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Primaris Space Marines

2019-06-19T00:38:28Z

2600:6C44:767F:FB36:99E4:84E:2DC3:FC7: /* Potential Problems */

[[File:New40KPrimarisArt1.jpg|300px|thumb|right|Look out Chaos, there's a new kid on the block.]]
{{Topquote|They were forged for Mankind's darkest hour, and that hour is upon us.|[[Roboute Guilliman]]}}
{{Topquote|In a galaxy wreathed in darkness, we must be the light.|Unnamed Primaris Officer}}
{{Topquote|Today, we are canceling the apocalypse!|<strike>Marshal</strike> Senior Princep Stacker Pentecost, from the <strike>movie Pacific Rim</strike> Collegia Titanica}}

'''Primaris Space Marines''' (also known as Primaris Marines, Ultra-Ultramarines, Space Space Marines, Primarines, NuMarines, Chadmarines, [[Ultramarines: The Movie|The Greater-est of them all]], Adeptus Restartes, Gigglymarines, Super Space Marines, Biglymarines, Big League Marines, Space-marine Space-marine Space-Marines, 8thmarines, Bigmars, [[Stormcast Eternals|Spacesigmarines]], Guillimarines, Special Snowflake Marines, [[Mary Sue|Primarysues]], Ultra-Ultrasmurfs, [[Skub|Skubmarines]], Marines II: Electric Boogaloo, the Replacements and the New Kids) are the next step forward in [[Space Marine]] evolution, not counting the [[Raptor]] Supermarines made by [[Corax]] during the [[Horus Heresy]] before [[Alpharius]] spiked the gene-tech with [[Daemon]] Blood. [[Roboute Guilliman|Big Bobby G]] got together with [[Belisarius Cawl]] and put together this next generation of Astartes. They are bigger, stronger, tougher and maybe smarter than all that have come before them (big "maybe", though).

Buckle up boys, it's about to get hot in here.

==History and Background==
Shortly after the conclusion of the Horus Heresy, Guilliman predicted that another major Chaos attack on the Imperium might come at some point in the future. Though the Space Marines had proven themselves worthy defenders of Mankind, the Primarch foresaw that there might be a time where even they would struggle against the onslaught of the Ruinous Powers - [[Derp|because Roboute himself broke Legions in chapters]], and those tend to have problems fighting Black Crusades against ''hundreds of thousands'' CSM (the reason why Dorn declined Codex Astartes at first, being one of the few after the Scouring to suppose the Traitor Legions may be back one day). But nowadays it turns out Guilliman knew about it as well - which makes the whole situation awkward to say the least.

Ahem, in a frankly extreme show of [[just as planned]] (though Guilliman probably didn't plan to be made Fulgrim's bitch), our [[Spiritual Liege]] gained the aid of Archmagos Belisarius Cawl and began a program to create a new, superior form of Space Marines in secret over the next ten millennia. To assist him, Guilliman gave Cawl a relic called the Sangprimus Portum- a device containing the purest samples of each Primarch's [[/d/|genetic material]] that outstripped even the gene-seed in its potency.

Even after he was poisoned by [[Fulgrim]], Guilliman's plan continued without anybody learning about it, and by the time of his revival, Primaris Marines were ready to be unveiled to the Imperium - the only thing needed was a sanction from the Primarch himself.

In conjunction with the [[Ultima Founding]], there are now going to be entirely new chapters composed just of Primaris Marines as well, with some taking over the [[Fortress-Monastery|fortress-monasteries]] of extinct chapters. In addition many chapters devastated by recent conflicts are also being reinforced by the Primaris joining their ranks. Some to the point that they essentially become Primaris chapters with the original marines becoming a minority in the ranks.

Standard marines can also be "transformed" into Primaris Marines. The first revealed to have gone through with this procedure was [[Marneus Calgar]]. However, the process, dubbed the "Rubicon Primaris" is also agonizing even by Space Marine standards, very difficult (the description of it we have for when Marneus Calgar went through it has his entire body sliced open and briefly killed him in the process- they had to jump-start his heart to revive him afterwards), and according to Cawl himself it has a 61.6% chance of failure until Cawl had enough data to refine the process. By and large, it's indisputably easier to make new Primaris from scratch rather than convert old marines, so expect the procedure to be mostly restricted to special characters with the necessary plot armor to survive it.

The introduction of the Primaris marines and the Rubicon Primaris has been controversially received by the current space marine chapters across the Imperium, with opinions ranging from enthusiastic to full-on hostility - Guilliman himself has referred to the Primaris as "Cawl's blasphemous hordes", not because he himself is distasteful of them (quite the opposite, in fact), but as a reference to how controversial their implementation has been to the wider Imperium. Some claim that the Primaris would be the end of many chapters' traditions and character (which isn’t meta at all) and is against what the Emperor intended for the Astartes. Others claim they will breathe new life into many struggling chapters and an ailing Imperium.

==New Stuff==
*The basic Primaris Marine is encased in [[Power Armour#Mark X: Tacticus Armour|Mark X Tacticus Armour]]. Basically, it's the best of all the suits that came before it, wrapped up into one convenient package; no [[Beakie]] schnozz, but it's got that sweet Maximus style vox grill. As usual, mechanically this is entirely cosmetic.
**[[Primarch#Two_Missing_Primarchs|We don't talk about Mark IX Power Armour]].
**Bigger, tougher Primaris Marines wear [[Power_Armour#Mark_X:_Gravis_Armour|Mark X Gravis Armour]]. As of 8E, this translates to +1T. Shiny.
**Reivers and Vanguard Primaris Marines wear [[Power Armour#Mark X: Phobos Armour|Mark X Phobos Armour]], sleeker-looking, with <strike>crocs, capris, and</strike> skull-faced helmets for the Reivers. The other guys have helmets somewhat similar to the Mark VII Armor.
**Suppressors wear Mark X Omnis Armor, which combines elements of the Tacitus Armor and the Inceptor's version of the Gravis Armor.
*They wield the [[Bolt#Bolt Rifle|Mark II Cawl-pattern Bolt rifle]] as their standard firearm. Apparently a "perfected" version of the ubiquitous bolter, it does have an improved statline - 30" Rapid Fire 1 S4 AP-1 D1 - which appears to be a boltgun with an extended barrel.
**Its statline is one AP worse than the new "Special Issue Boltgun" Sternguard carry, but their big selling point is some combination of being cheaper/easier to manufacture and using more readily available/cheaper/easier to manufacture ammunition, reflected in their points cost - bolt rifles are the same gun for 3 points cheaper in 8E.
**At least two variants of Bolt Rifle exist- the Auto Bolt Rifle, which has lower AP and shorter ranges but offers greater mobility due to being Assault 2, and the Stalker Bolt Rifle, a Heavy 1 sniper variant with superior range and one extra point of AP.
*An enhanced [[gene-seed]], which was created by combining the purified genetic material of the Loyalist Primarchs with parts of the [[Adeptus Custodes|Custodes]] creation process (as they don't have gene-seed) that adds 3 more organs to the existing 19. It's also worth noting that Cawl did something to make the Primaris Marines physically incapable of turning traitor. Guilliman's internal monologue in Dark Imperium reveals that he considers it an impossibility for Primarines to turn, unlike "the old breed". Even though he is against the use of genes from the traitor legions despite the extreme heroica of the loyalists of those legions. Which is seriously a dick move. This has interesting implications about whether or not the Primaris marines truly have free will, assuming that they truly are unable to fall to Chaos- it is just as likely that they haven't been active long enough for any corruption to take hold yet. The book War of Secrets heavily implies they have some kind of innate Chaos resistance, being immune to a psychic plague that infested other Space Marines.
**The new organs are:
***'''Sinew Coils''', which turn the Primaris Marines into [[Wat|Inspector Gadget]]....okay, we may be joking here, but it's basically metallic coils wrapped around the Marine's tendons and ligaments that can contract with extreme force.
****This is particularly interesting, as it's not actually a living organ, and hence is presumably not developed from gene-seed at all (Actually, in the book "Dark Imperium: Plague War" Guy Haley describes them as a "network of supplementary muscles unique to the Primaris Marines". So maybe they are a real organic implant and not a bionic one. Who knows because, for example, the Dark Imperium books also contradicts the 8th Edition Codices about the original primaris haven't been recruited from the original legiones homeworlds. So what we could have here is just another classic case of author messing up the fluff again as it is described as metallic in most other publications).
***'''The Magnificat''', which just sets the rest of the superhuman organs into overdrive (and is itself part of a super-organ dubbed the '''Immortis Gland''' intended for Primarchs, though the information needed to complete it is lost), as well as producing additional growth hormone.
***'''Belisarian Furnace''' (because Cawl gets a robo-boner for naming things after himself), essentially a 'last-stand' organ, which gives a Primaris Marine a supercharged adrenaline rush near death while triggering rapid tissue and bone regeneration. This presumably explains the additional Wound they have.
****The organ also happens to be essential in the implementation of the Rubicon Primaris. The current procedure apparently kills the patient for a short while and the organs healing abilities is essential in reviving the patient post operation (at least that is what occured in Marneus Calgars case) assuming that they come back alive at all.

==Potential Problems==
* Primaris marines were made from all extant Loyalist genelines, and thanks to the material made available to [[Belisarius Cawl]] through the Sangprimus Portum, show little to none of the idiosyncrasies that usually mark the bloodlines of [[Space Wolves|Russ]] and [[Blood Angels|Sanguinius]]. Not only that, but according to an (admittedly biased) in-universe source, there's only a .001% chance of genetic deviation per generation, which means that the Primaris genestock are incredibly stable as well. Interestingly, thanks to Cawl's work Chapters that have lost organs through the centuries (like the [[Imperial Fists]]) or have malfunctioning organs (like the [[Raven Guard]]) all of a sudden have a complete set of organs thanks to the influx of new Primaris blood.
** This means of course that Chapters like the [[Space Wolves]], who due to the same quirks of their genetics were unable to ''have'' successors, [[Wolfspear|can now have them]], without fear of them devolving into [[Wulfen]] in one generation. Despite this stability, some people (see [[Flesh Tearers|Gabriel Seth]]) aren't too happy at this flagrant tinkering with the Emperor's work. Despite the fact the Primarchs and Astartes were created by teams of gene-smiths and the Emperor acted more like a project leader than personal inventor. One of the major head guys of said projects was Cawl himself. If you really think about it, this means Cawl actually has a greater claim to their creation than the Emperor, which is kinda disturbing in itself.
** It's worth noting that in the '''Kill Team Focus: The Adeptus Astartes''', [[Black Dragons]] Reivers with bone mutations are mentioned. Maybe this is due to the purposeful mutation farming by the Black Dragons, or maybe the mutation rate is higher than Daddy Cawl cares to admit. That said, it's been 100 years since the Ultima Founding, and chapters can, presumably, create their own Primaris Marines, not to mention the AdMech were the ones who (unintentionally) gave them their specific mutation in the first place, so maybe Cawl's fucking around with them or [[heresy|he purposefully gave their Primaris the same mutation]].
* Despite being bigger and stronger than "regular" Astartes, what the Primaris initially lacked was actual battlefield experience (a fact bemoaned by Captain Felix of the [[Ultramarines]] in ''Dark Imperium'' to have been the cause of most of the initial losses to the Primaris). While this has been mostly been offset by the long and hard Indomitus Crusade campaign, even after a hundred-odd years of war the average Primaris marine is looked upon as a relative greenhorn by regular Astartes veterans. They have a lot to prove to their adopted Chapters as a result.
** We get little hints of this having to prove themselves goodness in the Dark Angels codex. A group of Hellblasters are half put off, half inspired by the strictness of their primogenitor. After the squad gets trapped in a hive city for days fighting off enemies, they rack up so many kills even Belial can't help but smile.
*The Dark Angel example above illustrates another problem: how well will the new Primaris Marines get along with their chapter? The Dark Angels are an extreme example given their <s>issues</s> UNSWERVING LOYALTY TO THE IMPERIUM, but other chapters may have their own problems getting the first couple batches of Primaris marines to get with the traditions and cultures of their chapters. The Space Wolves were mentioned as being similar, as some of the Wolf Lords initially questioned the worth of those not born on Fenris to be called sons of Leman Russ, despite the Legion’s recruitment practices prior to finding its Primarch and their extensive achievments during that period. In spite of their misgivings and claims that Guilliman was using them to dilute their traditions, Logan Grimnar ordered that they be integrated into the packs; however, rivalries between Primaris Space Wolves and their shorter counterparts are still common. At least papa wolf doesn’t take shit and accepts whatever helps protect humanity.
**As the Primaris have no Terminators ([[skub|Aggressors are debatable]]) or Biker units or any real equivalents. (Yet, if GW thought that far ahead.) I.e. Hellblasters and Inceptors can be deployed in place of Sternguard and Vanguard Veterans in other chapters. With the exception of Primaris Librarians, induction into the Inner Circle or the upper ranks of the Ravenwing is unlikely, at least until some time passes. Or in fluff they might end up being added without specialized vehicles and the size issue could he handwaived. There are also rumors of Primaris getting actual Terminators and Bikers "soon". Though it's best to take them with a grain of salt as they've been around since Primaris Marines were announced for Dark Angels.
*Chaos will be interested in the Primaris Marines. The [[Chaos Gods]] are not happy with the existence of the Primaris Marines, and are creating some warp charged warriors to counter them (enhanced Chosen, perhaps). [[Fabius Bile|Fabulous Bill]] became obsessed with "perfecting" the Primaris Marines from the moment he first encountered them and has already begun trying to kidnap Primaris Marines for dissection. They've supposedly been made resistant to Chaos influence, but "resistant" doesn't mean "immune" by a long shot, since they still have a soul. In fact a [[Noxious Blightbringer]] is able to effect them in Dark Imperium, successfully hurting and trying to get them to turn. And come to think of it, the cover image of 8th Edition does seem to partially show a [[Plague Marine]] in Tacitus armor...
**The discovery that Cawl wanted to use Traitor Legion gene-seed as well as the gene-seed of the missing legions to make Primaris Marines doesn't help the matter; Guilliman refused to let him do so, but he has a feeling Cawl will try it anyway with predictable results.
***Cawl claims that it was only due to the influence of the traitorous Primarchs that their Legions fell to Chaos. While this may be true, attempting to test that theory would almost certainly be an extremely bad idea.
****The [[Sons of the Phoenix]] exist.
***The reasons as to why the the Lost Legions were purged so thoroughly were apparently so unthinkably horrible (so much that even after his rebellion had begun, Horus was still unwilling to break the vow he made to never speak of the Missing Primarchs) that Cawl trying to use their DNA might bite him in the ass even harder than for using gene-seed from the Traitor Primarchs.
*While barely explored in-universe so far, the various alien races in the setting may also take exception to or dangerous interest in the Primaris Marines.[[Urien Rakarth]] has expressed interest in them in spite of what he calls Guilliman's "lack of imagination", and has requested his [[Haemonculus|Haemonculi]] bring as many to him as possible; more unnervingly, he has expressed that he will be saving his best oubliette for the Primarch if he ever wished to "learn from the master". It would be equally unsurprising if [[Illuminor Szeras|a certain spider-legged robot mad scientist]] also wanted to collect a few Primaris specimens. The rest of the alien races, fortunately, are much less interested in genetic modification and would be more likely to view them as being more or less like any other Space Marine, although at least one Ork Mekboy came up with the idea of creating more potent bullets to deal with "da big beakies". As of the Ork codex, Mad Dok Grotsnik (You know, the guy who CREATED GHAZGHKULL) has kidnapped a bunch of Silver Skulls Primaris marines for unknown purposes. So that bodes well.
* The book "War of Secrets" has the Primaris Marines of the Dark Angels (and by implication, all Primaris Marines of Terran stock) heavily influenced by the culture of Mars: they call the Emperor the Omnissiah, reverently call their creator 'Pater Cawl', and swear to the glory of "chapter, Terra and Mars". This raises the question of if they are more loyal to the Adeptus Mechanicus than the Imperium or even their own Chapter. Indeed, in the book its one of the main reasons the Dark Angels don't trust them.
* Despite the Primaris widely being seen as, and intended to be, the replacements for standard Astartes, and most Chapters having the means and technology to create Primaris Space Marines of their own, many still choose to continue creating standard Space Marines as well for their more flexible and readily available equipment and combat doctrines (not to mention being able to drive all the space marine vehicles that the Primaris are apparently too cool for). Outside of full Primaris chapters, the newmarines are gonna have to just get used to being supplementary. Not that this is surprising- only so much gene-seed is produced, and nobody's dumb enough to just throw it out.
**While the Rubicon Primaris can convert existing Astartes into Primaris, the process is life-threatening, complex, and prone to failure due to lack of refinement. On top of all that, it has caused a fair degree of friction in itself, with some Marines welcoming the possibility for all Astartes to become Primaris and others whispering of possible refusal or even open revolt if the transformation was made compulsory, although given how risky the procedure is, this probably isn't an overt concern.

==Forces of the Primaris Marines==
[[File:Blood Raven 1.JPG|300px|thumb|right|"[[Roboute Guilliman|Lord Commander]], the batch 3789-Alpha is missing! Just after the visit of..." "[[Just as Planned|I know.]]"]]
Primaris Marines don't get to select from a variety of equipment loadouts, but the equipment they do carry is designed by [[Cawl]], who is shockingly competent, so they usually outgun their non-Primaris equivalents who tried to choose an otherwise identical loadout; this forces them to depend on other units to support them to fill in any gaps (much like Eldar Aspect Warriors). They enjoy, as of 8E, +1W and +1A relative to a regular marine, making them more durable and a lot more dangerous in melee combat. Some of them wear [[Power_Armour#Mark_X:_Gravis_Armour|Mark X Gravis Armour]], for another +1T.
*'''[[Primaris Captain|Primaris Captain:]]''' Primaris Captains are the analogues of [[Space Marine]] Captains. They are decked out in the new Gravis Armor which somehow manages to be even ''MOAR'' egg-shaped than a [[Squat]] [[Hearthguard]]. They're armed with a mini-Gauntlet of Ultramar/Hand of Dominion (I.E. a three-shot bolt pistol built into a power fist) and a master-crafted power sword. Others use the Mark X Tacitus power armor and wield a power sword and their choice of Stalker Boltgun or Auto Bolt Rifle. There's also a plasma pistol and power fist model exclusive to Games Workshop stores celebrating their anniversaries. As of the Shadowspear Boxed Set, he can now be equipped with Phobos Armor (and presumably a Cameoline Cloak) for some sneaky breeki action.
*'''[[Primaris Librarian|Primaris Librarian:]]''' Just what it sounds like. Has a fancy-looking Force Sword.
**'''Vanguard Librarian:''' A variant used by the Vanguard Primaris Marines. Has a camo-robe, just in case an 8 foot tall lightning-flinging, power armoured wizard needs to be subtle. Or maybe he's cosplaying as a Dark Angel, we don't know. In either case, he has a different set of powers that focus on making his allies even sneakier.
*'''[[Primaris Chaplain|Primaris Chaplain:]]''' Self-explanatory; they wear black robes as though they're aping on the [[Interrogator-Chaplain]]s. In battle, they wear an Iron Halo and carry a Crozius Arcanum alongside a specialized Absolver Bolt Pistol. To double down on the skull motif, their breastplate looks like a ribcage.
*'''[[Primaris Lieutenant|Primaris Lieutenants:]]''' The Primaris Lieutenants are somewhere between a Captain and a Sergeant in rank, and are often the most experienced of a Primaris Squad. Their role is to take command of demi-companies when the Captain is absent, freeing Chaplains and Librarians to focus on their own specialties. Lieutenants are differentiated from their fellow marines by a red-on-white stripe on their helms. Some of them can be helmetless which often showcase an extreme amount of Hair-esy. They can either use a power sword or a master-crafted automatic version of the Bolt Rifle (shorter range and worse ap, but better rate of fire at long range, fireable after Advancing, and more damage per shot from being master-crafted).
**'''Vanguard Lieutenant''': Lieutenants of the Vanguard Primaris swap out their bolt rifles for an occulus bolt carbine that helps them pick off enemies from far away, and while they only use a basic combat knife they're surprisingly good with it. They can also deep strike via grav-chute like the Reivers.
*'''[[Primaris Ancient|Primaris Ancients:]]''' Primaris Marines dubbed honorable enough to have the privilege of carrying the Standard's Banner. Identifiable by their white helmets (although that could change depending on the Chapter), they are in no way related to another [[Tarkus|dude-clad-in-power-armor-wearing-a-white-helmet-that-also-comes-with-the-same-name-from-a-certain-WH40K-game]]. At least until he's been upgraded. In case you were wondering, "Ancient" is a corruption of the rank of "Ensign" which was a term for an army's flagbearer in the Middle Ages, so it has nothing to do with how old the Marine in question actually is.
*'''[[Primaris Apothecary|Primaris Apothecary:]]''' A specialization of Primaris Marine first seen in artwork and promo photos, and now has rules and a model. Their left bracer appears to have a screen on it for monitoring lifesigns, and they have a pistol with a reductor built into it for geneseed removal (and the occasional puncturing of enemy skulls). The Narthecium attached to a <s>cyberdong</s> mechadendrite on the Apothecary's back.
*'''Primaris Techmarine:''' One of them acts as the pintle gunner for the Repulsor Tank. That's about all we know.
*'''[[Reiver|Reivers:]]''' Reivers are Space Marines created from the gene-seed of [[Sly Marbo]]. Think [[Catachan Jungle Fighters]] in [[Power Armor]]. It's time to piss yourselves, [[Chaos Space Marines|traitorous scum.]] Reivers are the only true close-combat specialist Infantry for the Primaris and are pretty good at it overall. Compared to Intercessors they have a Combat Knife for another attack and an improved Bolt Pistol with greater Armour Penetration, and the ability to negatively effect enemy morale. They can be equipped for more ranged combat but that is not why you take them. They have Deep-Strike option like everyone else, but also a new grappling hook that allows them to both outflank and jump-up ruins like they're nothing. But arguably their biggest trump-card is their special grenade that causes effected units to lose both their overwatch and minus one to shooting. While not the most devastating CC unit in the game they make excellent back-field harassers and synergize wonderfully with the rest of your army with their ability to cripple enemy gun-lines.
*'''[[Aggressor|Aggressors:]]''' Aggressors are basically Primaris [[Terminators]] mixed in with [[Centurion Squad|Centurions]], but with a 3+ save. They have an even more specialized Gravis armor, and either an automatic version of the Primaris Captain's Boltstorm Gauntlet paired with shoulder-mounted grenade launchers or a flamer-equipped version of said gauntlet dubbed the Flamestorm gauntlet. Regardless of what they're equipped with, they specialize in close-range firepower that obliterates light infantry.
*'''[[Intercessor|Intercessors:]]''' Intercessors are the <s>standard</s> SUPER bolter Marines, having most in common with a bare-bones tactical squad as they're armed with Primaris versions of the same things (such as their super bolters and Mk X armour). Compared to tacticals, they perform better in melee and have greater armour penetration on their basic weapons along with being more survivable, making them effective in a wider variety of situations. This is both a strength and a weakness, as while they may be bigger Jacks of all trades, they're even worse masters of nothing. Compared to Tacticals they have fewer weapon and transport options and only one type of heavy weapon choice. This might be part of the reason that other Primaris Marines are more specialized: to compensate/synergize. As Primaris specialists may be more vulnerable to heavy firepower and be fire-magnets, Intercessors with their flexibility they can more reliably protect other more valuable units and plug any holes that arise from specialist losses, or make themselves useful against any foe until the hard-hitting second wave arrives (being the most versatile as far as Primaris Marines go).
*'''[[Inceptor|Inceptors:]]''' Inceptors are the <strike>[[Assault Marines]] equivalent</strike> drop troops of the Primaris Marines and are equipped with a new pattern of Jump Packs, two Assault Bolters, which are basically sawn off Heavy Bolters, a pair of hand-portable Plasma Cannons, and a pair of [[Derp|absolutely ridiculous-looking shoe-shovels.]] Unlike Assault Squads, the Inceptors' focus is on firepower and a pseudo Hammer of Wrath. This makes them closer in role to Assault Bikes as a fast moving strafing unit and harasser. They lack melee weapons of any kind; this doesn't mean they can't fight in melee, as their sheer weight allows them to crush their enemies to death, and they still have the statline of "normal" Primaris marines along with being even tougher to hurt, making them not completely useless in a scrap. Don't get it in your head that their melee ability is "good", though, or even decent, and only engage in melee if you have to; they do far better blowing things into tiny pieces.
*'''[[Hellblaster|Hellblasters:]]''' Hellblasters are Primaris Marines who make Flash Gitz green(er) with envy. They use [[Plasma#Plasma Incinerator|Plasma Incinerators]], enhanced Plasma Guns with longer range and armor piercing ability. Aside from that, there's nothing special about them as compared to "regular" Primaris marines. Very expensive and vulnerable to strong weapons, but they fuck up TEQs and can pose a threat to vehicles if they can get into Rapid Fire range, though outside of said range it's not as suicidal to unload a charged volley, so they can threaten vehicles there, too. Also, with the changes to how cover works, they are terrifying against cover campers. With how big a fire magnet these guys are, if you get these guys close to an expensive or dangerous vehicle or multiwound TEQs feel free to HELLBLAST them into oblivion in a suicide barrage. (That is, IF they're at risk of being wiped out or swarmed.)
*'''[[Redemptor Dreadnought|Primaris Redemptor Dreadnought:]]''' For no matter how great and glorious they may be, [[Grimdark|in the grim future even they are not immortal]]. Though how enough of these brand spanking-new Space Marines were curbstomped just enough to warrant Dreadnought status, we'll (probably) never know (hundreds of thousands of Primaris fighting in the over a century long indomitus crusade may be the answer). Times be desperate, yo. Probably because they're so hard to kill that just about all of them that couldn't be saved are made dread-ful.
*'''[[Repulsor_Tank|Repulsor]]:''' The Repulsor is the standard transport and/or tank (nobody's entirely sure yet) of the Primaris Marines. Which is good for them, because they can't go inside standard Space Marine transports, including ones that can hold Terminators, Centurions, and (in 30k) even fucking ''Primarchs.'' There must be [[Profit|some mysterious force surpassing even the Emperor]] blocking the door - which also blocks the door on this thing if you try to convince a ''non''-Primaris to go inside. Being a floating [[METAL BOXES|Metal Box]], it might be considered the spiritual successor to the [[Grav-Rhino]], if you covered said Grav-Rhino with missile pods everywhere, including on its rear and sides, put twin-linked lascannon in the front hull, and gave it what looks like a [[Fail|heavy stubber]] as a coaxial gun to go with the turret lascannon and pintle-mounted Gatling gun.
*'''Overlord:''' The Overlord is the Primaris-exclusive dropship used to support the bigger frames of the Primaris Marines. You would think the [[Thunderhawk]] would be big enough for them, but it seems they are ''too'' [[Mary Sue|special]] to share the same vehicle with their smaller brothers. Anyways, the Overlord is noticeable for one thing. It is '''ECKS BAWKS HUEG''', making a Thunderhawk look like a [[Stormtalon]] in comparison. In terms of specs, it is the [[Corvus Blackstar]] on steroids. Seriously, it has powerful quintuple engines and twinned hulls thick enough to permit insertion from orbit, like Thunderhawks or Stormbirds, and like Blackstars, Overlords possess twin transport bays with their own assault doors, but they're considerably bigger (they can carry up to 40 of your Chadmarines) and even more blessed with advanced technologies like fucking [[AWESOME|energy shields]] ([[Heresy|Guess Cawl kind of]] [[Blood Ravens|'borrowed']] [[Extra Heresy|some of that sweet ass energy shields from the]] [[Eldar|pointy-eared gitz]]). Additionally, the Overlord is equipped with anti-munitions cannons, wing-mounted Desolator Lascannons, nose-mounted Melta Cannons and Heavy Bolters fixed on its lower wing surfaces. This thing is pretty much a flying [[Titan (Warhammer 40,000)|Titan]] or an Imperial [[Manta]].
*'''[[Astraeus|Astraeus Super-Heavy Tank]]:''' Surely the result of a grudging 3-way between a Mastodon, a Sicaran, and a somewhat reluctant Repulsor, the Astraeus is the first Primaris super-heavy tank (implying there will be more variants on the way) and looking to be an utter beast on the tabletop - it's armed with Land Raider style frontal Heavy Bolter mount, two front angled sponsons for Las-Rippers or Plasma Eradicators, topped with a turret mounted dual Macro-Accelerator Cannon. Given how expensive it is to field a decently kitted repulsor, it remains to be seen how viable it will be to concentrate so many points into one vehicle.

