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Ultramarines Specific Strategies
RULES / POINTS VERSION:
10th Edition, 2025 – 2026 Chapter Approved
December 2025 Balanced Dataslate and MFM Points Update
MATCHUP:
| Faction: | Detachment: |
| Ultramarines | Gladius Task Force |
| VS | |
| Faction: | Detachment: |
| CSM | Soulforged Warpack |
MISSION:
| GW Mission | I |
| Primary | Hidden Supplies |
| Terrain Layout | GW Terrain Layout 6 |
| Deployment | Search & Destroy |
LISTS:
Ultramarines:
List
Ultramarines
Gladius Task Force
Strike Force (2,000 Points)
CHARACTERS
Captain in Gravis Armour (90 Points)
• 1x Boltstorm gauntlet
• 1x Power fist
• 1x Relic fist
• Enhancements: Artificer Armour
Cato Sicarius (95 Points)
• 1x Artisan plasma pistol
• 1x Talassarian tempest blade
Lieutenant with Combi-weapon (70 Points)
• 1x Combi-weapon
• 1x Paired combat blades
Marneus Calgar (200 Points)
• 1x Marneus Calgar
◦ 1x Gauntlets of Ultramar
• 2x Victrix Honour Guard
◦ 2x Victrix power sword
Roboute Guilliman (340 Points)
• Warlord
• 1x Emperor’s Sword
• 1x Hand of Dominion
BATTLELINE
Intercessor Squad (80 Points)
• 1x Intercessor Sergeant
◦ 1x Bolt pistol
◦ 1x Bolt rifle
◦ 1x Power fist
• 4x Intercessor
◦ 1x Astartes grenade launcher
◦ 4x Bolt pistol
◦ 4x Bolt rifle
◦ 4x Close combat weapon
OTHER DATASHEETS
Incursor Squad (80 Points)
• 1x Incursor Sergeant
◦ 1x Bolt pistol
◦ 1x Occulus bolt carbine
◦ 1x Paired combat blades
• 4x Incursor
◦ 4x Bolt pistol
◦ 1x Haywire Mine
◦ 4x Occulus bolt carbine
◦ 4x Paired combat blades
Redemptor Dreadnought (195 Points)
• 1x Icarus rocket pod
• 1x Macro plasma incinerator
• 1x Onslaught gatling cannon
• 1x Redemptor fist
• 1x Twin fragstorm grenade launcher
Redemptor Dreadnought (195 Points)
• 1x Icarus rocket pod
• 1x Macro plasma incinerator
• 1x Onslaught gatling cannon
• 1x Redemptor fist
• 1x Twin fragstorm grenade launcher
Scout Squad (70 Points)
• 1x Scout Sergeant
◦ 1x Astartes chainsword
◦ 1x Bolt pistol
◦ 1x Close combat weapon
• 4x Scout
◦ 4x Bolt pistol
◦ 4x Boltgun
◦ 4x Close combat weapon
Victrix Honour Guard (240 Points)
• 1x Chapter Champion
◦ 1x Blades of honour
• 5x Victrix Honour Guard
◦ 5x Master-crafted bolt carbine
◦ 5x Master-crafted power weapon
Victrix Honour Guard (240 Points)
• 1x Chapter Ancient
◦ 1x Banner of Macragge
◦ 1x Master-crafted power weapon
• 5x Victrix Honour Guard
◦ 5x Master-crafted bolt carbine
◦ 5x Master-crafted power weapon
ALLIED UNITS
Callidus Assassin (100 Points)
• 1x Neural shredder
• 1x Phase sword and poison blades
CSM:
List
Chaos Space Marines
Soulforged Warpack
Strike Force (2,000 Points)
CHARACTERS
Vashtorr the Arkifane (175 Points)
• Warlord
• 1x Vashtorr’s claw
• 1x Vashtorr’s hammer
Warpsmith (95 Points)
• 1x Flamer tendril
• 1x Forge weapon
• 1x Melta tendril
