how GeeDubs still has the Cruddhead, it can be seen with some sigh of relief that GeeDubs seems to be back to their grips now in terms of fluff at least.

Tabletop

Throughout most of GW's history the Ultramarines have been portrayed on the tabletop as the "standard" space marine chapter, to the point where most other chapters are represented as "Ultramarines +,- variable X". More popular chapters often get their own codices, but less popular chapters get relegated to sets of advantages and disadvantages on top of the Ultramarine baseline. At certain points in GW's sordid tabletop history this has led to Ultramarines being literally vanilla marines with no bonuses whatsoever, where the only advantage to taking them is their wide selection of characters, and other times such as 7th edition where with the right builds and the right tactics, you could statistically beat out the Blood Angels and Space Wolves in assault, and Dark Angels and Imperial Fists in shooting.

8th Edition is probably the best they've ever been while not being quite as cheesy as they were in the past. Their strategies, characters, chapter tactics, and warlord trait all grant bonuses to command points, to the point where you can get the effective use of 20(!) command points on stratagems in a 2000 point game, leading to an army with massive tactical flexibility. Gone are the days were you can butcher melee dedicated forces in close combat, and out-shoot the gun-factories of the universe, a bunch of damn sues who win because they are - of course - the BEST EVAR. Now you get the Ultramarines as they should be: a versatile but non-specialized army with the tactical and strategic flexibility to make the most out of any situation.

Notable Members

While most believe the story told by the Ultramarines, eye-witnesses paint a different story...

