Ultramarines

Everyone's favorite chapter that they love to hate. Over the past couple of weeks I have gone on a personal journey to see what the Ultramarines are all about. Having read both of the big books by Graham McNiell to get a perspective of how they were perceived before what some might call, a 5th edition butchery. I won't be talking about the books too much in this review of the chapter, that will come at a later date. Just to be clear I am not going to go into the history of the chapter, all of that is on wikipedia. This is strictly how I feel the chapter was meant to be and what they have become.

Since their primarch developed the Codex Astartes it only makes sense that they follow it to the letter. This strict adherence to doctrine makes Ultramarines very reliable if not imaginative soldiers. A Lord General in the 41st mellenium would be able to consider himself fortunate to find a company of these stalwart warriors operating in his sector. Unlike other chapters Ultramarines, for the most part, are team players that are more than willing to work with fellow defenders of the Imperium. Of course there are those within the company that don't hold non astartes in high regard such as Captain Sicarius of the second company who holds himself and his fellows above even Space Marines of different chapters. Still the chapter as a whole has many warriors that most in the Imperium would be proud to fight beside.

What makes the Ultrmarines so unique among every other chapter is that they have their own sector of space that they and their successor chapters defend and recruit from, the fact that their geneseed is also the most stable out of every other chapter also allows them to to implant more potential recruits allowing for a faster rate of quality reinforcements that is the envy of many other chapters. Unfortunately Ultima Segmentum has been portrayed as a land with no problems, a perfect little utopia inside Imperium space where no man woman or child goes hungry or lacks basic human rights as we understand them. It is almost as if the Imperium was to fall this sector could cut ties and live the exact same life in relative peace and harmony. Most of us will know the stories of the invasion of a hive fleet, and a few other key invasions that severely ravaged many worlds. It is the structure and order in everything the Ultramarines do that make them special, not that they are the best in everything they do.

There are a number of reasons why the Ultramarines have changed from a force of average super human Joes to becoming a chapter full of the most elite badasses imaginable. The first reason I am going to put squarely on the shoulders of Graham McNiell who started a series of books about stalwart warriors who had flaws but through courage and honor overcame their obstacles. Unfortunately he fell head over heels for the chapter that he wrote about and they suddenly became very powerful for no real reason. Perhaps the biggest image that stays in my mind is an exhausted Chief Librarian being supported in his heavy suit of armor by a gaggle of regular civilians so that he can cut the psychic tie between a daemon prince and its source of power. Before that Tigurius was a humble man of incredible power but had clear limitations as to how much he was capable of, and that last use of his power was far over what he should have been able to do at that point. This happens with even minor character such as Urial Ventris' company champion who can cut his way through any opposition without breaking a sweat. Matt Ward also really deserves some blame on this as most people will tell you. When he wrote the Space Marine codex he really went overboard with what each character is capable of. His biggest butchery was the character of Marneus Calgar, a courageous warrior and sound tactician that is still capable of being humbeled by an astute opponent was turned into a tiny primarch of perfection. The third person that deserves some blame for changing the Ultramarines is Nick Kyme for writing The Fall of Damnos. He took Ward's version of characters and put them in a book that was well written, but felt lifeless because there was very little feeling to the characters. Sicarius is an asshole that wants to charge everything he sees and is obsessed with himself to the point that all the Necrons had to do was hand him a mirror and he would have spent the rest of the fight admiring himself. Tigurius now is full of self confidence and abrasive which is a far cry from the man who would have preferred staying in his mountain library quietly reading a book. Lasty it is the players that deserve blame for perpetuating the ULTRAmarine stereotype. Little kids can't be blamed for picking up the Assault on Blackreach set and falling in love with Ultramarines. Blue is a pretty easy color to paint and they have access to very nice looking models. Instead of refusing to play the power gamers or the kids that run in with internet lists playing the boys in blue, why don't you sit down with them and teach them a bit about what Ultramarines were supposed to be, or just suck it up and play the game and get a moral victory by killing his HQ with something goofy.

I used to dislike Ultramarines immensly, the name, the look, the fact that they were the posterboy for GW, it all sruck me the wrong way. I will probably never play an Ultramarines army because the characters are not what I want them to be and the flavor of the army is not what it was meant to be. Knowing a bit about their past and what got them going as far as literature goes anyway has really made me respect the chapter. So next time you are playing an Ultramarine opponent check and see if they have 4th company heraldry, look for the color green. If they are from the 4th you probably will have a good time playing them since I bet they were into them before Ward got his hands on them.