Board Thread:Warhammer 40k General Discussion/@comment-4851119-20140323173912/@comment-2253300-20140411061807

I beg your pardon, but what are you smoking? With regards to armor the only thing the UNSC has is the Scorpion, Elephant and the Mammoth. These are very good amored fighting vehicles, but the Imperium has a tank for evey situation, and armed with weaponry that is more high tech. I would like to see a Scorpion take a hit from a Plasma Cannon, and don't give me lip about how they take punishment from Covenant Plamsa weaponry. The difference in power between Imperial and Covenant plasma weapons is drastic. Mind you the Covies don't need to worry about their weapons suddenly bllowing up in their hands. Furthermore Imperial Super-Heavy Tanks are better armed and armored than the UNSC's vehicles. Put a Scorpion up against a Baneblade. I dare you. See who wins.

Regarding the Navy i can assure you that the Covenant wouldn't have the edge you think they would. That is not to say that they do not have a Navy that would aquit itself well, but the scale of Imperial Ships is impressive, and UNSC ships which while generally outclassed by Covenant vessels, can still compete with them. In size, shielding, armor and firepower Imperial warships crush UNSC ships.

Now I will give you a little on Super to super. Space Marines generally deploy as shock troops while Spartans are usually assigned to Special Operations roles. Furthermore while Space Marines tend to stick strictly to their equipment and tactical dogma, the Spartans show greater versatility in adapting to tactical situations and are willing to use unusal equipment such as those used by their enemy. However I should point out that Space Marine Power Armor is a great deal more versatile than you give it credit for. Markk VII Power Armor has been refined to deal effectively with just about every situation that a Space Marine might find themselves in, and it can be modified to suit a Marines role and needs. It's simply that such permutations and modifications are not exclicitly listed unlike Mjolnir armor. In addition while it does not have shield Imperial Power armor is so robust that the punishment it can withstand exceeds the threshold of both the Mjolnir's armor plating and it's shields. Add that to the fact that Space Marines of sufficient ranks can make use of protective shielding in the form of a Rosarius or Iron Halo and the survivability isn't even comparable.

Also When comparing Marines to Spartans you need to account for whta type of Spartan you are refering to. There is no standard apptitude for the Spartan II soldiers, as each was a custom trained specialist with widely differing skillsets, and to a certain extent capabilities. It is somewhat easier to draw a comparison with the Spartan III as there were more of them, and in genral they were outfitted in a more standard fashion than the Spartan IIs, with obvious exceptions. Those if you have to draw a parallel between Marines and spartans you would have to make the comparison between standard Marines (as in not the legendary heros and officers among their ranks) and the Spartan IVs who currently make up the majority of Spartan personnel. Sadly in this contest the Marines win by an overwhelming margin. Spartan IVs are elite units indeed, but when compared to the levels of training, modification and indoctrination that your average Astartes goes through there's no contest.

Regarding melee in both armed and unarmed terms the imperium wins. In close quarters you can't compare a combat knife to a sword, let alone a Chainsword. For that matter Imperial war doctrine makes for more ample use of melee than the UNSC which use modern combat tactics that assentuate ranged warfare, and those up close the Imperiums solders are better trained.

With regards to ranged weaponry Imperium still wins. Yes the UNSC has a wide variety of effective firearms, but they are still weapons that make use of twenty first century technology at their base. Small arms fire has no hope of penetrating Imperial Power Armor, and the basic weapons of the Imperium are both higher tech and more effective than UNSC weapons. Now it's true that the UNSC has a number of powerful high tech weapons like the Spartan Laser or the Rail Rifle, and these would be effective enough. However these are not standard armament for their genral infantry, and the Imperium has an equally powerful weapon to answer each. Some are even more so.

In summary The Imperium has an overwhelminjg advantage over the UNSC. They possess more resources, greater technology and have been hardened by more formidable opponents than the UNSC. However ou should not take this as me dismissing the UNSC. The UNSC fights much smarter than the Imperium does, and have a better knack for winning in spite of facing overwhelmingly superior opponents. In a fight the Imperium would win, but the UNSC would put up a good fight. I should point out that I am as big a fan of Halo as I am of 40k, but if you are pitting one against the other you have to be realistic.