Ultramarines
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- This article is about the Space Marine Chapter. For other uses, see Ultramarine (disambiguation).
| Ultramarines | |
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| Primarch | Roboute Guilliman |
| Battlecry | Courage and honour! |
| Colours | Ultramarine |
In the Warhammer 40,000 game, the Ultramarines are considered to be one of the greatest of all the Space Marine Chapters in the Imperium of Man, almost single handedly holding the Imperium together after the Horus Heresy. Highly disciplined and courageous warriors, the Ultramarines have remained true to the teachings of their Primarch for ten thousand years.
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[edit] History
[edit] Roboute Guilliman
The Primarch of the Ultramarines Legion, Roboute Guilliman, appeared without explanation on the planet Macragge, a rocky, inhospitable world in what would become known as the Eastern Fringe of the Imperium.
Guilliman’s arrival was a time of great omen for the people of Macragge. Konor, one of the two Battle Kings, received a vision of a mighty warrior fighting away the darkness. After leading an expedition to the site portrayed in the vision, Konor found a golden-haired child.
Naming the child Roboute, Konor adopted him, and was amazed at the speed at which the child learned. Roboute was put through the compulsory military training academies, where he became a master of warfare at such speed; two years later he was considered the finest warrior on Macragge. Joining the military, he led a campaign to pacify the previously-unconquered Illyrium, the northern region of the planet. Within two months, he had both pacified and befriended the savage tribesmen.
Returning from his successful campaign, he found his home city in a state of anarchy. Leading his troops to the Senate house, he organised details to bring the city back under control. Entering the building, and defeating a hundred soldiers in the pay of the rival Battle King, Gallan, he found his adoptive father assassinated.
With the assistance of the troops loyal to both him and his adoptive father, Roboute brought the city under control, captured and executed the leaders of the rebellion, and assumed the role of Battle King. As Macragge and the surrounding systems flourished, the attention of the Emperor was attracted.
It was said that Roboute instantly recognized his true father, swearing loyalty to the Imperium and receiving command of the Ultramarines Legion in return.
[edit] The Great Crusade
Roboute Guilliman quickly assimilated the knowledge required for him to lead a Space Marine Legion, and took command. His talents lay in the art of war, and he led his soldiers to victory after victory, liberating countless worlds from oppression by alien races and Chaos loyalists, fighting in a way that caused minimal collateral damage, and winning over the hearts and minds of the people.
Back on Macragge, the Ultramarines who had remained behind began construction of the Fortress of Hera, and the training and genetic modification of new recruits. They were so effective, the Ultramarines Legion quickly became the largest of the twenty Space Marine Legions fighting in the Crusade. He was also one of the few primarchs to totally accept Horus's elevation to Warmaster, and Horus usually sought his counsel.
[edit] The Horus Heresy
When Warmaster Horus turned his back on the Imperium and ignited the Horus Heresy, his first act was to decoy each loyalist legion into a trap. Horus ordered Gulliman to lead an expeditionary force to halt a mounting Ork Waaagh! in the Calth system. On arrival Guilliman was puzzled. No Orks were present - there were only the vessels of a friendly legion, Lorgar's Word Bearers, hovering in Calth's orbit. Unknown to Guilliman, this legion had turned traitor, and had gratefully accepted Horus's orders to smash their hated rivals, the Ultramarines. The Word Bearers, under the leadership of Kor Phaeron, attacked Guilliman's small fleet immediately.
The sudden attack crippled nearly all the vessels in Guilliman's fleet, leaving him helpless to prevent the destruction of Calth's sister planets and the irradiation of its sun. On the surface, Guilliman's troops were badly outnumbered by a foe that had finally been given full reign to vent its hatred upon them. The Word Bearers rejoiced in the wholescale slaughter, killing the Ultrmarines in droves and driving them back.
But the battle had only just begun. Guilliman's ship had survived the initial attack, and had affected emergency repairs, grouping with the other surviving vessels. Having marshalled the forces left to him, Guilliman sent a distress call to Macragge. The Ultramarines began to fight back.
While the marines on Calth's surface had been driven back, many now occupied fortified positions from which they could not be dislodged easily. Many of the Ultramarine survivors had originated from Calth, and proved more resolute than even the Word Bearers could have anticipated. In space, Guilliman's vessels organised hit-and-run attacks on the lumbering enemy fleet. Guilliman swiftly assessed his ground troop's positions and broadcast clear, concise orders to each pocket of defence on the surface, drawing the survivors into a tightly coordinated whole. The men cheered to hear their Primarch's voice, and fought with renewed vigour.