===Vanguard Space Marines===
Apparently Guilliman and Cawl [[Stormcast Eternals|swapped notes]] with [[Sigmar]] when it came to organizing the Primaris forces. The Primaris of the Vanguard Space Marines are geared mainly towards guerilla warfare and infiltration; most of them wear the Phobos pattern armor Reivers wear, since it offers improved mobility with no loss of protection (leading to the obvious question of why anyone wears the base Tacticus pattern). The only exception is the Suppressor, who wears Omnis pattern armor, which is effectively the Phobos version of Gravis armor, because Primaris marines are so bad at using standard jump packs.

*'''[[Primaris Captain|Vanguard Captains]]:''' The final evolution of the Scout Marine. Armed with a snipe rifle and a few party tricks, most of which are shared with the scout.
*'''[[Vanguard Lieutenant]]s:''' A melee heavy Lt. with an improved boltgun and the same deepstrike ability the rest of the vanguard has.
*'''[[Vanguard Librarian]]s:''' A stealth librarian specializing in buffs. Only Vanguard HQ worth a damn.
*'''[[Helix Adept]]s:''' Because GW loves repeating themselves here's a retro Apothecary who remembers that it's smarter to stay in a unit than to stand alone as an elite. Same skills as normal medic but a more limited target pool.
*'''[[Eliminator|Eliminators]]:''' Essentially power-armored sniper scouts equipped with exotic ammunition, or if you want to be a smart ass Primaris Sternguard with Scout Gear. [[awesome| Their Bolt weapons look like oversized G36s]].
*'''[[Infiltrator|Infiltrators]]:''' These appear to be the equivalents of the Intercessors, at least in the sense of being the standard Bolter-wielders. They appear to be using some kind of scoped Bolt Carbine variant and smoke grenades.
*'''[[Suppressor|Suppressors]]:''' What you get when you cross an Inceptor with a Devastator. Those big autocannons are sure to make the [[Scourges]] jealous. Totally not based on the [[/a/|Zakus from Gundam]].

==On the Tabletop==
Crunch wise, Primaris Space Marines are about as physically dangerous as Space Marines are already supposed to be fluff-wise, so they get an additional Attack and an additional Wound; weapons which deal additional Wounds seem to be fairly common now, so while it might not be a big improvement it can still be helpful. However, they also have exclusive access to shiny new toys from Cawl, including a "basically Kraken" Bolter with +6" range and -1 AP, a Plasma gun with +6" range and -4 AP, and half-range [[AWESOME|one-handed Assault Heavy Bolters and Plasma Cannons. That they dual-wield. With jump packs.]] Defensively, so far only they have access to Gravis armor, which grants +1 Toughness (and even then only the Captain, Aggressors, and Inceptors can use it). Finally, their squads don't mix weapon types, with all members carrying the same loadout; whether this will be a benefit or a downside relative to "standard" marines being able to carry a mixed loadout remains to be seen with the other new rules in 8th, such as the ability of any squad to split its fire across multiple targets.

Most of the Primaris units so far also cost nearly twice as many points as their older counterparts and have unit sizes no larger than a <del>5</del> 10 model maximum (including the Serge). This strongly suggests they will be more useful as a supplement to standard Marine forces than they might be as outright replacements; they're far too inflexible and expensive to be fielded effectively on their own, and their lack of melee specialists and access to weaponry with a range greater than 36" is a glaring flaw (for now) as well. And while their movement is no worse than any other Marine, for reasons that totally aren't financial in origin they can't take '''any''' transports usable by standard Marines. Not [[Rhino|Rhinos]], not [[Drop Pods]], not [[Land Raider|Land Raiders]], not even the motherfucking [[Mastodon]]. They can use the Thunderhawk, but odds are you're not going to have room for it in your standard 2000 points game, and even then, it has to be carrying only Primaris Marines (and in that case, it still can't carry too many). They have a special transport called a Repulsor (which is a [[Awesome|grav tank]]), which somehow can't carry non-Primaris, but besides that they have no choice but to go footslogging.

However, single-model units can be astonishingly efficient - the most extreme case is the Primaris Librarian, who has a static, unchangeable loadout, but costs the exact same as a non-Primaris Librarian with the same loadout (a bolt pistol and Force Sword).

Primaris armies can seem deceptively small, however, they have an incredible wound density. This makes your basic squads like Intercessors far more point efficient than Tactical Marines (since in 8th edition Tac Marines just kind of completely suck eggs), and are the better option when it comes to holding down homefield objectives. They're also by far some of the best bolter infantry available, with a number of advantages over basic Sternguard (though lacking access to combi-weapons). Other squads such as Hellblasters vs Devastators, Aggressors vs Terminators, etc. are less clear-cut, but overall the Primaris squads are more than able to carry their own weight, providing value in their role, sacrificing a little bit of flexibility for durability but not quite enough to make them Eldar-level cripples outside their niche.

===Rules Datasheets===
<gallery>
File:New40kPrimarisCaptainAgainFull.jpg|Stats for the Captain. GW is being awfully generous with these datasheets.
File:New40kIntercessorDatasheet.jpg|Behold the Intercessor Datasheet (thanks GW!).
File:New40kPrimarisInceptorVersion2Full.jpg|The Inceptor rules, sadly the shoe-shovels have no stats.
File:Hellblaster stats.jpeg|Hellblaster stats, because leaks are great for those on the outside. Note how when their guns explode they die, rather than take damage.
</gallery>

==Gallery==
===Miniatures===
<gallery>
File:Captain1.jpg|A Primaris Captain channeling the [[meme|Juggernaut BITCH!]]
File:BirthdayPrimaris.jpg|The super-ultra-limited Primaris Captain.
File:Lieutenant1.jpg|Primaris Lieutenants, not quite butter bars, not quite seasoned
File:Ancient1.jpg|I am NOT [[Tarkus]]!
File:40kPrimarisLibReveal1.jpg|Being a Librarian ain't easy.
File:40kPreviewJuly23_Chaplain8h-500x466.jpg|The Chaplain. Totally not [[Blizzard|Reaper from Overwatch]].
File:40kPreviewJuly23_Apothecary2n-500x461.jpg|The Apothecary.
File:Intercessor2.jpg|Super Smurfs!
File:Reivers.jpg|Surprise Motherfucker!!
File:Helblaster1.jpg|An entire ''squad'' of Super-Smurfs with upgraded Plasma Guns.
File:Inceptor1.jpg|Inceptors! Now capable of flying and skiing!
File:IMG-20171123-WA0005.jpg|Lieutenant Tolmeron pulling a charge pose with his saber. Now all you need to do is mount him on a horse and you're golden.
File:IMG-20171123-WA0002.jpg|Lieutenant Zakariah. Look at how smug his face is, like he has just <s>apprehended the Fallen </s> CLEARED ALL HERETICS FROM THE SECTOR
File:40K-Space-Wolves-Primaris-Battle-Leader-Haldor-Icepelt.jpg|The Woof Guard Battle Leader. Does his pose reminds you of someone else? ('''*cough*''' ARTEMIS, NEW POSSESED '''*cough*''')
</gallery>

===Pictures===
<gallery>
File:Space_Marine_Squared.png|A Squad of Intercessors about to go to town on some greenskins. Aren't they beautiful?
File:Redemptor_Dreadnought.PNG|I HAVE LEGS! I HAVE FULLY ARTICULATED LEGS!
File:Chad marine hover tank.png|Guilliman and Cawl have figured out how to build hover tanks once more!
File:Aggressors.jpg|The Aggressors box.
File:PassiveAgressors.jpg|Passive Aggressors, ready to make catty remarks at the enemy
File:Chap&apoc.png|Grainy sighting of a Primaris Apothecary and Chaplain.
</gallery>

===Assorted===
<gallery>
File:PrimarisBigBoy.png
File:Adeptus Astronimus.jpg
File:PrimarisLightyear.jpg|Primaris Marine of the Galactic Rangers chapter.
File:Primaris_comparison.png|Numarine, the carefree playboy, and Oldmarine, the grizzled vigilante. [[Batman|Have you ever seen them in the same art together?]]
File:Primaris vs chaos by theangrymarine-dccr2jv.png|The new kid always gets picked on.
</gallery>

{{Primaris Marine-Forces}}

Roboute Guilliman

2019-06-19T00:31:23Z

2600:6C44:767F:FB36:99E4:84E:2DC3:FC7: /* 41st millennium / Gathering Storm */

{{Awesome}}
[[File:Robute_Guilliman.jpg|450px|thumb|right|I'm surrounded by [[Neckbeards|plebeians]].]]
{{Topquote|[[Horus|Leadership is not magnetic personality]], [[Fulgrim|that can just as well be a glib tongue]]. [[Vulkan|It is not "making friends ]][[Lorgar|and influencing people]]", that is flattery. Leadership is lifting a person's vision to higher sights, the raising of a person's performance to a higher standard, the building of a personality beyond its normal limitations.|Peter F. Drucker}}

{{Topquote|The storm rages. The sleeper awakes. Hope rises in the fire of war.|Our spiritual liege has returned!}}

'''Roboute Guilliman''' ("Row-BOOT-ay" "GILL-uh-man"/ ɹə<font color=gold>ʊ</font>-'buːt-eɪ 'ɡɪl-ə-mæn), otherwise known as the '''Lord of Ultramar''', the '''Battle King''', the '''Blade of Unity''', the '''Ruler of Hosts''', '''Lord Commander of the Imperium''', '''The Victorious''', '''Robu''', '''Big Bobby G''', '''Grandpa Smurf''' and ''' Our Spiritual Liege''' is the [[Primarch]] of the [[Ultramarines]] and quite possibly the single most [[skub]]-inspiring person in the setting. This is thanks to his varying depictions as a total ungodly [[Mary Sue]] in older material, or being a quite likable, intelligent and [[awesome]] leader in others. The dislike for him is often based more around his legacy and the reception (or lack thereof) of a [[Codex Astartes|certain infamous book]], although he did have a cold, imperious streak to his personality that occasionally caused friction between his brothers and himself, most famously being partially responsible for being one of the factors that turned [[Lorgar]] to [[Chaos]], in addition to [[Alpharius]]. [[Omegon|Maybe]]. It's [[Iron Snakes|hard to tell]].

Apparently, he and [[Sigmar]] are behind the sudden surge of good policies done by [[Games Workshop|GeeDubs]]. As of the current trajectory, it seems that GeeDubs has been infected with [[Weeaboo|Animu]] and is slowly turning Warhammer 40k into Warharem 40k, due to Grandpa Smurf suddenly getting not one but <u>two</u> potential ship baits thanks to Dark Imperium: Plague Wars (plus the ones he sort of got during the Gathering Storm, what a player). Oh, and he accidentally gives a preacher a religious erection. [[What|This is CANON]].

==History==
===Early Life===
Unlike most worlds that the other Primarchs landed on, [[Macragge]] was a pretty great place to live. Guilliman was found by the planet's ruler and some of his retinue while they were on a hunting trip. Konor Guilliman, the man who took him in, was a pretty cool dude who advocated helping the common man and pushed for meritocratic reforms. These were a major influence on Roboute and stayed with him throughout his life. It also says something that Konor's seneschal, Tarasha Euten (hereafter referred to as GuilliMom), was effectively Guilliman's surrogate mother, making him one of the only Primarchs to have a conventional family, [[Butthurt|a fact that twisted Konrad Curze's nipples to no end (which goes double when she tells him to go fuck himself)]].

One day while Roboute was coming back after fighting the Macragge's version of the Gauls, he found his home in disarray. Konor had just become the victim of some political treachery, Ancient Roman-style. His co-ruler, Gallan, was pissed off at all these reforms Konor pushed through so he decided to send his army to rape, pillage and burn. Seeing his once peaceful home burning with neighbors looting and killing each other left the second major impact on Roboute and the most likely source of why he was always so [[Butthurt|anal]] about keeping things in order- the alternative in his eyes was total anarchy.

After [[rip and tear|gutting]] Gallan and restoring order, Roboute worked to make his father's dream a reality. This was the third major impact on his life: though he claimed that Gallan's death was justice, Guilliman came to realize that it was in fact vengeance, and worked to master his emotional self-control. By the time the [[Emperor]] reached Macragge, Roboute had ruled for five years and turned the world into a place where you had to earn your place, not just be born into it, exactly how his (adoptive) father would have wanted it.

===Great Crusade and Horus Heresy===
Guilliman utilized his skills as a tactician and strategist to fight in his Father's crusade, preferring to form battle plans rather than actually participate in the fighting himself (though he still did his fair share of Xeno-killing). In the hopes of passing down some of his strategic expertise, he worked very hard to turn the Ultramarines into an army of thinkers. His primary rule as a commander was "Information is victory", emphasizing that Space Marines needed theoretical knowledge and practical experience, in other words, a sound understanding of the tactical situation and a means to achieve their objective. Given that battle plans proved to be the first casualty, Guilliman soon realized that he would need to refine his own strategies even as he codified them, lest they fall apart in the chaos of warfare. With over 250,000 legionaries, he managed to achieve compliance on the highest number of worlds during the [[Great Crusade]], but was surpassed in ''military'' victories by the [[Luna Wolves]], [[Space Wolves]] and [[Dark Angels]]. Meaning he was either a good diplomat or his crusade encountered more peaceful human societies. Guilliman also made a point to turn conquered planets into model military worlds, and the Ultramarines would not leave until a modern [[Planetary Defence Force]] was established. He really should've been put jointly in charge of administration post-Ullanor, which would've made premature, excessive taxation of newly integrated worlds a lot easier to avoid (and therefore fewer worlds would have joined Horus' rebellion). Or probably not: after all, Guilliman didn't change a thing on Nuceria, a beautiful feudal world of charming people enjoying slaves and pit fights and slaves fighting in pits (not to say they were fucking responsible for the mess Angron turned into) after incorporating it in his empire. It was of no concern to Roboute; the only things he cared about were resources and taxes arriving on time. So while central worlds of Ultramar prospered, provinces were much shittier places to live, up to the point where some populaces ''didn't know who Guilliman was'' (and I'm not making it up, Lion spits this information in Roboute's face in "Unremembered Empire").
[[File:Know No Fear huge.jpg|400px|thumb|right|''"Lorgar of Colchis. You may consider the following. One: I entirely withdraw my previous offer of solemn ceasefire. It is cancelled, and will not be made again, to you or to any other of your motherless bastards. Two: you are no longer any brother of mine. I will find you, I will kill you, and I will hurl your toxic corpse into hell’s mouth."'' - Roboute Guilliman, channeling Bryan Mills.]]
When civil war broke out, Guilliman was tricked by Horus into taking most of his Legion to Calth for a joint Ultramarines/[[Word Bearers]] engagement. While most of his Company Captains believed it was just the Warmaster flexing his muscles, Guilliman realized that there was a political angle to it as well: when the Emperor of Mankind rebuked [[Lorgar|Lorgar Aurelian]] for spreading the ''Lectitio Divinatatus'', he ordered the Ultramarines to burn Monarchia, capital city of Khur, as an example of what would happen to those who continued to defy the [[Imperial Truth]]. Guilliman carried out his orders and didn't show Lorgar any sympathy, but privately confided to some of his officers his discomfort in doing so, feeling that the total humiliation would irreparably damage relations between the XIII and XVII Legions. Guilliman saw this as a chance to mend fences and forge friendships the old fashioned way: by getting Space Marines to kill Orks side by side. Unfortunately, Horus and Lorgar used the Calth muster to kill nearly half the Legion in a surprise attack. When he found out Lorgar's treachery he personally declared to hunt Lorgar down and kill him, only to be attacked by some sort of [[Daemon]]ic proxy that blew up the main bridge of his flagship and voided him out. So Guilliman did what any other pissed off Primarch would do: go on a rampage against Word Bearers trying to board the ''Macragge's Honour'' by punching them to death. [[Wat|In near vacuum. Without a helmet.]] [[AWESOME|''For almost twelve hours.'']] ([[Dan Abnett]] is still pretty proud of that scene). Not long after that, [[Kor Phaeron]] tried to recruit him for [[Chaos]]' cause by stabbing him with a corrupted blade like Horus, but Guilliman wanted none of it and punched the Dark Cardinal off him so hard the old man had a heart attack. In the end, though, the Ultramarines managed to wrest control of their defense grid back and shoot any Word Bearer ship not retreating posthaste to smithereens.

===[[Imperium Secundus|That episode he doesn't like to talk about]]===

{{Topquote|Did you fear I’d turned with Horus and become a threat to our father? Have you come to sanction me, like Russ’ wolf pack?"<br>"My dear Roboute, I did not think for a moment that you had turned. I thought you’d done much, much worse. I think we both know you have.|Emprah's [[Lion El'Jonson|First]] and Thirteenth sons have a nice and brotherly chat about the situation on hands.}}

After the Battle of Calth severely hurt his Legion, Guilliman had to contend with the Shadow Crusade as Lorgar and Angron went on a merry joyride through Ultramar, razing 26 worlds with their main fleet and who knows how many with the splinter fleets. Oh, and Guilliman got a severe kick in the bottom from Angron on [[Nuceria]] after trying to beat the everloving shit out of Lorgar. In the end, though, Guilliman [[just as planned|seemingly]] managed to get both the Word Bearers and World Eaters off his lawn. Ultramar was however cut off from the rest of the Imperium by Warp Storms preventing travel and astrotelepathic communication. After seeing off the Shadow Crusade, Guilliman acted on the assumption that due to being unable to know if the greater Imperium or the Emperor survived, he would need to act on the worst-case scenario that they had both fallen.

Consequently, if his father could not be saved at least His ideals would be, and so he set up a new government called [[Imperium Secundus]], a second Imperium of Man which would reject Horus's alliance with Chaos. Although potentially traitorous to an outside observer, Guilliman's motives at least ''were'' sincere, he made a big hoohah about not taking the throne himself since he would look like a Tyrant if he did. Fortunately/Unfortunately, [[Lion El'Jonson|The Lion]] arrived at Macragge and didn't like [[heresy|where it was heading]]. Neither brother trusted the other with the job of ruling the next Imperium, so [[Sanguinius]] got the job only to settle the matter between the two and was declared regent of the Imperium in the Emperor's absence, [[Fail|only for the whole thing to be abandoned when Guilliman learned to his horror that the Emperor wasn't dead and that his whole plan was little more than a pointless waste of time]]. It continues to be a source of shame to him even in the present time that he got [[troll|manoeuvred]] by Lorgar into creating the Imperium Secundus.

It's worth mentioning that there is a bit of historical precedence for it, given the whole "Imperium is Space Rome" thing. What is now known as the Byzantine Empire was the successor to Rome, that split off just before the Western half collapsed. Because of this, they were able to save a lot of the finer points of civilization that went to shit during the Medieval Era such as literacy, education and hygiene. It would take centuries for the rest of Europe to catch back up to them.

Despite his fuckup, Guilliman managed to lead over one hundred thousand Ultramarines to Terra with the [[Dark Angels]] and the [[Space Wolves]], intent on helping the [[Blood Angels]], [[Imperial Fists]], and [[White Scars]] defending Terra. Horus, learning about this and knowing that he could not sustain the assault on the planet anymore once the bulk of the loyalist forces came into the fight, lowered the void shields upon the ''Vengeful Spirit'' in an all-or-nothing gambit to win the war by killing the Emprah in a duel. Alas, Guilliman and his reinforcements arrived too late to stop the traitors (who despite the death of Horus still held space around the planet) from retreating to their ships and fleeing Terra. This and his own feeling that said lateness could have been prevented had he made for Terra sooner only motivated him harder to kick the Scouring off, where those traitors that wouldn't or couldn't make their way to the Eye of Terror were hunted down and cleansed, planet by planet. Guilliman also pushed for his reforms in that time, which led to considerable [[skub|divergences of opinions]]; but in the end everyone seemingly agreed and went "Okay, let's do this Codex thing!" (only for several chapters to begin [[Black Templars| either partially or completely]] [[Space Wolves|ignoring said Codex]] [[Dark Angels|or only giving the idea lip service]] when Guilliman had his attention elsewhere. Not much later, Guilliman [[Battle of Thessala|got himself stabbed in the neck]] by [[Fulgrim]] in an absurdly one-sided duel; the resulting poisoning had him sitting on a stasis throne for the better part of 10,000 years (I know; somehow the poison was more of a big deal than the actual stab wound in his fucking neck).

