40k Ultramarines Upgrades & Combat Patrol

[The Pounder]

Thanks @Orange Knight! I may get a box depending on when it’s released!

 

What do we think the odds are that we’ll get Cassius and Tyrannic War Veterans?
 

That I would LOVE to see!

[Ayatollah_of_Rock_n_Rolla]

16 hours ago, MoriyaSchism said:

I really dislike this template of Chapter upgrade. I feel like sculpted shoulder pad icons are overrated and it would be better if that space was filled with more custom chest armour, accessories, weapons and helmets. Imagine if they gave you 5 unique power weapons. 

 

I wouldn't mind the upgrade template, if there were proper transfer sheets avaiable separately. Or the most basic markings provided with kits themselves.

[beefeb]

24 minutes ago, The Pounder said:

Thanks @Orange Knight! I may get a box depending on when it’s released!

 

What do we think the odds are that we’ll get Cassius and Tyrannic War Veterans?
 

That I would LOVE to see!

 

 

i would love to see that...better yet a full killteam of cassius and a combat squad of tyrannic veterans!  Alas we wont get that...it will be phobos with a scabbard and another few generic heads at best.

 

Theres far superior ultramarine bits avilalble at any of the 3d printer shops...likely at a fraction of the cost.  Ive no idea why anyone would buy these....i doubt GW will make anywhere even near enough to cover the tooling costs.

[Orange Knight]

35 minutes ago, The Pounder said:

Thanks @Orange Knight! I may get a box depending on when it’s released!

 

What do we think the odds are that we’ll get Cassius and Tyrannic War Veterans?
 

That I would LOVE to see!

 

It's become hard to predict GW model releases outside of general range updates. I would not have put money on a new Calgar model, as an example.

 

Tyrannic War veterans are a cool, thematic unit that might get updated. This is my "tinfoil hat" theory, but that new trasnfer sheet has Tyrannic War transfers on it. Maybe that's a hint at future releases lol

 

[Robbienw]

24 minutes ago, beefeb said:

Theres far superior ultramarine bits avilalble at any of the 3d printer shops...likely at a fraction of the cost.  Ive no idea why anyone would buy these....i doubt GW will make anywhere even near enough to cover the tooling costs.

 

You can't be serious? 

 

The bits are really nicely detailed, loads of people will want them. Most people want variation in decorative bits, so will buy any decent variation available, whether it is GW or 3rd party.  GW has been producing chapter specific bits sets for nearly 30 years now (earliest metal shoulderpads and parts came out towards the end of 2nd edition) they wouldn't bother if they didn't sell well.

 

Additionally quality varies hugely with 3rd party bits, some aren't great, particularly cheaper ones. These are also plastic, some people will prefer that because it means avoiding introducing superglue into a plastic model build.

[Castellan Wulfrik]

16 hours ago, siegfriedfr said:

Don't understand the obsession with naked heads.

Most people want chapter-specific helmets in quantity to personalize their minis, not bare heads. 

This is driving me insane, same thing happens with every kit now. The terminator ancient has three and the Deathwatch sixteen for five models. I swear someone high up in the design studio has a fetish for bare heads, it's bizarre and genuinely damaging the value of the kits for me. 

[Orange Knight]

What's everyone's thoughts on the MkX helmet with MkVII style face plate?

 

This isn't the same at the helmet that comes with the Sternguard kit, which is just an old Mk7.

[MoriyaSchism]

8 minutes ago, Orange Knight said:

What's everyone's thoughts on the MkX helmet with MkVII style face plate?

Great, it's a Jes Goodwin style Mark VIII Errant helmet.

 

[Marshal Reinhard]

12 minutes ago, Orange Knight said:

What's everyone's thoughts on the MkX helmet with MkVII style face plate?

 

This isn't the same at the helmet that comes with the Sternguard kit, which is just an old Mk7.

Afaik only availble in the space wolves kit as of now

[Evil Eye]

3 minutes ago, Robbienw said:

Additionally quality varies hugely with 3rd party bits, some aren't great, particularly cheaper ones. These are also plastic, some people will prefer that because it means avoiding introducing superglue into a plastic model build.

The former I agree with, there are some dire looking parts out there, though I will also add the caveat that nowadays it's far, far easier to find good looking well designed parts- and it's not like GW doesn't have, uh, variable design quality. I think the biggest barrier to entry is simply the process of resin printing itself and even that is getting lower (and IMO actually has a lower entry barrier and smoother learning curve than using an airbrush- I love my airbrush but the learning process was... horrific).