One such pocket, under Brother-Captain Ventanus, organised a breakout, and retook Calth's defence laser siloes. Ravening blasts from these siloes brought down a score of Word Bearer vessels, helping Guilliman's sorely-pressed fleet. The time they had bought paid off: the rest of the Ultramarines Legion arrived, routing the Word Bearers from the system. Bloodied but reunited, the Ultramarines received Malcador's orders, and immediately Warp jumped to Terra.
Meanwhile, in Earth's orbit, Horus's daemonic allies delivered the fateful news. The Ultramarines, Dark Angels and Space Wolves were mere hours away from joining the Siege of Terra. Their imminent arrival forced Horus into rashness, as he ordered his ship's shields to be dropped. The rest has become the stuff of legend, as the Emperor teleported aboard and won the final battle against Chaos, at the cost of his own humanity.
The Ultramarines did not arrive until after Horus's defeat, but found the Imperium in turmoil. Roboute steadfastly refused to allow the Imperium to fall, dispatching his vast Legion to all corners of the galaxy in an attempt to stem the tide of invasion and unrest, holding the fragile Imperium together while the other Loyalist forces recovered from the ferocity of the civil war.
After a decade of intense fighting stability was, finally, restored. To prevent such an event happening again, Roboute Guilliman laid down the document known as the Codex Astartes, dividing the Space Marine Legions into the smaller and more manageable Chapters, and preventing one man from holding the amount of power Horus once did.
[edit] After the Heresy
Roboute Guilliman continued to serve with the Ultramarines Chapter, leading them for a hundred years after the Second Founding. It was said that during those years, Gulliman led several incursions, alongside with his brother Primarchs, against the remaining Chaos Space Marines. During one incursion, Gulliman faced Alpharius of the Alpha Legion and defeated him, but could not liberate the planet as the Alpha Legion were adept to fighting independently and eventually the Ultramarines were soundly beaten, despite the death of Alpharius. He was finally defeated by one of the traitor Primarchs, Fulgrim of the Emperor's Children, who had become a Daemon Prince of Slaanesh.
Fatally poisoned by his onetime brother, Roboute was transported back to Macragge in a stasis field, and has remained entombed in the field for ten thousand years. Although physically impossible in a stasis field, it is believed that his wounds are healing, and one day he will awaken again.
[edit] The Tyrannic Wars
Some of the most notable events in the ten thousand year history of the Ultramarines are classified as the Tyrannic Wars, the Chapter's efforts against the extragalactic invasion of The Great Devourer. During the latter half of the 41st millennium, the incursions of the Tyranid Hive Fleets began to draw the attention of the Imperium.
Directly in the invasion path of the Hive Fleet codenamed Behemoth, the Chapter Master of the Ultramarines, Marneus Calgar, ordered the deployment of the entire Chapter's forces in an effort to stall Behemoth's progress. Facing defeat on all fronts, Calgar ordered the forces under his command to retreat for Macragge, to mass for one last stand.
Despite horrendous losses from the orbital and polar defence grids protecting the Ultramarines' homeworld, many Tyranid organisms were able to reach the surface of the planet. Intense fighting spread across the planet, worst in the region of the northern polar defence installations, and while Calgar and the Ultramarines fleet were able to destroy the Tyranid ship-organisms, horrific casualties were suffered on the planet's surface. The entire elite First Company were wiped out to a man while defending the defence grids, and it took over two hundred years for the Ultramarines to rebuild the Company.
Since this time, the Ultramarines have become instrumental in the wars against other Hive Fleets. In response to the threat, and counter to the Codex Astartes, many of the veterans of the battle at Macragge have been formed into elite, specially trained anti-Tyranid squads. These Tyrannic War Veterans make up half of the reformed First Company, and are often seconded to the Deathwatch because of their experience and training.
[edit] Organization
The Ultramarines Chapter follows the teachings of their Primarch and the Codex Astartes with a religious dedication. They follow the organizational format laid out during the Second Founding with strict devotion, only deviating from their Primarch's teachings when the situation leaves them no other choice (like the creation of the Tyrannic War Veterans).
[edit] Tyrannic War Veterans
During the first incursion of the Tyranid hive-fleets, the Ultramarines were constantly fighting the extragalactic menace. The invasion of Hive Fleet Behemoth was halted at Macragge, in a series of battles that completely wiped out the elite First Company.
Veterans of Tyranid conflicts are often grouped into elite units of Tyrannic War Veterans, also known as Tyranid Hunters. These units specially trained to effectively fight the extragalactic menace. They are deployed in the Reserve Companies, to allow maximum flexibility of use, and are only ever used against Tyranid invasion. Currently, half of the Ultramarines First Company are composed of Tyrannic War Veterans.
