Were the Ultramarines the right choice for the main chapter of space marines in W40K space marine?

[IndianaJonny]

You all know the Ultramarines are in this because Matt Ward veto'd it. ;D

I'd have been even happier with a Battle Sister game... but that's just me.

Ward must have had a seizure at the bit where the Smurfs get bailed out by the IG.

...Besides, everyone knows the best chapter is the ANGRY MARINES...

Yeah, you can't argue with a chapter that has its own Titan Legion.

OT: Smurfs are the template 'conventional' chapter, vocal grumbling is just rising in proportion to their advertising exposure (which isn't exactly new) and Matt Ward's d**king around; nothing more, nothing less.

 

[RobCoxxy]

BECAUSE THEY'RE THE BESTEST

/lies

 

[Johnny Cain]

The bold blue of the Ultramarines are the most recognisable of the chapters, especially for non-40k fans.
Whether they should have been the central focus is just a debate among fans with different preferences.
For example I love the heavy-handed witch hunting of the Black Templar. The complete lack of a homeworld (living entirely on fleets of spacecraft) and zealous reliance on close combat makes them a terrifying force to imagine.

 

[guidance]

I was always a fan of the Salamanders, one of the smallest legions but then you can work with a small force that becomes awesome type of story.

 

[Ordinaryundone]

Ultramarines are awesome, I never understood all of the hate for them. Everyone says they are "boring" because they don't have a big, ridiculous hat like the Viking Space Wolves or the Space Vampire Blood Angels. The Ultramarines are soldiers, pure and simple, and they are the best at what they do. They don't need gimmicks, they don't need a "dark mysterious past". Give them an enemy and a big sprawling campaign and you have the very fundamentals of what WH40k is built on. Plus they have the coolest armor sets (love the whole Greek soldier look), and the best color. That blue is freaking iconic. Lastly, you don't need any kind of prior knowledge of the lore to appreciate the Ultramarines. They don't have some kind of dark connection to the warp or some huge flaw in their geneseed. Their Primarch never even came close to contemplating heresy and was pretty much the golden boy of the family. Hell, their tactics are even standardized so you don't have to wonder why everyone has jetpacks or is riding on giant wolves.

Other than that, Ultramarines work because they work so well as the "face" of the franchise. At least, the Space Marine part of it. They don't give off any kind of false impressions about what a Space Marine is supposed to be; what you see is what you get. Works well for noobies to the setting. It also helps that many starter kits for the game feature the Ultramarines (like Battle for Macragge, or Armageddon) so people interested in playing the tabletop will often be familiar with them first and foremost.

 

[triggrhappy94]

I think they should have gone with Chaos Marines instead.

 

[Sojoez]

So ehm.... Whats the big deal? It's practically the first game ever to use the Ultramarines as it's main theme. I personally like the contrast the blue gives on the red planet and green tides.
As most people stated they are the perfect 'step in to the universe' guys. Great promotion for GW.

And why do people complain about the campaign being Ultramarines when you can be anything else in co-op and multiplayer?

Grey Knights are not an option because they specialize in deamon hunting. And in the campaign the chaos forces are a surprise. Orks are the main reason the Space Marines went to the planet in the first place.

Off topic. Dark Millennium Online will have Black Templars, anyone want to bet that people will ***** about that too?

Edit: Complain all you like, you are still going to play it!

 

[The_Graff]

i wuld have preffered imperial fists, or black templars. but i guess they have to go with the smurfs to help the newbies in :-(

 

[Traun]

Space Marines were a bad choice.

There, I said it. After Halo, Gears of War and all the Space Marine games this one doesn't stand out. Yes, it's set in the Warhammer 40k universe, so what? This is not a virtue on it's own and it's just piling up on the "starship trooper" pile.

If it was Imperial Guard the game would have had more of a charm, then all those Ork and Demons wouldn't be something you go Kratos on, but a real enemy which must be taken by you and your platoon.

Can you imagine what would have been if you played Elder or a Necron? Or an Ork? Imagine it...

