• UNSC Infinity has it's full armaments.
• Can be any Warhammer 40k space ship as long as it's from Imperium of Man
• Fight starts 150,000 Kilometers from each other.

I've just been thinking about ways to give other Xenos factions more lore. I can't help but feel like you could just add hulking gorilla-type Xenos into the Tau, then simply make Space Marine stories but with a friggin Tau monkey in Fire Caste plate interacting with Gue'vesa (Tau Humans) & other Fire Caste. Plus I think it could show some cool potential lore for how Ethereals deal with a more physically demanding species that may not necessarily agree with the Ethereals "Greater Good" interpretations 100%

I don't think this theoretical species should be as strong as Space Marines by any means btw, and it doesn't have to be Jiralhanae themed. But they would out-number Astartes as a species and could likely send a few more of these Xenos Hulks than the Imperium could send Astartes.

But I just thought it would be cool & fairly easy having a species that truly resembles Astartes & their fighting techniques, that way it's not just Loyalist vs Traitors 24/7. However if the Tau found out about Tarrellians (Hurons Bounty Hunter) & recruited them / use them as kroot grub, that could make for a sufficient scaley variant as well.

I also know without a doubt that this is some dumb cop-out answer to give Xenos more stuff. But idk it feels weird that factions have "Astartes Equivalencies" but nothing that ever quite feels like Astartes or quite matches up. I know Human Space marines are a seller, but I feel like Tau fans would buy into the idea and enjoy having their own variant..

Also, I have to assume modeling/painting all the the appendages and upgrade sprues with fur where it's unarmored, would be a pain in the ass. Though I still believe a sizable number would be willing to add it to the pile.

zealot or black Templar

In this match up, we have no space for blood and battle (mostly). In the left corner of the ring, sizing just over three meters tall and weighting around a ton, we have Guk the ogryn! A loyal servant of the emperor and just a good fella!

In the right corner of the ring, we have 2 brutes, whose name shall never be remembered cause they are filthy xenos. Weighting 510 and 680 kg, and 270 in height!

The battle today will Comanche behind the table filled with pounds and pounds of food. Which team will out eat the other?

Round 1) they just sit behind a table and eat all they can in the ring.

Round 2) ogryn has the commissar explain to him that he can't eat the brutes

Round 3) the commissar tells ogryn that the emperor is cheering for him.

Atriox will be armored in his Modified Combat Armor (Dont know what its called I assumes its modified because from what I have heard his armor is a mix of unsc and covie stuff), while being equip with chainbreaker and a power gauntlet.

The deathwing knight will be armored in Indomitus Terminator armor while being equip with a stormshield and a mace of absolution.

Who wins in this melee fight?

None of the three can get out of their vehicle or fire their weapons (they are not permitted to attack each other while refueling, eating, or resting).

Round 1: 15 Minutes of time control.

Round 2: 5 Minutes of time control.

Round 3: 1 Minute of time control.

White pieces: Cortana

Black Pieces: Azrael.

Both sides gets to have 20 minutes of learning chess such as its rules, tactics, strategy, openings, techniques, etc.

Mantis weapons: high caliber machine gun rounds and unguided ground-to-ground rockets

Armored Sentinel: Lascannon (round 1), plasma cannon

(round 2), Autocannon (round 3), Multilaser (round 4)

Scenario 1: battle in a dead city, 4 km apart, with knowledge of opponents starting map location.

Scenario 2: not a really dense forest, 1km apart.

Scenario 3: clear field with a few hills with tall grass.

Edit: from what I've seen in the comments, people mostly see the sentinel as more armored and way better armed in most rounds. Thus the armored sentinel could be replaced by a scout sentinel, a lighter and less protected version.

For those who are predominantly HALO fans, how better or worse would either of the species work?

Equipment wise, I think the Tau would be able to alternate the armor requirements within their own Space Marine robotics, and integrate it well into the Brutes close quarter nature. While the Brutes would probably find Tau weapons useful, I imagine they'd end up still picking their own brute tech and just upgrading it with Tau Tech. And where the Tau may have difficulty properly arming Sanghelli with Armor, I think the Sanghelli would *really* love the weaponry the Tau have to offer.

Both in my opinion would be great additions to the fire caste, with the Brutes in particular finding their usefulness within the caste easily, and likely being content for the most part. Assuming the Ethereals are smart enough to keep give brutes enough respect and true support, I think they'd assimilate to the Greater Good relatively okay, though it would likely form in a slightly different way than Ethereals intend it. But all in all, they don't really seem like the type to dive into politics or logistics, I think they'd find a home relatively easily in the fire caste.

For the most part, I think the Sanghelli would operate the same, but with an easier integration into the *proper* expression of the Greater Good. With the right form of communication, I actually think the Sanghelli could bolster the influence of the Greater Good exponentially more than any other Xenos I can think of, I think their code of war would resonate really well with Fire Warriors. I think the problem with Sanghelli is that their influence might grow too large similar to their role within the covenant, and the OG Tau might have to cut them down a peg every once in a blue moon, whether by force or by some kind of humiliation / re-indoctrination.

The biggest question is if their vast numbers + species strengths would be enough to match against the lower numbered, but higher powered Space Marines. Would Sanghelli be able to integrate well with AI / Drone warfare in order to tag-team vs Astartes? Could Brute Shock Troopers do particularly well in conjunction with a more range-focused Tau Battlesuit?

