Warhammer 40k Imperial Guard vs Space Marines
- Thread starter Steeltrap
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Space Marines win any specific engagement due to being a much more powerful fighting force. Imperial Guard win the war due to attrition and being better supplied.
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Well, there's the Imperial Navy, as already mentioned and battle barges don't really have anything on the Imperial battlecruisers.Corax_1990 said:
OT: Ehm, I'ma go with the IG, mainly because the silly array of tanks that they have and the Titan Legions, who typically fight alongside the IG more often than the Space Marines...
As awesome and badass the Space Marines are, there aren't very many of them and they are spread around the galaxy. The sheer uncountable mass of Imperial Guard with their decent technology and combined with the Imperial Navy could probably beat them but with huge casualties.
They do kind of need each other though. IG to hold off the bulk of the aliens and the Marines for Chaos and when shit hits the fan big time in certain sectors.
They do kind of need each other though. IG to hold off the bulk of the aliens and the Marines for Chaos and when shit hits the fan big time in certain sectors.
I'm not a hardcore 40k fan, but I'd say the guard. Because as TV tropes put it. "The Space Marines are the tip of the Imperium's spear. The Imperial Guard are the rest of the head, the shaft, and the guy throwing the spear." The Imperium has more planets than Space Marines while it has more Imperial Guards than they know what to do with. They win through sheer numbers.
The Imperial Guard. Honestly, they're surrounded by genetically modified supermen, the same gene-spliced knuckleheads infused with evil warp-energy, planet-eating dinosaur insects, lethal space elves, killer robots and a load of other things that can kill them by just thinking about them, pretty much.
And they're just your everyday men and women, given overclocked laserpointers (or regular ol' guns if they're out of luck) and dressed up in what amounts to a cardboard vest, if their commanders care enough. About their only advantage is that they're alot of them.
And they hold the line, and they die standing. Sometimes, they win. A lowly regular human prodding you, the powerful mummy robolord, with a bayonette might be a bit pathetic. It's less fun for you when his eight hundred thousand comrades join in.
So, yeah. The Imperial Guard. The Sphess Mehreens win the battles (and get the pictures), but the Imperial Guard win the war. Or put it this way; the sphess mehreens is the Emperor's scissors. The Imperial Guard is the Emprah's lawnmower. And it's one big flippin garden to cleanse.
And they're just your everyday men and women, given overclocked laserpointers (or regular ol' guns if they're out of luck) and dressed up in what amounts to a cardboard vest, if their commanders care enough. About their only advantage is that they're alot of them.
And they hold the line, and they die standing. Sometimes, they win. A lowly regular human prodding you, the powerful mummy robolord, with a bayonette might be a bit pathetic. It's less fun for you when his eight hundred thousand comrades join in.
So, yeah. The Imperial Guard. The Sphess Mehreens win the battles (and get the pictures), but the Imperial Guard win the war. Or put it this way; the sphess mehreens is the Emperor's scissors. The Imperial Guard is the Emprah's lawnmower. And it's one big flippin garden to cleanse.
The Space Marines are horrendously outnumbered. While a Company can purge a planet, entrenched Guard forces would just enact SIGAOD (Shooty Imperial Guard Army of Death) and win by default.
The imperial guard could probably win by simply dropping enough guardsmen ontop of the spacemarines to literally crush them under the weight of numbers. No matter whats the songs say, raining men is not something to be happy about.
Controlled by the Imperial Navy. Two separate entities, even though they often work together.Rawne1980 said:
There are too many unknowns to give a proper answer.Steeltrap said:
1. Is this pre or post Heresy? This makes a difference.
2. Are there any other current enemy factions involved? Even just saying Chaos backed off would mean the Space Marines aren't bound by the limit of 1000 and could start making Legions again.
3. Are there any other current ally factions involved? As people mentioned, the Imperial Navy are the ones who ferry the Guard everywhere. They are not the same faction. Same goes for the Grey Knights & the Deathwatch (though not so much Deathwatch) for the Space Marines, both organizations running independently under different branches of the Imperial war machine. Then you get into the Legios and the Sisters of Battle and it becomes a huge mess of politics if others are involved. Heck, I'd even say the Mechanicus being involved is the biggest question, not because of the Legios of Titans, but because the IG have no knowledge on how to fix or produce any of their own machines!
4. Is this assuming current galactic control or a neat divide of planets with a clear front? This makes a difference because the IG and Space Marines share a lot of war zones right now, Cadia and Imperial Fists being a good example.
Again, not enough information.
Space Marines would win. See, the only reason space marines are weak in anyway, is because they are so spread out. If you were to get all of the Space Marines in one location, they would win every war against any race or force. They have the best gear, arguably the most powerful weapons, and the most conviction. After the first 30 minutes of combat, the entirety of the Imperial Guard army would be running away while screaming for their mothers.
Space Marines are arrogant glory hunters, with the possible exception of the Salamanders. Chapters typically don't work side by side, some outright hate each other. Imperial Guard will wipe the floor with their superhuman compatriots for simply having co-ordination, loyalty and discipline without even bringing in the overwhelming manpower of the Guard.
Ultramarines will try to organise everything, placing themselves in charge. Imperial Fists will likewise try to organise everything by putting themselves in charge and clash with the smurfs. Blood Angels will go crazy and try to kill everything in range, friend or not. Space Wolves already are crazy and will try to outdo the Blood Angels. Dark Angels will abandon all fights whenever someone whispers something about the Fallen. Black Templars will go off on a crusade, seperating themselves from all backup leaving them to be easily picked off.
Ultramarines will try to organise everything, placing themselves in charge. Imperial Fists will likewise try to organise everything by putting themselves in charge and clash with the smurfs. Blood Angels will go crazy and try to kill everything in range, friend or not. Space Wolves already are crazy and will try to outdo the Blood Angels. Dark Angels will abandon all fights whenever someone whispers something about the Fallen. Black Templars will go off on a crusade, seperating themselves from all backup leaving them to be easily picked off.