Dark Elder - you are an elegant warrior who relies on speed and brutal tactics to gather slaves.
Eldar - you are an ancient warrior who has to manipulate multiple factions to produce the best possible outcome.
Necron - an undead hust bound on destruction. This is probably on the DOOM level of awesome.
Ork - c'mon, who wouldn't play Ork?
Tau and Imperial Guard - you are not a supper soldier and the game turns into not only a mindless action, but a war drama as well.

But no, let's go with Space Marines! Those smurfs are suffocation a franchise with potential.

 

[EPolleys]

As was said before Ultramarines are the default and don't really use outlandish tactics like some of the other chapters so they fit well into gameplay. I'm fine with them being in the game but I'd rather they didn't use standard looking armour. I'd rather they look more like this http://wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/Cato_Sicarius I'll never understand why their Greek theme is rarely used.

The Orks look very plain as well, at least in comparison with what they looked like early on in the game's development. It feels like they may be trying a little too hard not to alienate people, which unfortunetly is very easy to do with 40K if not handled correctly whether they are experiencing one of the games or someone is trying to explain lots of things at once.

 

[Project_Omega]

I think the whole Space Marine bullcrap should be dropped, why can't Chaos get some glory for once. I am literally sick of Loyalist Space Marines Starring in every game as the Protagonist, and Chaos as the Antagonist (Except Fire Warrior, where both of them were Antagonists).

Whenever I hear someone say "I collect Ultramarines" I literally feel like I want to puke.

 

[Mathak]

Their Primarch never even came close to contemplating heresy and was pretty much the golden boy of the family.

Someone hasn't been keeping up with his Horus Heresy. Two words: Imperium Secundus.

OT: At least it's not Blood Ravens. They've received enough 'gifts' already during the DoW series. No need for them to loot & pillage an entire forge world.

Edit: The Ultramarines theme is more Roman than Greek btw. Which would be sort of cool if they actually ever did anything with it.

 

[Leftnt Sharpe]

A Death Watch kill team would have been my choice seeing as how they are the chamber militant of the Ordos Xenos and insanely awesome. Hell any chapter would have been better than the Ultramarines. However at the end of the day I don't begrudge GW or Relic for choosing the Ultramarines seeing as how this game is purposely designed to appeal to more of a mass market than the Dawn of War games. If this works as planned it will hopefully open the door for more 40k games, because 40k has the potential for games of quite a few different genres.

Edit: I would also like to add that the Imperial Guard are infinitely more badass and manly than the Space Marines.

 

[Ordinaryundone]

Their Primarch never even came close to contemplating heresy and was pretty much the golden boy of the family.

Someone hasn't been keeping up with his Horus Heresy. Two words: Imperium Secundus.

OT: At least it's not Blood Ravens. They've received enough 'gifts' already during the DoW series. No need for them to loot & pillage an entire forge world.

Edit: The Ultramarines theme is more Roman than Greek btw. Which would be sort of cool if they actually ever did anything with it.

I thought the Imperial Fists were the "Roman" legion? The Ultramarines have always had a more Greek theme, with the laurels their champions wear, togas, and the giant inverted Omega that is their chapter logo. There is also their system of origin, Ultramar, which is actually a collection of planet-states rather than one single planet like other chapters, similar to the Greek cities.

Also, honestly I haven't quite kept up with the Heresy, so what is "Imperium Secundus"? I've looked all over Lexicanum but I can't seem to find anything about it. As far as I know, all Gulliman did during the Heresy was go off on a wild goose chase after the Word Bearers and only just made it back to Terra after Horus and the Emperor threw down.

 

[JFrog84]

Nerds all over the world are quick to forget that, to the uninitiated masses who are supposed to buy this game, Space Marines and the lore surrounding them are weird enough already without adding chapter-specific characteristics and information. Yes, I would have enjoyed seeing a different chapter at the helm for this game, but I can damn well understand the reasoning that went into Relic's choice.

This.

Also if this 'safe bet' turns out to be a success it could lead on to sequals with chapters that have more depth. Going with a chapter that has a complex back story could easily put people off. Personally I'd love to see death company or maybe playing as chaos forces in the future.