• 1x Plasma pistol
• Enhancements: Tempting Addendum
Warpsmith (70 Points)
• 1x Flamer tendril
• 1x Forge weapon
• 1x Melta tendril
• 1x Plasma pistol
BATTLELINE
Cultist Mob (50 Points)
• 1x Cultist Champion
◦ 1x Autopistol
◦ 1x Brutal assault weapon
• 9x Chaos Cultist
◦ 9x Autopistol
◦ 9x Brutal assault weapon
Cultist Mob (50 Points)
• 1x Cultist Champion
◦ 1x Autopistol
◦ 1x Brutal assault weapon
• 9x Chaos Cultist
◦ 9x Autopistol
◦ 9x Brutal assault weapon
Cultist Mob (50 Points)
• 1x Cultist Champion
◦ 1x Autopistol
◦ 1x Brutal assault weapon
• 9x Chaos Cultist
◦ 9x Autopistol
◦ 9x Brutal assault weapon
OTHER DATASHEETS
Forgefiend (170 Points)
• 1x Armoured limbs
• 1x Ectoplasma cannon
• 2x Ectoplasma cannon
Forgefiend (170 Points)
• 1x Armoured limbs
• 1x Ectoplasma cannon
• 2x Ectoplasma cannon
Forgefiend (170 Points)
• 1x Armoured limbs
• 2x Ectoplasma cannon
• 1x Ectoplasma cannon
Helbrute (130 Points)
• 1x Close combat weapon
• 1x Missile launcher
• 1x Twin lascannon
Helbrute (130 Points)
• 1x Close combat weapon
• 2x Heavy flamer
• 1x Helbrute fist
• 1x Helbrute fist
Helbrute (130 Points)
• 1x Close combat weapon
• 2x Heavy flamer
• 1x Helbrute fist
• 1x Helbrute fist
Maulerfiend (130 Points)
• 1x Lasher tendrils
• 1x Maulerfiend fists
Maulerfiend (130 Points)
• 1x Lasher tendrils
• 1x Maulerfiend fists
Venomcrawler (110 Points)
• 2x Excruciator cannon
• 1x Soulflayer tendrils and claws
Venomcrawler (110 Points)
• 2x Excruciator cannon
• 1x Soulflayer tendrils and claws
Warp Talons (125 Points)
• 1x Warp Talon Champion
◦ 1x Warp claws
• 4x Warp Talon
◦ 4x Warp claws
FACTION SPECIFIC STRATEGIES:
Ultramarines
So now that we are past a data slate, I’m going to try my hand at being “that guy”. 14 Victrix Honour Guard, here I come…..
This list is simple and brutal. It’s not the optimized meta list but instead is optimized to my highly aggressive, melee centric play style. It is my take on a very aggressive Ultramarines list that asks its opponent “what if…..I was tougher, more flexible, and better than you and then came and punched you really, REALLY hard?” The list isn’t overly complicated as it is built around the Victrix Honour Guard with Calgar / Guilliman providing a lot of CP and a lot of buffs. It then doubles down on Toughness and pressure with the Redemptors while leaving just enough room in the list for some scoring pieces in the Scouts, Intercessors, and Callidus. I’m fairly surprised that all of these units fit inside a 2000 point list, but let’s take it for a spin to see if the Victrix live up to the hype (or hate depending on your perspective).
As for the matchup, this was a pin that Ultramarines wanted, so I’m shooting for a blow out. The goal is to go up big and stay up big by going for as high a score as possible. 20-0 is the target here.
