Warhammer 40,000: Battlesector – Ultramarines DLC proves they’re a classic for a reason

Warhammer 40,000: Battlesector – Ultramarines DLC finally brings the Emperor’s favourite Smurfs into the fray.

Our (gorgeous – Dann) editor Dann pointed out how surprised he is that it’s taken this long for the posterboys of Warhammer 40,000, the Ultramarines, to turn up in Warhammer 40,000: Battlesector. He has a point, being as they’re everywhere in the tabletop game, but seeing as the base game was focused on the Blood Angels, I feel it makes sense to let them keep the Space Marine spotlight for a while before Roboute Guilleman and his cerulean entourage get involved. Anyway, they’re here now, and it’s time to let their tactical acumen shine.

I’ll get the usual complaint about these DLC packs out of the way early. A little mini campaign for each faction would be nice. New units are fun, and it’s enjoyable to play online and in the now fully released Crusade mode, but I always feel a little four-or-so mission campaign with a brief narrative about this particular fighting force would be a lot of fun and I don’t think would take a huge amount of extra work.

With that said, this is as solid an inclusion as any of the DLC packs so far. I feel it lacks the personality and unit diversity that the Ork DLC had, but certainly outdoes the meagre offering from the Chaos Daemons and largely ineffective Tau DLC. This blue flavour pack includes eighteen new units, some of which aren’t terribly different to the Blood Angels from the base game, but most are pretty fun to use.

There’s a strong leaning into vehicles this time around, with you having a Gladiator, Invictor Tactical Warsuit, a pair of Dreadnoughts, and a Stormspeeder to add to your force, all with an array of different wargear to kit them out with. The Redemptor Dreadnought is a particular favourite, being an absolute monster at range and in close combat. 

For boots on the ground, there are a few Intercessor options, Bladeguard, and Terminators, along with several heavy fire support choices. I’m a fan of Hellblasters as a unit full of highly explosive plasma guns is never not fun. I feel like those heavy support infantry units feel very similar to each other in game, and I think I’d have preferred fewer of those and a couple of other interesting options like Company Heroes or Outriders on bikes. In fact, if this faction is missing anything, its flyers and fast moving units. You need to make a concerted effort to get out of the starting blocks quickly to get into a strong position early on, and the slower movement speed you’ll feel here can make that tricky.

Oath of Moment is a neat ability that the whole faction has, much like on the tabletop. This makes it slightly harder to damage a selected enemy unit, but gives significant Momentum gains for the unit that destroys it, meaning you can fill up that momentum bar much quicker. The command point abilities are a little different for this army too, giving units bonus movement or better defensive stats. It does feel quite Ultramarine, which is a good thing.

As is always the case with these though, this isn’t going to change the mind of anyone that doesn’t like the base game, but anyone who’s still into it and playing regularly will absolutely enjoy a new faction to mess around with, even if they do feel a little similar to Blood Angels unless you lean into the vehicle side of things. I’m hoping for something like Aeldari or Thousand Sons for a future expansion as something substantially different!

Warhammer 40,000: Battlesector – Ultramarines DLC is available now.