Roboute Guilliman

"I drew a picture! Wanna see? I am your spiritual Liege!"

Roboute Guilliman is Primarch of the Ultramarines in Warhammer 40,000. Thanks to the rabid fanboying of Matt Ward, most of /tg/ hates him, which is sad, because he's actually one of the nicest and most with-it Primarchs. He's pretty much the only Primarch to realize that the Emperor's ideals were more important the man himself, for instance. He was also one of the best Primarchs when it came to logistics and organization, which is pretty much the only reason why the Imperium of Man hasn't collapsed yet. That being said, he was just as heavily flawed as the other Primarchs; he did a lot of tricky things in Horus Heresy, like that whole Imperium Secundus thing, and it's popularly theorized that he was bitter he never got to be Warmaster. Also, though the Codex Astartes undoubtedly did a lot of good things, it also had some less-than-perfect tips, plus it's now basically treated as infallible by the Ultramarines (at least the more faggot-y ones).

Unfortunately, according to Matt Ward (well kinda it was suppose to be 10,000 years of propaganda and exaggeration), Guilliman is absolutely perfect in every way and treated as second only to the Emperor through the entire Imperium. This is bullshit as a.) Sebastian Thor is actually the main Imperial saint and b.) although not mentioned often, Sanguinius is actually the Primarch held in the highest regard, because of that whole "noble sacrifice" thing (hell, Sanguinius has his own holiday, called the Sanguinala). Additionally, although it isn't (entirely) his fault, Guilliman is usually blamed for turning the Ultramarines into such faggots (even though he specifically said the Codex Astartes should not be treated as a bible to be followed unerringly).

Life

Unlike most worlds that the other Primarchs landed on Macragge was a pretty perfect and nice place to live on. However it was a Greco-Roman theme so someone like Magnus or even Sanguinius would have been thrown off a cliff for being defected, plus Guilliman was found by a politician while they were on a hunting trip.

One of them Konor was the co-ruler of Macragge took the young boy. Konor was a pretty cool dude, he advocated helping the common man and reforms that would make the world a meritocracy. These were a major influence on Roboute and stayed with him throughout his life.

One day while Roboute was coming back after fighting the Macragge's version of the Gual Roboute came to find his home in chaos. Konor was the victim of some Roman politics the other co-ruler Gallan was pissed off at all these reforms and so just sent his army to rape pillage and burn. Seeing his once peaceful home burning neighbors looting and killing each other left the second major impact on Roboute and the most likely source of why he was always so anal about keeping things in order.

After gutting Gallan and restoring order, Roboute work 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 was ruling for five years and turned the world into a place were you had to earn your place not just be born, like what his father wanted.

Generally Roboute was a classic "Jerk with a heart of gold" he was an total asshole for people he didn't think earned their place, and a great number of people he saw as chaotic and unorthodox (although secretly he had great respect for Leman Russ and Jaghatai Khan) but was humble and nice to normal people treating them like equals and very much big on the need to raise the living standards of the Imperuim. As a result, many of his brother Primarchs were uncertain about his intentions, and fewer still even liked him. His only friends among the Primarchs were Horus, Sanguinius, Ferrus Manus, and Rogal Dorn.

He was also a fairly poor field commander he was a statesman first and warrior third. Sure he could plan great battle formations and organized armies and supply lines like no other. Despite this, he worked very hard to turn the Ultramarines into an army of thinker. His primary rule as a commander was "Information is victory", emphasizing that Space Marines needed a theoretical (a sound understanding of the tactical situation) and a practical (a means to achieve their objective). But was too inflexible to lead troops as battle plans were often the first casualty. In spite of this, with over 250,000 legionaries, he managed to achieve the second highest number of compliances during the Great Crusade, surpassed only by the Luna Wolves. The planets were also model military worlds, and the Ultramarines would not leave until a modern Planetary Defence Force was established.

Another note was he was one of the few who didn't really see the Emperor as his farther, as he will the the first to state how shitty the Emperor was at raising kids.

The Codex, an Autobiography of Sorts

After the death of Horus and the near-death of the Emperor, Guilliman assumed the throne and became the Lord Commander of the Imperium, which granted him the same authority as the Emperor. While the other primarchs looked outward, intent on destroying the traitor legions and finding new recruits to rebuild their armies, Guilliman cast his furious gaze inward, towards the loyalist Space Marines themselves. The codex and most authors say that Guilliman played a big part in the Scouring (the campaign to drive the Traitor legions back and reclaim the worlds lost to Horus) and that the Codex was written only after the Scouring was over. Meaning that he played as much of a role as Dorn,the Blood Angels or any of the other Legions that participated. Get your damn facts straight. Yes, because not participating until the enemy is routed and fleeing, in other words doing little more than chasing down a defeated enemy (and failing to eradicate them, by the way), really earns you the same level of respect as the guys who succesfully held out for months on end in a desperate losing battle against three-plus times their number, right? Right?? No. Yeah it is acuity, tides have been turned in real wars because an routing army was able to regroup and lunch a counter attack, quit being bias it isn't Guilliman's fault he's Ward's favorite.

Guilliman was in a position of immense power at the time, possessing the strongest Space Marine legion (Because the Ultramarines did not participate in any of the major battles of the Horus Heresy due to Guilliman being duped by the Alpha Legion, they didn't take heavy losses like the Salamanders and Imperial Fists., still somehow managed to loose more then half legion to formidably less numerous (like one-to-four or even worse) Word Bearer and Alpha legion forces)) the most political sway (He was noted for being the Emprah's favorite after Horus, Rogal Dorn, and Sanguinius, the former and latter dead, while the middle was then currently an emotional wreck from failing to save the Emperor.), and more than enough resources to make any calls needed to repair the Imperium. What the fractured and devastated people needed most was a strong leader willing to take action and to resolve the problems the galaxy now faced. What they got was Guilliman. To Guilliman's credit, his priority was the safety and well being of the people of the Imperium. To his credit, like all deranged leaders before him, Guilliman was courageously paranoid FOR THE PEOPLE. The primarch of the Ultramarines supremely doubted his brother primarchs and their ability to stay pure for the unforeseeable future.

