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Col. Dash wrote:
Really, I never noticed that. I'll have to go look and see if that's a change from the original wording. I could have sworn it said all with Legion: Night Lord rules.

Yeah I'm 99% it does in Massacre, must've changed in the Istvaan Legions book (or I'm just wrong).

Col. Dash wrote:
Really, I never noticed that. I'll have to go look and see if that's a change from the original wording. I could have sworn it said all with Legion: Night Lord rules.

Yep, its a reflection of the different ways they work. Ultra leaders keep everyone in line when the Lord dies, Night Lords HQs squabble about who will replace him.

I just went and checked both the red book and the original vol.2. Both of them say any unit with this rule, not IC. As it can be interpreted the troops are led by a cult of personality and when that personality dies, they question why they are involved in this fight, but because Legion rules let them regroup fairly easily they remember why most likely the next turn if they ran.

I think the Ultramarines rules are quite good. Your lower attrition rate for losing models to fleeing are gonna lead you to come out over any of the other Legions they're being compared to in this thread. They are a synergistic army and are very much designed to be the ally of choice for loyalist militia armies. They have a strong baseline for playing them "stand-up and fight" without too much thought but their rules lend them the potential to be played more tactically than many other legions.

FW has added a level of psychology to how the legions fight and how they play. Take the Iron Warriors I've been working on... They will tend to lose a lot of numbers but their rules lend them to deny VPs by pinning and preventing their opponent from moving to where they need to be. It is an army for players who don't care about individuals or even losing great numbers. I don't think its a surprise that FW would design the Ultramarines, the Legion most renowned for its tactical leadership, to play in a way that demands its player think the same way an Ultramarine would to get the most of them.

I think Ultramarines are also the best generalist army. Many of the other Legions can be countered in straight forward ways. Ultramarines are harder to do that to, they don't standout and excel in any one thing but can always do something where otherwise another army would be helpless.

And that fits the UM fluff to a t.