How many imperial guardsmen does it really take to kill a space

because being able to kill 10 men while standing out in the open like an idiot actually is impressive, especially since guardsmen are taken from the very top of the PDF, so they actually represent tough tenacious foes

and space marines arent always deployed in gun lines, they can tip the balance in their favors even higher through use of drop pods, assault bikes, and heavy weapons

also the game abstract quite a bit, so the numbers are a bit inaccurate, in dark heresy a space marine need 4 shells/guardsman killed, but a guardsman needs 300 lasbolts/ marine killed

>>49237226
It depends on the writer. It also depends on the game master.

>>49240946
This.
In Gaunt's Ghost it's 1v1, in a Iron Warriors novel 1v1000.

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It depends on so many variables.
If a single marine charges a single guardsman then the guardsman can fire a lucky or well aimed shot and take the marine down with a single hit to the head. Or the marine can charge 20 guardsmen, kill 10 mid-run and then dispatch the remaining ones with only his paint chipped.
In the same way a whole squad of assault marines can land right in the middle of ~100 guardsmen and slaughter them all when they start panicking. But if the guardsmen immediately redeploy to capitalize on their superior numbers and the equipment they have, then they can quickly take down all of the marines down with minimal casualties, most of them from the start of the conflict when the marines landed.

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>>49242264
> guardsmen and slaughter them all when they start panicking
>Panicking
>Not on my watch!

>>49242313
On the flip side, the fact that the Mordians would be standing in serried ranks shoulder-to-shoulder outside of cover would allow Assault Marines to just absolutely fuck them over within seconds before they realized what had happened.

Depends on who's telling it.

That 40k 3rd person shooter that came out did a good job of telling how I imagine Space marines function in-universe.

Their armor allows them a great number of advantages in dealing with large numbers of threats, but they still have to be wary of anything larger than small arms fire. Being out in the open is exceptionally dangerous, things like jump-packs and bikes are mostly used for navigating and engaging enemies like orks in trukks or moving heavy artillery.

They're best as either commandos in urban environments, shock troops and special engagements. The Guard do a lot when it comes to logistics, defense and actual conflicts, a small team of space marines can pull off the suicide missions, make a difference in a push/rout and inspire morale within troops who might otherwise be at the limits of what they can do until the literal sons-of-god start falling from the heavens and smiting their most horrific foes.

Watching a Chaplain punch a Carnifex into paste is a good motivator to get them thinking "Hey, we might actually survive!"

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>>49242739
>this

The Guard is for field battles, Marines are for strikes.

If you put a Marine in a situation where Guardsmen can focus fire them or bring out the anti-armor weapons, then the Marine is going to get cheesed. Conversely, you put a Marine or five behind the lines, or in a boarding action, or any other situation where the terrain or situation limits combat width, then they're going to take out hundreds.

Talking in game-terms though, as in putting a bunch of OW guardsmen against DW Marines, I'd say five well armed guardsmen is enough to take a marine of equal-ish level.

>>49237226
> How many imperial guardsmen does it really take to kill a space marine?

Given the right circumstances, just one.

>>49237226
Why are space marines depicted as elite superhuman demigods when it takes TEN MEN to take one of them down

What word would you use to describe someone who can literally solo ten guys?

Considering Space Marines have cleansed around 500 Daemon Worlds in the Eye of Fucking Terror, probably around a hundred or more. The Abyssal Crusade was fucking insane.

>>49242369
Yeah, it'd go something like:
>Strike from the sky, brothers!
>Foremost Mordian ranks get immediately pasted
>Many more get shredded in the following moments
>Rest get killed while trying to fall back to a more advantageous position
They'd kill some of the marines, how many being dependent of how many heavy weapons are available, but they'd get fucked overall.

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>>49237226
It depends on how they're equipped. Taking away instances like a lucky las-bolt through the eye, and using the more reliable RPGs as a base--since they are more detailed and stick to lore better than the wargame--a bunch of line Guard are going to need a few rounds of fully automatic fire to bring an Astartes into critical ranges.

But see, this is where equipment and planning makes a difference. If a squad of Guard got their hand on a ballistic or lascannon field piece? Then it will take fewer men on average to bring down Astartes. Take the line Guard without the field pieces but give them access to things like explosives and heavy/special weapons, and their job gets easier.

So it honestly depends. Astartes are not the kind of thing you fight without armor-killing kit. If you have access to that, then it's probably not that big a deal. It also depends on how the Astartes are fighting. A few guys intelligently picking and choosing their place to strike and using their kit to its fullest and most tactical potential is going to do more damage than a well-armored retard brigade charging across an open battlefield into dug-in Guardsmen. Because if there's one thing Guardsmen know how to do, it's hold a position against foes they see coming.