===41st millennium / Gathering Storm===
[[File:16999239_340497286345256_3126583543407667659_n.jpg|400px|right|thumb|Our [[Spiritual Liege]] about to give [[Skarbrand]] a [[Sanguinius]]-style head chopping.]]
{{Topquote|We shall give the humans a demigod. A king reborn with a deathly blade.|Prince [[Yriel]]}}

As we know, after being poisoned by Fulgrim, Guilliman was put into stasis. A popular rumor was that he was slowly healing, though that would be impossible in stasis. Eventually, after a [[PROMOTIONS|kiss]] from [[Yvraine]] and a nice mechadendrite massage from [[Belisarius Cawl|Cawl]], he got better. He plays a major role in the third Gathering Storm book. That's right; Guilliman is back! And in plastic! Somebody call Fulgrim, he'll be pissed! (Spoiler alert: he is really, really pissed. So is Mortarion. Magnus had a chuckle though. And of course, [[Matt Ward|our Spiritual Liege]] probably [[Faptau|'enjoyed himself']] after hearing this news)

After Roboute was resurrected, he goes full-blown Saitama and proceeds to wipe out an entire horde of veteran chaos marines [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=atxYe-nOa9w with his manly man-fists] without taking a single scratch. He then took command of the local imperial forces and used his [[Tactical genius|tactical genius]] to inspire the combined forces of Chaos to simultaneously shit themselves. Within a month, Guilliman weeds out the entire invading Chaos force on Macragge in a series of battles and heroic duels worthy of any primarch. He then looked to liberate the rest of the Macragge system, this time with help from the Primogenitor Chapters, the [[Dark Angels]], [[Space Wolves]], [[White Scars]], a [[Sisters of Battle]] army, the remaining [[Black Templars]] that fought on Cadia, more [[Imperial Guard|Guardsmen]], a ship containing an entire [[Imperial Knight|Knight Household]], an entire [[Imperial Navy]] battlegroup, and the [[Mechanicus]] with an entire [[Titan|Titan Legion]] backing them. He also declares the independent sovereignty of the [[Ultramar|five hundred worlds]] null and void, assuming direct control over his former territories. [[Rape|There was no kill like overkill.]]

After Robby G has finished his job in ousting Chaos from Ultramar, the Ynnari bid their farewell, as they have psychic mumbo-jumbo to do elsewhere. Roboute and Yvraine said their goodbyes, Roboute said that he is in debt to Yvraine for bringing him back to life and Yvraine telling Roboute to stay safe. The respect between the two is interesting, because it shows two historically opposed forces allying towards a common goal, showing that Geedubs might be going a bit [[Warhammer Fantasy Battles|old-school]] with this, having the (somewhat) less evil factions uniting against chaos, tempering the Grimderp of the setting with a little pragmatism, and who better to do that than Mr. Practicality and the world's most morally flexible Eldar?

[[File:YvraineXGuilliman.png|300px|left|thumb|[[Extra Heresy|HERESY TO THE EXTREME!]]]]

During his coronation as uber-boss of Ultramar, a fragment of [[Fulgrim]] possessing a planetary governor infiltrated the many, many pilgrims and dignitaries who had shown up to verify the Primarch's resurrection, and offered him a golden wreath to wear. The wreath was cursed to show Guilliman all his potential glories and lead him to the embrace of Slaanesh. When he saw through the deception and ordered the infiltrator slain, Fulgrim promised that Guilliman [[butthurt|would never take any satisfaction from his victories ever again.]]

[[Saint Celestine]] and Inquisitor Greyfax have convinced Roboute to tolerate the [[Ecclesiarchy]] (for now anyway). Suffice to say, [[rage|he was <u>'''NOT'''</u> pleased]] with the whole space Catholicism thing that had been going on while he was asleep, seeing as Lorgar's desire to worship the emperor [[Horus Heresy|ruined]] [[Goge Vandire|everything.]] After learning about the Ecclesiarchy's more level-headed members and realizing its use, Guilliman works the Imperial Faith into one of his speeches even though it leaves a bad taste in his mouth. He is still at the core a defender of the [[Imperial Truth]], however he understands that the Imperium in its current state needs faith to survive.

Later, [[Nurgle]] inflicted a plague on Ultramar called '''The Sorrows/Weeping Plague''' that spread via insects and caused its victims' eyes to rot out. The only known cure for the disease was to be admitted to the presence of Guilliman himself. Realizing that it was a devious trick to play on the Primarch's compassion and contain Guilliman in Ultramar, he declared that he would not repeat the mistake of [[Imperium Secundus|defending his own realm while the rest of he galaxy burned]] and needed to go to Terra for the [[Greater_Good|Greater Good]] of the Imperium, and left his Apothecaries to try and find a cure.

It is known that while heading to Terra on ''Macragge's Honour'', the Thousand Sons transported him into the [[Maelstrom]], where he and his allies were attacked by a warband of [[Red Corsairs]] and daemons led by [[Kairos Fateweaver]]. Kairos managed to "bind Guilliman in chains of his own guilt, anger, and disappointment" (kinky) and tossed him into a cell on a [[Blackstone Fortress]] (clinky), which the Red Corsairs apparently got from Abbadon as a gift in exchange for their loyalty. However, his rescue came in the form of none other than '''[[Cypher]]''' who had been led to Guilliman by the [[Harlequins]] and a bunch of [[Khorne|Khornate]] daemons led by [[Skarbrand]] assaulting the Blackstone Fortress when Kairos insisted on keeping Guilliman alive for future plans. Cypher made a deal with Guilliman, freeing him and the crusader army from bondage and offering the [[Fallen Angels]]' support in exchange for a free pass to Terra and the Imperial Throne Room to fulfill his destiny. After fighting their way through an army of daemons and escaping through the webway, they were pursued by the [[Thousand Sons]] but fought their way through to Luna and continued the battle on Terra's doorstep, and eventually Guilliman winds up dueling [[Magnus]] himself. Guilliman' odds of victory were slimming, until the [[Sisters of Silence]], supported by the [[Imperial Fists]] and the [[Adeptus Custodes]], drop in and punt the Thousand Sons' dusty asses back into the warp. When he finally arrived on Terra, Guilliman had a sudden, dreadful epiphany after seeing Cypher's sword. He then reneged on his deal and ordered the Custodian Guard to seize Cypher before he could be granted audience with the Emperor ''(though Cypher, being Cypher, immediately escaped, but is shown to have a particular bad case of [[Not_as_planned|butthurt]], first time in 40k history!)''. Given how honorable Guilliman is, it ''must'' be something bad if he would resort to backing out on his word.

Guilliman then gets an audience with the Emperor behind closed doors. To his pleasant surprise, the Emperor was still alive and able to communicate after ten thousand years. To his much less pleasant surprise, he found out Big. E no longer cared about pretending to be remotely human, and that he, like all his 'brother' Primarchs, were merely tools in His big plan. Big.E loved mankind as a whole but never individual humans, not even his so-called "sons"; and that rankled Big Blue. What exactly passed between Emps and Bobby, only they know, but was presumably along the lines of: "Roboute, I know that [[Imperium Secundus|last time you went Empire Building]] I got really mad at you and all, but uh... I sorta need you to do some Empire Building again." to which Guilliman agreed. When he emerges back out of the throne room, he would only say he got all the enlightenment he needed and then declares himself '''Lord Commander of the Imperium''' ''(his old job)'' before forcibly deposing some [[High Lords of Terra|High Lords]] he doesn't like and replacing them; and ordering them to start getting shit done to restore the Imperium to its once and future glory.

Whilst deposing some of the High Lords may seem unnecessary given the fragile state of the Imperium, do note that Guilliman is a meritocrat and an administrator first and foremost, so if anyone can save the Administratum and the Imperial Senate, it's him. Thus, his reshuffling of the High Lords is perfectly in character as the High Lords have been repeatedly established as largely self-serving individuals, incompetent in administration at best and utterly uninterested in anything other than expanding their personal power at worst - in short, everything Guilliman is not. If anything, it would have been very out of character for Guilliman to look the other way given their (lack of) overall performance.

[[Tl;dr]], Robby came, he saw, and he threw the entire Chaos Space Marines a [[Anal circumference|beating]] like no other. And now he has to make the entire Imperium get its shit together much to his chagrin and angst.

===42nd millennium===
[[File:Priorities_ba536b_6833904.jpg|450px|right|thumb|Priorities man. Priorities.]]
To stem the tide of traitors, xenos, and Chaos, Roboute Guilliman declared the [[Indomitus Crusade]] against the enemies of the Imperium. In order to accomplish this, he unveiled the [[Primaris Marines]], a project 10,000 years in the making to create a superior Space Marine. Between battles, he's also begun to revise the Codex Astartes and compose a (relatively) accurate history of the Imperium of Man, founding a new division of the Adeptus Terra to act as historians (much to the Inquisition's annoyance - and yes, quite a few Inquisitors would say 'no' to a Primarch even if he is the regent of the Imperium). The Crusade lasted about a century; and while it was able to drive the forces of Chaos away from some of their new holdings, Guilliman knew that it was only enough to stabilize the Imperium in its current state. [[Abaddon|Mr. 13 Failures]] might have failed to get to Terra as he planned, but he still got a nasty blow in and Guilliman knows it.

The Dark Imperium novel has portrayed him as having become far more cynical over the events of the Indomitus Crusade, in no small part due to frequently butting heads with the Inquisition and the Admninistratum, who see Guilliman's push for reforms as a threat to their personal power. While he still believes in the Emperor's ideals, his belief in the [[Imperial Truth]] has also been shaken. He knows the Emperor is not quite human any longer, but noted that even if Emps is a god, someone that cold and ruthlessly callous doesn't deserve worship in the first place. According to Guilliman, when he met with the Emperor, the latter treated him as little more than a favorite tool that had only just been recovered for a highly urgent job, as opposed to the last of his loyal sons. On the flip side, though, even the realization that Emps never loved his "sons" (The ultimate reason [[Horus]] broke and started the whole Heresy clusterfuck) did not break him. E-money might not love him as a son, but that doesn't mean his ideals aren't worth fighting for and Guilliman intends to do it right this time!

As of now, Big Bobby G is splitting his time between his history work, preventing the Imperium's appalling situation from getting worse by pointing a power-armored finger in the right direction, and applying power-armored boot to asses where needed. He's also busy writing the '''Codex Imperialis''' which is basically the [[Codex Astartes]] on civil society and good governance. The compilation of the Imperium's history is just one part of the new Codex, with which he intends to fix the semi-functioning clusterfuck that is Imperial bureaucracy. He hopes that if (or when) he dies for good, his successors will use it for guidance rather than going with the head-up-ass approach they've taken in the past.

Despite his dislike of the Emperor's detachment from humanity, he has also begun to realize that circumstances forced the Emperor to take his autocratic stance - and that he may very well end up becoming a dictator himself too. While for the time being he still hopes to preserve his ideals in the face of the grimdark galaxy he lives in, he has accepted that if push comes to shove he may need to give them up for the sake of humanity's survival.

A fun fact is that he is also quite [[Grimdark|creeped out]] at the whole [[Cherubim|'turn-a-baby-into-a-flying-cyborg' thing]] going around in the AdMech and Ecclesiarchy. He also gave up trying to correct the myths about him and his fellow Primarchs after 80 years or so, because people kept repeating them anyway.

After the [[Devastation of Baal]], he ordered the Mechanicus to terraform Baal Secundus back into its paradisal state before the long night and appointed Commander [[Dante]] as the Warden of Imperium Nihilus. He's also acquired an original copy of the pre-Heresy ''Lectitio Divinatus'' (signed by [[Lorgar|the original author]]) which he only got by wrestling it from the Inquisition.

During the [[Plague Wars]], Grandpa smurf acquired a quirky Rogue Trader called Yassilli Sulymanyan who is both a handpicked historian from the Primarch himself and an [[Heresy|atheist]] whom he saved from a witch-burning. The two kind of [[Love Can Bloom|hit it off when it comes to the standards of relationships of a normal women and a posthuman demi-god]]...as you can imagine, such inclinations combine with the fanfic fuel of [[Extra Heresy|YvraineXGuilliman]] has led /tg/ to declare that GW is now teasing us with [[Waifu|Primarch waifu bait/love triangle/ship wars.]] [[HHHHHHHHHHHhhhhhhhnnnnnnngggggg-|It doesn't help that Yassilli nicknames our giant blueberry Robu.]] Other than that, we also see [[Mortarion]] still acting like a petulant bitch after 10,000 years before [[Awesome|Gorillaman himself laid an epic smackdown of burns.]] Oh yeah, and Big Blue Wonder is fucking [[Rage|<u>'''LIVID'''</u>]] with what the Ecclesiarchy has done during the conflict (sending a group of Sisters of Battle to a possible Living Saint against Guilliman's orders and killing several loyalists in the process; granted, it did save Guilliman's life but that doesn't change the fact that their actions were still treasonous, never mind the fact that he was uncertain as to whether or not the Saint was actually being empowered by Tzeentch), and making his handpicked militant-priest to promptly [[Slaanesh|shit/jizz himself in fear/awe.]] He also seems to be becoming more prone to outbursts of rage, something that caught even a Custodes by surprise as such a trait was unexpected from Guilliman, but perhaps it's unsurprising given all the shit he's been through lately.

Following that little incident and a bout of introspection on his part, he's started to wonder if maybe Lorgar and the Ecclesiarchy were right about the Emperor's divinity, and has chosen to start reading that old copy of Lectitio Divinatus to learn whether it might have a grain of truth in it. We're sure Lorgar would be pleased about that if he wasn't wholly dedicated to Chaos now.

Since waking up Guilliman has now fought more of his brothers than anyone other than Russ. Fighting against Lorgar and Angron during the heresy and losing, and fighting Curze with the Lion during [[Imperium Secundus|that one episode]] and barely surviving. Then he faced Omegon and Fulgrim after the heresy, (supposedly) killing the former and very nearly dying to the latter. Then following his return, he's fought against Magnus and Mortarion, losing to the former and having to be bailed out by his allies in both cases, this actually goes well with his image of a leader of men, Bobby G may not be as strong as a daemon primarch, but [[Awesome|most 42nd millennium imperials will fight against overwhelming odds heads-on to save the guy who is doing all in his power to bring the Imperium back from the brink, as pointed out in the suplements and novels Guilliman knows that and that's why he never gives up.]]

==Personality==
{{Topquote|Amongst his brothers, none had been more idealistic than Roboute Guilliman. None had envisioned a brighter future, not just for Mankind but also for the warriors of the Legiones Astartes. That flame of hope had been a part of him for as long as he had lived. Even now, as it was smothered by darkness and woe, Guilliman realised that his flame endured.|The Gathering Storm III: Rise of The Primarch}}

Roboute Guilliman is a mix of the classical patrician and the archetypal virtuous politician. He's studied, efficient, extremely intelligent even when compared to his own demigod brothers, and morally resolute. He values merit and results over birth or flattery, and he emphasizes in his troops that information is victory, that a sound grasp of theory and a strong ability for the practical is necessary in resolving all problems. He's also rather tolerant of different moods and mentalities, so long as they still serve the Imperium's goals. The barbarous overtones of the [[Space Wolves]], the standoffish eccentricities of the [[White Scars]], even quiet religious practices on his own world, these things never bothered him. In his mind, the Ultramarines had clearly demonstrated the superior merit of their ways and those ways would rub off on the more eccentric factions of the Imperium over time. This is not to say he didn't have his moments when someone managed to feed him up, in those situations he have been shown to be wrathful enough to give Angron a run of his money and scare away even greater daemons (of course being armed with the permakilling Emperor's Sword made him a deal).

Call it faith and trust, call it arrogance and presumption, but Guilliman genuinely believed that he controlled the most disciplined, civilized peoples and armies within the Imperium and he thought his way was best. But contrary to what many think of him he didn't go out of his way to force his ways on others, he simply made all his writings and tactics available to all his brothers, and told his men to be at their best when fighting alongside the other factions. In his own words, he actually respected all of his brothers and had a brotherly affection for some of them, he only ever criticized or scolded when the circumstances seemed extreme, such as [[Alpharius]]'s unnecessary targeting of enemy civilian populations to damage morale, [[Perturabo]]'s wasteful decimation of his own Legion or [[Angron]]'s needlessly brutal assaults and pointless carnages leaving only piles of bodies and a ravaged planet behind. This attitude was likely the reason Guilliman was passed over for the role of Warmaster, as he didn't get along well with many of his brothers, counting only [[Rogal Dorn]], [[Sanguinius]], [[Horus]], [[Ferrus Manus]], and [[Vulkan]] as friends, though he did have a sincere admiration and respect for [[Leman Russ]] and [[Jaghatai Khan]]. He also saw a potential for common ground with Lorgar, but that potential was never explored because of... [[Heresy|Reasons]].

Guilliman was also an organizational savant [[Perturabo|almost]] unmatched in all the galaxy. He was known to calculate logistical information and strategies far faster than the Mechanicum's best logic engines, planning out entire planetary invasions in his mind in moments, a feat only rivalled by his brother the Lion. Though many of his brothers were godly tacticians ([[Corax]] managed to wrong-foot him a couple of times, for instance), Guilliman uniquely focused on what came after a war: how the world could be used, improved, colonized, uplifted, integrated and becoming a full-fledged supporting member of the Imperium and the Great Crusade instead of being left a war-torn ruin. Guilliman insisted on ensuring that any populated world the Ultramarines took was left with working infrastructure, an able & trained [[Planetary Defense Force|PDF]], and a decent quality of life for civilian populations - something that his brothers (save for Lorgar and Horus) paid little to no attention to, a trait that would come back to bite the Imperium in the ass later.

This cold calculation often bled into his personal life however. The best example of this might be his dealings with [[Lorgar]]. After the Ultramarines were used by the Emperor to sanction the Word Bearers, Guilliman privately admitted to some of his officers that he sincerely regretted that it had happened, being uncomfortable with censuring his brother that way, and fearing that the damage in relations it caused between the XIII and the XVII would be permanent. After all, there was much potential for kinship between Lorgar and Guilliman, and their legions. What legions were more devoted to the Emperor than those two? Which brothers thought most of the future, of what comes after the conquest? The sudden void of lost potential between the legions was tragic. So what did Guilliman do? Did he seek out his brother later to make amends? Did he have a quiet meeting with his brother to confess his discomfort and seek reconciliation? Send a nice gift basket perhaps? No. Guilliman set up a formal, impersonal meeting between the two of them, alongside their captains, retinues, and aides. [[FAIL|Forty. Years. Later.]] By that time it was [[Battle of Calth|much too late.]]

Despite any personal shortcomings however, and beyond his tactical & strategic genius, his skills as an administrator and as a statesman, Guilliman's most noteworthy characteristic is being one of the few well adjusted, sensible people in the '''entire freaking galaxy.''' He encouraged his sons to diversify their interests from pure combat, not to [[Emperor's Children|art]] or [[Blood Angels|fine]] [[Salamanders|crafts]], but to law, governance, city planning and infrastructure. He was a pragmatist, and was well aware of the need for his sons and indeed his legion to be useful outside of war, knowing full well what would have to happen to [[World Eaters|some]] [[Night Lords|legions]] when the Great Crusade ended. Guilliman was also one of the few Primarchs who didn't really see the Emperor as his father, paying lip service to the idea but being the first to state how shitty the Emperor was at raising kids and he never fully forgave the Emperor for using him and his Legion as a tool to humiliate Lorgar. He understood how to run an empire, how to inspire loyalty and how to temper the flawed nature of humanity with organisation and discipline. The Emperor's greatest failing was always a lack of understanding in the people he ruled, a flaw that few saw in him, save perhaps for [[Malcador the Sigillite]] and Guilliman.

Ultimately we get a picture of a man who's charismatic, but impersonal. Brilliantly intelligent, but often blinded by arrogance and faith. Meritocratic and receptive to the common man, but often cold and distant. A superb general and warrior, but above that, an equally competent statesman and leader. If Horus was a conqueror at heart, if Lorgar is a demagogue, if Magnus is a scholar, Guilliman is a statesman, a man whose concern is less the glories and bloodshed of war, and more the careful administrative work that follows (albeit one that has an unmatched ability to punch through your entire body if the need arises.)

After his long nap he seems frustrated with the new (old) Imperium and shaken by his meeting with the Emperor, but that good 'ole Ultramarine spirit is still with him, so he got up, stretched his limbs, and went to town for an ass whooping. A few of his actions thus far are imminently noteworthy. He dissolved the independent sovereignty of any worlds that were historically part of Ultramar; started catering to the [[Imperial Cult|Imperial Creed]] in one of his speeches; is openly cooperating with xenos witches; has essentially taken the role of Emperor 2.0. That's not to say that any of those choices are wrong or unnecessary, but they're each notable because they show that Guilliman is now more inclined to sudden, imperious action where once he might have used diplomacy. However, this may be a result of having to singlehandedly salvage the entire Imperium even as it fights against his attempts at reform, a task that with careful diplomacy would take even centuries that the Imperium can't really afford. Overall, Guilliman is disillusioned with his "dad", disgusted by the Ecclesiarchy (he outright told their representative he considered them a lesser evil), disappointed with the state of the Imperium as a whole but still willing to step into the breach and help humanity elevate itself. His faith in the Emperor has been badly shaken but his sense of duty and faith in humanity is as strong as ever and as the top quote of this section points out, he may be the Emperor's sense of hope for a better future for mankind, which comes to explain the grudge Mortarion and Magnus have for him after they fell for Nurgle and Tzeentch respectively. Mortarion fell to the heart of despair, and Magnus also did the same thing around the other side. Guilliman defies this and acts as an anti nihilist, willing to struggle to his last breath if it comes down that for the slightest chance of someone, somewhere, smiling for a moment more.

==Popular Opinion==
{{Topquote|All men can see these tactics whereby I conquer, but what none can see is the strategy out of which victory is evolved.|Sun Tzu}}

Guilliman is mostly hated by the community at large because of [[Matt Ward | Mattards]] Codex: Space Marines. However, it is worth stating that Guilliman was probably one of the most important figures holding the Imperium together after the Horus Heresy. He's one of the [[Jaghatai Khan|few]] Primarchs to realize that the Emperor's ideals were more important than the man himself, which is something that [[Malcador the Sigillite|Malcador]] kept preaching.

He was also among the best Primarchs when it came to logistics and organization, though [[Perturabo]] was probably better, (but Guilliman wasn't an antisocial autistic weirdo, so there's that), which is pretty much one of the only reasons why the [[Imperium of Man]] didn't collapse after the Horus Heresy. He was able to train and equip more than twice as many Marines during the [[Great Crusade]] than any other Legion, and he wrote the [[Codex Astartes]] (still the standard for Space Marine tactics). He is credited with reorganizing the entire governmental and administrative system of the [[Imperium of Man]] (yes, the reorganized Administratum ended up running the galaxy into the ground, but the fact that it's still running at all is a good sign).

However as the Horus Heresy series continues, it is revealed that it was actually [[Malcador the Sigillite]] who had been creating the foundations for the later Imperium. In fact it is continuously being hinted that Guilliman positioned himself to take over the Imperium after the fall of the Emperor, being almost explicitly stated in ''Vengeful Spirit''. whether through good intentions or through sinister means has yet to be revealed. Funnily enough Kor Phaeron, who hated his guts, identified him as the Primarch best suited to succeed his dad, though given the source, that may well be intended as an insult. Despite this, Guilliman claimed that he had no desire to be Emperor and promised his brothers that if the otherwise impassable Ruinstorm abated, he would immediately send his fleet to Terra. That said, the Blood Angels managed to get back to Terra somehow, despite being on the wrong side of it, so it's unknown just how difficult it was to get back.

''Unfortunately'', thanks to 10,000 years of propaganda and exaggeration (and Matt Ward's Codex: Space Marines), Guilliman is ''absolutely perfect'' in every way and treated as ''second only to the Emperor'' through ''the entire Imperium.'' This is incorrect, considering that [[Sebastian Thor]] is actually the main Imperial saint, and [[Sanguinius]] is the primarch most beloved by the common men of the Imperium. Regardless, Guilliman is pretty high on the list and the only Primarch whose body <s>is</s> was on public display Lenin style. This "better than thou" shit is sad and quite paradoxical, since Guilliman himself genuinely recognized [[Lion El'Jonson|some]] [[Horus|Primarchs]] were better than him as leaders. He also considered Dorn, Sanguinius, Ferrus and Russ as what he called "the dauntless few" feeling he'd win any war if fighting alongside any one of them and their legions, which shows a willingness to work alongside at least some of his brothers and respect for their abilities. He has sometimes been portrayed as petty or jealous of his brother Primarchs but also intelligent enough to acknowledge his own errors when proved wrong. Far from the "perfect in every aspect" figure Matt Ward promoted, the HH Guilliman is actually a man with a lot of very human weaknesses but possessing the humility to admit them as flaws he must deal with.