| Category | Description |
| Leader / Bodyguard Combos: | Calgar with Victrix Honour Guard with 6 Victrix Honour Guard |
| Sicarious with 6 Vixtrix Honour Guard | |
| Transport / Infantry Combos: | None |
| Key Strategems: | Squad Tactics – In your opponent’s Movement phase, you can reactive move up to D6 inches if an enemy unit ends a Normal, Fall Back, or Advance move within 9 inches of you. The move can be up to 6 inches if the Tactical Doctrine is active. |
| Armour of Contempt – In the opponent’s Shooting or Fight phase, reduce AP on incoming attacks by 1. | |
| Honour the Chapter – Used in the Fight phase to give your unit the Lance ability. Units also get +1 AP if the Assault Doctrine is active. | |
| Only In Death Does Duty End – Used in the Fight phase to unilaterally Fight On Death with one unit. | |
| Key Combos: | Victrix Honour Guard + Glory of Ultramar ability + Squad Tactics stratagem OR Cato Sicarious + Knight Champion of Macragge ability These can’t stack, but used correctly you can have 2 units that reactive move after an opponent ends a move within 9 inches of them. Even better, both units can then perform a Surge move (move D6 inches towards the opponent and into Engagement Range) if a model is killed in shooting. This can be used to setup a REALLY uncomfortable shooting phase for the opponent, especially with all of the CSM Blast weapons. |
| Armour of Contempt stratagem + Benefit of Cover + Victrix Honour Guard OR Redemptor Dreadnought OR Guilliman The list is also kind of “Oops all 2+ Saves” and stacking cover with Armour of Contempt makes killing those units beyond annoying to kill. |
CSM:
This isn’t one of my strongest lists and it definitely is not something super meta or competitive. That said, it is fun as all get out. I love being able to bring all of my Daemon Engines and playing them in a single list with Vashtorr and a bunch of Cultists.
From a play style, I tend to play this army as a Blocker with upside. This means that I will focus on trying to smash the enemy off of objectives through the Daemon Engine stat check and then see if I can get the Forgefiends to spike their damage rolls. It usually does pretty well for me and I have a ton of fun playing it.
As far as this matchup goes, this could get ugly. Ultramarines definitely have the killing power to punch up into the Daemon Engines and the speed to get into melee FAST. The last part of that is what worries me the most, as the CSM list is predicated on a lot of Blast weapons that get shutdown if their targets are in Engagement Range. The goal here is to just avoid a 0-20 blow out.
| Category | Description |
| Leader / Bodyguard Combos: | N/A |
| Transport / Infantry Combos: | N/A |
| Key Strategems: | Unstoppable Rampage – Used in your Movement or Charge phases to move a Vehicle or Vashtorr through terrain. |
| Daemonic Possession – Used in your Command phase to turn a Vehicle into a Daemon Engine. | |
| Desperate Pledge – Used in your Shooting or Fight phase to add 1 AP to ranged or melee attacks. | |
| Key Combos: | Forgefiends with Ectoplasma Cannons + the Daemonic Ordnance ability + Warpsmith within 3 inches + A Tempting Addendum Enhancement + Master of Mechanismsability + Helbrute within 6 inches + Dark Ascension ability + Dark Pacts faction rule + Vashtorr + the Unholy Mechanism ability This is THE COMBO in this detachment. It gives you Forgefiends re-rolling the hit roll, hitting on 2’s, with +2 Strength, Lethal and Sustained Hits, +1 to the Wound Roll, and Devastating Wounds. It’s a bit predictable and requires a big castle to setup, but when it goes off it is absolutely filthy and is deadly to anything that the Forgefiends can see. |
ROUND-BY-ROUND RECAP:
The game starts with the Ultramarines winning the roll off and choosing to have CSM place the first model since they have no Infiltrators. At this point, CSM is already thinking that they are at a significant disadvantage and so is faced with one of two options.
- Turtle up around an objective or two and try to grind to 50-55 total Victory Points in order to avoid a 0-20 blowout
OR
2. Deploy on the line, hope to go first, and then come out swinging if they do to throw off the Ultras’ game plan.
Unfortunately, this board and mission combination is not friendly to Option 1, despite the terrain layout having decent shooting lanes. As a result, CSM opted for Option 2 and deployed all of its melee units on the line while also pre-building its castle in hopes of going first and blasting away for maximum impact before the Ultras got into melee.