 

The second point I'm mixed on. 3D resin, whilst no longer the brittle nightmare it used to be and generally plenty durable for tabletop use*, can be unpleasant to work with if you want to cut up your parts due to its tendency to shatter when cut (though use of a very fine saw such as a Tamiya saw makes this less of an issue- you can't go ham on it with clippers like you can with plastic but it isn't impossible to cut it). Cast resin is generally quite forgiving though, and while metal is not exactly the most beginner friendly material (for multipart kits anyway, single piece character models in metal are about as easy as it gets- clean up, attach to base, prime and paint the chuffer!) it has its own significant advantages, not to mention unique appeal. Also I actually think using superglue in a build is pretty far from a deal-breaker or even especially difficult, especially with resin parts as they tend to be very light. Decent superglue is pretty affordable and easy to find, and the use of accelerant spray, which is cheap and as simple to use as "spray in direction of join", or even the old sodium bicarbonate trick makes the process a thousand times easier. In fact I actually have more issues with polystyrene cement than CA glue these days; not all plastic glue is created equal, and whilst stuff like Tamiya extra thin gives a much superior finish and greatly improved strength WHEN USED PROPERLY it evaporates so quickly that it's annoyingly common to accidentally create weak bonds, as the glue has dried up partially in the split second it took to apply and then join the parts, resulting in patchy, incomplete welding.

 

My point being I don't think parts not being plastic necessarily makes them much harder to use. I actually love mixed media for kits and, if I were put in charge of GW tomorrow, would resurrect FW and their resin department to produce highly detailed resin cast parts for existing plastic vehicle models, so modellers could boost the detail level on their kits or just add variety. Resin (cast or printed) is still massively popular with scale modellers for parts like engines- for something like a radial engine on an aircraft, a resin part will always look better than a plastic one (and use fewer parts) simply due to manufacturing limitations.

 

*In fact not only is 3D resin perfectly durable for tabletop use now available, you can get resins for less than the price of an average GW kit tank so ridiculously strong that you can make working ball joints from them! Now granted this particular functionality requires proper technique (which basically amounts to waiting at least 24 hours after curing before assembly, so really just patience rather than arcane knowledge) but for our purposes of static, tiny toy soldiers it's no more tricky than any other 3D resin, and the durability of a finished piece is genuinely on par with GW plastic. It's not indestructible because nothing is, but you have to be trying to destroy it to inflict breakages. It should be said too that a lot of the reputation of printed models for shattering if you look at them funny comes from printer services using cheap, brittle resin to maximise profits and also the habit some miniature makers have of modelling details that would still be impractically delicate in the most durable of hard plastic (I am guilty of doing this; it's easy to lose sight of scale and to model things so they look incredible on screen, but then print them and realize the intricate runes you sculpted are invisible once primed and the spear haft, which looked proportional in the renders, is thinner than an ant's waist in real life.)

[Robbienw]

12 minutes ago, Orange Knight said:

What's everyone's thoughts on the MkX helmet with MkVII style face plate?

 

This isn't the same at the helmet that comes with the Sternguard kit, which is just an old Mk7.

 

Its a MkXI helm, with the front grille based on MK7

 

Cawl is introducing MKXI to the Space Marines as an improvement/replacement for MkX.  There will also be some changes to the body armour design.

 

MkXI will first come out in full in the new kits that are coming with 11th edition, such as the new version of the tactical squad.

[Orange Knight]

2 minutes ago, Robbienw said:

 

Its a MkXI helm, with the front grille based on MK7

 

Cawl is introducing MKXI to the Space Marines as an improvement/replacement for MkX.  There will also be some changes to the body armour design.

 

MkXI will first come out in full in the new kits that are coming with 11th edition, such as the new version of the tactical squad.

 

Just imagine.

But I do believe that we might actually get "Tactical Intercessors"

 

Although as far as I'm concerned, I like the current Intercessors more than any Tactical Squad from the past in terms of rules and flexibility - Objective holding, being able to run and shoot, high volume firepower, increased accuracy whilst standing still.
I would rather keep their mobility and volume of fire over an additional special weapon or two. If GW do introduce extra weapon options, I hope it doesn't come at the expense of their current rules.

[Crimson Longinus]

I'm not exactly sure what people were expecting. Like sure, the upgrade sprue is bland and boring, but it is the Ultramarines, being bland and boring is their defining feature.

[Orange Knight]

Just now, Crimson Longinus said:

I'm not exactly sure what people were expecting. Like sure, the upgrade sprue is bland and boring, but it is the Ultramarines, being bland and boring is their defining feature.

 

Spoken like someone who has never read any of the lore, looked at any of the history of the hobby, and has copied their opinion from misleading online memes.

 

That insult can be appled to any number of chapters, and is often plainly wrong.

[Crimson Longinus]

2 minutes ago, Orange Knight said:

 

Spoken like someone who has never read any of the lore, looked at any of the history of the hobby, and has copied their opinion from misleading online memes.

 

That insult can be appled to any number of chapters, and is often plainly wrong.