Hence, while he occupied the throne, he began work on the Codex Astartes: a skub-tastic work that's part book of tactics and spiritual advice, part pure insecurity and paranoia that would soon tear the Space Marines apart and make them more difficult to manage and rebuild than ever (it is rumoured to be based on an ancient Terran game called "Simon says", Roboute decided that Roboute Says was too obvious and went with his publishers recommendation of "Codex Astartes"). Assuming the worst of his brethren, and perhaps even his own men, Guilliman decreed that all Space Marine legions must be broken into chapters of no greater than one thousand, forcing them to act as more individualistic groups lacking in cohesive leadership.

(Quick note before we go forward, there are lots of arguments both for and against the Codex. Naturally, we're gonna focus on the "against")

Imperial historians hum, quietly, that there may have been alternatives at the time. The people were shocked at the force the traitor legions had brought to Terra, but many were certainly more interested in being protected from the ravages of the splintered traitors than they were in seeing the Imperium's best armed forces made disorganized. One possibility may have been consolidating all Marines into one force, organizing them like a real army with checks and balances, but Guilliman would have none of it.

Instead, he demanded the fragmentation of the Imperium's finest, which was frankly outrageous to the other primarchs. Rogal Dorn even sought to topple the decree, risking a civil war for the sake of keeping the Space Marines as functional groups that could fight and act as a whole. In the end, however, Dorn was too preoccupied with self-doubt, blaming himself for the death of the Emperor, and he eventually succumbed to Guilliman's plans. That and those lazy bastards opened fire on him.

What ensued afterward was what many acolytes now refer to as “a flipping paperwork nightmare” (which is no small feat in the Administratum). Roughly one thousand documented chapters are known to exist, each with their own idiosyncrasies and movement patterns. They fly around the galaxy, attacking and defending whatever their chapter masters think is most important at the time, but they lack a unifying look at larger pictures without direct intervention from inquisitorial staff. To their credit, the Space Marines usually behave very well and show more concern for the common people than a planet's rulers, which is something of an oddity in the Imperium. To their credit, excluding the Salamanders, there is no canon source claiming that soldiers bred for perpetual war make a better governmental body than anything else in the Imperium (if they even pay attention to the petty lives of common men), but it can be inferred that they spend so much time fighting wars on the other side of the galaxy that it's hard for them to directly cause problems on the planets they've claimed. But as an elite military force, their current situation is absolutely the worst possible way for them to exist in this time of strife.

Now, the big reason Guilliman wanted this was to implement checks and balances, which would minimize the damage more chaos traitors could do to the loyalists as a whole. Problem is, the individual chapters are known to infrequently go rogue or turn to Chaos, simply because they are so autonomous. They report to themselves alone, and often seize control of planetary governments. This leads to some comedy events with Marine Chapter SITREPS reading "Yeah we're still loyal....... Nah Gotta ya, man we changed sides 100 years ago. Seriously man, it's on my Facebook page you should check out my Status now and again" and other Brotherly Shenanigans, that usually resulted in widespread blood shed, planets razed and untold billions put to the sword. Like I said comedy. Rarely does the Imperium know what each chapter is trying to accomplish, and at times the Marines can go without supplies or support for years, which only increases the distance between the soldiers and the ideals they were meant to uphold.

Further outlining Guilliman's insecurities, the codex explains in great detail exactly how each chapter is meant to behave and approach every combat situation. The doctrine is unyielding, and some Marine chapters are known to severely punish officers that fail to uphold the codex. This micromanagement, too, was also widely reviled by the other primarchs. Corax was reported to have hissed at the document, insisting, “Theory cannot equip the mind with formulas for solving problems!” before spitting on the tome and hurling it at Guilliman's feet, an act which was not taken lightly between the two men. Leman Russ was of similar sentiment, but with more swear words and unflattering comments to Konor Guilliman's late wife. The Space Wolves still use the codex as toilet paper to this day.

Those bold enough to question wonder exactly what Guilliman's aim truly was. His codex weakened the other legions to considerable lengths. The White Scars, which were known for their swift attacks, became encumbered by the increased organizational demands from the Codex, as one example. However, if Guilliman desired power over his fellow Marines, then why did he abdicate from power in such a short time after the Heresy? Then again Guilliman was fairly open that the Codex was simply a guild-line and shouldn't be followed to the letter as long as a Chapter followes the baseline they can be whatever they see fit. EI the White Scars still have heavy use of drop pods, and bikes with little heavy weapons.

Thanks to his fatal wound at the hands of Fulgrim, the Imperium may never know Guilliman's exact plans, and it is possible that such is for the best. (Especially because the plan in question involved leaving the Imperium to rot in favor of converting Ultramar into what he referred to as the Imperium Secundus. Only to make sure that the Emperor's legacy would survive him, of course. Riiight...)

The Primarchs of the Space Marine Legions
Loyalist Corvus Corax - Ferrus Manus - Jaghatai Khan Leman Russ - Lion El'Jonson - Roboute Guilliman Rogal Dorn - Sanguinius - Vulkan
Traitor Alpharius/Omegon - Angron - Fulgrim Horus - Konrad Curze/Night Haunter - Lorgar Magnus the Red - Mortarion - Perturabo