On the other side, the Ultras deployed a bit more strategically while also leaving open the option for a Round 1 Alpha Strike. The thought is to try to use its mobility advantage to threaten as much of the board as possible while also using the terrain firing lanes to force CSM to focus fire on the Dreadnoughts, which are in range of Guilliman for a free Armour of Contempt and behind a bit of cover. They also put the Lieutenant with Combi-weapon’s Priority Objective Identified (re-roll 1’s to Wound) on Objective 5 in case CSM goes first and pushes out aggressively into the center.
Both sides deploy and then, much like everything 40K these days, fortune favors the Ultras, who win the second roll off to get first turn. The Ultras then do a Scout move with their Scouts to get onto Objective 6. The board state at the start of the game is shown below.
Board State: Start of the Battle
ROUND 1:
| Phase: | Go First: Ultramarines |
| Score at Start | 10 |
| Command | -Draw Area Denial and Establish Locus for Secondaries -Intercessors sticky Objective 2 -Oath of Moment 1 on Venomcrawler 2 , Oath of Moment 2 on Helbrute 2 |
| Movement | -Lieutenant with Combi-weapon to Objective 3 -Calgar + Victrix Honour Guard Advance 5 inches across the center towards Maulerfiend 1 -Redemptor 2 moves onto Objective 5 while Redemptor 1 moves into the midfield to shoot -Incursors advance up the right flank to Objective 3 -All others stage behind terrain |
| Shooting | -Redemptor 2 supercharges to kill Venomcrawler 2 -Incursors + supercharging Redemptor 1 kill Helbrute 2, Redemptor 1 fails Hazardous check -Calgar + Victrix Honour Guard kill Cultists 1 |
| Charge | -Calgar + Victrix Honour Guard into Maulerfiend 1 |
| Fight | -Calgar + Victrix Honour Guard pop Honour the Chapter and the Banner to kill Maulerfiend 1 (probably overkill) |
| End of Turn | -Score 5 on Secondaries -Drop Establish Locus since the Ultras chose violence this turn |
| Score at End | 15 |
Well that that was brutal. CSM took a big chance by deploying aggressively and hoping for first turn and got punished for it. The Redemptors both popping off due to Oath of Moment with +1 to Wound was devastating and Calgar and the Victrix are now EXACTLY where they want to be to tie CSM up in reactive and surge moves. While insanely fun to play and satisfying to see work, this feels borderline Over Powered and like it was too easy. The board state in the middle of Round 1 is below.
Board State: Middle of Round 1
| Phase: | Go Second: CSM |
| Score at Start | 10 |
| Command | -Draw Secure No Man’s Land and Marked For Death for Secondaries -Ultramarines mark Guilliman, Callidus, and Lieutenant with Combi-weapon (all have Lone Op) -CSM marks Scouts -Cultists 2 sticky Objective 1 -Warpsmith 1 gives Master of Mechanisms to Forgefiend 1 for +1 to Hit -Warpsmith 2 gives Master of Mechanisms to Forgefiend 2 for +1 to Hit |
| Movement | -Venomcrawler 1 to Objective 6 -Forgefiends 1 and 2, Warpsmiths 1 and 2, and Helbrute 1 all move BACKWARDS to avoid triggering a Reactive Move on the Victrix Honour Guard -Vashtorr, Maulerfiend 2, Helbrute 3, and Forgefiend 3 all move up the right flank to Objective 3 |
| Shooting | -Forgefiend 3 uses Vashtorr’s buff to shoot Redemptor 2 for 4 Damage -Forgefiends 1 and 2 all activate the Key Shooting combo from above and shoot into Calgar and the Victrix Honour Guard. They only kill 4 models and the unit then Surges for 4 inches. -Venomcrawler 1 kills the Scouts for 2 VP |
| Charge | -None |
| Fight | -None |
| End of Turn | -Score 4 on Secondaries -Ultramarines pickup the Callidus Assassin |
| Score at End | 14 |
This turn shows the power of the Victrix Honour Guard. Granted, some of this is due to the CSM list being so heavily reliant on Blast weapons, but still….this didn’t feel great from a balance perspective. The combination of a Reactive Move if you move within 9 inches of them with a Surge Move during the shooting phase essentially meant that CSM had to stay outside of a 9 inch circle around the Victrix if they wanted to shoot them. This seriously limited their options and allowed the Ultramarines to continue to dictate the game even during the CSM turn. Combine that with 2 Forgefiends only killing 4 models and it doesn’t feel great.
