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What's up everyone... I haven't gotten the 6th ed book yet but I'm interested in some of the rules.

basically i've got the ultramarines from AoBR and I really like Ultramarines (they got me into 40k) and want to build a larger army based on them.

I'm just worried about a few things:

1. People that paint ultramarines: there isn't much diversity in their model lines. do you ever get bored of painting them?

2. Can I play non-ultramarines in my utlramarine list? like let's say i had a bunch of White Scars or Iron Hands (basically SM chapters that don't have their own codex like Blood Angels), can I put them in my army and field them? does that even make sense, fluff-wise?

3. How do allies work in 6th edition? Can I get Blood Angel or Black Templar allies to fight with me? How about Imperial Guard? That'd be pretty sweet.

4. Bonus question: how much does it annoy you to see what I assume is yet another Ultramarines player? I don't really play much at all so I don't know what the scene is like. However I don't want to end up pissing off old timers because i'm playing the "noob" army or something. I just like the Ultramarines.


thanks for any help!

Well we cant really post rules on here but to sum it up.


1. Can't say dont play UM

2. Yes (Consider it like a joint operations. However to caveat that if you use an official ally, it has to be from a different codex them your main force. Nothing says you can not paint up squads from different chapters)

3. Yes (Double FOC 2000 pts and above)

4. I don't care personally, I don't have anything against them.

My take.

1. It depends how much detailing you can get really on them. Ultrmarines can look quite interesting at vibrant with effort put in. My blood ravens are similar, models with. Bit going on are more enjoyable to paint but i've also got my own techniques for painting power armour quickly & cleanly to make the bulk doable without being maddening.

2. No problems there, might be worth finding a way to maintain force cohesion though with the scheme. Keeping the bases the same works.

3. The allies rules permit you to add an allied detachment at any size game, but you're limited heavily on your slots and must include the minimum requirements.

4. I don't come across ultranancies... I mean ultramarines that often. So it's not like you'll be saturating the demographic by adding an additional force of sailor... Gah! Space marines.

They are a little more plain then the other chapters, in terms of details. Less wolf tails, wings, blood, etc. That's not to say there isn't any detail, particularly on the veterans/HQs. And if you wanted to go to town with the modeling, there is plenty that can be done, even with a codex-standard force like the Ultras. And when you get tired of blue, there are always scouts. I have enough random stuff on my workbench to keep things fresh. And I paint in small batches, so I don't burn out. Ultramarines are no worse then most armies.

Yes. Multiple chapters working together has been part of the fluff from way back. If you want to do a crusade army, or recreate a list from one of the great battles of the imperium, go for it.

Allies are a core part of the rules again. Depending on who you work with, they are slightly different. You need one HQ, one troop, and can't take more then one extra pick from any of the FOC slots. Full details are in the rule book, but if you want to construct your army around them, you can.

There is a lot of bandwagon hate for Ultramarines. Partly because of bad writing (which is not unique to them) and partly because there are a lot of "noobs" playing them. Hopefully with DA being in the starter box, some of this will go away. I always welcome the sight of another ultramarine player out there. We all started out as noobs, just try to grow out of it.

1. UM's have pretty much the same diversity as any other marine army
2. Paint them any way that you like. However, it may confuse people as to whether they're allies or not.
3. Yep, you can have a small amount of another marine codex or IG (and a bunch of other stuff).
4. As much as it's a cliche for new marine players to copy the blue/yellow from the packaging, UM armies are actually quite rare.

1. Painting any army can get boring. I've painted over 125 Valhallan infantrymen in the past 4 months. I'm not bored of the scheme yet, and I don't think I'd be bored of painting Ultramarines if I was painting them instead! Meanwhile there are other folks who can't get through 10 models without getting bored so it's up to personal taste.
2. You can paint a rainbow of Marines if you want. It might be a little confusing to some people with the allies rules now, but if your bikers were White Scars and your Terminators are Imperial Fists while your tac Marines are Ultramarines, that'd be fine. Just an example though, paint em however you like!
3. You can ally any of those armies. Knock yourself out.
4. There aren't that many Ultramarines players really. They're on the box art for most Marine kits, but truth be told they aren't that prevalent in peoples' armies. They're probably a bit more common than most chapters, but in all my years of playing I've only seen a handful of Ultramarines armies. There is a stigma around them being the newbie Marine chapter because it's assumed every kid will paint their models like the box art, but it's not really the case all that often.

