[Epic] Re: [EPIC] Epic 40k stats/pre-sale

From: David Atherton Smith <roadrunnersmith_at_...>
Date: Fri, 28 Feb 1997 15:50:03 -0800

A. Allen McCarley wrote:
>
> > At Gettysburg, the combined casualties from both sides totalled 50,000. 15,000 Confederate troops died in the final march to the Union
position. And the First Battle of Bull Run saw 4,700 casualties in just a
few hours. Makes my Swarm look pretty insignificant. Hell, I could have
killed off a Marine Chapter four times over. This, in the war-torn
future of a dark millenium that knows only war. Bah.
>
>>And in later wars, the body count only got higher.
>
>According to the background, each Space Marine Chapter can field a thousand men, and then more in times of war. So let's be generous, say
it bolsters to ten thousand men. There are a thousand Chapters of the
Adeptus Astartes. Ten million Space Marines as the elite of a
galaxy-spanning Imperium, an Imperium which has hive worlds supporting
over 200 billion people.
>
> This has been my major complaint against the SM background fluff since
> I got into the game. A thousand men per chapter? Responsible for
> the defense of entire chunks of the Imperium? A thuosand men would
> be little more than a footnote in any war between two small nations.
> In an interstellar conflict it's doubtful that they would even be
> noticed by the enemy.
>
> -Allen McCarley (The seemingly deactivated EPIC Q&A guy)

What you are not remembering is that the marines do not have to protect
"entire chuncks of the Imperium". That is what the Imperial Guard do.
Each Imperial planet has it's own army at least the size of our current
armies combined(25 million+). The space marines are elite forces that are
usend when nessissary agaist especialy dangerous foes. Also war is on a
much more personal and smaller scale in the 40k universe. This is seen
when in the stories and text fluff as well as reflected in the games.
-Chris
Received on Fri Feb 28 1997 - 23:50:03 UTC