• Marneus Augustus Calgar: Regent of Ultramar and Chapter Master of the Ultramarines. His accomplishments include being thoroughly ripped apart by the Swarmlord (by that we mean all his limbs, a large portion of his body and his eye), and single handedly holding off an Ork Waaagh! for 9 days all by himself. However, his crowning moment is his defeat of an Eldar Avatar of Khaine in 1 vs 1, hand-to-hand combat, which is typically killed by the same effort it takes to kill a Khornate Bloodthirster - never mind that the thing is made of molten metal and over three times his size. He also had a rematch with the Swarmlord and won, which must have been pretty easy, considering that it had been recently ripped apart. Has also faced Abaddon the Despoiler as well (following turning into a Primaris Marine), but his plot armor wasn't as strong that day and he just barely escaped that mess.
• Severus Agemman: Captain of the Ultramarines First Company. He was Captain of the Second Company, and Sicarius' commanding officer before being promoted after the First Tyrannic War. There isn't much fluff about him besides being overshadowed by his former subordinate Sicarius. As first Company Captain he's Calgar's appointed successor, however much of the chapter thinks it will be Sicarius instead of him. Agemman is aware of this possibility and isn't very happy about it. As of the end of the Plague Wars, Severus serves as the Tetrarch of the northern reaches of Ultramar.
• Cato Sicarius: Former captain of the Ultramarines Second Company and Leader of Guilliman's Victrix Guard. Is kind of a glory hog, but he's arguably earned his right to be a braggart through his skill at arms. Was taken on as a ward by the primarch after his resurrection, mostly because Cato's brash, forthright personality reminded him of Aeonid Thiel, whose counsel Guilliman greatly missed. His Captaincy was given to Sevastus Acheran after getting lost in the warp and was assigned the Victrix Honour Guard Captain after escaping.
• Sevastus Acheran: Successor of Cato Sicarius as captain of the 2nd company, and is basically (from what little lore we have of him) a sneakier, more badass version of Sicarius. He was the one who led an assault by the Vanguard on a massive daemon factory in Shadowspear, and was willing to sacrifice himself once that attack went bad. He survived however, leading the 2nd company during the Plague Wars (This time wearing Gravis Armor).
• Uriel Ventris: Captain of the Ultramarines Fourth Company and the main character of Graham McNeil's Ultramarines novel series. Notable for destroying the Daemonculaba.
• Ortan Cassius: Master of Sanctity of the Ultramarines and ex-member of the Deathwatch. Currently one of the oldest Space Marines alive and not yet placed in a Dreadnought. The Tyrannic War Veterans were his idea.
• Varro Tigurius: the Ultramarine's (Primaris) Chief Librarian, has enough psychic prowess to make psychic contact with the Hive Mind without going bonkers in the process.
• Torias Telion: (aka; Sean Connery made Grimdark) Ultramarine Scout Sergeant. A skilled sniper, other chapters have borrowed him to train their scouts occasionally. He also has an impressive mustache.
• Captain Titus: Captain of the who the fuck knows company (if the trim of his pauldrons are accurate, he's Captain of the 2nd Company). He gained prominence (will gain prominence?) on the forge world of Graia, trying to keep a whole Waaagh! from stealing all the bitz for themselves while keeping a probably radical Inquisitor happy. Also there's a portal to the warp letting out Daemons and Chaos Marines to go on a jolly old pub crawl. He is also one of the few Ultramarines who clearly states that the Codex Astartes is not meant to be a mental straightjacket. Thus, he is awesome.
• Varnus: Ultramarines Chaplain dispatched to Lorn V, tasked with bodyguarding and delivering a Titan's Princeps and his crew to the abandoned Dominatus, worked alongside grit incarnate on legs (also known as General Sturnn). For perhaps the first instance in recorded time, he is a Space Marine who actually respects the Imperial Guard and couldn't ask for a better force (barring his own company). He is also a pretty hard-ass motherfucker that [charged] a Bloodthirster and won.
• Aeonid Thiel: A sergeant during the Horus Heresy. Despite being seen as a rule breaking maverick for proposing battle simulations of Space Marines fighting one another, he ends up playing a major role first in the Battle of Calth, then in laying the groundwork for the Ultramarines post-war, including the red painted helmets for sergeants. Also served as the co-writer of the Codex. Promoted to Captain of the 2nd Company at the time of Guilliman's wounding, though his ultimate fate is unknown.
• Decimus Felix: Primaris Captain of the Ultramarines Eleventh Company (Though one doesn't quite exist) and Equerry to Guilliman. Despite the utterly suspicious circumstances of such a fresh-ish face being afforded this much power, he acts as the voice of reason for the primarch. Acts as Tetrarch to the eastern reaches of Ultramar and has been trolled a bit by Cawl.
• Sergeant Cornellus: A sergeant of an embarrassing squad. Notable for killing Eliphas the Inheritor the first time, stopping a daemon invasion and finding the Ultramarines Scrabble set all while sounding like a baby
• Vitrian Messinius is a White Consuls Captain and Master of Recruits who commands the Indomitus Crusade Fleet Tertius' Battlegroup Saint Aster as a Lord-Lieutenant as well as being in charge of Roboute Guilliman's security (probably due to him getting shanked ) and is part of his personal retinue, the Victrix-Guard sounds Roman enough right Games Workshop?
• Malum Caedo: Sternguard Veteran Sergeant who got sent to Graia to fix up the mess after the idiots there continued trying to experiment with the Warp powered battery. Probably one of the most hardest brother-fuckers of the Ultrasmurfs or even among Astartes in general thanks to being the protagonist of his own boomer shooter. Big Fanboy of Captain Titus and Sidonus and likes to read the Codex Astartes when idle.
• Smurfette: The only female member of the Ultramarine chapter.

Quotes

"Chapters (not descended from Guilliman's geneseed) are disciples who owe their genetic inheritance to another Primarch, but follow the Codex Astartes as keenly as their divergent heritage allows. While primarily composed of successor Chapters, this group also includes several Chapters of the First Founding - notably the Imperial Fists, White Scars and the Raven Guard. These chapters can never be Ultramarines, for their gene-seed is not that of Roboute Guilliman. Nevertheless, they will ever aspire to the standards and teachings of the great Primarch."

– Fucking Matt Ward...

