Transformers: Dark of the Moon

[Rishathra]

Wrong Space Marines.

[Sir T]

IIRC, in the book, the MI were Mobile Infantry.  Their use was mostly in quick strikes, either a quick drop -> raid -> get the hell out of Dodge, or to grab ground that would then be fortified by heavier weapons.  I don't recall Heinlein detailing what those heavier weapons were though.

Also, the MI would carry weapons up to small (10k I think) nuclear weapons.

Heh. Yeah, like that that hand carried gun that could blow a large hill to dust.

[WindupAtheist]

Also, prior to the large ground battle in Starship Troopers, Heinlein pauses briefly to explain the specific reasons for not just nuking the planet from space. That's the difference between something thought-out and "HUR DUR I MADE EVERYONE IN THE UNIVERSE RETARDED SO I COULD HAVE ROBOT SWORD FIGHTS!"

[Fordel]

I think I'll add this discussion to the ones that thought it was realistic for a huge area of space being controlled by 1000 space marine ubermenchen.

The Space Marines don't do the controlling though, do they? I thought they were more of a emergency, shit just got really real force. The Imperial guard seems like the big massive controlling force.

[Ratman_tf]

I think I'll add this discussion to the ones that thought it was realistic for a huge area of space being controlled by 1000 space marine ubermenchen.

The Space Marines don't do the controlling though, do they? I thought they were more of a emergency, shit just got really real force. The Imperial guard seems like the big massive controlling force.

Depends. For the most part, it's the IG. Some imperial citizens will go their whole lives and never see a space marine. But if you live on a chapter planet, you might bump into them all the time. The imperial garrison of Ultramar works closely with the Ultramarines, and the UM's consider them worthy allies. But yeah, the SM's are used for crazy batshit missions, and the guard walk the beat.

Really, it's fear and superstition that keeps the average citizen of the imperium in line.

[WindupAtheist]

Ok, who needs to be taken out back and whipped for getting WUA started on his tank vs mech crusade in this thread?

Y'all hate because I remind you that we're not really the sort of cool hip technogeeks we like to think we are, but rather the sort of geeks who are never more than a WUA post or two away from spinning off into a straightfaced conversation about military doctrine in Warhammer 40k.

Personally, I find it delicious.

[Malakili]

Well, sure.  But once you are running down that kind of a tangent, weapons platforms of any kind just sort of become pointless dont they?  I mean, who cares if you have tanks (regardless of how big) if you can just throw enough firepower at the planet your enemy is on to crack the whole damn rock like an egg.

Because you might want to keep the planet, and an enemy that disperses its forces instead of piling all its resources into one super-unit is a lot harder to nuke into oblivion without shitting up everything you were trying to conquer.

Its not without precedence though...http://warhammer40k.wikia.com/wiki/Exterminatus

[rk47]

But can goku ki blast pierce gundanium armor at supersaiyajin 3rd form? this is his dragon ball GT version btw, not this adult DBZ universe.

[NowhereMan]

Why would he need to when he can just chill with his best bud Superman?

[Ratman_tf]

Who will win?

[Lakov_Sanite]

Does eternia have a yellow sun?

[Ratman_tf]

Does eternia have a yellow sun?

Yeah, but everybody is magic too.

[Lakov_Sanite]

"Eh! Your strength is prodigious, man!"

like a 1970's DnD game

[Muffled]

That is my new favourite comic book page. 

[WindupAtheist]

I hate how Superman always forgets that he supposedly has Flash-level speed. I know they need to make him dumb in order for anyone to even put up a fight against him, but come on. They could at least quit throwing his speed in our face the rest of the time. I picked up some comic in Borders a couple weeks ago and saw Superman and Flash sitting in a diner having a relaxed conversation at super speed while everyone else seemed to be frozen relative to them. I kept wanting Flash to go "Hey Supes, since you can keep up with me, how did Doomsday ever land a punch?"

[Ironwood]

This is why Superman was always retarded and I've always hated him (also, because I'm Zod.)

Even Smallville, the only incarnation where I've been able to stand him, comes off as retardly silly, saved only by the fact that the literally has no idea how fucking powerful he is.

[Ratman_tf]

I've said it many times. Supes worst (from a storytelling angle) power is super speed. Not only is he better than every other hero, but he can do it all in the wink of an eye, too.

One of the reasons why I hate the "Blur" shit on Smallville.