[[Fallen Angels|Astelan]], while a prisoner of the [[Dark Angels]] goes into detail explaining how Guilliman was purportedly the 'greatest' of the Primarchs, but only in the context of what the Emperor intended for them. Astelan describes that Guilliman was "not the most able-minded, nor as charismatic, and not as physically adept" and was the inferior of [[Horus]] in every respect. His greatness came from the fact that Guilliman never once wavered in dedication and service and created his Space Marines to be exemplars of the imperial ideal, not merely conquerors. This also had the (at the time unintended) side-effect of making them unlikely to become corrupted. (Although Astelan was also a traitor and a fallen angel, so he remains a questionable source.) Guilliman and his Ultramarines were the perfect <u>sons</u>, not necessarily perfect soldiers. It's also worthy of note that much like [[Rogal Dorn]] and [[Lion El'Jonson]], Guilliman was a possible candidate for the position of warmaster, but was rejected for the same reasons they were: he didn't get along with many of his brothers.

However, contrary to that, he also did a lot of tricky things in [[Horus Heresy]], like that whole [[Imperium Secundus]] thing, and it's popularly theorized that he was bitter that he never got to be '''Warmaster''', which despite his claims that he had no desire to become Emperor, when he appointed the [[High Lords of Terra]] he nominated himself for the seat of '''Lord Commander of the Imperium''' which was essentially "Warmaster" in all but name, and the titular commander of the entirety of the Imperium's armed forces. So claiming that no man should have the power of a Legion, then place himself at the top of the chain of command for all of the [[Space Marine Chapter|Chapters]] that his remaining brothers were left with was a bit hypocritical.

<div class="toccolours mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" style="width:600px">
Or was it?
<div class="mw-collapsible-content">
It's quite likely that Guilliman's actions in creating the Imperium Secundus, and his later actions during the reformation of the Imperium, are a reference to the Roman practice of [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_dictator Roman Dictatorship]. A roman dictator was more or less what we think of as a modern dictator, with one key exception. The dictator was given absolute executive and military power over Rome and her holdings in times of crisis, when the gridlock and bureaucratic red tape of Roman society got in the way of doing what needed to be done. But as strange as it sounds to our modern minds, dictators were elected to their position, and without exception in all the history of Rome every dictator willingly stepped down and returned power to the senate. Except Caesar and Octavius. For the latter case, he is the most revered one (''Augustus''), hence it is entirely ''reasonable'' for him to keep being dictator. And even then, he was smart enough to maintain power through indirect means so as to let the Senate think that they were in control, when in reality he owned all of the institutions that actually mattered when it came to governance.

It's highly likely that Guilliman's actions after the emperor's death are a reference to this practice: he set aside the normal moral and legal rules restricting him so that he could restructure the Imperium. And just like Augustus, he gave the official leadership position to Sanguinius to avoid accusations of being a deliberate separatist. Despite the fact that he was in the perfect position to assume power over the entire imperium, he relinquished power to the Council of Terra after some sense of stability had returned. This is further supported by how heavily his legion leans on Roman culture, and how much Guilliman himself draws on the famous generals of Rome (Julius and Augustus Caesar, Cincinnatus, etc).</div></div>

So with that being said, he was no more flawless than the other Primarchs; Even during the Great Crusade, while he was considered to be one of the greatest strategists in the entire Imperium, he was defeated in combat simulations by [[Corax]] of the [[Raven Guard]], having to be specifically taught that there is no fixed dividing line between non-combatants and soldiers when people are defending their homes; that under-strength units should not be ruled out as ineffective; and that small units of adaptable troops can be wielded with just as much effect as larger battalions and chapters. Furthermore, Guilliman stuck closely to his tried and true methods, refusing to give credit to what he considered "unconventional" tactics, pissing off many other Primarchs, most notably [[Alpharius]]. Even though he would later be shown by his own men how effective such unconventional guerrilla tactics would be and would include then in his codex.

Therefore, while some people insist he was the Primarch with the greatest mental capacity and adaptability, he struggled with lateral thinking and would frequently fail to see the flaws in his methods until explicitly shown the error of his ways. Also, though the Codex Astartes undoubtedly did a lot of good things like making sure each chapter could feasibly fight under most conditions no matter their heritage or preference and ensuring that no one person could control an entire Legion's worth of Space Marines, forcing all of his brothers to split their Legions into [[Codex Astartes|Chapters]] risked a second galactic civil war.

Additionally, although it isn't (entirely) his fault, Guilliman is usually blamed for turning the Ultramarines into such little bitches. The Codex is now basically treated as infallible by the Ultramarines ''(at least the more blind fuck ones; [[Captain Titus|there's at least some who take it with a grain of salt and realize where its strengths and weaknesses lie]])''. even though he '''specifically said''' that the [[Codex Astartes]] should not be treated as a bible to be followed unerringly... Except for the organizational parts, which he forced on his brothers as part of the post-Heresy reforms and were upheld by the High Lords of Terra as a means of keeping the Astartes in check.

Recently he's been increasingly entrusted to the care of the Mighty [[Dan Abnett]] and his asshat level is dropping rapidly. Now, Guilliman isn't portrayed as a power armored Sun Tzu, but as a logistical genius, planning planetary conquest in a way that would leave said worlds in a state that could quickly be returned to order and Imperial rule. His high number of compliant worlds is a direct product of this, helped by his Legion's innate tendency towards discipline, hierarchy and monomaniacal fixation on whatever their objective might be. Abnett also doesn't make him a "master of all trades". The Khan is better at scouting operations, Russ is better at killing other Marines, Sanguinius has better people skills, etc. Abnett's Guilliman is a great builder and administrator, better than any other Primarch, but '''not''' better than Your Dudes at what they're defined by.

This adherence toward a rigid chain of command did end up becoming a double-edged sword later on, since when Guilliman was put into stasis the Ultramarines still tried to follow him (thanks to him being the at the top of the chain) and as such started to forget that the Codex Astartes was only meant to be a guideline, as opposed to a definitive text. More importantly, they slowly lost their ability to adapt to new situations, which was their most famed of traits, until the Tyrannic Wars illustrated the need to improvise new strategies when old ones failed them.

Once upon a time, thanks to the rabid fanboying of [[Matt Ward]], most of [[/tg/]] hated him, but many of them have since come around. Still expect people to [[Rage|bitch endlessly]] about how he was an absolute [[Leman Russ|narrow-minded]] [[Lion El'Jonson|hypocritical]] [[Dorn|jerk]], but don't feel bad about it. On the other hand his characterisation since his return especially in the 2 novels by Guy Haley has been pretty well received by the fanbase. He's been lucky too survive his encounters with Magnus and Mortarion who both easily outmatched him and is deeply unhappy with the Imperium and the Emperor alongside supposed allies like the inquisition actively making his life difficult because their power is threatened. Pretty far removed from the mary sue spiritual liege of Ward's imagination, at least until GW, BL and/or Ward inevitable undo it all with bad writing.

Ironically enough, Guilliman has something the Imperium needs even more desperately than new technologies and peace: managerial skills, among the primarchs Guilliman was the only one who actually seemed to be bright enough to understand and strongly insist upon. No [[Eldar|empire]], no matter how militarily powerful [[Dark Age of Technology|initially]], could maintain that strength forever given [[Slaanesh|the effects of corruption]] and inefficiency upon tax collection and military production, and civilian and military morale. It speaks something of most of the denizens of 4chan that so few of them have ever pointed out this simple fact(as in little of them have management experience, but hey, we're considering gameplayers here).

On a side note, he likes Shakespeare's work.

===Suddenly, Forge World!===
[[Image:Girlyman.jpg|400px|thumb|right|[[Dwarfs (Warhammer Fantasy)|Guilliman atop his mighty Oathstone (not seen are the Chapter Serfs who get the honour of carrying him around)! Note how tiny his sword is. Matt Ward does not approve.]]]]
When Tempest came out, it significantly downplayed his flaws, though not as much as knee-jerk reactions made people fear. In Tempest Guilliman is "held by some as a paragon among the Emperor's sons", and that he "is as much a statesman as he is an indefatigable warrior." He's also as just as great a strategist, in addition to being very level-headed, one of the smartest and most analytical, constantly basing new and better designs off of existing materials, as well as refining battle plans thanks to having a mind that calmly and coldly allows him to analyze everything around him and wonder how various things like his marines, his armour and his weapons could all be improved. He observes what other Primarchs do with their warriors and tries to make them better in his own creations, in doing so (specifically copying Perturabo's Siege Tyrants in the rules) they say he's "proving himself once again the master of all of the myriad disciplines of war." Or at least trying to. This is further evidenced by his rules below where he's good at buffing his army, but not to the degree of [[Alpharius]] or [[Perturabo]] while as a warrior in a straight-up fight he only loses to Horus, Leman Russ, and Fulgrim''(not counting [[Lorgar|psychic]] [[Magnus the Red|interference]] or Primarchs with a [[Angron|bit of momentum behind them]])''.

In addition, Guilliman's Ultramarines during the Horus Heresy were one of the most disciplined of all the Legions, as well as by far the most numerous, the ones who prized intelligence above all to help them formulate the best battle plan, and with the best training/recruitment (rivaled only by the [[Dark Angels|I Legion]], whose training was faster but overall must have been less efficient in some way given the much greater number of Ultramarines(or the Lion just didn’t have reliable access to 500 individual worlds for recruitment)) not to mention being familiar with the less eccentric legions MO's and able to pull them off without any problems which had a lot to do with their rigid chain of command. The Imperial Fists were known for their interlocked shield walls, the Iron Hands for their steadiness under fire, the Iron Warriors for their willingness to accept casualties, the Salamanders for their courage in the face of overwhelming odds, and you can bet the Ultras learned from these aspects of all their ways of warfare. This isn't to say that the Ultramarines could do anything any other legion could do, but rather to say that they were *almost* as capable at any given task as any of their brother legions, which granted them much greater flexibility than most other legions. For example, if the [[World Eaters]] got into a campaign where the enemy could consistently avoid getting into melee, they'd be fucked. If the [[Night Lords]] got into battle with a fearless enemy, they'd be at a disadvantage. Ditto with the Alpha Legion and a smarter opponent, the Iron Warriors and an especially mobile opponent, etc. Due to the Ultramarine's discipline, diverse training, and expert planning, they ended up having a level of tactical flexibility matched only by a [[Sons of Horus|few]] [[Dark Angels|other]] [[Alpha Legion|armies]]. In any case, in Tempest Horus considers the Ultramarines were considered the greatest single military threat to Horus's rebellion. The books outright state that if the Ultramarines were aware of Horus' rebellion they and their Auxilia would be able to make [[Ultramar|the 500 worlds]] a bastion that by itself, would be able to weather the entire heresy and challenge [[Horus]] for control of the eastern half of the Galaxy, even before the Traitor Legions took massive losses on Isstvaan III.

A more generous explanation could be that since the books were written after the Heresy from an in-universe perspective, it could just be a case of "history is written by the winners" kicking in again, since (rather thankfully) "Everything is canon, not everything is true." Or maybe Matt was secretly brought back for that particular book, which would go quite a long way in explaining all of the Smurf wanking in it. It's likely we'll have to wait until the follow-up book on the Shadow Crusade to determine which of those it is. This doesn't entirely go against 40k's history however, while saying the smurfs and their auxiliaries could take on all of the traitor legions at full strength is undoubtedly complete horseshit, Ultramar was ''always'' considered to have been one of the greatest threats to Horus' rebellion and was the prime reason that the Battle of Calth took place; to get them all in one place and hit them with a surprise attack, and then pin the Ultramarines in place for the duration of the Heresy. The same applies to Guilliman, who has always been considered to have been one of the most intelligent and adaptable of Primarchs, as well as being gifted with his own brilliance.

Thankfully Guilliman still retains some flaws. First, he has little in the way of a creative spark. Submit a novel idea to him and he'll adapt, optimize, expand, integrate and generally improve upon it; but he won't be the one coming up with said ideas on his own. For instance, after seeing the [[Iron Warriors]] deploy Tyrant Siege Terminators he realized [[Perturabo]]'s idea had a lot of merit and he developed an improved version of Cataphractii Terminator Armour equipped with additional sensors and augurs to make his Fulmentarus squads even more efficient at blowing shit up. Guilliman was the one to formalize the use of and optimally deploy Moritat, but he only conceptualised the very idea of using such irregular troops after getting his arse kicked in simulations by Corax who used said Moritat against him to throw his carefully laid battle-plans into disarray. He made his own versions of power weapons that were far better than regular power weapons as they were more precise/lethal when in trained hands, yet he could only do that after studying countless designs of regular power weapons. Even his own armour is artificer armour that he improved in various ways after studying the merits and disadvantages of other designs. Furthermore, the Space Wolves were confirmed in Inferno to react more quickly to unexpected problems than Legions more ''"reliant on highly coordinated planning"''; which might as well call out the Ultramarines by name. This is shown on the tabletop with a rule that lets the opponent wrong-foot the Ultramarine army if the UM warlord is killed.

Second, you have his often blind faith in the assumption that his and therefore Ultramarine nobility and camaraderie will rub off on to other, less forward thinking legions, which was a direct contributor to his massive losses at the utterly disastrous [[Battle of Calth]]. ''Know No Fear'' makes a point to show numerous times that there were signs and hints all over the place of what was going to happen, ''right after'' the book makes a point to show Guilliman's incredible observational skills, almost outright stating that he really should have picked up on the disparate details. ''Tempest'' also points out that the Horus Heresy actually began almost a year prior to the Battle of Calth and that both the [[Word Bearers]] and [[World Eaters]] were already burning their way through the 500 Worlds of Ultramar before they even reached the Calth system. Guilliman ignored those signs, and practically delivered his legion to [[Lorgar]] on a silver platter, deliberately setting troop arrangements so that his men intermingled with the Urizen's. He thought that spending time together at the muster and again later, killing orks would be a bonding experience that would help the legions grow closer. It didn't, and not only did it not help, his troops being where they were gave the Word Bearers a MASSIVE advantage.

To Guilliman's credit, consider that a force with the advantage of surprise, was equipped with superior wargear ''(that the Warmaster made sure his traitors had)'', that had orbital and air supremacy, and had access to almost unlimited demonic hordes ambushed a force completely out of position and almost instantaneously cut off from their command structure. With ALL THOSE ADVANTAGES, the Word Bearers only achieved a 3:1 casualty ratio by the end of the battle, though the Ultramarines stellar performance under the circumstances did little to soothe the loss of almost half his legion, half a million Army and Auxilia as well as billions of civilians. It is perhaps no surprise that Imperial history records that Guilliman completely lost his temper and cool at Lorgar when the treachery was realized [[RAGE|(insert max troll face here)]], perhaps this was what allowed him to survive and fight immediately afterwards the near vacuum outside a ship for 11 hours without his helmet?

But lets be clear: Say what you want about him being a back-stabbing cheater, Lorgar delivered a master-stroke by being able to conceal months of earlier engagements from his enemy and then cause ~140,000 Ultramarines to be either killed or crippled in a single engagement; such a force of Space Marines was [[Salamanders|larger]] [[Raven Guard|than]] [[Imperial Fists|some]] [[Death Guard|entire]] [[Thousand Sons|legions]]. This is compounded by the fact that Lorgar completed all of this by ''only'' deploying 50,000 of his most disposable troops and leaving the battle under the command of [[Kor Phaeron]] so he could continue pillaging with [[Angron]]. In addition, the real goal of Calth was never to ''actually'' kill Guilliman or obliterate his legion but to create the Ruinstorm and force Guilliman [[Imperium Secundus|onto the defensive]] and starve Terra of resources that Guilliman would pull from elsewhere and help the Traitor cause in the long run. Lorgar might not have been anywhere near the same level as strategist or general as Guilliman in [[Manly Marines|even warfare]], but military victories won through surprise, misdirection and clever deployment are just as valid.

On the other side (and that is a good point) Guilliman and the Ultramarines are not as "noblebright" in ''Tempest'' as they can be in other pieces of background. While he promotes meritocracy and progress and refuses to waste any life, Roboute is always described as cold and logical, obsessed with efficiency, and not a kind of crusading philanthropist. FW's Guilliman is first and foremost a statesman and a warlord willing to make the most effective system possible, and ''Tempest'' implies he used a kind of political police of his own (the Vigil Opertii) to silence any opposition in Ultramar. Just like the Imperium does. The only difference with the other Primarchs is Guilliman cannot deny HE is responsible for all the [[1984|authoritarian shit]] happening in HIS private empire. Feel free to think what you want about Guilliman being OP or a Mary Sue, FW still made him more grimdark than before, even if he remains a nice dude by 30k standards.

==Gameplay==

===30K Guilliman===
{| class=wikitable
! Points || WS || BS || S || T || W || I || A || Ld || Sv
|-
| 400 || 7 || 6 || 6 || 6 || 6 || 6 || 4 || 10 || 2+/4++
|}True to his legion, Roboute Guilliman is fairly average as far as Primarchs go, both in terms of his stats and his points cost, but it's the rules and equipment you really want him for. He and any unit he joins can re-roll failed charge distances, and the Concussive special rule doesn't do shit against him. All Ultramarines in play gain +1 to Ld while he's in play and he also makes Invictarus Suzerains and Legion Terminators troops as long as he's the warlord. Preternatural Strategy can force opponents to re-roll successful attempts at Seize the Initiative while also granting all units from one entry in the Ultramarines army list Implacable Advance, Interceptor, or Tank Hunters if they don't have it already, and by that they do mean entry, not just one unit, so if you selected Legion Predator Strike Armour Squadron to have Tank Hunters then every Legion Predator Strike Armour Squadron in your army will gain the rule. It also buffs his WS by 1 for each round of combat within a challenge after the first one (e.g. he becomes WS8 on the second round and so on), although it resets back to 7 after the challenge is over or if his opponent swaps out for somebody else via something like Glorius Intervention. Finally, Unyielding Will negates all negative leadership modifiers and allows him to re-roll failed Deny the Witch tests. (Funnily enough, this actually makes him a decent counter for Lorgar's psychic faggotry, though it won't help him deny Lorgars' blessings.)

Guilliman's Armor of Reason gives him a 2+/4++ and the ability to re-roll the first invulnerable save he fails in each phase. (Not per turn, per phase.). As for his weapons, he can choose one of two melee weapons to use in any given assault phase: the Gladius Incandor (a Paragon Blade with Shred) and the Hand of Dominion (a S10 AP1 Power Fist with Concussion). Both of them are Specialist weapons, so regardless of which one he picks he still gets an extra attack. Finally, his gun is the Arbitrator, a S6 AP3 combi-bolter with Assault 2 and Rending- which he might as well have left at home for how often it fires it as he has a Cognis Signum to use instead (+1 BS to a unit instead of firing a weapon himself). Overall, he gives out a nice variety of buffs and can really hold his own in a fight while being one of the best tactician characters in the game.

Due to his low mobility and vulnerability to tarpits, he's unlikely to make his points back by [[Mortarion|killing something expensive.]] That said, +1 Ld is a reasonably strong bonus, and the insurance against seizing is good insurance against things going [[Not as planned]]. Also, the sky is the limit with the unit entry buff. Tank Hunting Support Squads or Heavy Weapon Squads sound good to you? How about Rapiers? A Cognis Signum is always nice to have. Capping all this off is that you can run a basically tax-free list by taking the severely broken Suzerains as troops.

Don't forget, this is all for only 125 points more than [[Marneus Calgar|M.A.C. daddy]], further proof of 30k superiority.

====30K Roboute Guilliman VS Other 30K Primarchs====
<div class="toccolours mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" style="100%">
Primarch fighting, while fun to see, isn't a very competitive thing to do as it'll usually tie up both Primarchs for the entire game without either of them dying. With that in mind this section is all about how Roboute Guilliman fares against other Primarchs mathhammer wise. Please note that all the various abilities, with the exception of Blind, are taken into account (Blind is ignored because it is just too random and unreliable to come into play) and the match-ups assume the Primarchs are the only ones involved in the fighting, so various abilities like Angron's "The Butcher's Nails" and Rampage do not provide any bonuses. Also do note that Preternatural Strategy is taken into account (obviously) so prepare to see even more mathhammer than for the other Primarchs.
<div class="mw-collapsible-content">

* Roboute Guilliman VS Horus
**Horus will use his Talon of Horus (rerollable 3+ is better than flat 2+, and Disabling Strike can counter the slow-burn effect of Preternatural Strategy) and hits 4 times, wounds 3.555 times, 1.778 after saves, then 1.564 for the Armour of Reason and IWND will take that down to 1.231 wounds at the start of the next turn.
**Guilliman hits 2.5 times, wounds 2.222 times (Gladius), 0.74 wounds after saves and IWND will take that down to 0.407.
**Guilliman loses this fight (Quite appropriately).
**Note: Due to the nature of the fight this match doesn't take into account Preternatural Strategy (Because it is balanced by Disabling Strike). Also do note that after the first few wounds inflicted from Horus, Guilliman will have his S significantly reduced and the Gladius Incandor will become useless. However, Disabling Strike doesn't affect the Hand of Dominion, so Guilliman will still wound Horus on a 2+.

* Roboute Guilliman VS Angron
**Angron Round 1: Angron has Hatred, so on the first turn he will hits 5.333 times, wounds 4.444 times, 2.222 after saves, 2.008 after Armour of Reason re-roll and IWND take it down to 1.675.
**Angron Round 2: Angron hits 4 times, wounds 3.333 times, 1.667 times after saves, 1.453 after re-roll and IWND will take that down to 1.12 wounds at the start of the next turn.
**Angron Round 3 and thereafter: Angron hits 3 times, wounds 2.5 times, 1.25 after saves and 1.036 after the re-roll. Then IWND take it down to 0.703.
**Guilliman Round 1/2/3: hits 2.5 times, wounds 2.222 times, 0.741 times after saves and FNP (5+), then IWND will take that down to 0.407 wounds at the start of the next turn.
**At this point Guilliman should switch to the Hand of Domination since he will inflict enough damage to stunlock Angron at Initiative 1.
**Guilliman Round 4 and thereafter: hits 3.333 times, wounds 2.778 times, 0.925 times after saves and FNP then IWND will take that down to 0.592 wounds at the start of the next turn.
**Guilliman loses. There is no point can he overtake Angron's average damage output.

* Roboute Guilliman VS Fulgrim
**Fulgrim Round 1: hits 4.861 times (Fireblade is MC), wounds 3.601 times (Child of Terra Warlord Trait), 1.801 times after the Invuln, 1.582 after the Armour of Reason and IWND will take that down to 1.249 at the start of the next turn.
**Fulgrim Round 2 and thereafter: hits 3.714 times, wounds 2.889 times, 1.445 times after the Invuln, 1.226 after the re-roll and IWND will take that down to 0.893 at the start of the next turn.
**Concussed Fulgrim (cannot happen earlier than round 3): Hits 2.708 times, wounds 2.106 times, 1.053 times after the invuln, 0.845 after the re-roll and IWND will take that down to 0.56 wounds.
**Guilliman with Gladius Incandor Round 1/2: hits 2.5 times, wounds 2.222 times, 0.74 times after saves and IWND will take that down to 0.407 wounds at the start of the next turn.
**Guilliman with Gladius Incandor Round 3 and thereafter: hits 3.333 times, wounds 2.963 times, 0.988 times after saves and IWND will take that down to 0.654 wounds at the start of the next turn.
**Guilliman with Hand of Dominion Round 1/2: hits 2.5 times, wounds 2.083 times, 0.694 times after saves and IWND will take that down to 0.361 wounds at the start of the next turn.
**Guilliman with Hand of Dominion Round 3 and thereafter: hits 3.333 times, wounds 2.777 times, 0.926 times after saves and IWND will take that down to 0.593 wounds at the start of the next turn.
**An unsurprising loss for Guilliman. If Guilliman chooses to use the Gladius Incandor, Fulgrim will out-damage him in the long run, and if he chooses to concuss Fulgrim, Fulgrim temporarily loses his extra attacks, but Guilliman cannot put out enough damage to keep Fulgrim concussed, meaning Fulgrim gets back up to his normal initiative, gains his extra attacks back, and beats down Guilliman.

