Board Thread:Warhammer 40k General Discussion/@comment-27642965-20160211003725/@comment-4851119-20160308203641

Geoffreycoconut wrote: To be honest I hadn't even considered the Culture who AFAIK represent the single most powerful protagonist faction in sci fi. There's a few that that outclass them but that's usually due to time travel, reality warping and/or sheer scale rather than actual parity in mundane factors like firepower or speed. nor can they move safely in system at anything but a very low fraction of the speed of light. Again, there's a great degree of inconsistency here. We have sources suggesting insanely high accelerations and high-relativistic combat speeds. SW going toe to toe in prolonged ship to ship battles with the outcome depending in part on which faction we see. Again, it depends what numbers you use for each side; Star Wars is just as inconsistent with speed, firepower and engagement ranges as 40K.

And it depends on the scenario given as well. Is it a matter of ground combat with fixed force from setting A versus fixed force from setting B, space combat with fixed force from setting A versus fixed force from setting B, entire single faction from setting A versus entire single faction from setting B, or all factions from setting A versus all factions from setting B? Context is key. For example, Boloverse ground forces would murder 40K's with impunity but their space assets aren't really competitive except with the lower-end interpretations of 40K warships.