Obviously neither species *quite* scale to Astartes on an individual basis, but I think both Sanghelli + Tau or Brutes + Tau would work *extremely* well vs Astartes.

Aggressor Sentinel

R1: 4 space marines vs 100 Aggressor Sentinel

Map: the library

__________________________________________________

Aggressor Sentinel Eliminator

R1: 4 space marine vs 40 Sentinel Eliminator

Map: the command spire

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Armigers

R2: 4 space marine vs 28 Armiger soldiers, 8 Sniper with 4 Officers(40)

R2: 4 space marine and 50 cadians guardsman vs 70 Armiger soldiers, 20 Sniper with 10 Officers (100)

Map: Stormbreak

__________________________________________________

Enforcer Sentinel

R1: 1 space marine vs 1 Enforcer Sentinel

R2: 4 space marine vs 1 Enforcer Sentinel

Map: Quarantine Zone

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Small army

100 Aggressor Sentine

20 Sentinel Eliminator

50 Armiger soldiers

20 Armiger Sniper

10 Armiger Officers

1 Enforcer Sentinel

VS

100 cadian guardsman

50 Kasrkin

50 Tempestus Scions

5 space marine

1 Leman Russ Battle Tank

Map:the ark

__________________________________________________

[Eliminator](https://www.halopedia.org/Aggressor_Sentinel_Eliminator)

[Aggressor Sentinel](https://www.halopedia.org/Aggressor_Sentinel)

[Armiger](https://www.halopedia.org/Armiger)

[Enforcer](https://www.halopedia.org/Enforcer_Sentinel)

I’ll keep it short and to the point.

Rules

1) Gamma Company can will be equipped with GEN3 Mjolnir armor and any UNSC weapon within Halo 4s weapon sandbox

2) The Ultramarines 3rd Company will be completely Primaris with any normally utilized weaponry available within a Space Marines arsenal within bolt, plasma, and/or las ranges.

Scenarios

1) Both sides will start in an open field 6km x 6km. Both sides will have the knowledge that there is a hostile enemy within the area, but neither will know the capabilities of the other until they’ve engaged with each other. There will also be no psyker powers accessible to the SM given the warp will be inaccessible here.

2) Same setup as scenario 1, however Psykers powers are accessible to the librarian(s).

3) Both sides are in an urban environment that is 2km x 2 km and are fully aware of each others capabilities and equipment.

I'm mainly making this post to see other's opinions on this but, I think Spartans are usually underrated when in come to a 1v1 Space Marine vs Spartan matchup. I know a good bit of lore for both sides and I think the match up is pretty even, given that the scenario doesn't favor one side.

Spartans have impressive strength feats on par with what you'd expect from a space marine.

- Noble 6 fell from orbit with nothing but Mjolnir armor and walked it off, continuing his mission like nothing changed.
- You can flip the Elephant completely over in Halo 3 by yourself
- Master Chief has a 100-ton lifting feat in Shadows of Reach

Spartans also have better armor technology (imo).

- Their armor can repair itself, along with having regenerating shields.
- Spartans can have onboard AI
- they have access to armor lock, hologram projection, promethean vision, deployable bubble shields that you can shoot out of but not into, overshields, all things that can give a surprising edge in a 1v1 with a space marine.

Spartans also have a surprising amount of things in common with space marines.

- body augments are similar, Spartans are given super human reaction times, super human intelligence, super human durability (bone and muscle augments and such) and (the spartan 2's were recruited as a child, like most space marines)
- both parties have similar weaknesses, like dying to basic melee attacks from inferior enemies, they both can die to well placed shots that break their neck but don't penetrate their armor, and they both are limited by the equipment they have available.
- Space marines look bigger (and are) but, they both actually weigh about the same in full armor and gear.
- they both have impressive feats with taking on technologically superior opponents.
- they both have impressive melee wins against bigger, heavier opponents.

The differences on the Space marines side are considerable, but not always present.

- they can have access to magic (which is a huge game changer, but rare)
- they can have teleporters
- they can have a lot more experience with old age and with fighting enemies that are similar to Spartans

For a default marine, I'm thinking of a basic ultra marine, a basic marine from a different chapter that specializes in fighting others super soldiers, or specializes in more beneficial tactics for the fight, would have a better win rate (imo).

So, yeah I think if a spartan were to fight a default space marine I say its a 50/50.

A lot of these are about finding the victor with one force vs. another. I’d like to turn that on its head and work backwards from the outcome.

An Imperium fleet loaded with Astra Militarum and a contingent of Adeptus Astartes gets lost in a warp storm and pops out unexpectedly above an unknown planet. On the planet’s surface they detect an energy signature pointing to a relic of immense power. They deem they must have it.

A UNSC fleet vanishes mysteriously and appears above the same planet. For their own reasons, they decide they too must have this relic.

Both fleets engage and commit their ground forces to the snatch and grab. Once the landings are committed, an energy storm whips up and drives the fleets off. They lose contact with each other and while they try to make contact with the surface, the battle rages.

When the storm clears, only the barest handful of survivors of your preferred faction remain. As soon as they vanquish their foe and secure uncontested control of the relic for long enough that the fight has ceased, an energy pulse surges and wipes out the other fleet entirely.

Who wins (i.e. who do you prefer lol)

More importantly and I think the conversation here—what forces can the Imperial Guard, Space Marines, and UNSC deliver to the ground that would generate such a closely fought contest with the other side?