[edit] Combat Doctrine
The Ultramarines adhere rigidly to the tenets laid down in the Codex Astartes. For ten thousand years they have fought in the manner described in its holy pages. Other Chapters may freely interpret the words of Guilliman but, to the Ultramarines, such deviation is unthinkable. The Codex Astartes is a work of divine wisdom, sanctified by the Emperor himself, and the Ultramarines see no reason to deviate from its wisdom. The life-long lessons of discipline and self-reliance that are taught to the people of Ultramar from birth give them the strength of character to hold true to teachings over ten thousand years old.
For any given tactical situation, the Codex has hundreds of pages devoted to how it may be met and overcome. Each warrior of the Chapter is required to memorise whole sections of the Codex so that within a Company there exists an entire record of the Codex’s tenets. The wisdom of thousands of Imperial warriors have contributed to the Codex, and details on everything from unit markings to launching a full-scale planetary assault are contained within its pages. The codex also holds the basis for imperial cities, giving blueprints for certain buildings and road systems, and also issuing a bog standard outline for defences (have flat land outside walls to give enemy little or no cover, arrays of lance batteries to take out enemy ships) the codex also gives guidelines for imperial populations to keep in line, marking out social structure and PDF (planetary defence force) recruitment. Within the book is also the command structure for the armies of the imperial guard. Because of the codex, armies can colonize entire systems and get to the stage of thriving cities with lightning fast precision and speed.
[edit] Battle Cry
"Courage and Honour!"
[edit] Appearance
The Ultramarines typically paint their power armour and vehicles a medium (Ultramarine) blue, and their symbol is an inverted white Omega. The Ultramarines also utilise black-and-yellow chevrons, usually on weapons such as power fists. They also incorporate the double-headed Imperial Eagle (especially seen in command and elite squads) in their armoury. They also have a gold (shining gold) trim on their imperial eagle and shoulder pads.
[edit] Notable Members
- Marneus Calgar - Chapter Master during the 41st millennium.
- Chief Librarian Tigurius - Believed to have survived contact with the Tyranid Hive Mind.
- Chaplain Cassius - Defined as "the master of sanctity", Cassius is one of the oldest Ultramarines not contained in a Dreadnought sarcophagus, and acting mentor of the Tyrannic War Veterans.
- Captain Uriel Ventris - Young captain of the 4th Company and protagonist in the Black Library's Ultramarines series of novels (McNeill, 2004a; McNeill, 2004b; McNeill, 2005)
- Captain Invictus - Captain of the veteran 1st Company when it was wiped out by Hive Fleet Behemoth.
- Captain Cato Sicarius - Leader of the 2nd company. During the Battle for Medusa V in the final year of the 41st millennium, Sicarius was appointed leader of all Imperial forces on the planet. he was later killed in action fighting the chaos lord ygethmor.
[edit] Background and Character
The backstory of the Ultramarines Legion takes many elements from the ancient Greek (particularly Spartan) and Roman societies, namely in terms of military organisation. They are portrayed as the pre-eminent, stereotypical Space Marines army, as they do not require any additional rules supplements beyond the Codex. This portrayal has resulted in many players believing that the Ultramarines had no real 'character', an opinion recent changes have attempted to rectify, for example by introducing the concepts of "Honour Guards" and "Tyranid Hunters".
As the Ultramarines are one of the armies included with the boxed set of the game, there is a high proportion of new players amongst those fielding Ultramarine armies. This has led to the Ultramarines being looked down upon by some more experienced players, and being given the nickname of "Smurfs" (due to their colour scheme) by others.There is also a long running joke that refers to Roboute Guilliman as "Robust Girlyman". Of course, the Ultramarines are just as strong as other Space Marine chapters, and in the hands of a veteran player, many have been made to respect these doughty warriors.
[edit] References
- Chambers, Andy (2004). Warhammer 40,000 Codex: Space Marines, 4th Edition, Nottingham: Games Workshop. ISBN 1-84154-526-0.
- The Ultramarines series of novels
- McNeill, Graham (2004a). Dead Sky, Black Sun. Nottingham: Black Library. ISBN 1-84416-148-X.
- McNeill, Graham (2004b). Warriors of Ultramar. Nottingham: Black Library. ISBN 1-84416-262-1.
- McNeill, Graham (2005). Nightbringer. Nottingham: Black Library. ISBN 1-84416-163-3.
- (December 2001) "Index Astartes – Ultramarines". White Dwarf: Australian Edition (264). ISSN 0265-8712.
- Merrett, Alan (2004). Horus Heresy – Volume II: Visions of Darkness. Nottingham: Black Library. ISBN 1-84416-118-8.
- Merrett, Alan (2002). Insignium Astartes: The Uniforms and Regalia of the Space Marines. Nottingham: Black Library. ISBN 1-84154-245-8.
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