* Roboute Guilliman VS Mortarion
**Mortarion hits 2.5 times, wounds 1.666, 0,833 after saves, 0.625 wounds after Armor of Reason, and after IWND it becomes 0.292 wounds.
**Guilliman Round 1: hits 2.5 times, wounds 2.083 times, 1.042 after saves, and IWND take it down to 0.486.
**Guilliman Round 2 and after: hits 3.333 times, wounds 2.777 times, 1.388 times after saves and IWND will take that down to 0.833.
**Easy win for Guilliman.

* Roboute Guilliman VS Ferrus
**Ferrus: hits 2.5 times (Forgebreaker and Servo-arm), wounds 2.083 times, 1.042 after the Invuln, 0.834 times after the re-roll and IWND will take that down to 0.501 at the start of the next turn.
**Guilliman Round 1: hits 2.5 times, wounds 2.083 times (Hand), 0.694 times after saves and IWND will take that down to 0.361 wounds at the start of the next turn.
**Guilliman Round 2 and thereafter: hits 3.333 times, wounds 2.778 times, 0.926 times after saves and IWND will take that down to 0.593 wounds at the start of the next turn.
**Guilliman wins this fight.

* Roboute Guilliman (with the Hand of Domination) VS Konrad Curze
**Curze Round 1: hits 4 times, wounds 3 times, 1.5 times after the Invuln, 1.286 times after the re-roll and IWND will take that down to 0.953 at the start of the next turn.
**Curze Round 2 and thereafter: hits 3 times, wounds 2.25 times, 1.125 times after the Invuln, 0.911 times after the re-roll and IWND will take that down to 0.578 at the start of the next turn
**Guilliman Round 1/2: hits 2.5 times, wounds 2.083 times, 1.0416 times after saves and IWND will take that down to 0.7083 wounds at the start of the next turn.
**Guilliman Round 3 and thereafter: hits 3.333 times, wounds 2.778 times, 1.339 times after saves and IWND will take that down to 1.055 wounds at the start of the next turn.
**Guilliman easily wins this fight... theoritically
**Note: As usual, Konrad should attempt to even the odds with Hit and Run, negating Preternatural Strategy while gaining the +1 attack for the charge (and sniping some wounds with his knives). Even with Guilliman using the Hand of Domination, there is a chance Curze doesn't suffer any damage from it (31% when Guilliman is WS7/8 and 20% when he is WS9) so he will actually negate Preternatural Strategy between 37% and 31% of the time, which is enough to give Rob a run for his money or even kill him if the Widowmakers score more than a single wound.

* Roboute Guilliman VS Vulkan
**Vulkan hits 2 times, wounds 1.667 times, 0.833 times after saves, 0.633 times after Armour of Reason and IWND will take that down to 0.3.
**Guilliman Round 1: hits 2.5 times, wounds 2.083 times, 0.694 times after saves and IWND will take that down to 0.139 wounds at the start of the next turn.
**Guilliman Round 2 and thereafter: hits 3.333 times, wounds 2.778 times, 0.926 times after saves and IWND will take that down to 0.37 wounds at the start of the next turn.
**A long as fuck fight, but Guilliman takes the win 'cause he does marginally more damage.

* Roboute Guilliman VS Lorgar
**Lorgar hits 2.5 times, wounds 2.083 times, 1.042 times after the Invuln, 0.834 after the re-roll and IWND will take that down to 0.501.
**Guilliman Round 1: hits 2.778 times, wounds 1.85 times, 0.926 times after saves and IWND will take that down to 0.593 wounds at the start of the next turn.
**Guilliman Round 2 and thereafter: hits 3.333 times, wounds 2.963 times, 1.48 times after saves and IWND will take that down to 1.15 wounds at the start of the next turn.
**Even with forcing Guilliman to re-roll 5's and 6's for the first round Lorgar will still lose.
**Note: this doesn't take into account Psychic Powers and with Precognition on Lorgar will easily win. Guilliman's rerollable DtW doesn't do shit, as it only works against witchfires and maledictions, while Lorgar's most powerful spells are blessings.

*Roboute Guilliman VS Perturabo
**Perturabo Round 1: hits 2.667 times, wounds 2.222 times, 1.111 times after the Invuln, 0.911 times after the re-roll and IWND will take that down to 0.578.
**Perturabo Round 2 and thereafter: hits 2 times, wounds 1.667 times, 0.833 times after the Invuln, 0.633 after Armour of Reason and IWND will take that down to 0.3.
**Guilliman Round 1/2: hits 2.5 times, wounds 2.222 times, 0.74 times after saves and IWND will take that down to 0.407 wounds at the start of the next turn.
**Guilliman Round 3 and thereafter: hits 3.333 times, wounds 2.963 times, 0.988 times after saves and IWND will take that down to 0.654 wounds at the start of the next turn.
**Again, Guilliman wins pretty safely. Starting to see a trend here.

* Roboute Guilliman VS Alpharius
**Alpharius hits 2.917 times and wounds 1.702 times (Remember he has Preferred Enemy), 0.851 wounds after the Invuln, 0.643 after Armour of Reason and IWND will take that down to 0.31 wounds at the start of the next turn.
**Guilliman Round 1: hits 2.5 times, wounds 2.222 times, 1.111 times after saves and IWND will take that down to 0.778 wounds at the start of the next turn.
**Guilliman Round 2 and thereafter: hits 3.333 times, wounds 2.963 times, 1.482 times after saves and IWND will take that down to 1.148 wounds at the start of the next turn.
**Guilliman wins really easily, as the damage Alpharius does is almost irrelevant, thus making the claim that he personally killed the lord of the Alpha Legion actually believable...

* Roboute Guilliman VS Rogal Dorn
**Dorn Round 1: hits 2.666 times, wounds 2 times, 1 time after the Invuln, 0.8 wounds after the re-roll and IWND will take that down to 0.467 wounds at the start of the next turn.
**Dorn Round 2 and thereafter: hits 2 times, wounds 1.5 times, 0.75 wounds after the Invuln, 0.55 after the re-roll and IWND will take that down to 0.217 wounds at the start of the next turn.
**Guilliman Round 1/2: hits 2.5 times, wounds 2.222 times, 1.111 times after saves and IWND will take that down to 0.778 wounds at the start of the next turn.
**Guilliman Round 3 and thereafter: hits 3.333 times, wounds 2.963 times, 1.482 times after saves and IWND will take that down to 1.148 wounds at the start of the next turn.
**Guilliman easily wins this fight, taking a lot less damage and dishing out more.
**Note: Dorn doesn't use Sundering Blow because he would actually cause less damage with it.

* Roboute Guilliman VS Corvus Corax
**Corvus hits 4 times (Scourge)/3 times (Shadow-walk), wounds 3 times (Scourge)/2.25 times (Shadow-walk), causing 1.5 wounds (Scourge)/1.125 wounds (Shadow-walk) after the Invuln which drop down to 1.286 (Scourge)/0.911 (Shadow-walk) and IWND will take that down to 0.953 (Scourge)/0.578 (Shadow-walk) wounds at the start of the next turn.
**Guilliman Round 1: 2.5/1.666 times, wounds 2.0833/1.389 times, 1.389/0.926 wounds after saves and 1.055/0.593 wounds after IWND.
**Guilliman Round 2 and thereafter: hits 3.333/2.5 times, wounds 2.963/2.083 times, 1.975/1.389 times after saves and IWND will take that down to 1.642/1.055 wounds at the start of the next turn.
**Guilliman easily wins this fight
**Note: Like Curze, Corax could try to use Hit and Run to even the odds, having even more bonus than Curze thanks to his uber-Furious Charge, but unlike Curze it wouldn't work for too long as the second time they fight (whether Corax charges or Guilliman catches him) Guilliman will have him concussed (He's using his fist for a reason) for the rest of the fight and will kill him before Corax can escape again, thus making the strategy not viable against Papa Smurf.

* Roboute Guilliman vs. Leman Russ
** Leman Round 1 & 2 (using the Axe of Helwinter): Hits 4.886 times, wounds 4.071 times, 2.035 after the Invuln, 1.817 after the re-roll with IWND taking that down to 1.484 at the start of the next turn.
** Leman Round 3 and on (using the Axe of Helwinter): Hits 3.719 times, wounds 3.099 times, 1.55 after the Invuln, 1.331 after the re-roll with IWND taking that down to 0.998 at the start of the next turn.
** Roboute Round 1 and Round 4+ (using the Hand of Dominion): Hits 1.667 times, wounds 1.389 times, 0.695 wounds after saves, and IWND will take that down to 0.362 wounds at the start of the next turn.
** Roboute Round 2 & 3: Hits 0.833, wounds 0.694 times, 0.3472 wounds after saves, and IWND will take that down to 0.014 wounds at the start of the next turn.
** Result: It's not even a challenge. Leman Russ kills Rowboat Girlyman almost effortlessly. What do you expect from trying to go up against The Emperor's Executioner. That furry fucker was designed from the ground up to kill every Primarch in the entire game.

* Roboute Guilliman VS Jaghatai
**Jaghatai: hits 4 times, wounds 2 times, 1 wounds after saves, 0.5 wounds after the armour of reason AoR and IWND will take that down to 0.166
**Guilliman Round 1: hits 2.5 times, wounds 2.083 times (Hand), 0.694 times after saves and IWND will take that down to 0.361 wounds at the start of the next turn.
**Guilliman Round 2 and thereafter: hits 3.333 times, wounds 2.778 times, 0.926 times after saves and IWND will take that down to 0.593 wounds at the start of the next turn.
**Guilliman wins, but Jaghatai could use hit-and-run to negate Roboute's Preternatural Strategy, and unlike with Corax and Curze his 3++ gives him a reasonable chance of not being concussed. Guilliman will still probably win on average but it's closer than the above shows.

* TL;DR version: Surprisingly, despite being one the best army buffers amongst Primarchs and his generally not outstanding (for a Primarch) stats, Guilliman is actually a beast in 1 on 1 fights if they drag on long enough, beating all but the most specialised Primarchs and mathematically losing only to Horus, Fulgrim and Leman Russ. Truth is that he's very well balanced with a choice of good weapons for offense, a decent defense and an extra ability that benefits both. He loses when his more balls out brothers just dump damage on him but when he has the chance to let his strategy impact the fight he'll typically win. He'll likely fall down the rankings some more when Sanguinius and the Lion step onto the field but with his army buffs he'll remain a great choice.
</div></div>

===40K Guilliman===

[[Image:GUILLIMAN2017.jpg|400px|thumb|right|[[Matt Ward]] is having an orgasm right now... as are many [[Ultramarines]] players. [[Rape|Suffice to say, he is a unstoppable force of undiluted assfuckery. Be afraid. Be very afraid. ]]]]
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HoLs0V8T5AA ''We can rebuild him. We have the technology...'']

{{Topquote|[[Awesome|Why do I still live? What more do you want from me? I gave everything I had to you, to them. Look what they have made of our dream. This bloated, rotten carcass of an empire is driven not by reason and hope, but by fear, hate and ignorance. Better that we had all burned in the fire of Horus' ambition than lived to see this.]]|Guilliman is back, and he wants to know what the fuck went so wrong with the Imperium.}}

The first Loyalist Primarch to come back to 40K, Lord Commander of the Imperium, clad in the Armour of Fate, a present from Cawl that brought him out of stasis. He wields his old gauntlet, the Hand of Dominion, with his "Bolter" (a gun that would put any Heavy Bolter to shame) now underslung and carries no less than the [[Emperor's Sword]].

Encompassing the Ultramarines philosophy, Guilliman is a talented jack of all trades, but he's no master-of-none.

With 9 wounds, he is just below the threshold allowing enemy units to target him if not the closest unit, even if he is a towering monster. With T6 and and 2+/3++, he's really hard to bring down with small arms fire (a successful Bolter shot only has 5% chance to wound him successfully, a Lasgun 2.7%, and this is without taking into account accuracy) and his high invulnerable save allows him to tank stronger shots. Don't expect him to handle a Volcano Cannon, though. If he goes down, he comes back on a 4+ with D6 wounds, but unlike in 7th, this can only be done once per battle, even if the roll is failed. On small point games, you can use him as a fire magnet, at higher point you can be sure your opponent will do whatever is in his power to bring him down, so shield him accordingly. This will not be a waste as surrounding units will greatly be enhanced by his auras. As a Character he does benefits from the Honor Guard's protection, so you can mimic the "old" Victrix guard.

While away from the enemy, Guilliman can pump 3 S6 AP-1 W2 shots 24 inches away (6 at 12), bringing pain to light infantry and inflicting serious damage to multi-wound weak-save units such as Tyranid Warriors, but the -1 AP will not allow him to do more than token damages to heavily armored foes, so don't waste your shots on 2+ enemies or tanks. With his 2+ BS, rerolling all failed shots AND wound rolls thanks to the XIII Primarch's rule, most of the shoots will hit their target (84% of the time at rapid fire range) and if you choose your target wisely, most will wound too.

Guilliman will hit with the same accuracy and re-rolls in close combat, where he really shines. He can choose to split his 6 attacks between the Emperor's sword, striking at S8 AP-4 3 D with a chance on a to-wound roll of 6 to inflict an additional D3 mortal wounds, or S12 AP-3 3 D if he uses the Hand of Dominion. You'll almost always be using the Sword as up to T4 he wounds on a 2+, and up to T7 on a 3+, and you'll benefit from the higher AP and the chance to deal extra mortal wounds. (Combined with Guilliman's ability to reroll failed wounds, this makes wounding on a 5+ a lot less bad than you'd think, such that the Gauntlet is only better in edge cases: i.e. if the target has T9 or better, an armor save of 3+ or worse, AND no invulnerable save.) Coupled with his high armor saves, almost nothing in the game short of Knights, Magnus or Mortarion will beat him in close combat one on one, though he'll die a horrible death to squads of TH/SS Terminators and such. He is also not that great against hordes with morale boosts, as he has lost his Sweeping Strike ability, so make sure your other troops clean the path to help him focus on high value targets.

But as impressive as his martial skills are, Guilliman is depicted in the fluff as first and foremost a tactician, and he has the special rules to back this up.

First, as the Warlord in a battleforged army, he gives '''3''' additional command points, allowing to rack up easily 10+ command points even in small points games. This is even more pronounced with Ultramarines, whose Warlord Trait also allows him the chance to recycle used command points.

Second, he allows all Imperium units (not just Ultramarines, Imperium as a whole) within 12 inches to:

*Advance 1" further
*Charge 1" further
*Reroll ALL hit rolls of 1
*Reroll failed morale tests (although potentially ending with a worse result, so use at your own risk).

As the Ultramarines' Primarch, he also has a 6" bubble that grants them a re-roll for all failed rolls to hit AND wound, which, as explained above, also applies to him.

He has one major flaw, though, he cannot ride any transport, as he's classified as a Monster and not an infantry unit for some reason, not even in a Mastodon or a Thunderhawk. Maybe he wasn't too keen on being dragged in the air, hanging on the Dreadnought grapple. He has no option to deepstrike either, so he's doomed to footslog, even though his high movement of 8 mitigate this a little. On the bright side on things, you can't buff your army while in a transport, so you didn't want to put him in a metal bawks anyway.

TL;DR: Guilliman is a monstrosity and point for point one the best units in the game, being at the same time resilient, fast, deadly in close combat, no slouch in shooting and a nice force multiplier for any Imperial Force.

In terms of the model, per GW's typical modus operandi lately, it's absurdly overdesigned to make things difficult for the recasters and chinamen of the world, showing that despite GW's consumer friendly steps as of late, pulling in money always comes above common sense or consistency. However, this type of over-designing does happen to favor the filthy heretic, as there have been plenty of bitchin conversions by chaos players, [[Ferrus Manus|lopping off his head]], replacing it with an appropriately sized ugly chaos faction head of their choosing, filing off the Smurf iconography, and then painting it with whatever grungy/fabulous colour scheme that looks passable, and presto! You now have yourself a possessed/empowered/favoured Chaos Lord!

==Nicknames==

Roboute has been given so many nicknames by /tg/ that, if we're being honest, they deserve their own section at this point. His many nicknames include but are no means limited to:

*Robu (canon from the novel Dark Imperium: Plague War, no, seriously!)
*Rowboat Girlyman
*Robust Girlyman
*Roman Gorillaman
*Rawbutt Girlyman
*Robobutt Gigatan
*Rampant Gullytan
*Robot Gigglytan
*Raw-Rigged Ginger-Fan
*Robot Gulliver
*Robo Git
*Robo Clint
*Robot Cunt
*Roberto Gilligan
*Roberto Guillermito
*Robust Gilligan
*Robit Ghillie Suit
*Reboot Gigabyte
*Robert Gullible
*Robert Güllemann
*Roboot Girlymayne
*Robot Gorillaman
*Robooty Guillotine
*Ripplebutt Giggleman
*Rawnut Jellyman
*Roman Gogillian
*Rusty the Gullible
*R. Gooliman, Esq.
*Robalybobaly Guilabywibbalyman
*Rowrowrowyourboat Gentlydownthestreamlyman
*Rubbertree Girlyman
*Robo-ute Gillaman
*Rowboat Grillyman
*Roboute Guilliblastoma, ''WHO°IV'' Bringer of Cerebral Inflation
*Really Gay
*Rob Butthole
*Every possible combination of the previous nicknames
*<s>Julius Caesar</s> Augustus ''in SPESS''
*Big Blue Daddy
*Papa Ultra Smurf
*Grandpa Smurf
*Bobby G.
*Big G
*Big Bobby G.
*Daddy G
*Rob
*The Blue One
*Raw Booty Girlyman
*G Man
*Ward's Ever Chosen Robart
*Your [[Spiritual Liege]]
* Big Blue
* Big Blue Bob
* Big Blue Bastardly Bob
* Big Blue Mary Sue
* Boss of the Bastard Blueberries
* Rabbit Guiltyman
* Benedict Cumberbatch
** Any variation of Benedict Cumberbatch
* Gary Sue
* Rodent Guillotine

== Gallery ==
<center><gallery>
Image:Rowboat_Girlyman_Coronation.jpeg| Rowboat Girlyman's coronation with his Eldar waifu.
Image:Rowboat_Girlyman_LowRes.gif| Rowboat Girlyman's Coronation now in its animated glory.
Image:Astartesjealousy.jpg|Even Bobby G can be jealous of such fabulousness.
</gallery></center>

{{Primarchs}}

[[Category:Imperial]]

Roboute Guilliman

2019-06-19T00:31:01Z

2600:6C44:767F:FB36:99E4:84E:2DC3:FC7: /* 41st millennium / Gathering Storm */

{{Awesome}}
[[File:Robute_Guilliman.jpg|450px|thumb|right|I'm surrounded by [[Neckbeards|plebeians]].]]
{{Topquote|[[Horus|Leadership is not magnetic personality]], [[Fulgrim|that can just as well be a glib tongue]]. [[Vulkan|It is not "making friends ]][[Lorgar|and influencing people]]", that is flattery. Leadership is lifting a person's vision to higher sights, the raising of a person's performance to a higher standard, the building of a personality beyond its normal limitations.|Peter F. Drucker}}

{{Topquote|The storm rages. The sleeper awakes. Hope rises in the fire of war.|Our spiritual liege has returned!}}

'''Roboute Guilliman''' ("Row-BOOT-ay" "GILL-uh-man"/ ɹə<font color=gold>ʊ</font>-'buːt-eɪ 'ɡɪl-ə-mæn), otherwise known as the '''Lord of Ultramar''', the '''Battle King''', the '''Blade of Unity''', the '''Ruler of Hosts''', '''Lord Commander of the Imperium''', '''The Victorious''', '''Robu''', '''Big Bobby G''', '''Grandpa Smurf''' and ''' Our Spiritual Liege''' is the [[Primarch]] of the [[Ultramarines]] and quite possibly the single most [[skub]]-inspiring person in the setting. This is thanks to his varying depictions as a total ungodly [[Mary Sue]] in older material, or being a quite likable, intelligent and [[awesome]] leader in others. The dislike for him is often based more around his legacy and the reception (or lack thereof) of a [[Codex Astartes|certain infamous book]], although he did have a cold, imperious streak to his personality that occasionally caused friction between his brothers and himself, most famously being partially responsible for being one of the factors that turned [[Lorgar]] to [[Chaos]], in addition to [[Alpharius]]. [[Omegon|Maybe]]. It's [[Iron Snakes|hard to tell]].

Apparently, he and [[Sigmar]] are behind the sudden surge of good policies done by [[Games Workshop|GeeDubs]]. As of the current trajectory, it seems that GeeDubs has been infected with [[Weeaboo|Animu]] and is slowly turning Warhammer 40k into Warharem 40k, due to Grandpa Smurf suddenly getting not one but <u>two</u> potential ship baits thanks to Dark Imperium: Plague Wars (plus the ones he sort of got during the Gathering Storm, what a player). Oh, and he accidentally gives a preacher a religious erection. [[What|This is CANON]].

==History==
===Early Life===
Unlike most worlds that the other Primarchs landed on, [[Macragge]] was a pretty great place to live. Guilliman was found by the planet's ruler and some of his retinue while they were on a hunting trip. Konor Guilliman, the man who took him in, was a pretty cool dude who advocated helping the common man and pushed for meritocratic reforms. These were a major influence on Roboute and stayed with him throughout his life. It also says something that Konor's seneschal, Tarasha Euten (hereafter referred to as GuilliMom), was effectively Guilliman's surrogate mother, making him one of the only Primarchs to have a conventional family, [[Butthurt|a fact that twisted Konrad Curze's nipples to no end (which goes double when she tells him to go fuck himself)]].

One day while Roboute was coming back after fighting the Macragge's version of the Gauls, he found his home in disarray. Konor had just become the victim of some political treachery, Ancient Roman-style. His co-ruler, Gallan, was pissed off at all these reforms Konor pushed through so he decided to send his army to rape, pillage and burn. Seeing his once peaceful home burning with neighbors looting and killing each other left the second major impact on Roboute and the most likely source of why he was always so [[Butthurt|anal]] about keeping things in order- the alternative in his eyes was total anarchy.

After [[rip and tear|gutting]] Gallan and restoring order, Roboute worked to make his father's dream a reality. This was the third major impact on his life: though he claimed that Gallan's death was justice, Guilliman came to realize that it was in fact vengeance, and worked to master his emotional self-control. By the time the [[Emperor]] reached Macragge, Roboute had ruled for five years and turned the world into a place where you had to earn your place, not just be born into it, exactly how his (adoptive) father would have wanted it.

