Ultramarines Timeline

[Capt tyranus]

I think part of the value of the timeline is to both see how the fluff/timeline has evolved over time (1st-2nd-3rd-4th Ed) as well as to show some of the inconsistencies within the timeline. Specially as seen from the viewpoint of different races/codices.

 

And, let's face it, we take all of this fluff stuff much (MUCH) more seriously than GW does. :ph34r:

[Shas'El Mont'va]

It seems my earlier assumption was a little off, since the title was a bit misleading.

 

In the Cities of Death supplement, pg. 56, under the heading 'The Second Sphere Expansion', it reads;

 

"When Hive Fleet Kraken invaded Ultima Segmentum, Imperial Forces from across the length of the Eastern Fringe were diverted to meet this new threat. Sensing an opportunity to enlarge their empire while the Imperium was thus distracted, the Tau wasted no time in annexing a series of Imperial worlds along their border. Nimbosa was the most important of these worlds."

 

That now puts the Nimbosa events somewhere between 992.M41 (detection) and 995.M41 (Ichar IV), two and a half centuries after the Second Sphere Expansion. The events on Nimbosa lasted at least four months, stated in both the Tau 3E and Tau Empire codices as the time it took for Imperial Guard reinforcements to arrive and get slaughtered. Following the Koloth Gorge Massacre by Commander Brightsword, the Black Templars, Raven Guard, Imperial Fists, and Ultramarines got involved, which was then probably some time after the Tau had control of the world since the Black Templars codex implies them destroying Tau settlements IIRC.

 

Not sure how long after the Tau took Nimbosa that the Space Marines got involved, but we know the Ultras were at both Ichar IV and Nimbosa at or near the same time and we can narrow the date even further with an accurate timeline of the Kill Team / Last Chancers Omnibus novel, since Lt. Kage and Colonel Schaeffer mounted a successful assassination on Brightsword right before the Third Sphere Expansion (during the 13th Black Crusade, est 999.M41 right?).

 

Man, it seems like it's even harder to come up with an "accurate" timeline the closer it is to 'recent history', hehe.

 

Anyone have a Last Chancers timeline?

Edited February 23, 2007 by Shas'El Mont'va

[Brother Pariah]

(during the 13th Black Crusade, est 999.M41 right?).

 

I'm having trouble nailing down the 13th Black Crusade. The 4th edition rulesbook page 136 implies 999.M41, but it's possible that the book is "set" in that year and the 13th Crusade is still in progress. I glanced over the timeline at criticalhit.co.uk, but it was no help. It doesn't look like there's enough data to nail down the Nimbosa action to any particular date, whether in M41 or M42.

 

Anyone have a Last Chancers timeline?

 

Good luck with that. I'm pretty much decided that, going forward, I will only read 40K novels by Ian Watson or Dan Abnett. Gav is right out.

[Shas'El Mont'va]

Well, we know for a fact it started between 992.M41 and 995.M41 when Hive Fleet Kraken attacked, I was just trying to figure out the date of Ultramarine/Space Marine involvement and when you guys retook the planet (After the beginning - Before the end, hehe).

 

Either way, your blue guys did participate, even if it simply warrants a "ca. 992.M41 - 999.M41 :".

 

Not to mention your temporary cease-fire with us during the events on Dolumar IV from the Fire Warrior novel (Simon Spurrier). Nothing like some concentrated Chaos/Mont'au smackdown. Time to find a date for that one! (Also just before the Third Sphere Expansion).

Edited February 23, 2007 by Shas'El Mont'va

[Brother Pariah]

Well, we know for a fact it started between 992.M41 and 995.M41 when Hive Fleet Kraken attacked, I was just trying to figure out the date of Ultramarine/Space Marine involvement and when you guys retook the planet (After the beginning - Before the end, hehe).

 

Either way, your blue guys did participate, even if it simply warrants a "ca. 992.M41 - 999.M41 :".

 

Well, I'll put it down as ca. 992/M41 - 001/M42, in deference to the Ventris reference.

 

Not to mention your temporary cease-fire with us during the events on Dolumar IV from the Fire Warrior novel (Simon Spurrier). Nothing like some concentrated Chaos/Mont'au smackdown. Time to find a date for that one! (Also just before the Third Sphere Expansion).

 

Get cracking, Shas'El!

[Seahawk]

In regards to when our primarch kicked the Alpha Legion's primarch's butt, there is no specific date, but it does say the planet Eskrador. So, figure in some time from when the Ultramarines started racing back to earth from Ultramar and able to get there, and know when they left during the heresy, and you'll have yourselves a rough estimation. I'm guessing within 20 years. Edited March 6, 2007 by Seahawk

[Brother Pariah]

I was under the impression that it was some time after the Second Founding, actually. There may not be enough data either way.

