On Wednesday Games Workshop released an updated version of the Space Marine faction pack, adding the rules for the three new detachments that will soon be published as part of the next Warhammer 40k narrative supplement, '500 Worlds: Titus'. Two of the detachments are accessible to any Space Marine Chapter, but the Reclamation Force is Ultramarines specific and particularly unusual - it's an unabashed melee detachment, and the natural home for the recently released Victrix Guard.
The Victrix have, however, taken a little bit of a nerf in the faction pack update, losing a wound each - albeit with a points discount of 10 points per three models. As they were among the very best infantry in all of Warhammer 40k when they were first released, some kind of nerf was inevitable - I'm only surprised it happened so quickly.
Although the Ultramarines lore says they're the most 'balanced' of the Space Marine chapters, the Victrix Guard and many of the Ultramarines special characters are extremely potent in melee. Their army doesn't provide particular special support for jump pack infantry like the Blood Angels, and they don't have the depth of unique melee units the Space Wolves enjoy - but the new Reclamation Force provides a full suite of tools for an Ultramarines melee archetype, led by the shiny new Captain Titus.
First, the Detachment Rule, Oath of Reclamation. This has two effects, both connected to objectives. Whenever a model makes an attack against an enemy unit within range of an objective marker, it improves its AP by -1. Then, while a unit is within range of an objective marker that it controlled at the start of the phase, if it is hit by an enemy attack with a Strength higher than its Toughness or the unit contains Titus, the enemy subtracts one from their Wound roll.
So that's a simple game plan - smash units off objectives in melee
Since the Ultramarines have so many good special characters it's possible that a list won't run any Enhancements - but there are some options well worth considering.
Seals of Reconquest grants the bearer's unit a 5+ invulnerable save, which would sit well on a jump Captain leading a basic Jump Assault Intercessor squad, or even a Vanguard Veteran Squad if you want to bring fancy pistols instead of Storm shields and don't mind being a bit squishier. Scroll of Proclamation lets the bearer's unit re-roll charges targeting units that control an objective marker - also great on a jump Captain, but worth considering for a Lieutenant in the same squad as a special character.
The Stratagem list is all gas, no breaks. You've got strats to fight on death, fall back and shoot (and charge), make an objective sticky, and make a D6+1 inch reactive move after your opponent falls back from a unit. 'Crusading Conquerors' increases the Objective Control characteristic of one of your units by one for a full round. 'Furious Dedication' is the real cherry on the cake: it gives a unit +2 to charge rolls and +1 to the Attacks characteristic of melee weapons for a turn.
Armor of Contempt is conspicuously absent from the Stratagem list. The penalty on enemy Wound rolls from high strength attacks will offset this a lot of scenarios, and while you don't have flexibility about when you get the bonus, you don't have to spend CP to get it, and more than one unit per phase can use it. You will feel the impact when you get hit with Bolt Rifle equivalents, though.
Between unit selection and the actual Detachment rules this isn't the fastest melee army, but it can put on bursts of speed in the charge phase. It will hit objectives hard and then be unusually hard to shift from them. Single minded and goal oriented - maybe this is an Ultramarines army, after all?
If you're already halfway through an Ultramarines melee list, we'd love to see pictures in the Wargamer Discord community - and I'd love to hear if there's any obvious tech that I've missed. For a regular roundup of Wargamer's best new articles and features, subscribe to our weekly newsletter!