[Sir T]

You know, a few days ago I downloaded an old superman cartoon from 1941. The animation was actually quite good, but what stuck me was how weak Superman was compared to what we are used to. One wallop from a robot was enough to put him on his ass and he had to struggle to get out of some power lines that he got tangled up in. And they were already starting to disguise the fact that he could not fly.

Very interesting to watch from a modern perspective.

[WindupAtheist]

I've said it many times. Supes worst (from a storytelling angle) power is super speed. Not only is he better than every other hero, but he can do it all in the wink of an eye, too.

One of the reasons why I hate the "Blur" shit on Smallville.

It's also why the Flash gets writer-nerfed even worse than Superman a lot of the time. I mean at least when they forget half of Superman's powers, he's still nigh-invincible and really strong. Everytime I see Flash in anything animated he's getting slapped around by some nobody who can, get this, shoot a beam or some lame shit like that.

[Fordel]

Isn't the Flash moving at near light speed these days?

[UnSub]

Isn't the Flash moving at near light speed these days?

The Flash is faster than Superman, and yes, I believe he can reach those speeds currently.

[Fordel]

I remember reading about him evacuating a entire city, 2 people at a time, while a nuke was going off in the city.

[SurfD]

Isn't the Flash moving at near light speed these days?

The Flash is faster than Superman, and yes, I believe he can reach those speeds currently.

Yeah, considering that the Flash can selectively vibrate invididual atoms in his body in such a way to allow himself to pass through solid matter, I imagine simply running at near relativistic speed would likely be a cakewalk for him.

[Evildrider]

I think that Squirrel Girl could totally take Supes and the Flash.   

[Sir T]

      

[WindupAtheist]

I remember reading about him evacuating a entire city, 2 people at a time, while a nuke was going off in the city.

I remember reading a nerd-post somewhere that did the math and proved he'd need to move way the hell faster than light to pull that off. But then I youtube a Justice League episode and he's getting punked by some bitch with telekinesis throwing chairs and shit at him.

  

[NowhereMan]

Yeah doing the actual maths on how fast he would need to have been travelling he'd need to have been going several million times the speed of light. But then they also have him outrun death and travel through time so I think really the speed of light is pretty bullshit stuff for the Flash. The insistence that Superman can beat (or even come close to it) him in a race is really fucked up though, especially in that New Krypton arc a while ago where the Kryptonians (all with the same powers) didn't just literally tear the entire earth apart before humanity even realised we were at war. Flash is broke but I just don't understand why Superman needs to be able to beat every other DC hero in every arena the might possibly compete.

[Merusk]

Because he stands for Truth, Justice and THE AMERICAN WAY.

And Americans beat everything.

[Ratman_tf]

I remember reading about him evacuating a entire city, 2 people at a time, while a nuke was going off in the city.

I remember reading a nerd-post somewhere that did the math and proved he'd need to move way the hell faster than light to pull that off. But then I youtube a Justice League episode and he's getting punked by some bitch with telekinesis throwing chairs and shit at him.

  

Well, are his powers alway "On"? I can punch through sheetrock (that's my superpower, BTW) and yet I can pick up an egg without breaking it. And eggs are more fragile than sheetrock.

[MuffinMan]

Seems very situation specific of a superpower to be able to punch through sheetrock. I would just trap you in a wooden prison.

[Ratman_tf]

Seems very situation specific of a superpower to be able to punch through sheetrock. I would just trap you in a wooden prison.

That's why I won't tell you my superhero identity. 

[Sheepherder]

Yes, but can you bull rush through the exterior wall of a trailer home?

[WindupAtheist]

Well, are his powers alway "On"? I can punch through sheetrock (that's my superpower, BTW) and yet I can pick up an egg without breaking it. And eggs are more fragile than sheetrock.

Yeah. In the episode I'm thinking of he's running away from the shit being thrown at him, and there's a blur effect drawn around him, but he doesn't seem to be moving much faster than some dude from Kenya in a real hurry would.

[Fordel]

One of the better representations of the Flash's power, comes from the Teen Titans cartoon. Since the show doesn't even pretend to take itself seriously, the episode with Kid Flash has him fooling around with the villains, knowing full well he is basically impervious to any of their attacks.

So while it was done that way to be silly, it's actually pretty accurate all in all! 

[WindupAtheist]

Yeah "Kid Flash is in this show now and look how awesome he is!" was the whole thrust of the episode, so it was just him zipping around making a whole team of supervillains look like assholes for 22 minutes. I liked the bit where he grabbed a wrench and disassembled their whole evil laboratory in a couple of seconds. Oh and the part where they have him "trapped" in a cage and he zooms off to grab a sandwich while their backs are turned.