[Seahawk]

Na. The story says it this way: "Even after the defeat of Horus on Terra, the Alpha Legion continued on unchecked, apparently inventing objectives...They moved into the galactic east towards, whether by coincidence or design, the Ultramarines Legion. They had been posted on the Eastern Fringe when the Heresy began and were racing back to the Segmentum Solar. They were enraged at the treachery...It is possible that Alpharius deliberately sought out the Ultramarines and that he wished to confront Roboute in battle and prove the superiority of his tactics...However it came about, the two Legions met in battle on the world of Eskrador." (US WD276, January 2003, pgs 57-59) Sometime before M32.

 

On another note (and another unknown date, sorry), here's an account of Word Bearers attacking us:

"When the Heresy erupted and the shackles of loyalty were cast off, the Word Bearers set upon the Sons of Ultramar with unbridled hatred...Lorgar was able to push them back to Ultramar...It was upon the world of Calth that the final battle would take place. It was led by one of Lorgar's greatest champions, the former Master of the Faith, Kor Phaeron. Its once gentle sun was laced with deadly metals and substances that increased the star's radiation output tenfold. Within a century after the Heresy's end, the final elements of Calth's atmosphere were burned off, the world left airless, its populace now dwelling in gigantic underground caverns. Upon its surface, the Word Bearers fought the Ultramarines to a standstill...in the end, Lord Kor Phaeron was defeated when reinforcements from Macragge drove the Word Bearers from the surface of Calth...the Ultramarines were victorious, and their leader, Brother Captain Ventanus, would one day set foot upon a broken Colchis, symbolically capturing the abandoned home world of the Legion that had once threatened to enslave Ultramar. While Kor Phaeron set his men upon Calth, Lorgar was leading the rest of the Legion against Terra." (US WD269 June 2002, pgs 114-115) That's all I've got, although it's a hefty amount.

Edited March 7, 2007 by Seahawk

[Brother Pariah]

Well, that DOES tell us when the last of Calth's atmosphere burned off... That's something. The other events are vague enough that we should probably just leave them, unstated, in the "Horus Heresy" entry, unless we can find a fine dating cue.

[Seahawk]

Oh oh, found one I knew wasn't in the timeline yet. Took me a while to find it though, so here we go:

 

"Over two hundred years after Hive Fleet Behemoth. Civil unrest on Ichar IV. The 'Brotherhood' makes it's debut and takes over governance. Inquisitor Agmar investigates and discovers a Genestealer brood-nest, calling in the cavalry in the form of Ultramarines. Twenty terminators were teleported directly into the nave of the Cathedral of True Faith, and cut a swathe through the assembled acolytes. A counter-attack was quickly mounted, all semblance of Humanity disappearing from the Brotherhood's forces as a howling tide of hybrids, degenerates and cultists fought back with suicidal frenzy. The Terminators were resolute, however, and pressed on into the shadowy crypts of the cathedral.

 

The rotten heart of the Brotherhood headquarters was a network of dank tunnels, disgorging wave after wave of ravening Genestealers toward the Ultramarines. Scores were cut down by the Terminators' weapons, heavy flamers preventing flank attack; the Ultramarines had fought this foe in the confined tunnels of space hulks many times before. The Genestealers' numbers seemed near infinite, and the Terminators fell one by one until there was barely a handful left. Nevertheless, they pressed on...eventually penetrating through to a massive vaulted chamber with ribbed walls arching far above, and moist, chitinous protuberances jutting from every surface. In its center sat the bloated, sickening form of the cult's Patriarch, the first genestealer to spread the infection to this blighted world...the Librarian of the Ultramarines squad fought his way to the Patriarch, every nuance of will forcing him on against impossible odds. He teleported to the raised dais on which the patriarch rested and it reached a fevered pitch. Unable to best the lightning-fast creature in hand-to-hand combat, the Librarian commanded his men to open fire on them both, a maelstrom of storm bolter shells ricocheting from the Librarian's armor but detonating in the vulnerable areas of the Patriarch's swollen flesh. The Librarian took the opportuinity afforded by the distraction to slay the Patriarch with his force axe. With its death, the brood was thrown into confusion and subsequently slaughtered by the Terminators. Less than a fortnight later, the full force of the Great Devourer fell upon the Eastern Fringes as Hive Fleet Kraken began to consume everything in its path." (US WD265 February 2002, pg 77)

 

Now, I know it's been printed elsewhere, like in an Index Astartes or something, because it was more detailed and had a cool part. When the terminators were about to fall, the Librarian unleashed psychic flames that purged nearly the entirety of the cathedral except for the center place. So much cooler, but I can't find it. Probably in one of those I've lost over the years.

