STARTING AN ULTRAMARINES ARMY IN 11TH EDITION: THE CODEX-APPROVED WAY IN
The Ultramarines are the sons of Guilliman, the poster boys of the Adeptus Astartes, with the most documented paint recipe in the hobby. This page covers the Intercessor box to start with, Hellblasters and Tigurius, and Calgar or Guilliman as the summit.
Intercessors and a transfer sheet
Start with the starter or Combat Patrol that is current; they rotate each edition, and the Ultramarines are almost always the chapter on the box art, so whatever is current is rarely wrong. The non-negotiable core is Intercessors, the definitive Space Marine squad and the single best kit for learning to paint power armour, backed by Assault Intercessors for the close-quarters work and a Captain or Lieutenant to hold the line. An Ultramarines transfer sheet earns its cost immediately: crisp white omegas on blue shoulder pads are half the chapter's look. The chapter's identity of order, doctrine and doing things by the book happens to be the mindset that gets a first army finished, and the blue-and-gold recipe is written down everywhere.
Hellblasters, a Dreadnought, Tigurius
The Codex Astartes teaches combined arms, and your second wave should too. Add a heavier infantry unit; Hellblasters and Aggressors both paint up well in blue. Add a transport or a Redemptor Dreadnought to learn vehicle techniques on. Chief Librarian Tigurius is a superb first character model, all robes and psychic hood. One note for the new edition: points and datasheets moved for 11th and keep being tuned, so check the current points before you finalise any list. Buy for the collection and let the roster follow.
Recommended: Hellblaster Squad
Recommended: Chief Librarian Tigurius
Calgar, then Guilliman
No faction has centrepieces like this one. Marneus Calgar with his Victrix Guard is a diorama in a single kit, the Chapter Master flanked by two golden bodyguards. Then there is Roboute Guilliman himself, the resurrected primarch in the Armour of Fate: a demanding, rewarding paint job and the obvious summit of an Ultramarines collection. Save him until your blues are confident. He will know if you rushed.
Recommended: Marneus Calgar in Armour of Antilochus
Recommended: Roboute Guilliman
Guilliman is not a test model
- A second battleline squad before the first is painted. Guilliman wrote several chapters on logistics for a reason.
- Guilliman himself on day one. A primarch deserves better than being your test model.
- Every tank in the armoury. The Codex recommends a measured build-up, and so does your shelf space.
A chapter serf's audit
Guilliman conquered a hundred worlds with administration as much as with armies, and your collection runs on the same fuel. Log every kit when it arrives and mark its true state, boxed, built or finished, with the honesty of a serf who knows the Chapter Master audits the armoury personally. The finished column advancing in good order is what separates a collection from a stockpile. The full order of battle, every unit the Ultramarines muster, is on the faction page under Data, properly organised as the primarch would insist.