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Melissia wrote:

Kaldor wrote:

Melissia wrote:

Kaldor wrote:Just a little food for thought:

10,000 men eating 3 MREs a day, for a year (a pretty average there-and-back-again deployment for the IG, I'd reckon) will require about 8 million tonnes of MRE

Actually that's a pretty light deployment, not average...

I was only referring to the duration. I don't think theres many figures on average numbers of guardsmen per deployment.

Actually, that raises another interesting question. Is there anything like a 'deployment' for the IG? It seems like their standard procedure is to either be in a war zone, or en route to a war zone, or garrisoning a potential war zone. They'd never really spend any time 'at home' would they?

There is, but a deployment can last decades-- new recruits are shipped to them, they don't go back for them usually.

Usually it ends with the regiment settling down on the planet they conquered.

Hmm. Now that is also interesting...

New recruits from their home planet? Or from surviving regiments that came from their planet?

And who gets to decide on when a regiments service is at an end - and they can go settle a plane?

The warmaster in charge.

ContemplativeSphinx wrote:

Melissia wrote:

Kaldor wrote:

Melissia wrote:

Kaldor wrote:Just a little food for thought:

10,000 men eating 3 MREs a day, for a year (a pretty average there-and-back-again deployment for the IG, I'd reckon) will require about 8 million tonnes of MRE

Actually that's a pretty light deployment, not average...

I was only referring to the duration. I don't think theres many figures on average numbers of guardsmen per deployment.

Actually, that raises another interesting question. Is there anything like a 'deployment' for the IG? It seems like their standard procedure is to either be in a war zone, or en route to a war zone, or garrisoning a potential war zone. They'd never really spend any time 'at home' would they?

There is, but a deployment can last decades-- new recruits are shipped to them, they don't go back for them usually.

Usually it ends with the regiment settling down on the planet they conquered.

Hmm. Now that is also interesting...

New recruits from their home planet? Or from surviving regiments that came from their planet?

And who gets to decide on when a regiments service is at an end - and they can go settle a plane?

The number of Guard regiments that are reinforced directly from their home planet on an as needed basis is quite low. From my knowledge, the Vostroyan Firstborn are the only ones that do this (the Elysians may too but I don't remember). Usually a regiment is just retired and refounded if they fall too low on numbers to contribute effectively.

The infantryman's uplifting primer ( Damocles gulf edition) had
" food supplement tablets" and a mess kit with spoon fork mug and trey. This suggests the possibility of non packaged meals.

13th Black crusade Fluff book has a snippet about
'Standard ration Packs' being dropped by chaos forces onto Imperial Lines. These were of course corrupted and resulted in Death.

MREs definately exist in the 40k world

MREs taste okay (the jalapeno cheese spread is delicious actually) but they have minimal nutritional value.

Meanwhile soylen viridiens has no taste but has excellent nutritional value!

Melissia wrote:Meanwhile soylen viridiens has no taste but has excellent nutritional value!

Soylent Green is people!

I couldn't resist...

Melissia wrote:Meanwhile soylen viridiens has no taste but has excellent nutritional value!

I love how that's a play on Soylent Green. TBH, I'd rather eat something bland that's actually good for me, then something that tastes okay and is a waste of calories.

It's better than Corpse Starch, which isn't nutritious an tastes horrible-- but it's easy to make in bulk!

Melissia wrote:It's better than Corpse Starch, which isn't nutritious an tastes horrible-- but it's easy to make in bulk!

Soylens Viridians = Soylent Green = Corpse Starch.

In Gaunts Ghosts they eat "slab". Which is a general purpose slab of "food". You can bake it, broil it, stew it, fry it, boil it.....etc.

Jakka wrote:

Melissia wrote:It's better than Corpse Starch, which isn't nutritious an tastes horrible-- but it's easy to make in bulk!

Soylens Viridians = Soylent Green = Corpse Starch.

Actually, soylens viridians is distinct from corpse starch. Corpse starch is said to be foul smelling and tasting, and most people can't eat it without throwing up unless they're used to severe hardship or are very hungry. Soylens viridians, on the other hand, has no distinguishable taste-- it's simply there. Similarly, SV comes in bars, while CS is closer to flour. And Soylens Viridiens is refined from the same material that is used to make Promethium, amongst other things.

This brings up another issue, what do SMs eat on campaign? Yes i know they are super soldiers and everything but just think of how high the calorie intake is for an Astartes, all that casual head crushing must require a significant amount of food (probably have to be specifically GM for their needs).

Probably something extremely calorie dense and they probably have artificially slowed metabolisms otherwise they would need to take in 4-5 times the caloric intake of an average male.

vodo40k wrote:This brings up another issue, what do SMs eat on campaign? Yes i know they are super soldiers and everything but just think of how high the calorie intake is for an Astartes, all that casual head crushing must require a significant amount of food (probably have to be specifically GM for their needs).

