The Ultima Founding is the most recent and largest wave of new Space Marine Chapters in Imperial history. It was launched by Roboute Guilliman after his resurrection, using Primaris Marines and gene-seed from every loyalist Primarch, and it reshaped the Adeptus Astartes almost overnight.
What the Ultima Founding actually is
A Founding is simply an occasion when the Imperium creates several new Space Marine Chapters at once. They don’t happen on a schedule. They’re ordered when the High Lords or another authority decides more Chapters are needed, usually after a lot of them have been wiped out.
The Ultima Founding is the latest of these. Unlike earlier Foundings, every Chapter created in it was built from scratch around Primaris Marines, the improved breed of Space Marine that Guilliman brought back with him from Terra.
Why it matters
Before the Ultima Founding, the last major wave of new Chapters had been thousands of years earlier. The Imperium was stretched thin, and the Great Rift had just torn the galaxy in half. Guilliman needed reinforcements fast, and he had them ready.
The new Chapters also came with something the old ones didn’t: untainted gene-seed drawn from all nine loyalist Legions, more than the surviving First Founding Chapters. That means there are now Ultramarines successors, Dark Angels successors, White Scars successors, and so on, many of them created without any living link to their parent Chapter.
How it fits with earlier Foundings
The First Founding was the original Legions, created by the Emperor before the Great Crusade. After the Horus Heresy, Guilliman’s Codex Astartes split those Legions into smaller Chapters, which is the Second Founding. Later Foundings filled gaps as Chapters were destroyed.
The Ultima Founding breaks that pattern. It’s not a top-up. It’s a rebuild, and it’s the first time the Imperium has mass-produced Chapters using a new template for Marines.
Key facts about the Ultima Founding
- Ordered by Roboute Guilliman after his return during the Indomitus Crusade.
- Created the first new Space Marine Chapters in thousands of years.
- Every Chapter in it is made up of Primaris Marines.
- Gene-seed came from all nine loyalist Primarchs, more than the surviving First Founding Chapters.
- Many new Chapters were deployed directly into the Indomitus Crusade’s fleets.
- It’s the largest single expansion of the Adeptus Astartes since the Second Founding.
Key facts
- The Ultima Founding is the most recent major creation of new Space Marine Chapters.
- It was ordered by Roboute Guilliman after his resurrection.
- Every Chapter in it was built from Primaris Marines.
- Gene-seed came from all nine loyalist Primarchs.
- It’s the biggest expansion of the Adeptus Astartes since the Second Founding.
FAQ
When did the Ultima Founding happen?
It began shortly after Roboute Guilliman was resurrected and launched the Indomitus Crusade, so it’s set in the current era of Warhammer 40k, after the Great Rift opened.
Are all Ultima Founding Chapters Primaris?
Yes. Every Chapter created in the Ultima Founding was built around Primaris Marines from the start, though some may have since absorbed regular Marines or grown in other ways.
How many Chapters were created in the Ultima Founding?
The exact number isn’t fixed in the lore. Sources describe it as a huge wave, enough to reinforce the Imperium across the galaxy, but no single canonical count is given.