From a game perspective, CSM is in big trouble. They are moving backwards and sideways instead of forward and have lost close to 1/3 of their army vs Ultramarines only losing 1 unit and a few models. This is headed to a blowout and CSM may not make it past Round 3.
Board State: End of Round 1
ROUND 2:
| Phase: | Go First: Ultramarines |
| Score at Start | 15 |
| Command | -Draw A Tempting Target and Assassination for secondaries -CSM chooses Objective 6 for A Tempting Target -Declare Assault Doctrine -Oath of Moment 1 on Forgefiend 1, Oath of Moment 2 on Helbrute 3 -Score 15 on Primary for “hold one”, “hold two”, and “hold more” objectives |
| Movement | -Calgar + Victrix Honour Guard towards Forgefiend 2 and the Warpsmiths -Guilliman to Objective 4, while staying within 3 inches of the staged Victrix Honour Guard + Sicarious -Redemptor 2 to Objective 5 -Redemptor 1 and Incursors to Venomcrawler 1 -All others screen the Ultramarine’s DZ -CSM have the Warp Talons Rapid Ingress near Objective 6 |
| Shooting | -Calgar + Victrix Honour Guard kill Warpsmith 1 for 5 VP -Redemptor 1 kills Forgefiend 1, which explodes -Redemptor 2 kills Helbrute 3 |
| Charge | -Calgar + Victrix Honour Guard Multi-Charge Forgefiend 2, Warpsmith 2, and Helbrute 1 -Redemptor 1 and Incursors into Venomcrawler 1 |
| Fight | -Incursors Haywire Mine Venomcrawler 1 to death -Calgar kills Helbrute 1 -Victrix Honour Guard kill Warpsmith 2 and do 8 Damage to Forgefiend 2 with Honour the Chapter |
| End of Turn | -Score 10 on Secondaries |
| Score at End | 40 |
CSM, we have a problem. This game is officially getting ugly and feels awful from a CSM perspective. It seems like the Redemptors + Oath of Moment + Guilliman giving one of them free Ignores Cover due to Fire Discipline is a “I point and you die” mechanic. The Calgar + Victrix Honour Guard unit has completely bullied CSM’s most dangerous castle of units into a corner and the Ultramarines control the entire board. If this weren’t a teams game, I would expect CSM to concede around this point.
Board State: Middle of Round 2
| Phase: | Go Second: CSM |
| Score at Start | 14 |
| Command | -Draw Sabotage and Area Denial for secondaries -Score 0 on Primary |
| Movement | -Warp Talons to Objective 6 -Vashtorr towards Redemptor 2 and Objective 5 -Maulerfiend 2 to Objective 3, Lieutenant with Combi-weapon Reactive Moves behind Cover -Forgefiend 3 moves into shooting range of both Redemptors -Cultists 3 come from Reserves to Sabotage near Objective 3 |
| Shooting | -Cultists 3 Sabotage -Forgefiends 2 and 3 do 6 Damage to Redemptor 1 -Vashtorr whiffs into Redemptor 2 |
| Charge | -Vashtorr into Redemtpor 2 -Warp Talons into Incursors |
| Fight | -Vashtorr does 6 Damage to Redmeptor 2 (leaving it alive – ugh) -Warp Talons kill Incursors -Calgar kills Forgefiend 2 and the unit Consolidates onto Objective 1 -Redemptor 2 does 3 Damage to Vashtorr |
| End of Turn | -Score 0 on Secondaries -Drop Area Denial for 1 CP -Warp Talons get picked up -Callidus gets picked up |
| Score at End | 14 |
Sigh….the Redemptors still being alive is really killing CSM in this one. Silver lining, I pulled off one of my favorite combos for CSM with the Warp Talons killing something and disappearing into Reserves, which hopefully allows them to scrape some secondaries later in the game. Either way, this is BAD for CSM.