Marines can add a lot of detail with 'medals', like purity seals, helmet markings, etc

Also, different Companies have their own banners and heraldry. Read up on the different companies in the C:SM, and do your units as being assigned from various parts of the chapter. Scouts are from 10th, Terminators from 1st, Devs from 9th, etc, each with slightly differing markings.

Weapons are also not usually done in chapter colours.

 Skinnereal wrote:
Marines can add a lot of detail with 'medals', like purity seals, helmet markings, etc

Also, different Companies have their own banners and heraldry. Read up on the different companies in the C:SM, and do your units as being assigned from various parts of the chapter. Scouts are from 10th, Terminators from 1st, Devs from 9th, etc, each with slightly differing markings.

Weapons are also not usually done in chapter colours.

Just a minor nit-pick. Most people will base their army on one of the battle companies, (2nd-5th) which each include 6 tactical squads, 2 assault squads, and 2 devastator squads. While the 9th reserve company is all devastators, not all devs are 9th company.

All scouts are 10th company
1st company includes sternguard and vanguard vets in addition to terminators.

 Nevelon wrote:

 Skinnereal wrote:
Marines can add a lot of detail with 'medals', like purity seals, helmet markings, etc

Also, different Companies have their own banners and heraldry. Read up on the different companies in the C:SM, and do your units as being assigned from various parts of the chapter. Scouts are from 10th, Terminators from 1st, Devs from 9th, etc, each with slightly differing markings.

Weapons are also not usually done in chapter colours.

Just a minor nit-pick. Most people will base their army on one of the battle companies, (2nd-5th) which each include 6 tactical squads, 2 assault squads, and 2 devastator squads. While the 9th reserve company is all devastators, not all devs are 9th company.

All scouts are 10th company
1st company includes sternguard and vanguard vets in addition to terminators.

But it is something you should consider on your army composition. If you're taking two assault squads and a landspeeder squadron? Some of those guys are coming from another company. If you take three devastator squads? ditto. Also, lets not forget that your army is part of a larger force. Battle companies on' often deploy as a self contained unit - they'll take elements from the reserve companies, scout company, veteran company and vehicles from the armoury. Add that upü and to have a decen size army that's all from the one company is pretty unlikely.

I have never seen an Ultramarines army in my region. Only a kiddo or two playing a half-painted army.

Dr. Spaceman wrote:
1. People that paint ultramarines: there isn't much diversity in their model lines. do you ever get bored of painting them?

There's actually quite a lot you can do to vary up your Ultramarines. Remember two key things - they're Greco-Roman marines, and they have specialised Tyranid hunters.

There's a lot of Greco-Roman "space warrior" parts from third party distributors. Helmets, shoulder pads, storm shields, thunder hammers, axes, whatever. Buy a bunch of them and stick them on your guys. Thing up my inventive schemes to go with the new parts - more gold, more detailing, etc.

You can also buy on ebay Tyranid bits for decorating some veteran squads to make Tyrannic War veterans. Things like Tyranid Warrior and Gaunt heads, scything talons, rending claws, etc. This takes a bit more green stuff skill to gel correctly, but it makes some quite distinctive marines.

1. If you don't want to paint Ultramarines then paint another chapter. The problem you will find is that no matter what chapter you pick they will all have the same issue, unless you go down the line of having different chapters fighting together

 BluntmanDC wrote:
1. If you don't want to paint Ultramarines then paint another chapter. The problem you will find is that no matter what chapter you pick they will all have the same issue, unless you go down the line of having different chapters fighting together

nah i actually like the utlramarines a lot. I started getting into 40k when i discovered the space marine video game and i just like the feel of the ultramarines in that game. no gimmicks, they are just straight up defenders of humanity and basically the last bastion of the emperor. everyone else is dealing with all kinds of issue and the ultramarines are just gunning down orks like it's no big deal.