===Great Crusade and Horus Heresy===
Guilliman utilized his skills as a tactician and strategist to fight in his Father's crusade, preferring to form battle plans rather than actually participate in the fighting himself (though he still did his fair share of Xeno-killing). In the hopes of passing down some of his strategic expertise, he worked very hard to turn the Ultramarines into an army of thinkers. His primary rule as a commander was "Information is victory", emphasizing that Space Marines needed theoretical knowledge and practical experience, in other words, a sound understanding of the tactical situation and a means to achieve their objective. Given that battle plans proved to be the first casualty, Guilliman soon realized that he would need to refine his own strategies even as he codified them, lest they fall apart in the chaos of warfare. With over 250,000 legionaries, he managed to achieve compliance on the highest number of worlds during the [[Great Crusade]], but was surpassed in ''military'' victories by the [[Luna Wolves]], [[Space Wolves]] and [[Dark Angels]]. Meaning he was either a good diplomat or his crusade encountered more peaceful human societies. Guilliman also made a point to turn conquered planets into model military worlds, and the Ultramarines would not leave until a modern [[Planetary Defence Force]] was established. He really should've been put jointly in charge of administration post-Ullanor, which would've made premature, excessive taxation of newly integrated worlds a lot easier to avoid (and therefore fewer worlds would have joined Horus' rebellion). Or probably not: after all, Guilliman didn't change a thing on Nuceria, a beautiful feudal world of charming people enjoying slaves and pit fights and slaves fighting in pits (not to say they were fucking responsible for the mess Angron turned into) after incorporating it in his empire. It was of no concern to Roboute; the only things he cared about were resources and taxes arriving on time. So while central worlds of Ultramar prospered, provinces were much shittier places to live, up to the point where some populaces ''didn't know who Guilliman was'' (and I'm not making it up, Lion spits this information in Roboute's face in "Unremembered Empire").
[[File:Know No Fear huge.jpg|400px|thumb|right|''"Lorgar of Colchis. You may consider the following. One: I entirely withdraw my previous offer of solemn ceasefire. It is cancelled, and will not be made again, to you or to any other of your motherless bastards. Two: you are no longer any brother of mine. I will find you, I will kill you, and I will hurl your toxic corpse into hell’s mouth."'' - Roboute Guilliman, channeling Bryan Mills.]]
When civil war broke out, Guilliman was tricked by Horus into taking most of his Legion to Calth for a joint Ultramarines/[[Word Bearers]] engagement. While most of his Company Captains believed it was just the Warmaster flexing his muscles, Guilliman realized that there was a political angle to it as well: when the Emperor of Mankind rebuked [[Lorgar|Lorgar Aurelian]] for spreading the ''Lectitio Divinatatus'', he ordered the Ultramarines to burn Monarchia, capital city of Khur, as an example of what would happen to those who continued to defy the [[Imperial Truth]]. Guilliman carried out his orders and didn't show Lorgar any sympathy, but privately confided to some of his officers his discomfort in doing so, feeling that the total humiliation would irreparably damage relations between the XIII and XVII Legions. Guilliman saw this as a chance to mend fences and forge friendships the old fashioned way: by getting Space Marines to kill Orks side by side. Unfortunately, Horus and Lorgar used the Calth muster to kill nearly half the Legion in a surprise attack. When he found out Lorgar's treachery he personally declared to hunt Lorgar down and kill him, only to be attacked by some sort of [[Daemon]]ic proxy that blew up the main bridge of his flagship and voided him out. So Guilliman did what any other pissed off Primarch would do: go on a rampage against Word Bearers trying to board the ''Macragge's Honour'' by punching them to death. [[Wat|In near vacuum. Without a helmet.]] [[AWESOME|''For almost twelve hours.'']] ([[Dan Abnett]] is still pretty proud of that scene). Not long after that, [[Kor Phaeron]] tried to recruit him for [[Chaos]]' cause by stabbing him with a corrupted blade like Horus, but Guilliman wanted none of it and punched the Dark Cardinal off him so hard the old man had a heart attack. In the end, though, the Ultramarines managed to wrest control of their defense grid back and shoot any Word Bearer ship not retreating posthaste to smithereens.

===[[Imperium Secundus|That episode he doesn't like to talk about]]===

{{Topquote|Did you fear I’d turned with Horus and become a threat to our father? Have you come to sanction me, like Russ’ wolf pack?"<br>"My dear Roboute, I did not think for a moment that you had turned. I thought you’d done much, much worse. I think we both know you have.|Emprah's [[Lion El'Jonson|First]] and Thirteenth sons have a nice and brotherly chat about the situation on hands.}}

After the Battle of Calth severely hurt his Legion, Guilliman had to contend with the Shadow Crusade as Lorgar and Angron went on a merry joyride through Ultramar, razing 26 worlds with their main fleet and who knows how many with the splinter fleets. Oh, and Guilliman got a severe kick in the bottom from Angron on [[Nuceria]] after trying to beat the everloving shit out of Lorgar. In the end, though, Guilliman [[just as planned|seemingly]] managed to get both the Word Bearers and World Eaters off his lawn. Ultramar was however cut off from the rest of the Imperium by Warp Storms preventing travel and astrotelepathic communication. After seeing off the Shadow Crusade, Guilliman acted on the assumption that due to being unable to know if the greater Imperium or the Emperor survived, he would need to act on the worst-case scenario that they had both fallen.

Consequently, if his father could not be saved at least His ideals would be, and so he set up a new government called [[Imperium Secundus]], a second Imperium of Man which would reject Horus's alliance with Chaos. Although potentially traitorous to an outside observer, Guilliman's motives at least ''were'' sincere, he made a big hoohah about not taking the throne himself since he would look like a Tyrant if he did. Fortunately/Unfortunately, [[Lion El'Jonson|The Lion]] arrived at Macragge and didn't like [[heresy|where it was heading]]. Neither brother trusted the other with the job of ruling the next Imperium, so [[Sanguinius]] got the job only to settle the matter between the two and was declared regent of the Imperium in the Emperor's absence, [[Fail|only for the whole thing to be abandoned when Guilliman learned to his horror that the Emperor wasn't dead and that his whole plan was little more than a pointless waste of time]]. It continues to be a source of shame to him even in the present time that he got [[troll|manoeuvred]] by Lorgar into creating the Imperium Secundus.

It's worth mentioning that there is a bit of historical precedence for it, given the whole "Imperium is Space Rome" thing. What is now known as the Byzantine Empire was the successor to Rome, that split off just before the Western half collapsed. Because of this, they were able to save a lot of the finer points of civilization that went to shit during the Medieval Era such as literacy, education and hygiene. It would take centuries for the rest of Europe to catch back up to them.

Despite his fuckup, Guilliman managed to lead over one hundred thousand Ultramarines to Terra with the [[Dark Angels]] and the [[Space Wolves]], intent on helping the [[Blood Angels]], [[Imperial Fists]], and [[White Scars]] defending Terra. Horus, learning about this and knowing that he could not sustain the assault on the planet anymore once the bulk of the loyalist forces came into the fight, lowered the void shields upon the ''Vengeful Spirit'' in an all-or-nothing gambit to win the war by killing the Emprah in a duel. Alas, Guilliman and his reinforcements arrived too late to stop the traitors (who despite the death of Horus still held space around the planet) from retreating to their ships and fleeing Terra. This and his own feeling that said lateness could have been prevented had he made for Terra sooner only motivated him harder to kick the Scouring off, where those traitors that wouldn't or couldn't make their way to the Eye of Terror were hunted down and cleansed, planet by planet. Guilliman also pushed for his reforms in that time, which led to considerable [[skub|divergences of opinions]]; but in the end everyone seemingly agreed and went "Okay, let's do this Codex thing!" (only for several chapters to begin [[Black Templars| either partially or completely]] [[Space Wolves|ignoring said Codex]] [[Dark Angels|or only giving the idea lip service]] when Guilliman had his attention elsewhere. Not much later, Guilliman [[Battle of Thessala|got himself stabbed in the neck]] by [[Fulgrim]] in an absurdly one-sided duel; the resulting poisoning had him sitting on a stasis throne for the better part of 10,000 years (I know; somehow the poison was more of a big deal than the actual stab wound in his fucking neck).

===41st millennium / Gathering Storm===
[[File:16999239_340497286345256_3126583543407667659_n.jpg|400px|right|thumb|Our [[Spiritual Liege]] about to give [[Skarbrand]] a [[Sanguinius]]-style head chopping.]]
{{Topquote|We shall give the humans a demigod. A king reborn with a deathly blade.|Prince [[Yriel]]}}

As we know, after being poisoned by Fulgrim, Guilliman was put into stasis. A popular rumor was that he was slowly healing, though that would be impossible in stasis. Eventually, after a [[PROMOTIONS|kiss]] from [[Yvraine]] and a nice mechadendrite massage from [[Belisarius Cawl|Cawl]], he got better. He plays a major role in the third Gathering Storm book. That's right; Guilliman is back! And in plastic! Somebody call Fulgrim, he'll be pissed! (Spoiler alert: he is really, really pissed. So is Mortarion. Magnus had a chuckle though. And of course, [[Matt Ward|our Spiritual Liege]] probably [[Faptau|'enjoyed himself]] after hearing this news)

After Roboute was resurrected, he goes full-blown Saitama and proceeds to wipe out an entire horde of veteran chaos marines [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=atxYe-nOa9w with his manly man-fists] without taking a single scratch. He then took command of the local imperial forces and used his [[Tactical genius|tactical genius]] to inspire the combined forces of Chaos to simultaneously shit themselves. Within a month, Guilliman weeds out the entire invading Chaos force on Macragge in a series of battles and heroic duels worthy of any primarch. He then looked to liberate the rest of the Macragge system, this time with help from the Primogenitor Chapters, the [[Dark Angels]], [[Space Wolves]], [[White Scars]], a [[Sisters of Battle]] army, the remaining [[Black Templars]] that fought on Cadia, more [[Imperial Guard|Guardsmen]], a ship containing an entire [[Imperial Knight|Knight Household]], an entire [[Imperial Navy]] battlegroup, and the [[Mechanicus]] with an entire [[Titan|Titan Legion]] backing them. He also declares the independent sovereignty of the [[Ultramar|five hundred worlds]] null and void, assuming direct control over his former territories. [[Rape|There was no kill like overkill.]]

After Robby G has finished his job in ousting Chaos from Ultramar, the Ynnari bid their farewell, as they have psychic mumbo-jumbo to do elsewhere. Roboute and Yvraine said their goodbyes, Roboute said that he is in debt to Yvraine for bringing him back to life and Yvraine telling Roboute to stay safe. The respect between the two is interesting, because it shows two historically opposed forces allying towards a common goal, showing that Geedubs might be going a bit [[Warhammer Fantasy Battles|old-school]] with this, having the (somewhat) less evil factions uniting against chaos, tempering the Grimderp of the setting with a little pragmatism, and who better to do that than Mr. Practicality and the world's most morally flexible Eldar?

[[File:YvraineXGuilliman.png|300px|left|thumb|[[Extra Heresy|HERESY TO THE EXTREME!]]]]

During his coronation as uber-boss of Ultramar, a fragment of [[Fulgrim]] possessing a planetary governor infiltrated the many, many pilgrims and dignitaries who had shown up to verify the Primarch's resurrection, and offered him a golden wreath to wear. The wreath was cursed to show Guilliman all his potential glories and lead him to the embrace of Slaanesh. When he saw through the deception and ordered the infiltrator slain, Fulgrim promised that Guilliman [[butthurt|would never take any satisfaction from his victories ever again.]]

[[Saint Celestine]] and Inquisitor Greyfax have convinced Roboute to tolerate the [[Ecclesiarchy]] (for now anyway). Suffice to say, [[rage|he was <u>'''NOT'''</u> pleased]] with the whole space Catholicism thing that had been going on while he was asleep, seeing as Lorgar's desire to worship the emperor [[Horus Heresy|ruined]] [[Goge Vandire|everything.]] After learning about the Ecclesiarchy's more level-headed members and realizing its use, Guilliman works the Imperial Faith into one of his speeches even though it leaves a bad taste in his mouth. He is still at the core a defender of the [[Imperial Truth]], however he understands that the Imperium in its current state needs faith to survive.

Later, [[Nurgle]] inflicted a plague on Ultramar called '''The Sorrows/Weeping Plague''' that spread via insects and caused its victims' eyes to rot out. The only known cure for the disease was to be admitted to the presence of Guilliman himself. Realizing that it was a devious trick to play on the Primarch's compassion and contain Guilliman in Ultramar, he declared that he would not repeat the mistake of [[Imperium Secundus|defending his own realm while the rest of he galaxy burned]] and needed to go to Terra for the [[Greater_Good|Greater Good]] of the Imperium, and left his Apothecaries to try and find a cure.

It is known that while heading to Terra on ''Macragge's Honour'', the Thousand Sons transported him into the [[Maelstrom]], where he and his allies were attacked by a warband of [[Red Corsairs]] and daemons led by [[Kairos Fateweaver]]. Kairos managed to "bind Guilliman in chains of his own guilt, anger, and disappointment" (kinky) and tossed him into a cell on a [[Blackstone Fortress]] (clinky), which the Red Corsairs apparently got from Abbadon as a gift in exchange for their loyalty. However, his rescue came in the form of none other than '''[[Cypher]]''' who had been led to Guilliman by the [[Harlequins]] and a bunch of [[Khorne|Khornate]] daemons led by [[Skarbrand]] assaulting the Blackstone Fortress when Kairos insisted on keeping Guilliman alive for future plans. Cypher made a deal with Guilliman, freeing him and the crusader army from bondage and offering the [[Fallen Angels]]' support in exchange for a free pass to Terra and the Imperial Throne Room to fulfill his destiny. After fighting their way through an army of daemons and escaping through the webway, they were pursued by the [[Thousand Sons]] but fought their way through to Luna and continued the battle on Terra's doorstep, and eventually Guilliman winds up dueling [[Magnus]] himself. Guilliman' odds of victory were slimming, until the [[Sisters of Silence]], supported by the [[Imperial Fists]] and the [[Adeptus Custodes]], drop in and punt the Thousand Sons' dusty asses back into the warp. When he finally arrived on Terra, Guilliman had a sudden, dreadful epiphany after seeing Cypher's sword. He then reneged on his deal and ordered the Custodian Guard to seize Cypher before he could be granted audience with the Emperor ''(though Cypher, being Cypher, immediately escaped, but is shown to have a particular bad case of [[Not_as_planned|butthurt]], first time in 40k history!)''. Given how honorable Guilliman is, it ''must'' be something bad if he would resort to backing out on his word.

Guilliman then gets an audience with the Emperor behind closed doors. To his pleasant surprise, the Emperor was still alive and able to communicate after ten thousand years. To his much less pleasant surprise, he found out Big. E no longer cared about pretending to be remotely human, and that he, like all his 'brother' Primarchs, were merely tools in His big plan. Big.E loved mankind as a whole but never individual humans, not even his so-called "sons"; and that rankled Big Blue. What exactly passed between Emps and Bobby, only they know, but was presumably along the lines of: "Roboute, I know that [[Imperium Secundus|last time you went Empire Building]] I got really mad at you and all, but uh... I sorta need you to do some Empire Building again." to which Guilliman agreed. When he emerges back out of the throne room, he would only say he got all the enlightenment he needed and then declares himself '''Lord Commander of the Imperium''' ''(his old job)'' before forcibly deposing some [[High Lords of Terra|High Lords]] he doesn't like and replacing them; and ordering them to start getting shit done to restore the Imperium to its once and future glory.

Whilst deposing some of the High Lords may seem unnecessary given the fragile state of the Imperium, do note that Guilliman is a meritocrat and an administrator first and foremost, so if anyone can save the Administratum and the Imperial Senate, it's him. Thus, his reshuffling of the High Lords is perfectly in character as the High Lords have been repeatedly established as largely self-serving individuals, incompetent in administration at best and utterly uninterested in anything other than expanding their personal power at worst - in short, everything Guilliman is not. If anything, it would have been very out of character for Guilliman to look the other way given their (lack of) overall performance.

[[Tl;dr]], Robby came, he saw, and he threw the entire Chaos Space Marines a [[Anal circumference|beating]] like no other. And now he has to make the entire Imperium get its shit together much to his chagrin and angst.

===42nd millennium===
[[File:Priorities_ba536b_6833904.jpg|450px|right|thumb|Priorities man. Priorities.]]
To stem the tide of traitors, xenos, and Chaos, Roboute Guilliman declared the [[Indomitus Crusade]] against the enemies of the Imperium. In order to accomplish this, he unveiled the [[Primaris Marines]], a project 10,000 years in the making to create a superior Space Marine. Between battles, he's also begun to revise the Codex Astartes and compose a (relatively) accurate history of the Imperium of Man, founding a new division of the Adeptus Terra to act as historians (much to the Inquisition's annoyance - and yes, quite a few Inquisitors would say 'no' to a Primarch even if he is the regent of the Imperium). The Crusade lasted about a century; and while it was able to drive the forces of Chaos away from some of their new holdings, Guilliman knew that it was only enough to stabilize the Imperium in its current state. [[Abaddon|Mr. 13 Failures]] might have failed to get to Terra as he planned, but he still got a nasty blow in and Guilliman knows it.

The Dark Imperium novel has portrayed him as having become far more cynical over the events of the Indomitus Crusade, in no small part due to frequently butting heads with the Inquisition and the Admninistratum, who see Guilliman's push for reforms as a threat to their personal power. While he still believes in the Emperor's ideals, his belief in the [[Imperial Truth]] has also been shaken. He knows the Emperor is not quite human any longer, but noted that even if Emps is a god, someone that cold and ruthlessly callous doesn't deserve worship in the first place. According to Guilliman, when he met with the Emperor, the latter treated him as little more than a favorite tool that had only just been recovered for a highly urgent job, as opposed to the last of his loyal sons. On the flip side, though, even the realization that Emps never loved his "sons" (The ultimate reason [[Horus]] broke and started the whole Heresy clusterfuck) did not break him. E-money might not love him as a son, but that doesn't mean his ideals aren't worth fighting for and Guilliman intends to do it right this time!

As of now, Big Bobby G is splitting his time between his history work, preventing the Imperium's appalling situation from getting worse by pointing a power-armored finger in the right direction, and applying power-armored boot to asses where needed. He's also busy writing the '''Codex Imperialis''' which is basically the [[Codex Astartes]] on civil society and good governance. The compilation of the Imperium's history is just one part of the new Codex, with which he intends to fix the semi-functioning clusterfuck that is Imperial bureaucracy. He hopes that if (or when) he dies for good, his successors will use it for guidance rather than going with the head-up-ass approach they've taken in the past.

Despite his dislike of the Emperor's detachment from humanity, he has also begun to realize that circumstances forced the Emperor to take his autocratic stance - and that he may very well end up becoming a dictator himself too. While for the time being he still hopes to preserve his ideals in the face of the grimdark galaxy he lives in, he has accepted that if push comes to shove he may need to give them up for the sake of humanity's survival.

A fun fact is that he is also quite [[Grimdark|creeped out]] at the whole [[Cherubim|'turn-a-baby-into-a-flying-cyborg' thing]] going around in the AdMech and Ecclesiarchy. He also gave up trying to correct the myths about him and his fellow Primarchs after 80 years or so, because people kept repeating them anyway.

After the [[Devastation of Baal]], he ordered the Mechanicus to terraform Baal Secundus back into its paradisal state before the long night and appointed Commander [[Dante]] as the Warden of Imperium Nihilus. He's also acquired an original copy of the pre-Heresy ''Lectitio Divinatus'' (signed by [[Lorgar|the original author]]) which he only got by wrestling it from the Inquisition.

During the [[Plague Wars]], Grandpa smurf acquired a quirky Rogue Trader called Yassilli Sulymanyan who is both a handpicked historian from the Primarch himself and an [[Heresy|atheist]] whom he saved from a witch-burning. The two kind of [[Love Can Bloom|hit it off when it comes to the standards of relationships of a normal women and a posthuman demi-god]]...as you can imagine, such inclinations combine with the fanfic fuel of [[Extra Heresy|YvraineXGuilliman]] has led /tg/ to declare that GW is now teasing us with [[Waifu|Primarch waifu bait/love triangle/ship wars.]] [[HHHHHHHHHHHhhhhhhhnnnnnnngggggg-|It doesn't help that Yassilli nicknames our giant blueberry Robu.]] Other than that, we also see [[Mortarion]] still acting like a petulant bitch after 10,000 years before [[Awesome|Gorillaman himself laid an epic smackdown of burns.]] Oh yeah, and Big Blue Wonder is fucking [[Rage|<u>'''LIVID'''</u>]] with what the Ecclesiarchy has done during the conflict (sending a group of Sisters of Battle to a possible Living Saint against Guilliman's orders and killing several loyalists in the process; granted, it did save Guilliman's life but that doesn't change the fact that their actions were still treasonous, never mind the fact that he was uncertain as to whether or not the Saint was actually being empowered by Tzeentch), and making his handpicked militant-priest to promptly [[Slaanesh|shit/jizz himself in fear/awe.]] He also seems to be becoming more prone to outbursts of rage, something that caught even a Custodes by surprise as such a trait was unexpected from Guilliman, but perhaps it's unsurprising given all the shit he's been through lately.

Following that little incident and a bout of introspection on his part, he's started to wonder if maybe Lorgar and the Ecclesiarchy were right about the Emperor's divinity, and has chosen to start reading that old copy of Lectitio Divinatus to learn whether it might have a grain of truth in it. We're sure Lorgar would be pleased about that if he wasn't wholly dedicated to Chaos now.

Since waking up Guilliman has now fought more of his brothers than anyone other than Russ. Fighting against Lorgar and Angron during the heresy and losing, and fighting Curze with the Lion during [[Imperium Secundus|that one episode]] and barely surviving. Then he faced Omegon and Fulgrim after the heresy, (supposedly) killing the former and very nearly dying to the latter. Then following his return, he's fought against Magnus and Mortarion, losing to the former and having to be bailed out by his allies in both cases, this actually goes well with his image of a leader of men, Bobby G may not be as strong as a daemon primarch, but [[Awesome|most 42nd millennium imperials will fight against overwhelming odds heads-on to save the guy who is doing all in his power to bring the Imperium back from the brink, as pointed out in the suplements and novels Guilliman knows that and that's why he never gives up.]]

==Personality==
{{Topquote|Amongst his brothers, none had been more idealistic than Roboute Guilliman. None had envisioned a brighter future, not just for Mankind but also for the warriors of the Legiones Astartes. That flame of hope had been a part of him for as long as he had lived. Even now, as it was smothered by darkness and woe, Guilliman realised that his flame endured.|The Gathering Storm III: Rise of The Primarch}}

Roboute Guilliman is a mix of the classical patrician and the archetypal virtuous politician. He's studied, efficient, extremely intelligent even when compared to his own demigod brothers, and morally resolute. He values merit and results over birth or flattery, and he emphasizes in his troops that information is victory, that a sound grasp of theory and a strong ability for the practical is necessary in resolving all problems. He's also rather tolerant of different moods and mentalities, so long as they still serve the Imperium's goals. The barbarous overtones of the [[Space Wolves]], the standoffish eccentricities of the [[White Scars]], even quiet religious practices on his own world, these things never bothered him. In his mind, the Ultramarines had clearly demonstrated the superior merit of their ways and those ways would rub off on the more eccentric factions of the Imperium over time. This is not to say he didn't have his moments when someone managed to feed him up, in those situations he have been shown to be wrathful enough to give Angron a run of his money and scare away even greater daemons (of course being armed with the permakilling Emperor's Sword made him a deal).

Call it faith and trust, call it arrogance and presumption, but Guilliman genuinely believed that he controlled the most disciplined, civilized peoples and armies within the Imperium and he thought his way was best. But contrary to what many think of him he didn't go out of his way to force his ways on others, he simply made all his writings and tactics available to all his brothers, and told his men to be at their best when fighting alongside the other factions. In his own words, he actually respected all of his brothers and had a brotherly affection for some of them, he only ever criticized or scolded when the circumstances seemed extreme, such as [[Alpharius]]'s unnecessary targeting of enemy civilian populations to damage morale, [[Perturabo]]'s wasteful decimation of his own Legion or [[Angron]]'s needlessly brutal assaults and pointless carnages leaving only piles of bodies and a ravaged planet behind. This attitude was likely the reason Guilliman was passed over for the role of Warmaster, as he didn't get along well with many of his brothers, counting only [[Rogal Dorn]], [[Sanguinius]], [[Horus]], [[Ferrus Manus]], and [[Vulkan]] as friends, though he did have a sincere admiration and respect for [[Leman Russ]] and [[Jaghatai Khan]]. He also saw a potential for common ground with Lorgar, but that potential was never explored because of... [[Heresy|Reasons]].

Guilliman was also an organizational savant [[Perturabo|almost]] unmatched in all the galaxy. He was known to calculate logistical information and strategies far faster than the Mechanicum's best logic engines, planning out entire planetary invasions in his mind in moments, a feat only rivalled by his brother the Lion. Though many of his brothers were godly tacticians ([[Corax]] managed to wrong-foot him a couple of times, for instance), Guilliman uniquely focused on what came after a war: how the world could be used, improved, colonized, uplifted, integrated and becoming a full-fledged supporting member of the Imperium and the Great Crusade instead of being left a war-torn ruin. Guilliman insisted on ensuring that any populated world the Ultramarines took was left with working infrastructure, an able & trained [[Planetary Defense Force|PDF]], and a decent quality of life for civilian populations - something that his brothers (save for Lorgar and Horus) paid little to no attention to, a trait that would come back to bite the Imperium in the ass later.

This cold calculation often bled into his personal life however. The best example of this might be his dealings with [[Lorgar]]. After the Ultramarines were used by the Emperor to sanction the Word Bearers, Guilliman privately admitted to some of his officers that he sincerely regretted that it had happened, being uncomfortable with censuring his brother that way, and fearing that the damage in relations it caused between the XIII and the XVII would be permanent. After all, there was much potential for kinship between Lorgar and Guilliman, and their legions. What legions were more devoted to the Emperor than those two? Which brothers thought most of the future, of what comes after the conquest? The sudden void of lost potential between the legions was tragic. So what did Guilliman do? Did he seek out his brother later to make amends? Did he have a quiet meeting with his brother to confess his discomfort and seek reconciliation? Send a nice gift basket perhaps? No. Guilliman set up a formal, impersonal meeting between the two of them, alongside their captains, retinues, and aides. [[FAIL|Forty. Years. Later.]] By that time it was [[Battle of Calth|much too late.]]