Board State: End of Round 2
ROUND 3:
| Phase: | Go First: Ultramarines |
| Score at Start | 40 |
| Command | -Draw Cleanse and Secure No Man’s Land for secondaries -Declare Tactical Doctrine -Oath of Moment 1 on Forgefiend 3, Oath of Moment 2 on Vashtorr -Use Adaptive Strategy to put Sicarious + Victrix Honour Guard into Assault Doctrine -Score 15 on Primary for “hold one”, “hold two”, and “hold more” objectives |
| Movement | -Calgar + Victrix Honour Guard towards Cultists 2 -Guilliman towards Vashtorr -Redemptor 2 Falls Back to Objective 5 -Sicarious + Victrix Honour Guard and Lieutenant with Combi-weapon move onto Objective 3 -Gravis Captain moves onto Objective 2 -Intercessors move into the midfield -Callidus Deep Strikes onto Objective 6 -CSM have the Warp Talons Rapid Ingress near the Ultra’s DZ |
| Shooting | -Callidus and Lieutenant with Combi-weapon Cleanse for 5 VP -Sicarious + Victrix Honour Guard kill Cultists 3 to stick CSM with Sabotage as a dead card -Redemptor 1 and Redemptor 2 only do 3 damage into Forgefiend 3 -All others whiff |
| Charge | -Calgar + Victrix Honour Guard into Cultists 2 -Guilliman into Vashtorr -Sicarious + Victrix Honour Guard into Maulerfiend 2 -Redemptor 2 into Vashtorr |
| Fight | -Sicarious + Victrix Honour Guard do 4 Damage into Maulerfiend 2 -Vashtorr uses Counter Offensive to kill Redemptor 2, who uses Only In Death Does Duty End to Fight on Death to bring Vashtorr to 4 Wounds -Calgar + Victrix Honour Guard kill Cultists 2 -Guilliman kills Vashtorr -Maulerfiend 2 kills 3 Victrix Honour Guard |
| End of Turn | -Score 10 on Secondaries |
| Score at End | 65 |
Finally a turn where there as at least a little bit of friction in the Ultramarine’s plans for game domination. In this case, it was a mistake in where Oath of Moment was allocated which led to the Redemptor whiffs causing a cascade of whiffs or non-kills. In hindsight, I should have ignored the Forgefiend and Oath’d the Maulerfiend 2 first, then Vashtorr second. I also should have saved a CP for Honour the Chapter on the Victrix instead of saving it to Fight On Death with the Redemptor. All that said, it probably won’t matter as the Ultramarines still put up a perfect score and control the entire board.
Board State: Middle of Round 3
| Phase: | Go Second: CSM |
| Score at Start | 14 |
| Command | -Draw Engage On All Fronts to go with stuck Sabotage for secondaries -Drop Sabotage for Overwhelming Force -Score 0 on Primary |
| Movement | -Forgefiend 3 moves into shooting range of Lieutenant with Combi-weapon -Warp Talons move into the Ultramarines’ DZ |
| Shooting | -Forgefiend 3 kills Lieutenant with Combi-weapon for 3 VP |
| Charge | -None |
| Fight | -Sicarious + Victrix Honour Guard do 5 Damage into Maulerfiend 2 -Maulerfiend kills 1 Victrix Honour Guard |
| End of Turn | -Score 4 on Secondaries -Callidus gets picked up |
| Score at End | 18 |
It’s Hail Mary time for CSM as there is a VERY real possibility of getting tabled next turn. This is basically a guaranteed 0-20 for Ultramarines.