 

 

No, I have this opinion because I'm familiar with them. And it really was not an insult. It is the fact that Ultras are "the basic marines," that's their point. They're the super codex compliant template, you would not expect anything particularly wild from them. You can do more with the deviant chapters, as their point is to deviate from the norm; but the Ultras are the norm. 

[Orange Knight]

You might want to quit now. Your take on what makes a chapter interesting or boring is extremely limited and somewhat immature.

 

You're ignoring history, lore, visual style, characters, impact on the setting, etc etc etc.




 

[Blindhamster]

Kind of interesting how people hate the bare head options, there is me that is thankful I can have a wide variety of bare heads through my army without duplicates. Honestly one of the things I was most pleased with stuff like intercessors was the variety of bare heads! Same for these upgrades 

[ThaneOfTas]

1 hour ago, Orange Knight said:

Although as far as I'm concerned, I like the current Intercessors more than any Tactical Squad from the past in terms of rules and flexibility - Objective holding, being able to run and shoot, high volume firepower, increased accuracy whilst standing still.
I would rather keep their mobility and volume of fire over an additional special weapon or two. If GW do introduce extra weapon options, I hope it doesn't come at the expense of their current rules.

Rules should serve modelling decisions, not the other way around. Especially now that rules are getting major shifts every 3 years as well as potential full resets every 6 (not confirmed but a reasonable read of past actions)

[Crimson Longinus]

5 minutes ago, Blindhamster said:

Kind of interesting how people hate the bare head options, there is me that is thankful I can have a wide variety of bare heads through my army without duplicates. Honestly one of the things I was most pleased with stuff like intercessors was the variety of bare heads! Same for these upgrades 

 

Perhaps the couple angry bald heads seem unnecessary as there certainly are already a lot of those in other kits, but ones with neatly cut hair are good for Ultras as they read pretty Roman. And the bearded head with laurels is excellent. Put that on any captain model and it will instantly make it look way more Roman. 

[Jukkiz]

4 hours ago, Lysimachus said:

White Scars would be great, but they need to release the multi-part Outriders first (or at least at the same time). Then the upgrade sprue could include bits for bikes; alternate fairings, trophy poles, etc.

 

The one I really want is a new Iron Hands upgrade, with a better selection of bionics - multiple arms and legs, maybe a chestplate or two, including some that are sized for the new TDA!

Something like the ancient upgrade kit was? Originally pewter, then resin, then gone... 

[Joe]

50 minutes ago, ThaneOfTas said:

Rules should serve modelling decisions, not the other way around. Especially now that rules are getting major shifts every 3 years as well as potential full resets every 6 (not confirmed but a reasonable read of past actions)

 

I personally disagree, as I feel like kits should inform the rules, much like many, many other wargames on the market. It's also worth remembering that this isn't a recent issue either - you can track back across literal decades of units having options that were never reflected in the original kit (Chaos Space Marines Legionaries are a really good example of this). This can be mitigated by offering upgrade sprues with alternate options, however.

 

The issue has definitely been exacerbated in recent years due to the tweaks between editions and the way Balance Dataslates function, however not addressing that this has been a fairly major problem with the rules writing since before half of us relied on copious amounts of painkillers an AI-powered zimmer frames is a bit disingenuous.

[Lysimachus]

45 minutes ago, Jukkiz said:

Something like the ancient upgrade kit was? Originally pewter, then resin, then gone... 

 

Exactly this - in fact, a 1-for-1 update of all the bits in this kit (upgraded to Primaris size, if not necessarily actual Mk X), plus a few similar bits that would fit TDA and maybe a couple of gubbins type bits like on the current IH sprue, would be everything I could dream of!

[NorthernUltramarines]

Absolutely perfect! Combat patrol is good mix of units (and getting tiggy is always nice, he'll look super with that MK7 helmet from the upgrade sprue) and the sprue is exactly what I wanted. I might be biased though in this regard as I think the new Victrix Kit is going to pair with this amazingly nice. Since that kit builds either three guard or one and the two chapter heroes, that should give plenty of spare arms/swords/axes/helmets/shoulder pads for my other guys.

 

As a long time Ultramarines fan, it's nice to have some bits aside from a constant stream of named characters. I do think Dark Eldar players will get their time soon, them and Grey Knights have been left to the wayside this edition. GW have been doing some stellar range refreshes this edition though so I'm excited to see what they get in 11th!

[Shinespider]

Sculpted shoulders are overrated - an upgrade sprue should have one or two for characters and leave the rest to decals.  

I'm surprised we don't see shin pads on these. They're the one feature of the Intercessor kits that jump out at me as being obviously customizable.  

[Nephaston]

On 9/29/2025 at 4:58 PM, Lord Marshal said:

 

I do like me a good transfer sheet. Not completely nuts about the upgrades, but the helmets and vehicle bits will see me spend a pretty penny on the sprues anyway.