 Dr. Spaceman wrote:

 BluntmanDC wrote:
1. If you don't want to paint Ultramarines then paint another chapter. The problem you will find is that no matter what chapter you pick they will all have the same issue, unless you go down the line of having different chapters fighting together

nah i actually like the utlramarines a lot. I started getting into 40k when i discovered the space marine video game and i just like the feel of the ultramarines in that game. no gimmicks, they are just straight up defenders of humanity and basically the last bastion of the emperor. everyone else is dealing with all kinds of issue and the ultramarines are just gunning down orks like it's no big deal.

Check out the books. And play through the Space Marine game.

They have some pretty blaring flaws detracting them from being "Basic bolter badasses"

For one, as the Command Squad Member Leandros demonstrates, their adherence to the Codex Astartes is crippling, as shown when Tyranids attacked Macragge.

To put it basically, if the codex has all the answers to fight an enemy coming from the right side; they'll kick the gak out of anyone coming from the right side. But if the enemy comes from the left, Ultramarines will die in droves.

 TheCaptain wrote:

 Dr. Spaceman wrote:

 BluntmanDC wrote:
1. If you don't want to paint Ultramarines then paint another chapter. The problem you will find is that no matter what chapter you pick they will all have the same issue, unless you go down the line of having different chapters fighting together

nah i actually like the utlramarines a lot. I started getting into 40k when i discovered the space marine video game and i just like the feel of the ultramarines in that game. no gimmicks, they are just straight up defenders of humanity and basically the last bastion of the emperor. everyone else is dealing with all kinds of issue and the ultramarines are just gunning down orks like it's no big deal.

Check out the books. And play through the Space Marine game.

They have some pretty blaring flaws detracting them from being "Basic bolter badasses"

For one, as the Command Squad Member Leandros demonstrates, their adherence to the Codex Astartes is crippling, as shown when Tyranids attacked Macragge.

To put it basically, if the codex has all the answers to fight an enemy coming from the right side; they'll kick the gak out of anyone coming from the right side. But if the enemy comes from the left, Ultramarines will die in droves.

shut your filthy traitor mouth, xenos scum

1. I suggest giving some of your marines different poses.

2. Unless its Black Templars, Blood Angels, Dark Angels or Space Wolves, they're represented by Codex SM.

3. Yes. Don't forget the mandatory 1Hq and 1Troop.

1: Diversity in paint (battle damage, and minor decorations)
2: Of course you can, heck my marines are a smorgasbord of various chapters.
3: Yessir, heck you can even ally with Tau at no penalty
4: I have never seen Ultramarines, the occasional model online, there are definitely more Imperial Fist out there than UM from what I have seen. But anything is better than grey.




Automatically Appended Next Post:

 Dr. Spaceman wrote:

 TheCaptain wrote:

 Dr. Spaceman wrote:

 BluntmanDC wrote:
1. If you don't want to paint Ultramarines then paint another chapter. The problem you will find is that no matter what chapter you pick they will all have the same issue, unless you go down the line of having different chapters fighting together

nah i actually like the utlramarines a lot. I started getting into 40k when i discovered the space marine video game and i just like the feel of the ultramarines in that game. no gimmicks, they are just straight up defenders of humanity and basically the last bastion of the emperor. everyone else is dealing with all kinds of issue and the ultramarines are just gunning down orks like it's no big deal.

Check out the books. And play through the Space Marine game.

They have some pretty blaring flaws detracting them from being "Basic bolter badasses"

For one, as the Command Squad Member Leandros demonstrates, their adherence to the Codex Astartes is crippling, as shown when Tyranids attacked Macragge.

To put it basically, if the codex has all the answers to fight an enemy coming from the right side; they'll kick the gak out of anyone coming from the right side. But if the enemy comes from the left, Ultramarines will die in droves.

shut your filthy traitor mouth, xenos scum

Now now , every army has a flaw the boys in blue are no exception. (If you love the fluff about defenders of mankind I suggest looking up salamanders, they fight for the Emperor and HIS PEOPLE)