Board State: End of Round 3
ROUND 4:
| Phase: | Go First: Ultramarines |
| Score at Start | 65 |
| Command | -Draw Bring It Down and Defend Stronghold for secondaries -Oath of Moment 1 on Forgefiend 3, Oath of Moment 2 on Maulerfiend 2 -Use Adaptive Strategy to put Sicarious + Victrix Honour Guard into Tactical Doctrine -Score 15 on Primary for “hold one”, “hold two”, and “hold more” objectives |
| Movement | -Guilliman towards Forgefiend 3 -Sicarious + Victrix Honour Guard Fall Back from Maulerfiend 2 -Gravis Captain and Intercessors move towards Warp Talons -Callidus Deep Strikes onto Objective 2 |
| Shooting | -Redemptor 1, Guilliman, and the Victrix Honour Guard kill Forgefiend 3 for 4 VP -Callidus, Gravis Captain and Intercessors kill all but 1 Warp Talon, who is left with 1 Wound |
| Charge | -Sicarious + Victrix Honour Guard into Maulerfiend 2 -Gravis Captain fails into the last Warp Talon, despite re-roll |
| Fight | -Sicarious + Victrix Honour Guard kill Maulerfiend 2 |
| End of Turn | -Score 4 on Secondaries |
| Score at End | 84 |
At this point, the game is over and a 20-0 is guaranteed for the Ultramarines. The only question left is if they can get to a perfect 100 points.
Board State: Middle of Round 4
| Phase: | Go Second: CSM |
| Score at Start | 14 |
| Command | -Draw Display Of Might and Defend Stronghold for secondaries -Drop Defend Stronghold for Storm Hostile Objective -Score 0 on Primary |
| Movement | -Warp Talons move onto Objective 2 -Callidus Overwatches and kills last the Warp Talon |
| Shooting | -None |
| Charge | -None |
| Fight | -None |
| End of Turn | -None -Ultramarines score 3 on Secondaries -Callidus gets picked up |
| Score at End | 18 |
Game OVER. CSM is tabled. No more changes to the pictures as I talked it out from here.
Board State: End of Round 4
ROUND 5:
| Phase: | Go First: Ultramarines |
| Score at Start | 87 |
| Command | -Draw Behind Enemy Lines and Engage on All Fronts for secondaries -Score 5 to max Primary |
| Movement | -Drop Callidus into CSM DZ |
| Shooting | -None |
| Charge | -None |
| Fight | -None |
| End of Turn | -Score 8 on Secondaries |
| Score at End | 100 |
Board State: Middle of Round 5
| Phase: | Go Second: CSM |
| Score at Start | 18 |
| Command | -None |
| Movement | -None |
| Shooting | -None |
| Charge | -None |
| Fight | -None |
| End of Turn | -Score 0 on Secondaries |
| Score at End | 18 |
Tabled and blown out. UGH!
Board State: End of Round 5
RESULT:
Singles Format: 100 – 18 Ultramarines WIN
WTC Teams Format: 20 – 0 Ultramarines WIN
GAME REVIEW:
This was easily one of the most lopsided games that I have ever played and it didn’t feel great to play. While I get that the CSM list was not optimized, the detachment more fun than strong, and the CSM strategy dependent on going first, this still felt super uninteractive from a CSM perspective….almost like they had zero chance to even compete. I’ll have to think on it more, but based on this I have to agree with all of the folks who are saying that Ultramarines, and Victrix Honour Guard in particular, are still too strong post-Dataslate.
WHAT I WOULD CHANGE NEXT TIME:
- Ultramarines
- I would change how I chose my Oath of Moment targets and CP usage in Round 3. If I had, I probably would have tabled CSM 1 round sooner.
- CSM
- I need to think on this one because I am honestly at a loss for what I could have done that would have given CSM anything approaching a chance. There are some micro-level things like having the Warp Talons go for another Overwhelming Force instead of Engage in Round 3, but that’s not changing the outcome much. It just feels bad.
EARNED THEMSELF A NAME:
Redemptor Dreadnoughts. The Calgar and Victrix unit was the core of the Ultramarines’ game plan and dictated the game to CSM, but that unit is Over Powered in my opinion. I therefore will give the award to the Redmeptors, who were absolute Chad’s and killed what felt like half of CSM’s army while also tanking 3 rounds of firing back.
MAGNUS OF THE GAME:
The guy who paired this CSM list into this Ultramarines list. He owes his CSM player a few beers for throwing him under the bus so hard.
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