Despite any personal shortcomings however, and beyond his tactical & strategic genius, his skills as an administrator and as a statesman, Guilliman's most noteworthy characteristic is being one of the few well adjusted, sensible people in the '''entire freaking galaxy.''' He encouraged his sons to diversify their interests from pure combat, not to [[Emperor's Children|art]] or [[Blood Angels|fine]] [[Salamanders|crafts]], but to law, governance, city planning and infrastructure. He was a pragmatist, and was well aware of the need for his sons and indeed his legion to be useful outside of war, knowing full well what would have to happen to [[World Eaters|some]] [[Night Lords|legions]] when the Great Crusade ended. Guilliman was also one of the few Primarchs who didn't really see the Emperor as his father, paying lip service to the idea but being the first to state how shitty the Emperor was at raising kids and he never fully forgave the Emperor for using him and his Legion as a tool to humiliate Lorgar. He understood how to run an empire, how to inspire loyalty and how to temper the flawed nature of humanity with organisation and discipline. The Emperor's greatest failing was always a lack of understanding in the people he ruled, a flaw that few saw in him, save perhaps for [[Malcador the Sigillite]] and Guilliman.

Ultimately we get a picture of a man who's charismatic, but impersonal. Brilliantly intelligent, but often blinded by arrogance and faith. Meritocratic and receptive to the common man, but often cold and distant. A superb general and warrior, but above that, an equally competent statesman and leader. If Horus was a conqueror at heart, if Lorgar is a demagogue, if Magnus is a scholar, Guilliman is a statesman, a man whose concern is less the glories and bloodshed of war, and more the careful administrative work that follows (albeit one that has an unmatched ability to punch through your entire body if the need arises.)

After his long nap he seems frustrated with the new (old) Imperium and shaken by his meeting with the Emperor, but that good 'ole Ultramarine spirit is still with him, so he got up, stretched his limbs, and went to town for an ass whooping. A few of his actions thus far are imminently noteworthy. He dissolved the independent sovereignty of any worlds that were historically part of Ultramar; started catering to the [[Imperial Cult|Imperial Creed]] in one of his speeches; is openly cooperating with xenos witches; has essentially taken the role of Emperor 2.0. That's not to say that any of those choices are wrong or unnecessary, but they're each notable because they show that Guilliman is now more inclined to sudden, imperious action where once he might have used diplomacy. However, this may be a result of having to singlehandedly salvage the entire Imperium even as it fights against his attempts at reform, a task that with careful diplomacy would take even centuries that the Imperium can't really afford. Overall, Guilliman is disillusioned with his "dad", disgusted by the Ecclesiarchy (he outright told their representative he considered them a lesser evil), disappointed with the state of the Imperium as a whole but still willing to step into the breach and help humanity elevate itself. His faith in the Emperor has been badly shaken but his sense of duty and faith in humanity is as strong as ever and as the top quote of this section points out, he may be the Emperor's sense of hope for a better future for mankind, which comes to explain the grudge Mortarion and Magnus have for him after they fell for Nurgle and Tzeentch respectively. Mortarion fell to the heart of despair, and Magnus also did the same thing around the other side. Guilliman defies this and acts as an anti nihilist, willing to struggle to his last breath if it comes down that for the slightest chance of someone, somewhere, smiling for a moment more.

==Popular Opinion==
{{Topquote|All men can see these tactics whereby I conquer, but what none can see is the strategy out of which victory is evolved.|Sun Tzu}}

Guilliman is mostly hated by the community at large because of [[Matt Ward | Mattards]] Codex: Space Marines. However, it is worth stating that Guilliman was probably one of the most important figures holding the Imperium together after the Horus Heresy. He's one of the [[Jaghatai Khan|few]] Primarchs to realize that the Emperor's ideals were more important than the man himself, which is something that [[Malcador the Sigillite|Malcador]] kept preaching.

He was also among the best Primarchs when it came to logistics and organization, though [[Perturabo]] was probably better, (but Guilliman wasn't an antisocial autistic weirdo, so there's that), which is pretty much one of the only reasons why the [[Imperium of Man]] didn't collapse after the Horus Heresy. He was able to train and equip more than twice as many Marines during the [[Great Crusade]] than any other Legion, and he wrote the [[Codex Astartes]] (still the standard for Space Marine tactics). He is credited with reorganizing the entire governmental and administrative system of the [[Imperium of Man]] (yes, the reorganized Administratum ended up running the galaxy into the ground, but the fact that it's still running at all is a good sign).

However as the Horus Heresy series continues, it is revealed that it was actually [[Malcador the Sigillite]] who had been creating the foundations for the later Imperium. In fact it is continuously being hinted that Guilliman positioned himself to take over the Imperium after the fall of the Emperor, being almost explicitly stated in ''Vengeful Spirit''. whether through good intentions or through sinister means has yet to be revealed. Funnily enough Kor Phaeron, who hated his guts, identified him as the Primarch best suited to succeed his dad, though given the source, that may well be intended as an insult. Despite this, Guilliman claimed that he had no desire to be Emperor and promised his brothers that if the otherwise impassable Ruinstorm abated, he would immediately send his fleet to Terra. That said, the Blood Angels managed to get back to Terra somehow, despite being on the wrong side of it, so it's unknown just how difficult it was to get back.

''Unfortunately'', thanks to 10,000 years of propaganda and exaggeration (and Matt Ward's Codex: Space Marines), Guilliman is ''absolutely perfect'' in every way and treated as ''second only to the Emperor'' through ''the entire Imperium.'' This is incorrect, considering that [[Sebastian Thor]] is actually the main Imperial saint, and [[Sanguinius]] is the primarch most beloved by the common men of the Imperium. Regardless, Guilliman is pretty high on the list and the only Primarch whose body <s>is</s> was on public display Lenin style. This "better than thou" shit is sad and quite paradoxical, since Guilliman himself genuinely recognized [[Lion El'Jonson|some]] [[Horus|Primarchs]] were better than him as leaders. He also considered Dorn, Sanguinius, Ferrus and Russ as what he called "the dauntless few" feeling he'd win any war if fighting alongside any one of them and their legions, which shows a willingness to work alongside at least some of his brothers and respect for their abilities. He has sometimes been portrayed as petty or jealous of his brother Primarchs but also intelligent enough to acknowledge his own errors when proved wrong. Far from the "perfect in every aspect" figure Matt Ward promoted, the HH Guilliman is actually a man with a lot of very human weaknesses but possessing the humility to admit them as flaws he must deal with.

[[Fallen Angels|Astelan]], while a prisoner of the [[Dark Angels]] goes into detail explaining how Guilliman was purportedly the 'greatest' of the Primarchs, but only in the context of what the Emperor intended for them. Astelan describes that Guilliman was "not the most able-minded, nor as charismatic, and not as physically adept" and was the inferior of [[Horus]] in every respect. His greatness came from the fact that Guilliman never once wavered in dedication and service and created his Space Marines to be exemplars of the imperial ideal, not merely conquerors. This also had the (at the time unintended) side-effect of making them unlikely to become corrupted. (Although Astelan was also a traitor and a fallen angel, so he remains a questionable source.) Guilliman and his Ultramarines were the perfect <u>sons</u>, not necessarily perfect soldiers. It's also worthy of note that much like [[Rogal Dorn]] and [[Lion El'Jonson]], Guilliman was a possible candidate for the position of warmaster, but was rejected for the same reasons they were: he didn't get along with many of his brothers.

However, contrary to that, he also did a lot of tricky things in [[Horus Heresy]], like that whole [[Imperium Secundus]] thing, and it's popularly theorized that he was bitter that he never got to be '''Warmaster''', which despite his claims that he had no desire to become Emperor, when he appointed the [[High Lords of Terra]] he nominated himself for the seat of '''Lord Commander of the Imperium''' which was essentially "Warmaster" in all but name, and the titular commander of the entirety of the Imperium's armed forces. So claiming that no man should have the power of a Legion, then place himself at the top of the chain of command for all of the [[Space Marine Chapter|Chapters]] that his remaining brothers were left with was a bit hypocritical.

<div class="toccolours mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" style="width:600px">
Or was it?
<div class="mw-collapsible-content">
It's quite likely that Guilliman's actions in creating the Imperium Secundus, and his later actions during the reformation of the Imperium, are a reference to the Roman practice of [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_dictator Roman Dictatorship]. A roman dictator was more or less what we think of as a modern dictator, with one key exception. The dictator was given absolute executive and military power over Rome and her holdings in times of crisis, when the gridlock and bureaucratic red tape of Roman society got in the way of doing what needed to be done. But as strange as it sounds to our modern minds, dictators were elected to their position, and without exception in all the history of Rome every dictator willingly stepped down and returned power to the senate. Except Caesar and Octavius. For the latter case, he is the most revered one (''Augustus''), hence it is entirely ''reasonable'' for him to keep being dictator. And even then, he was smart enough to maintain power through indirect means so as to let the Senate think that they were in control, when in reality he owned all of the institutions that actually mattered when it came to governance.

It's highly likely that Guilliman's actions after the emperor's death are a reference to this practice: he set aside the normal moral and legal rules restricting him so that he could restructure the Imperium. And just like Augustus, he gave the official leadership position to Sanguinius to avoid accusations of being a deliberate separatist. Despite the fact that he was in the perfect position to assume power over the entire imperium, he relinquished power to the Council of Terra after some sense of stability had returned. This is further supported by how heavily his legion leans on Roman culture, and how much Guilliman himself draws on the famous generals of Rome (Julius and Augustus Caesar, Cincinnatus, etc).</div></div>

So with that being said, he was no more flawless than the other Primarchs; Even during the Great Crusade, while he was considered to be one of the greatest strategists in the entire Imperium, he was defeated in combat simulations by [[Corax]] of the [[Raven Guard]], having to be specifically taught that there is no fixed dividing line between non-combatants and soldiers when people are defending their homes; that under-strength units should not be ruled out as ineffective; and that small units of adaptable troops can be wielded with just as much effect as larger battalions and chapters. Furthermore, Guilliman stuck closely to his tried and true methods, refusing to give credit to what he considered "unconventional" tactics, pissing off many other Primarchs, most notably [[Alpharius]]. Even though he would later be shown by his own men how effective such unconventional guerrilla tactics would be and would include then in his codex.

Therefore, while some people insist he was the Primarch with the greatest mental capacity and adaptability, he struggled with lateral thinking and would frequently fail to see the flaws in his methods until explicitly shown the error of his ways. Also, though the Codex Astartes undoubtedly did a lot of good things like making sure each chapter could feasibly fight under most conditions no matter their heritage or preference and ensuring that no one person could control an entire Legion's worth of Space Marines, forcing all of his brothers to split their Legions into [[Codex Astartes|Chapters]] risked a second galactic civil war.

Additionally, although it isn't (entirely) his fault, Guilliman is usually blamed for turning the Ultramarines into such little bitches. The Codex is now basically treated as infallible by the Ultramarines ''(at least the more blind fuck ones; [[Captain Titus|there's at least some who take it with a grain of salt and realize where its strengths and weaknesses lie]])''. even though he '''specifically said''' that the [[Codex Astartes]] should not be treated as a bible to be followed unerringly... Except for the organizational parts, which he forced on his brothers as part of the post-Heresy reforms and were upheld by the High Lords of Terra as a means of keeping the Astartes in check.

Recently he's been increasingly entrusted to the care of the Mighty [[Dan Abnett]] and his asshat level is dropping rapidly. Now, Guilliman isn't portrayed as a power armored Sun Tzu, but as a logistical genius, planning planetary conquest in a way that would leave said worlds in a state that could quickly be returned to order and Imperial rule. His high number of compliant worlds is a direct product of this, helped by his Legion's innate tendency towards discipline, hierarchy and monomaniacal fixation on whatever their objective might be. Abnett also doesn't make him a "master of all trades". The Khan is better at scouting operations, Russ is better at killing other Marines, Sanguinius has better people skills, etc. Abnett's Guilliman is a great builder and administrator, better than any other Primarch, but '''not''' better than Your Dudes at what they're defined by.

This adherence toward a rigid chain of command did end up becoming a double-edged sword later on, since when Guilliman was put into stasis the Ultramarines still tried to follow him (thanks to him being the at the top of the chain) and as such started to forget that the Codex Astartes was only meant to be a guideline, as opposed to a definitive text. More importantly, they slowly lost their ability to adapt to new situations, which was their most famed of traits, until the Tyrannic Wars illustrated the need to improvise new strategies when old ones failed them.

Once upon a time, thanks to the rabid fanboying of [[Matt Ward]], most of [[/tg/]] hated him, but many of them have since come around. Still expect people to [[Rage|bitch endlessly]] about how he was an absolute [[Leman Russ|narrow-minded]] [[Lion El'Jonson|hypocritical]] [[Dorn|jerk]], but don't feel bad about it. On the other hand his characterisation since his return especially in the 2 novels by Guy Haley has been pretty well received by the fanbase. He's been lucky too survive his encounters with Magnus and Mortarion who both easily outmatched him and is deeply unhappy with the Imperium and the Emperor alongside supposed allies like the inquisition actively making his life difficult because their power is threatened. Pretty far removed from the mary sue spiritual liege of Ward's imagination, at least until GW, BL and/or Ward inevitable undo it all with bad writing.

Ironically enough, Guilliman has something the Imperium needs even more desperately than new technologies and peace: managerial skills, among the primarchs Guilliman was the only one who actually seemed to be bright enough to understand and strongly insist upon. No [[Eldar|empire]], no matter how militarily powerful [[Dark Age of Technology|initially]], could maintain that strength forever given [[Slaanesh|the effects of corruption]] and inefficiency upon tax collection and military production, and civilian and military morale. It speaks something of most of the denizens of 4chan that so few of them have ever pointed out this simple fact(as in little of them have management experience, but hey, we're considering gameplayers here).

On a side note, he likes Shakespeare's work.

===Suddenly, Forge World!===
[[Image:Girlyman.jpg|400px|thumb|right|[[Dwarfs (Warhammer Fantasy)|Guilliman atop his mighty Oathstone (not seen are the Chapter Serfs who get the honour of carrying him around)! Note how tiny his sword is. Matt Ward does not approve.]]]]
When Tempest came out, it significantly downplayed his flaws, though not as much as knee-jerk reactions made people fear. In Tempest Guilliman is "held by some as a paragon among the Emperor's sons", and that he "is as much a statesman as he is an indefatigable warrior." He's also as just as great a strategist, in addition to being very level-headed, one of the smartest and most analytical, constantly basing new and better designs off of existing materials, as well as refining battle plans thanks to having a mind that calmly and coldly allows him to analyze everything around him and wonder how various things like his marines, his armour and his weapons could all be improved. He observes what other Primarchs do with their warriors and tries to make them better in his own creations, in doing so (specifically copying Perturabo's Siege Tyrants in the rules) they say he's "proving himself once again the master of all of the myriad disciplines of war." Or at least trying to. This is further evidenced by his rules below where he's good at buffing his army, but not to the degree of [[Alpharius]] or [[Perturabo]] while as a warrior in a straight-up fight he only loses to Horus, Leman Russ, and Fulgrim''(not counting [[Lorgar|psychic]] [[Magnus the Red|interference]] or Primarchs with a [[Angron|bit of momentum behind them]])''.

In addition, Guilliman's Ultramarines during the Horus Heresy were one of the most disciplined of all the Legions, as well as by far the most numerous, the ones who prized intelligence above all to help them formulate the best battle plan, and with the best training/recruitment (rivaled only by the [[Dark Angels|I Legion]], whose training was faster but overall must have been less efficient in some way given the much greater number of Ultramarines(or the Lion just didn’t have reliable access to 500 individual worlds for recruitment)) not to mention being familiar with the less eccentric legions MO's and able to pull them off without any problems which had a lot to do with their rigid chain of command. The Imperial Fists were known for their interlocked shield walls, the Iron Hands for their steadiness under fire, the Iron Warriors for their willingness to accept casualties, the Salamanders for their courage in the face of overwhelming odds, and you can bet the Ultras learned from these aspects of all their ways of warfare. This isn't to say that the Ultramarines could do anything any other legion could do, but rather to say that they were *almost* as capable at any given task as any of their brother legions, which granted them much greater flexibility than most other legions. For example, if the [[World Eaters]] got into a campaign where the enemy could consistently avoid getting into melee, they'd be fucked. If the [[Night Lords]] got into battle with a fearless enemy, they'd be at a disadvantage. Ditto with the Alpha Legion and a smarter opponent, the Iron Warriors and an especially mobile opponent, etc. Due to the Ultramarine's discipline, diverse training, and expert planning, they ended up having a level of tactical flexibility matched only by a [[Sons of Horus|few]] [[Dark Angels|other]] [[Alpha Legion|armies]]. In any case, in Tempest Horus considers the Ultramarines were considered the greatest single military threat to Horus's rebellion. The books outright state that if the Ultramarines were aware of Horus' rebellion they and their Auxilia would be able to make [[Ultramar|the 500 worlds]] a bastion that by itself, would be able to weather the entire heresy and challenge [[Horus]] for control of the eastern half of the Galaxy, even before the Traitor Legions took massive losses on Isstvaan III.

A more generous explanation could be that since the books were written after the Heresy from an in-universe perspective, it could just be a case of "history is written by the winners" kicking in again, since (rather thankfully) "Everything is canon, not everything is true." Or maybe Matt was secretly brought back for that particular book, which would go quite a long way in explaining all of the Smurf wanking in it. It's likely we'll have to wait until the follow-up book on the Shadow Crusade to determine which of those it is. This doesn't entirely go against 40k's history however, while saying the smurfs and their auxiliaries could take on all of the traitor legions at full strength is undoubtedly complete horseshit, Ultramar was ''always'' considered to have been one of the greatest threats to Horus' rebellion and was the prime reason that the Battle of Calth took place; to get them all in one place and hit them with a surprise attack, and then pin the Ultramarines in place for the duration of the Heresy. The same applies to Guilliman, who has always been considered to have been one of the most intelligent and adaptable of Primarchs, as well as being gifted with his own brilliance.

Thankfully Guilliman still retains some flaws. First, he has little in the way of a creative spark. Submit a novel idea to him and he'll adapt, optimize, expand, integrate and generally improve upon it; but he won't be the one coming up with said ideas on his own. For instance, after seeing the [[Iron Warriors]] deploy Tyrant Siege Terminators he realized [[Perturabo]]'s idea had a lot of merit and he developed an improved version of Cataphractii Terminator Armour equipped with additional sensors and augurs to make his Fulmentarus squads even more efficient at blowing shit up. Guilliman was the one to formalize the use of and optimally deploy Moritat, but he only conceptualised the very idea of using such irregular troops after getting his arse kicked in simulations by Corax who used said Moritat against him to throw his carefully laid battle-plans into disarray. He made his own versions of power weapons that were far better than regular power weapons as they were more precise/lethal when in trained hands, yet he could only do that after studying countless designs of regular power weapons. Even his own armour is artificer armour that he improved in various ways after studying the merits and disadvantages of other designs. Furthermore, the Space Wolves were confirmed in Inferno to react more quickly to unexpected problems than Legions more ''"reliant on highly coordinated planning"''; which might as well call out the Ultramarines by name. This is shown on the tabletop with a rule that lets the opponent wrong-foot the Ultramarine army if the UM warlord is killed.

Second, you have his often blind faith in the assumption that his and therefore Ultramarine nobility and camaraderie will rub off on to other, less forward thinking legions, which was a direct contributor to his massive losses at the utterly disastrous [[Battle of Calth]]. ''Know No Fear'' makes a point to show numerous times that there were signs and hints all over the place of what was going to happen, ''right after'' the book makes a point to show Guilliman's incredible observational skills, almost outright stating that he really should have picked up on the disparate details. ''Tempest'' also points out that the Horus Heresy actually began almost a year prior to the Battle of Calth and that both the [[Word Bearers]] and [[World Eaters]] were already burning their way through the 500 Worlds of Ultramar before they even reached the Calth system. Guilliman ignored those signs, and practically delivered his legion to [[Lorgar]] on a silver platter, deliberately setting troop arrangements so that his men intermingled with the Urizen's. He thought that spending time together at the muster and again later, killing orks would be a bonding experience that would help the legions grow closer. It didn't, and not only did it not help, his troops being where they were gave the Word Bearers a MASSIVE advantage.

To Guilliman's credit, consider that a force with the advantage of surprise, was equipped with superior wargear ''(that the Warmaster made sure his traitors had)'', that had orbital and air supremacy, and had access to almost unlimited demonic hordes ambushed a force completely out of position and almost instantaneously cut off from their command structure. With ALL THOSE ADVANTAGES, the Word Bearers only achieved a 3:1 casualty ratio by the end of the battle, though the Ultramarines stellar performance under the circumstances did little to soothe the loss of almost half his legion, half a million Army and Auxilia as well as billions of civilians. It is perhaps no surprise that Imperial history records that Guilliman completely lost his temper and cool at Lorgar when the treachery was realized [[RAGE|(insert max troll face here)]], perhaps this was what allowed him to survive and fight immediately afterwards the near vacuum outside a ship for 11 hours without his helmet?

But lets be clear: Say what you want about him being a back-stabbing cheater, Lorgar delivered a master-stroke by being able to conceal months of earlier engagements from his enemy and then cause ~140,000 Ultramarines to be either killed or crippled in a single engagement; such a force of Space Marines was [[Salamanders|larger]] [[Raven Guard|than]] [[Imperial Fists|some]] [[Death Guard|entire]] [[Thousand Sons|legions]]. This is compounded by the fact that Lorgar completed all of this by ''only'' deploying 50,000 of his most disposable troops and leaving the battle under the command of [[Kor Phaeron]] so he could continue pillaging with [[Angron]]. In addition, the real goal of Calth was never to ''actually'' kill Guilliman or obliterate his legion but to create the Ruinstorm and force Guilliman [[Imperium Secundus|onto the defensive]] and starve Terra of resources that Guilliman would pull from elsewhere and help the Traitor cause in the long run. Lorgar might not have been anywhere near the same level as strategist or general as Guilliman in [[Manly Marines|even warfare]], but military victories won through surprise, misdirection and clever deployment are just as valid.

On the other side (and that is a good point) Guilliman and the Ultramarines are not as "noblebright" in ''Tempest'' as they can be in other pieces of background. While he promotes meritocracy and progress and refuses to waste any life, Roboute is always described as cold and logical, obsessed with efficiency, and not a kind of crusading philanthropist. FW's Guilliman is first and foremost a statesman and a warlord willing to make the most effective system possible, and ''Tempest'' implies he used a kind of political police of his own (the Vigil Opertii) to silence any opposition in Ultramar. Just like the Imperium does. The only difference with the other Primarchs is Guilliman cannot deny HE is responsible for all the [[1984|authoritarian shit]] happening in HIS private empire. Feel free to think what you want about Guilliman being OP or a Mary Sue, FW still made him more grimdark than before, even if he remains a nice dude by 30k standards.

==Gameplay==

===30K Guilliman===
{| class=wikitable
! Points || WS || BS || S || T || W || I || A || Ld || Sv
|-
| 400 || 7 || 6 || 6 || 6 || 6 || 6 || 4 || 10 || 2+/4++
|}True to his legion, Roboute Guilliman is fairly average as far as Primarchs go, both in terms of his stats and his points cost, but it's the rules and equipment you really want him for. He and any unit he joins can re-roll failed charge distances, and the Concussive special rule doesn't do shit against him. All Ultramarines in play gain +1 to Ld while he's in play and he also makes Invictarus Suzerains and Legion Terminators troops as long as he's the warlord. Preternatural Strategy can force opponents to re-roll successful attempts at Seize the Initiative while also granting all units from one entry in the Ultramarines army list Implacable Advance, Interceptor, or Tank Hunters if they don't have it already, and by that they do mean entry, not just one unit, so if you selected Legion Predator Strike Armour Squadron to have Tank Hunters then every Legion Predator Strike Armour Squadron in your army will gain the rule. It also buffs his WS by 1 for each round of combat within a challenge after the first one (e.g. he becomes WS8 on the second round and so on), although it resets back to 7 after the challenge is over or if his opponent swaps out for somebody else via something like Glorius Intervention. Finally, Unyielding Will negates all negative leadership modifiers and allows him to re-roll failed Deny the Witch tests. (Funnily enough, this actually makes him a decent counter for Lorgar's psychic faggotry, though it won't help him deny Lorgars' blessings.)