 

Oh, and the 3rd ed. Codex Tyranids, printed in 2001, last page, puts the Battle for Ichar IV in 993.M41. Just so we have yet another point of fluff confliction.

[MrTrath]

933/M41 Marneus Calgar's approximate birth year. (WD97, p. 45)

 

 

 

 

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Thought for the day: Our presence remakes the past.

Your timeline is accurate, but Marneus Calgar was over 400 years old as of the Battle of Macragge. If you can, change that to somewhere around 345.M41. :blush:

[Brother Pariah]

933/M41 Marneus Calgar's approximate birth year. (WD97, p. 45)

 

 

 

 

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Thought for the day: Our presence remakes the past.

Your timeline is accurate, but Marneus Calgar was over 400 years old as of the Battle of Macragge. If you can, change that to somewhere around 345.M41. :woot:

Do you have a source for that? I already have two birth years down for Calgar, the 933/M41 date you quoted above, and one from 599/M41 (he was "over 400" as of Nightbringer). Both are from official sources.

[Brother Pariah]

I've updated the top post in the first time in (ulp!) three months. Sorry about the delays there, brothers. So many projects...

[Brother Pariah]

I was hesitant to include these entries, as they're very trivial, but I'm good and drunk now, so what the hell?

 

907/M41 Tow Takka-chow is born after this year. He will eventually become the Master of Sanctity. (WD97, p. 47)

 

912/M41 Illiyan Nastase, the son of a human mother and an unknown eldar mercenary, is born on Badab following the expulsion of the Tyrant. He will eventually become the Chief Librarian. (WD97, p. 46)

 

924/M41 Illiyan Nastase journies to Earth. (WD97, p. 46)

 

925/M41 Illiyan Nastase ungoes the soul-binding ritual. (WD97, p. 46)

 

937/M41 Keorn Asata is born. He will eventually become the 2nd Company Captain and Master of the Ordinance. (WD97, p. 47)

 

942/M41 Fimor Dour is born. He will eventually become the Master of the Household. (WD97, p. 47)

 

947/M41 Christo Columbine is born into a lesser Navigator Family. He will eventually become the Master of the Ships. (WD97, p. 46)

 

Master of Sanctity Tow Takka-chow fights his last battle against Hive Fleet "Locust." (WD97, p. 47)

 

950/M41 Samuel Dexter is born to one of the chapter's female slaves. He will eventually become the Master of the Forge. (WD97, p. 47)

 

Keorn Asata is recruited from a hive-world street gang. (WD97, p. 47)

 

959/M41 Hulm Singa is born. He will eventually become the Master of the Apothecarion. (WD97, p. 46)

 

962/M41 Samuel Dexter undergoes tissue compatibility and psychological tests. (WD97, p. 47)

 

964/M41 Samuel Dexter is formally recruited as a neophyte. (WD97, p. 47)

 

965/M41 Illiyan Nastase is appointed as chief of the Macragge interstellar communications link. (WD97, p. 46)

 

966/M41 Samuel Dexter undergoes initiation to full brethren. (WD97, p. 46)

 

973/M41 Hulm Singa undertakes initiation. (WD97, p. 46)

 

979/M41 Navigator Christo Columbine joins the co-ordinating division of the Librarium. (WD97, p. 46)

 

982/M41 Navigator Christo Columbine takes over the Master of Ships, the first recorded instance of a non-brethren holding the post in the Ultramarines. (WD97, p. 46)

 

986/M41 Hulm Singa gains full Mastership of the Apothecarion. (WD97, p. 46)

Edited April 16, 2007 by Brother Pariah

[Brother Pariah]

Okay, this next one's a bit of a stretch, but I did the best I could with what little (and contradictory) data I have available.

 

Ca. 047/M39 Ultramarines cleanse the planet Sabulorb of a genestealer infestation. (Chaos Child, 2002, p. 28-29 states that this took place 25 years after the events in Draco, and that book seemed to be set in 3721022/M39 according to Draco p. 7. However, dating the Inquisition War trilogy is difficult.)

[Brother Pariah]

Case in point, I can date the exact same event differently:

 

866/M41 Ultramarines attempt to cleanse the planet Sabulorb of a genestealer infestation, though some escape their notice. (Chaos Child, 2002, p. 28-29 describes the event as happening 75 years earlier, and p. 240 states that the Tyranids' infiltration of the galaxy had begun two hundred years ago, so I'm forward-dating 125 years from Hive Fleet Behemoth's first appearance in 741/M41.)