"(Chapters who do not emulate the Ultramarines) are aberrants; chapters who, through quirk of gene-seed, mutation or stubbornness, eschew the Codex Astartes in favor of other structural and combat doctrines. Some, such as the Blood Angels and their successors, strive to be worthy of Guilliman's legacy, but their recalcitrant gene-seed drives them ever further from it. Others, such as the Space Wolves and the Black Templars, remain stubbornly independent, looking to their own founder's ways of war (which is hilarious for the Templars) and caring little of how they fare in the eyes of others. These aberrant Chapters were always few in number and their presence diminishes with each passing decade, for their gene-seed is no longer the source of fresh Chapters."

– Matt Ward, Ultramarines player, codex writer, Codex: Space Marines, 5th Edition, p. 25.

"The Ultramarines are undoubtedly the best Space Marines ever. Yes, really! Thanks to the heritage of Guilliman and their myriad heroic deeds, the Ultramarines are the exemplars of the Space Marines. With a few fringe exceptions who have severe mutations (Blood Angels) or stolid stubbornness (Space Wolves and Dark Angels) all Space marine chapters want to be like the Ultramarines and recognize Marneus Calgar as their spiritual liege."

– Matt Ward, Ultramarines player, codex writer, in the White Dwarf interview celebrating the release of Codex: Space Marines.

"But your teachings…"
"Are yet flawed," said Guilliman. "No one, not even one such as I, can anticipate every possible outcome of battle. My words are not some holy writ that must be obeyed. There must always be room for personal initiative on the battlefield. You and I both know how one spark of heroism can turn the tide of battle. That knowledge and personal experience can only be earned in blood, and the leader in the field must always be the ultimate arbiter of what course of action should be followed."

– Roboute Guilliman, making a point that his successors would quickly forget about and the writer above would ignore.

"Wondering what would be in the supplemental Codex for the Ultramarines that won’t be in the main book? Come take a peek!"

– Adam Harrison, August 8 2019, for Bell of Lost Souls, selling to us the new Ultrasmurf supplement and privileges...

Daily Rituals

04:00 - The Ultramarines rise up from their sleep in their marble-encased sleeping chambers. The Primarch has already been awake for some time, having lost the need for sleep as a side effect of his revival. (Good thing, too- according to Guilliman himself the Armor of Fate is too noisy to let him rest, and even if it wasn't the armor doesn't have the flexibility to let him lie down in the first place.)

04:30 - Morning Prayers. The Ultramarines conduct morning prayers on why they are the SECOND TO TEH EMPRAH! and how all other chapters view Marneus Calgar as their Spritual Liege.

05:30 - Codex Astartes. The Ultramarines are indoctrinated and reminded on the rules and values of the Codex Astartes. Guilliman makes a note to break the news of his Codex revisions gently so his gene-sons don't go into conniptions.

08:00 - Morning Firing Rites. The Ultramarines enter target practice with spiritual guidance from Chaplain Ortan Cassius, who manages to only occasionally go off into furious rants about "The goddam bugs".

09:00 - Battle Practice. The Ultramarines leave for Macragge's Colosseum to train against each other, the local Macragge fauna and Battle Servitors.

10:00 - Morning Meal. While later than some chapters, the Ultramarines feast upon a light meal made of fruits, biscuits and light meat by the Chapter serfs. The serfs are thanked soon afterwards in a manner of respect.

10:15 - Tactical Indoctrination. The Ultramarines head to see the latest battle plans and which military techniques that can best complement the Codex Astartes. Guilliman reviews the most recent major warzones of the Imperium and prepares battle plans for the forces deployed there.

10:30 - Meetings with the Spiritual Liege. Whilst the rest of the Ultramarines practice reciting the Codex Astartes, the leaders from each of the Ultramarine's companies discuss political, social and military affairs of Ultramar and the Imperium at large. When the Primarch has the opportunity to be present, discussions and tactical briefings on his long absence last for hours, with plenty of facepalming and sighing from said Primarch.