PA can recycle a Marine's waste for an extended period of time allowing him to forgo food if needed.

Otherwise, a Marine will eat what any normal 8ft 300lb super human would eat.

They would probably eat whatever they could find if they needed to eat.




the Uplifting Primer doesn't specify what a Guardsmen will get fed but it does say that a Guardsmen will usually be fed something from his general area of origin to reduce the chance of food related allergy or poisoning issues(Food poisoning could be a MAJOR issue, nobody wants to get a bug from 10,000 light years away)

This suggests that they usually get fed real food. MREs only get passed out when they are engaging the enemy.

If 8ft tall Space Marines would be more along the lines of 600lbs. Even eating only twice a day they'll need to take in upwards of 8,000 calories.

Insurgency Walker wrote:The infantryman's uplifting primer ( Damocles gulf edition) had
" food supplement tablets" and a mess kit with spoon fork mug and trey. This suggests the possibility of non packaged meals.

Simple logic would dictate that MREs are the meal du jour in combat and on the front lines, but when you get farther back from the actual fighting, you're going to have mess tents and halls, back where the hospitals, garages, command, and other less intense activities are going on.

Melissia wrote:

Jakka wrote:

Melissia wrote:It's better than Corpse Starch, which isn't nutritious an tastes horrible-- but it's easy to make in bulk!

Soylens Viridians = Soylent Green = Corpse Starch.

Actually, soylens viridians is distinct from corpse starch. Corpse starch is said to be foul smelling and tasting, and most people can't eat it without throwing up unless they're used to severe hardship or are very hungry. Soylens viridians, on the other hand, has no distinguishable taste-- it's simply there. Similarly, SV comes in bars, while CS is closer to flour. And Soylens Viridiens is refined from the same material that is used to make Promethium, amongst other things.

Sure, as in-universe fact; but the dramatic irony is unmistakeable.

ContemplativeSphinx wrote:Continuing on with the most random questions to afflict the 40K universe.

MREs - Meals Ready to Eat offered up to the modern day serviceman.... has there ever been a written fluff/fiction equivalent for the IG?

Yes yes i know, usually the stories are written about hunger, starvation, foraging on local produce, canniabalism, etc. etc.


But stepping away from that end or a second.... I do have to wonder what the folks in the IG eat in their canteen, or munch on while engaging in long operations where the situation isn't completely and totally bleak- hence the MRE question

Cadian soldiers have Bars that are similar to bricks of Nutrients similar to the Bars that they had in the Fire fly series that Mal sold to those backwater western stylized people

vodo40k wrote:This brings up another issue, what do SMs eat on campaign? Yes i know they are super soldiers and everything but just think of how high the calorie intake is for an Astartes, all that casual head crushing must require a significant amount of food (probably have to be specifically GM for their needs).

In Prospero Burns, the Space Wolves drink a black, foul-smelling liquid that they say would kill a normal man. In all honesty I believ hey're drinking a hydrocarbon fuel of some kind. With their improved digestion system there isn't much they couldn't eat, and hydrocarbons are very energy dense. Plus, imagine the simplified logistics if, in a pinch, your marines can drink the fuel right out of a Rhino's tank to whet their appetites.

Given the duration of most Marine operations they arn't going to need to eat. Their PA can recycle their waste for extended operations.

Otherwise, Marines could just scrounge something up. Dead bodies wouldn't be out of the question.

CalgarsPimpHand wrote:

vodo40k wrote:This brings up another issue, what do SMs eat on campaign? Yes i know they are super soldiers and everything but just think of how high the calorie intake is for an Astartes, all that casual head crushing must require a significant amount of food (probably have to be specifically GM for their needs).

In Prospero Burns, the Space Wolves drink a black, foul-smelling liquid that they say would kill a normal man. In all honesty I believ hey're drinking a hydrocarbon fuel of some kind. With their improved digestion system there isn't much they couldn't eat, and hydrocarbons are very energy dense. Plus, imagine the simplified logistics if, in a pinch, your marines can drink the fuel right out of a Rhino's tank to whet their appetites.

Now that you mention it I remember Argel Tal and his men survived in "The First Heretic" when they were trapped in the warp by eating corpses and drinking weapon oil. I dont entirely think this would be their "normal" diet but an incredibly energy dense GM Spartan style "black brew" seems appropriate for marines.

The IG Codex talks about ratlings procuring extra rations for their "foster-regiment" that they are serving with...Then in books like gunheads they officer corps have proper banquets with grox (which is the space equivalent to cows) but I don't know about the basic diet of a guardsman.