 

A couple more:

 

0421988/M41 Hulm Singa inputs the chapter ("Imperial Record IA 88/102") dealing with the history of battlefield medics for the Index Astartes. The check number of zero indicates that this occurred within the Sol system. (Warhammer 40,000 Compendium, p. 27)

 

2150982/M41 Storming of the Bourne slave-pits on Gabin 240. Surgeon-Commander Grigor Markhava dies heroically giving his own blood to save the life of Lieutenant-Commander Anders Belman. (Warhammer 40,000 Compendium, p. 28. Note that the entry does not specify that the characters are Ultramarines; I am assuming they are because the "author" is an Ultramarine.)

[Brother Pariah]

I found a couple more juicy ones:

 

745/M40 Ancient Ferrox is entombed in a dreadnought. (US WD 298, p. 81)

 

545/M41 Dreadnought Ancient Ferrox of the second company enters a slumber that will remain uninterrupted until the arrival of Hive Fleet Behemoth in 745/M41. (US WD 298, p. 81)

[Brother Pariah]

I found a more accurate start date for the "Last Tyranic War" (the Hive Fleet Behemoth engagement) from an old Rogue Trader source.

 

678/M41 The last Tyranic War against Hive Fleet Behemoth begins. The Dark Angels are also involved in pursuing the Hive Fleet. (WD96, p. 53)

[Brother Pariah]

Top post updated.

[Brother Pariah]

M33 Apocrypha of Davio names the Black Consuls, Genesis Chapter, Inceptors, Libators, Novamarines, Patriarchs of Ulixis, Praetors of Orpheus, and White Consuls as Second Founding Chapters of the Ultramarines (though the Apocrypha of Skaros states that there were 23 Second Founding Chapters). (Codex Space Marines, 2004, p. 8) Edited September 24, 2007 by Brother Pariah

[Brother Pariah]

Capt Tyranus was kind enough to point me in the direction of Graham McNeill's website. While it isn't really official, I think that we can use his history of the Ultramarines 4th Company as being reasonably accurate, wot? Here's what I was able to glean from Mr. McNeill's history.

 

014/M31 Battle of Calth. Three planets are destroyed by the Word Bearers and Calth's sun is laced with deadly metals, causing it to emit radiation harmful to Calth's atmosphere, before the Ultramarines drive the Word Bearers into the Maelstrom. (Graham McNeill's unofficial The Fourth Company of the Ultramarines states that Calth's atmosphere was burned off a hundred years after the battle with the Word Bearers, which puts the attack at the same time as the end of the Horus Heresy, as nearly as we can date it.)

 

672/M41 Idaeus takes command of the Fourth Company. (According to Graham McNeill's unofficial The Fourth Company of the Ultramarines.)

[Brother Pariah]

I finally found a dating cue for Ancient Octavian's actions during the 13th Black Crusade, nailing them down to (probably) 999/M41.

[Capt tyranus]

This one slipped by me when I went looking for Ultra fluff in my White Dwarves the first time:

 

992.M41 (at least by the map on page 82)

 

A detachment of the Ultramarines' 4th Company received unexpected aid from a force of Iyanden Craftworld Eldar in repulsing an attack from Hive Fleet Kraken on the Ultramarine tributary world of Ikkyo.

 

U.S. WD #218, p. 86 -> It's a historical scenario for Epic 40,000

Edited November 10, 2007 by Capt tyranus
fixing the date

[Captain Idaho]

had a look through this topic, not sure whether i missed it, but what about the IA: Tyrannic war veterans article in WD? it details an assault on a crippled Hive of bugs as a trial for the War vets. not sure of the dates as i have to dig out the WD in question (which could take some time!).

 

hope it helps in the mean time.

 

***additional: i noted this on the GW website. was originally an article in WD (again, im unsure or which one) but its an exact copy here. the battle is on Nimbosa, and although there is no date of the incident, a rough estimate is the fact its the battle of Nimbosa, and we know that the Black Templars were involved in it, so maybe we can find the source that way?

 

Link

Edited December 10, 2007 by Captain Idaho

[Brother Pariah]

3243152/M41 A boarding party, consisting of six squads and Brother-Captain Sejanus, boarded the space hulk Blasphemous Voyager in the Salamantis System, Aesir Sector, Segmentum Tempestus, and set charges which sent it into the heart of the system's star. ("Sacrifice," in Eternal War)

 

Thanks to Seahawk.