11:00 - Afternoon Wargames. The Ultramarines conduct miniature wargames to best simulate strategic and combat play which can be learned and adapted in real life combat.

13:00 - Midday Meal. A light meal of cheese, bread, meats and vegetables is prepared by the Chapter serfs. Sometimes they have a soup tasty enough for them to sing about later.

13:30 - Codex Astartes. More indoctrination of the Codex Astartes are read to ensure that the Ultramarines never diverge from the book of Guilliman. The Primarch privately wonders how his words about the Codex being a guideline could have been misinterpreted so badly.

15:00 - Evening Firing Rites. The Ultramarines enter target practice.

16:00 - Battle Practice. The Ultramarines are now dropped into the wilderness of Macragge to fend off the local fauna and flora there. The animals and plants killed are sent to the Chapter Serfs for more ingredients.

17:00 - Evening Prayers. The Ultramarines gather together to pray on why they are the chosen chapter and why the Ultramar System is the best system.

18:00 - Nighttime Firing Rites. The Ultramarines take target practice in the night to further hone in their nocturnal experience.

19:00 - Battle Practice. The Ultramarines descend to one of the neighboring planets in Ultramar to further fight the planet's local fauna and flora, as well as the various nasty things Nurgle has been attacking Ultramar with lately.

19:30 - Daily Medical Checkup. Whilst the rest of the Ultramarines are busy practicing their combat prowess, the long hours of having to keep the entire Imperium afloat has left Roboute Guilliman in a state of dismay, anger and minor facial injuries due to repeated facepalming. Apothecaries try and fail to warn their Primarch that continued usage of the facepalm will eventually give the Avenging Son a concussion. Any battle-brothers who have come into contact with the forces of Nurgle are painstakingly decontaminated to prevent the spread of any warp-contagion.

20:00 - Evening Meal. A feast made from the creatures slain by the Ultramarines earlier on is cooked in the finest ingredients. Cooking it perfectly gets the serf a purity seal of valor while cooking it imperfectly forces the serf to be read the entire Codex Astartes section on cooking. Guilliman privately wonders how the joke section made it into the official print.

21:00 - Cleaning up Guilliman's chambers. The Ultramarines go and clean up their Primarch's marble chambers after Macragge's daily tourist traps are closed for the night. Despite the Avenging Son's frequent absences from Ultramar, they like to be sure his quarters are just as he left them.

22:00 - Free Time. The Ultramarines get free time. Some continue to read the Codex Astartes, others pray to the Emperor while some go out of their Fortress Monastery to catch up on the local news and political affairs as well as hanging out with the citizens of Macragge.

24:00 - Rest Period. The Ultramarines descend back to their marble-encased sleeping chambers to rest, save for Guilliman who is needed elsewhere in the Imperium.

Some music

• Their theme done by HMKids.
• Ultrsmurfs tribute theme done by Eliphas.
• Their theme from Chaos Gate. Became a major meme among Russian 40k fans due to some deliciously stupid misheard lyrics and made ultramarines associated with soup in Russian community.
• A track from their official movie.

Gallery

• 

  ULTRAWOMBLES

• 

  Sgt Pasanius didn't want that hand anyway.

• 

  Say what you want about Ultramarines, but their Honour Guards looks pretty boss.

• 
• 

  Captain Cato Sicarius' power armour, also known as the Mantle of the Mary Suzerain

• 

  Ultramarines got the front cover of the Space Marine Codex and admittely looks fucking cool for it.

• 

  30k-Era Stylized Emblem. Notice the swords are spatha, not gladii.

• 

  One of the reasons why Calgar rarely leads by example.

See also

• Who Watches Them
• Macragge heresy
• Ultramarines Honour Company
• The past wot got remade by their presence - the original Chapter Approved write up of the "Ultra-Marines."
• Genesis Chapter, their reserve.
• Tyrannic War Veterans