 

[lordlillen]

well yes its the right choice, there the posterboys of warhammer the one most people not into warhammer think of. still i like how you get to choice of chapter in multiplayer (i got special edition yust for black knights)

 

[Doclector]

A Death Watch kill team would have been my choice seeing as how they are the chamber militant of the Ordos Xenos and insanely awesome. Hell any chapter would have been better than the Ultramarines. However at the end of the day I don't begrudge GW or Relic for choosing the Ultramarines seeing as how this game is purposely designed to appeal to more of a mass market than the Dawn of War games. If this works as planned it will hopefully open the door for more 40k games, because 40k has the potential for games of quite a few different genres.

Edit: I would also like to add that the Imperial Guard are infinitely more badass and manly than the Space Marines.

I'm a little new to warhammer, but would imperial guards be anywhere near a match for tyranids? That could be a pretty cool game, especially if given a horror aspect.

But I do look forward to there being more warhammer games outside of RTSes (okay, really I just mean on consoles. I just can't deal with PC gaming, I just can't). I would love to see some chaos stuff too. Especially if I could play as argal tal of the word bearers. I gorram loved "the last heretic".

 

[GruntOwner]

You do realise that thanks to Matt Ward the Ultramarines are however, bland insufferable god-mode Mary Sues nowadays, right?

The protagonist was Ultramarine way back when the first gameplay video had no mention of orcs, featured bullshit "cinemaction" bits, and Matt Ward hadn't even gotten his filthy mits on WHFB Chaos Daemons. Even now, people unfamiliar with the game, aka the majority, haven't had to suffer for Matt Ward's crap. 2 other pints, you're attacking the Ultramarines for Matt Ward's failure. This is unfair because even Black Library writers know how much of a **** he is and the last ultramarine novel saw them begging for aid from the Raven Guard and Adeptus Mechanicus. Matt Ward, being a bitter fuck, decided that the Daemon Prince leading the attack on Macragge in the novel was actually on the other side of the galaxy trying to tempt Mephiston in the Blood Angel Codex. Matt Ward's influence could make Jesus Christ seem like an unlikable fuck. Secondly, look at the number of people calling for Grey Knights. The SM codex was £25 of fanwank but h's been one upping himself with every book and that makes the Grey Knights a god damned joke. For all the bullshit in SM, GK is still the worst by a long shot.

 

[Mathak]

Their Primarch never even came close to contemplating heresy and was pretty much the golden boy of the family.

Someone hasn't been keeping up with his Horus Heresy. Two words: Imperium Secundus.

OT: At least it's not Blood Ravens. They've received enough 'gifts' already during the DoW series. No need for them to loot & pillage an entire forge world.

Edit: The Ultramarines theme is more Roman than Greek btw. Which would be sort of cool if they actually ever did anything with it.

I thought the Imperial Fists were the "Roman" legion? The Ultramarines have always had a more Greek theme, with the laurels their champions wear, togas, and the giant inverted Omega that is their chapter logo. There is also their system of origin, Ultramar, which is actually a collection of planet-states rather than one single planet like other chapters, similar to the Greek cities.

Also, honestly I haven't quite kept up with the Heresy, so what is "Imperium Secundus"? I've looked all over Lexicanum but I can't seem to find anything about it. As far as I know, all Gulliman did during the Heresy was go off on a wild goose chase after the Word Bearers and only just made it back to Terra after Horus and the Emperor threw down.

Togas were also worn by the Romans, and laurels were a sign of triumph during the Roman Empire. Ultramar is not so much a collection of states as one state, united under the benevolent rule of Macragge. Add to that that before the Great Crusade reached Macragge it was ruled by 2 Consuls until Guilliman took supreme power for the good of Macragge, and you get a distinctive Roman feel.

According to the new HH book, Age of Darkness, the reason Guilliman was so late on Terra was that he believed the Enmperor would lose the war, so he planned to set up a second Imperium at Ultramar to keep His legacy going. Not treason as such..but pretty seditious.