Guilliman's Armor of Reason gives him a 2+/4++ and the ability to re-roll the first invulnerable save he fails in each phase. (Not per turn, per phase.). As for his weapons, he can choose one of two melee weapons to use in any given assault phase: the Gladius Incandor (a Paragon Blade with Shred) and the Hand of Dominion (a S10 AP1 Power Fist with Concussion). Both of them are Specialist weapons, so regardless of which one he picks he still gets an extra attack. Finally, his gun is the Arbitrator, a S6 AP3 combi-bolter with Assault 2 and Rending- which he might as well have left at home for how often it fires it as he has a Cognis Signum to use instead (+1 BS to a unit instead of firing a weapon himself). Overall, he gives out a nice variety of buffs and can really hold his own in a fight while being one of the best tactician characters in the game.

Due to his low mobility and vulnerability to tarpits, he's unlikely to make his points back by [[Mortarion|killing something expensive.]] That said, +1 Ld is a reasonably strong bonus, and the insurance against seizing is good insurance against things going [[Not as planned]]. Also, the sky is the limit with the unit entry buff. Tank Hunting Support Squads or Heavy Weapon Squads sound good to you? How about Rapiers? A Cognis Signum is always nice to have. Capping all this off is that you can run a basically tax-free list by taking the severely broken Suzerains as troops.

Don't forget, this is all for only 125 points more than [[Marneus Calgar|M.A.C. daddy]], further proof of 30k superiority.

====30K Roboute Guilliman VS Other 30K Primarchs====
<div class="toccolours mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" style="100%">
Primarch fighting, while fun to see, isn't a very competitive thing to do as it'll usually tie up both Primarchs for the entire game without either of them dying. With that in mind this section is all about how Roboute Guilliman fares against other Primarchs mathhammer wise. Please note that all the various abilities, with the exception of Blind, are taken into account (Blind is ignored because it is just too random and unreliable to come into play) and the match-ups assume the Primarchs are the only ones involved in the fighting, so various abilities like Angron's "The Butcher's Nails" and Rampage do not provide any bonuses. Also do note that Preternatural Strategy is taken into account (obviously) so prepare to see even more mathhammer than for the other Primarchs.
<div class="mw-collapsible-content">

* Roboute Guilliman VS Horus
**Horus will use his Talon of Horus (rerollable 3+ is better than flat 2+, and Disabling Strike can counter the slow-burn effect of Preternatural Strategy) and hits 4 times, wounds 3.555 times, 1.778 after saves, then 1.564 for the Armour of Reason and IWND will take that down to 1.231 wounds at the start of the next turn.
**Guilliman hits 2.5 times, wounds 2.222 times (Gladius), 0.74 wounds after saves and IWND will take that down to 0.407.
**Guilliman loses this fight (Quite appropriately).
**Note: Due to the nature of the fight this match doesn't take into account Preternatural Strategy (Because it is balanced by Disabling Strike). Also do note that after the first few wounds inflicted from Horus, Guilliman will have his S significantly reduced and the Gladius Incandor will become useless. However, Disabling Strike doesn't affect the Hand of Dominion, so Guilliman will still wound Horus on a 2+.

* Roboute Guilliman VS Angron
**Angron Round 1: Angron has Hatred, so on the first turn he will hits 5.333 times, wounds 4.444 times, 2.222 after saves, 2.008 after Armour of Reason re-roll and IWND take it down to 1.675.
**Angron Round 2: Angron hits 4 times, wounds 3.333 times, 1.667 times after saves, 1.453 after re-roll and IWND will take that down to 1.12 wounds at the start of the next turn.
**Angron Round 3 and thereafter: Angron hits 3 times, wounds 2.5 times, 1.25 after saves and 1.036 after the re-roll. Then IWND take it down to 0.703.
**Guilliman Round 1/2/3: hits 2.5 times, wounds 2.222 times, 0.741 times after saves and FNP (5+), then IWND will take that down to 0.407 wounds at the start of the next turn.
**At this point Guilliman should switch to the Hand of Domination since he will inflict enough damage to stunlock Angron at Initiative 1.
**Guilliman Round 4 and thereafter: hits 3.333 times, wounds 2.778 times, 0.925 times after saves and FNP then IWND will take that down to 0.592 wounds at the start of the next turn.
**Guilliman loses. There is no point can he overtake Angron's average damage output.

* Roboute Guilliman VS Fulgrim
**Fulgrim Round 1: hits 4.861 times (Fireblade is MC), wounds 3.601 times (Child of Terra Warlord Trait), 1.801 times after the Invuln, 1.582 after the Armour of Reason and IWND will take that down to 1.249 at the start of the next turn.
**Fulgrim Round 2 and thereafter: hits 3.714 times, wounds 2.889 times, 1.445 times after the Invuln, 1.226 after the re-roll and IWND will take that down to 0.893 at the start of the next turn.
**Concussed Fulgrim (cannot happen earlier than round 3): Hits 2.708 times, wounds 2.106 times, 1.053 times after the invuln, 0.845 after the re-roll and IWND will take that down to 0.56 wounds.
**Guilliman with Gladius Incandor Round 1/2: hits 2.5 times, wounds 2.222 times, 0.74 times after saves and IWND will take that down to 0.407 wounds at the start of the next turn.
**Guilliman with Gladius Incandor Round 3 and thereafter: hits 3.333 times, wounds 2.963 times, 0.988 times after saves and IWND will take that down to 0.654 wounds at the start of the next turn.
**Guilliman with Hand of Dominion Round 1/2: hits 2.5 times, wounds 2.083 times, 0.694 times after saves and IWND will take that down to 0.361 wounds at the start of the next turn.
**Guilliman with Hand of Dominion Round 3 and thereafter: hits 3.333 times, wounds 2.777 times, 0.926 times after saves and IWND will take that down to 0.593 wounds at the start of the next turn.
**An unsurprising loss for Guilliman. If Guilliman chooses to use the Gladius Incandor, Fulgrim will out-damage him in the long run, and if he chooses to concuss Fulgrim, Fulgrim temporarily loses his extra attacks, but Guilliman cannot put out enough damage to keep Fulgrim concussed, meaning Fulgrim gets back up to his normal initiative, gains his extra attacks back, and beats down Guilliman.

* Roboute Guilliman VS Mortarion
**Mortarion hits 2.5 times, wounds 1.666, 0,833 after saves, 0.625 wounds after Armor of Reason, and after IWND it becomes 0.292 wounds.
**Guilliman Round 1: hits 2.5 times, wounds 2.083 times, 1.042 after saves, and IWND take it down to 0.486.
**Guilliman Round 2 and after: hits 3.333 times, wounds 2.777 times, 1.388 times after saves and IWND will take that down to 0.833.
**Easy win for Guilliman.

* Roboute Guilliman VS Ferrus
**Ferrus: hits 2.5 times (Forgebreaker and Servo-arm), wounds 2.083 times, 1.042 after the Invuln, 0.834 times after the re-roll and IWND will take that down to 0.501 at the start of the next turn.
**Guilliman Round 1: hits 2.5 times, wounds 2.083 times (Hand), 0.694 times after saves and IWND will take that down to 0.361 wounds at the start of the next turn.
**Guilliman Round 2 and thereafter: hits 3.333 times, wounds 2.778 times, 0.926 times after saves and IWND will take that down to 0.593 wounds at the start of the next turn.
**Guilliman wins this fight.

* Roboute Guilliman (with the Hand of Domination) VS Konrad Curze
**Curze Round 1: hits 4 times, wounds 3 times, 1.5 times after the Invuln, 1.286 times after the re-roll and IWND will take that down to 0.953 at the start of the next turn.
**Curze Round 2 and thereafter: hits 3 times, wounds 2.25 times, 1.125 times after the Invuln, 0.911 times after the re-roll and IWND will take that down to 0.578 at the start of the next turn
**Guilliman Round 1/2: hits 2.5 times, wounds 2.083 times, 1.0416 times after saves and IWND will take that down to 0.7083 wounds at the start of the next turn.
**Guilliman Round 3 and thereafter: hits 3.333 times, wounds 2.778 times, 1.339 times after saves and IWND will take that down to 1.055 wounds at the start of the next turn.
**Guilliman easily wins this fight... theoritically
**Note: As usual, Konrad should attempt to even the odds with Hit and Run, negating Preternatural Strategy while gaining the +1 attack for the charge (and sniping some wounds with his knives). Even with Guilliman using the Hand of Domination, there is a chance Curze doesn't suffer any damage from it (31% when Guilliman is WS7/8 and 20% when he is WS9) so he will actually negate Preternatural Strategy between 37% and 31% of the time, which is enough to give Rob a run for his money or even kill him if the Widowmakers score more than a single wound.

* Roboute Guilliman VS Vulkan
**Vulkan hits 2 times, wounds 1.667 times, 0.833 times after saves, 0.633 times after Armour of Reason and IWND will take that down to 0.3.
**Guilliman Round 1: hits 2.5 times, wounds 2.083 times, 0.694 times after saves and IWND will take that down to 0.139 wounds at the start of the next turn.
**Guilliman Round 2 and thereafter: hits 3.333 times, wounds 2.778 times, 0.926 times after saves and IWND will take that down to 0.37 wounds at the start of the next turn.
**A long as fuck fight, but Guilliman takes the win 'cause he does marginally more damage.

* Roboute Guilliman VS Lorgar
**Lorgar hits 2.5 times, wounds 2.083 times, 1.042 times after the Invuln, 0.834 after the re-roll and IWND will take that down to 0.501.
**Guilliman Round 1: hits 2.778 times, wounds 1.85 times, 0.926 times after saves and IWND will take that down to 0.593 wounds at the start of the next turn.
**Guilliman Round 2 and thereafter: hits 3.333 times, wounds 2.963 times, 1.48 times after saves and IWND will take that down to 1.15 wounds at the start of the next turn.
**Even with forcing Guilliman to re-roll 5's and 6's for the first round Lorgar will still lose.
**Note: this doesn't take into account Psychic Powers and with Precognition on Lorgar will easily win. Guilliman's rerollable DtW doesn't do shit, as it only works against witchfires and maledictions, while Lorgar's most powerful spells are blessings.

*Roboute Guilliman VS Perturabo
**Perturabo Round 1: hits 2.667 times, wounds 2.222 times, 1.111 times after the Invuln, 0.911 times after the re-roll and IWND will take that down to 0.578.
**Perturabo Round 2 and thereafter: hits 2 times, wounds 1.667 times, 0.833 times after the Invuln, 0.633 after Armour of Reason and IWND will take that down to 0.3.
**Guilliman Round 1/2: hits 2.5 times, wounds 2.222 times, 0.74 times after saves and IWND will take that down to 0.407 wounds at the start of the next turn.
**Guilliman Round 3 and thereafter: hits 3.333 times, wounds 2.963 times, 0.988 times after saves and IWND will take that down to 0.654 wounds at the start of the next turn.
**Again, Guilliman wins pretty safely. Starting to see a trend here.

* Roboute Guilliman VS Alpharius
**Alpharius hits 2.917 times and wounds 1.702 times (Remember he has Preferred Enemy), 0.851 wounds after the Invuln, 0.643 after Armour of Reason and IWND will take that down to 0.31 wounds at the start of the next turn.
**Guilliman Round 1: hits 2.5 times, wounds 2.222 times, 1.111 times after saves and IWND will take that down to 0.778 wounds at the start of the next turn.
**Guilliman Round 2 and thereafter: hits 3.333 times, wounds 2.963 times, 1.482 times after saves and IWND will take that down to 1.148 wounds at the start of the next turn.
**Guilliman wins really easily, as the damage Alpharius does is almost irrelevant, thus making the claim that he personally killed the lord of the Alpha Legion actually believable...

* Roboute Guilliman VS Rogal Dorn
**Dorn Round 1: hits 2.666 times, wounds 2 times, 1 time after the Invuln, 0.8 wounds after the re-roll and IWND will take that down to 0.467 wounds at the start of the next turn.
**Dorn Round 2 and thereafter: hits 2 times, wounds 1.5 times, 0.75 wounds after the Invuln, 0.55 after the re-roll and IWND will take that down to 0.217 wounds at the start of the next turn.
**Guilliman Round 1/2: hits 2.5 times, wounds 2.222 times, 1.111 times after saves and IWND will take that down to 0.778 wounds at the start of the next turn.
**Guilliman Round 3 and thereafter: hits 3.333 times, wounds 2.963 times, 1.482 times after saves and IWND will take that down to 1.148 wounds at the start of the next turn.
**Guilliman easily wins this fight, taking a lot less damage and dishing out more.
**Note: Dorn doesn't use Sundering Blow because he would actually cause less damage with it.

* Roboute Guilliman VS Corvus Corax
**Corvus hits 4 times (Scourge)/3 times (Shadow-walk), wounds 3 times (Scourge)/2.25 times (Shadow-walk), causing 1.5 wounds (Scourge)/1.125 wounds (Shadow-walk) after the Invuln which drop down to 1.286 (Scourge)/0.911 (Shadow-walk) and IWND will take that down to 0.953 (Scourge)/0.578 (Shadow-walk) wounds at the start of the next turn.
**Guilliman Round 1: 2.5/1.666 times, wounds 2.0833/1.389 times, 1.389/0.926 wounds after saves and 1.055/0.593 wounds after IWND.
**Guilliman Round 2 and thereafter: hits 3.333/2.5 times, wounds 2.963/2.083 times, 1.975/1.389 times after saves and IWND will take that down to 1.642/1.055 wounds at the start of the next turn.
**Guilliman easily wins this fight
**Note: Like Curze, Corax could try to use Hit and Run to even the odds, having even more bonus than Curze thanks to his uber-Furious Charge, but unlike Curze it wouldn't work for too long as the second time they fight (whether Corax charges or Guilliman catches him) Guilliman will have him concussed (He's using his fist for a reason) for the rest of the fight and will kill him before Corax can escape again, thus making the strategy not viable against Papa Smurf.

* Roboute Guilliman vs. Leman Russ
** Leman Round 1 & 2 (using the Axe of Helwinter): Hits 4.886 times, wounds 4.071 times, 2.035 after the Invuln, 1.817 after the re-roll with IWND taking that down to 1.484 at the start of the next turn.
** Leman Round 3 and on (using the Axe of Helwinter): Hits 3.719 times, wounds 3.099 times, 1.55 after the Invuln, 1.331 after the re-roll with IWND taking that down to 0.998 at the start of the next turn.
** Roboute Round 1 and Round 4+ (using the Hand of Dominion): Hits 1.667 times, wounds 1.389 times, 0.695 wounds after saves, and IWND will take that down to 0.362 wounds at the start of the next turn.
** Roboute Round 2 & 3: Hits 0.833, wounds 0.694 times, 0.3472 wounds after saves, and IWND will take that down to 0.014 wounds at the start of the next turn.
** Result: It's not even a challenge. Leman Russ kills Rowboat Girlyman almost effortlessly. What do you expect from trying to go up against The Emperor's Executioner. That furry fucker was designed from the ground up to kill every Primarch in the entire game.

* Roboute Guilliman VS Jaghatai
**Jaghatai: hits 4 times, wounds 2 times, 1 wounds after saves, 0.5 wounds after the armour of reason AoR and IWND will take that down to 0.166
**Guilliman Round 1: hits 2.5 times, wounds 2.083 times (Hand), 0.694 times after saves and IWND will take that down to 0.361 wounds at the start of the next turn.
**Guilliman Round 2 and thereafter: hits 3.333 times, wounds 2.778 times, 0.926 times after saves and IWND will take that down to 0.593 wounds at the start of the next turn.
**Guilliman wins, but Jaghatai could use hit-and-run to negate Roboute's Preternatural Strategy, and unlike with Corax and Curze his 3++ gives him a reasonable chance of not being concussed. Guilliman will still probably win on average but it's closer than the above shows.

* TL;DR version: Surprisingly, despite being one the best army buffers amongst Primarchs and his generally not outstanding (for a Primarch) stats, Guilliman is actually a beast in 1 on 1 fights if they drag on long enough, beating all but the most specialised Primarchs and mathematically losing only to Horus, Fulgrim and Leman Russ. Truth is that he's very well balanced with a choice of good weapons for offense, a decent defense and an extra ability that benefits both. He loses when his more balls out brothers just dump damage on him but when he has the chance to let his strategy impact the fight he'll typically win. He'll likely fall down the rankings some more when Sanguinius and the Lion step onto the field but with his army buffs he'll remain a great choice.
</div></div>

===40K Guilliman===

[[Image:GUILLIMAN2017.jpg|400px|thumb|right|[[Matt Ward]] is having an orgasm right now... as are many [[Ultramarines]] players. [[Rape|Suffice to say, he is a unstoppable force of undiluted assfuckery. Be afraid. Be very afraid. ]]]]
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HoLs0V8T5AA ''We can rebuild him. We have the technology...'']

{{Topquote|[[Awesome|Why do I still live? What more do you want from me? I gave everything I had to you, to them. Look what they have made of our dream. This bloated, rotten carcass of an empire is driven not by reason and hope, but by fear, hate and ignorance. Better that we had all burned in the fire of Horus' ambition than lived to see this.]]|Guilliman is back, and he wants to know what the fuck went so wrong with the Imperium.}}

The first Loyalist Primarch to come back to 40K, Lord Commander of the Imperium, clad in the Armour of Fate, a present from Cawl that brought him out of stasis. He wields his old gauntlet, the Hand of Dominion, with his "Bolter" (a gun that would put any Heavy Bolter to shame) now underslung and carries no less than the [[Emperor's Sword]].

Encompassing the Ultramarines philosophy, Guilliman is a talented jack of all trades, but he's no master-of-none.

With 9 wounds, he is just below the threshold allowing enemy units to target him if not the closest unit, even if he is a towering monster. With T6 and and 2+/3++, he's really hard to bring down with small arms fire (a successful Bolter shot only has 5% chance to wound him successfully, a Lasgun 2.7%, and this is without taking into account accuracy) and his high invulnerable save allows him to tank stronger shots. Don't expect him to handle a Volcano Cannon, though. If he goes down, he comes back on a 4+ with D6 wounds, but unlike in 7th, this can only be done once per battle, even if the roll is failed. On small point games, you can use him as a fire magnet, at higher point you can be sure your opponent will do whatever is in his power to bring him down, so shield him accordingly. This will not be a waste as surrounding units will greatly be enhanced by his auras. As a Character he does benefits from the Honor Guard's protection, so you can mimic the "old" Victrix guard.

While away from the enemy, Guilliman can pump 3 S6 AP-1 W2 shots 24 inches away (6 at 12), bringing pain to light infantry and inflicting serious damage to multi-wound weak-save units such as Tyranid Warriors, but the -1 AP will not allow him to do more than token damages to heavily armored foes, so don't waste your shots on 2+ enemies or tanks. With his 2+ BS, rerolling all failed shots AND wound rolls thanks to the XIII Primarch's rule, most of the shoots will hit their target (84% of the time at rapid fire range) and if you choose your target wisely, most will wound too.

Guilliman will hit with the same accuracy and re-rolls in close combat, where he really shines. He can choose to split his 6 attacks between the Emperor's sword, striking at S8 AP-4 3 D with a chance on a to-wound roll of 6 to inflict an additional D3 mortal wounds, or S12 AP-3 3 D if he uses the Hand of Dominion. You'll almost always be using the Sword as up to T4 he wounds on a 2+, and up to T7 on a 3+, and you'll benefit from the higher AP and the chance to deal extra mortal wounds. (Combined with Guilliman's ability to reroll failed wounds, this makes wounding on a 5+ a lot less bad than you'd think, such that the Gauntlet is only better in edge cases: i.e. if the target has T9 or better, an armor save of 3+ or worse, AND no invulnerable save.) Coupled with his high armor saves, almost nothing in the game short of Knights, Magnus or Mortarion will beat him in close combat one on one, though he'll die a horrible death to squads of TH/SS Terminators and such. He is also not that great against hordes with morale boosts, as he has lost his Sweeping Strike ability, so make sure your other troops clean the path to help him focus on high value targets.

But as impressive as his martial skills are, Guilliman is depicted in the fluff as first and foremost a tactician, and he has the special rules to back this up.

First, as the Warlord in a battleforged army, he gives '''3''' additional command points, allowing to rack up easily 10+ command points even in small points games. This is even more pronounced with Ultramarines, whose Warlord Trait also allows him the chance to recycle used command points.

Second, he allows all Imperium units (not just Ultramarines, Imperium as a whole) within 12 inches to:

*Advance 1" further
*Charge 1" further
*Reroll ALL hit rolls of 1
*Reroll failed morale tests (although potentially ending with a worse result, so use at your own risk).

As the Ultramarines' Primarch, he also has a 6" bubble that grants them a re-roll for all failed rolls to hit AND wound, which, as explained above, also applies to him.

He has one major flaw, though, he cannot ride any transport, as he's classified as a Monster and not an infantry unit for some reason, not even in a Mastodon or a Thunderhawk. Maybe he wasn't too keen on being dragged in the air, hanging on the Dreadnought grapple. He has no option to deepstrike either, so he's doomed to footslog, even though his high movement of 8 mitigate this a little. On the bright side on things, you can't buff your army while in a transport, so you didn't want to put him in a metal bawks anyway.

TL;DR: Guilliman is a monstrosity and point for point one the best units in the game, being at the same time resilient, fast, deadly in close combat, no slouch in shooting and a nice force multiplier for any Imperial Force.

In terms of the model, per GW's typical modus operandi lately, it's absurdly overdesigned to make things difficult for the recasters and chinamen of the world, showing that despite GW's consumer friendly steps as of late, pulling in money always comes above common sense or consistency. However, this type of over-designing does happen to favor the filthy heretic, as there have been plenty of bitchin conversions by chaos players, [[Ferrus Manus|lopping off his head]], replacing it with an appropriately sized ugly chaos faction head of their choosing, filing off the Smurf iconography, and then painting it with whatever grungy/fabulous colour scheme that looks passable, and presto! You now have yourself a possessed/empowered/favoured Chaos Lord!

==Nicknames==

Roboute has been given so many nicknames by /tg/ that, if we're being honest, they deserve their own section at this point. His many nicknames include but are no means limited to:

*Robu (canon from the novel Dark Imperium: Plague War, no, seriously!)
*Rowboat Girlyman
*Robust Girlyman
*Roman Gorillaman
*Rawbutt Girlyman
*Robobutt Gigatan
*Rampant Gullytan
*Robot Gigglytan
*Raw-Rigged Ginger-Fan
*Robot Gulliver
*Robo Git
*Robo Clint
*Robot Cunt
*Roberto Gilligan
*Roberto Guillermito
*Robust Gilligan
*Robit Ghillie Suit
*Reboot Gigabyte
*Robert Gullible
*Robert Güllemann
*Roboot Girlymayne
*Robot Gorillaman
*Robooty Guillotine
*Ripplebutt Giggleman
*Rawnut Jellyman
*Roman Gogillian
*Rusty the Gullible
*R. Gooliman, Esq.
*Robalybobaly Guilabywibbalyman
*Rowrowrowyourboat Gentlydownthestreamlyman
*Rubbertree Girlyman
*Robo-ute Gillaman
*Rowboat Grillyman
*Roboute Guilliblastoma, ''WHO°IV'' Bringer of Cerebral Inflation
*Really Gay
*Rob Butthole
*Every possible combination of the previous nicknames
*<s>Julius Caesar</s> Augustus ''in SPESS''
*Big Blue Daddy
*Papa Ultra Smurf
*Grandpa Smurf
*Bobby G.
*Big G
*Big Bobby G.
*Daddy G
*Rob
*The Blue One
*Raw Booty Girlyman
*G Man
*Ward's Ever Chosen Robart
*Your [[Spiritual Liege]]
* Big Blue
* Big Blue Bob
* Big Blue Bastardly Bob
* Big Blue Mary Sue
* Boss of the Bastard Blueberries
* Rabbit Guiltyman
* Benedict Cumberbatch
** Any variation of Benedict Cumberbatch
* Gary Sue
* Rodent Guillotine

== Gallery ==
<center><gallery>
Image:Rowboat_Girlyman_Coronation.jpeg| Rowboat Girlyman's coronation with his Eldar waifu.
Image:Rowboat_Girlyman_LowRes.gif| Rowboat Girlyman's Coronation now in its animated glory.
Image:Astartesjealousy.jpg|Even Bobby G can be jealous of such fabulousness.
</gallery></center>

{{Primarchs}}

[[Category:Imperial]]