Ultramarines are far from space 'murica.

The closest thing in history they compare to from what I know of them would be a massively improved space golden-age Rome.

I remember reading the list of epic, epic things Marneus Calgar had done and I was immediately swayed. While I'm sure other chapter's leaders did similar things I just find Marneus a freakin' boss, I mean look at this picture: http://img2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb...ages/4/4f/Marneus_Calgar_by_Karl_Kopinski.jpg

I myself am a Blood Angels fan. Before now, I thought of the Ultramarines simply as what everyone thinks of them: Boring, strict codex-adhering, generic space marines(With exceptions). But reading this article, I'm going to look more into the Ultramarines, because the seem to be more than I previously thought.

Let me preface this by saying that I have Chaos, IG, BA, and GK armies in addition to my Ultras. I don't think the Ultras are inherently better than any other force in the Imperium. For me, why I like the Ultras:

To specialize is to restrict yourself. Yes, you gain an edge in your one specialization, but you are then pigeonholed into a particular mode of action. The Ultramarines have no such weakness. While they may not perform quite as well as the specialist in the specialist's chosen field, they will perform admirably in every respect, with no glaring deficiencies.

The Ultramarines are the most professional and orderly fighting force in the Imperium. The Imperial Guard must often enforce order through threat of personal violence. Other organizations suffer mutations, dishonors, drink blood/eat people, or have some "theme," for lack of a better word, that makes them into something "other." Examples: Black Templar "crusaders," Space Wolves as Nordic-esque drunk warrior bard berzerkers, Grey Knight xeno-magi-tech psionicist daemon hunters, the Mortefactors with the veneration of their ancestors and blood drinking magic. Every other organization has some culturally different ideals making them stand out from the concept of the professional soldier. The baseline against which they are all compared is the Ultramarines.

It is the professionalism and orderly military structure that draws me to the Ultramarines. The classic Neo-Roman look doesn't hurt either and it certainly helps that my favorite color is cobalt blue lol...

Just a few reasons for me.

1. They're blue, which is my favorite color.

2. Captain Titus, 'nuff said.

3. As posted above, they believe that humanity still has a chance at a peaceful and happy future. Ultramarines, and many other space marines from other chapters, fight for this cause.

They are called ULTRA marines, right from the first rule set.
They WERE a blank canvas, vanilla so to speak.
Alas they now have all these special characters, special rules, and named individuals which just stomps all over my imagination. I wish they had remained a generic marine force but my army is painted so this is what I still play as.

I used to like Ultramarines prior to 5th Edition. I used to collect them back when 4th Edition was around, and they were pretty damn awesome. They felt more like a delicious serving of vanilla as opposed to a blank chunk of plain 'perfection' like they seem to be nowadays.
I quite like well-rounded, jack-of-all-trade things; their versatility lets them be effective while keeping a bit of personality, and that's what Ultramarines were for a long while. Unfortunately they seem to have gone through the Mickey Mouse and Mario routine of "oh, they're our mascots, better make them perfect and bland so they'll appeal to absolutely everyone." Funny how that usually causes contradictory results.