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b1soul wrote:

Norsehawk wrote:remember that Arnold in the predator movies would be equal to a weak Catachan jungle fighter

let's not focus too much on the movies since I did mention in the OP that the predator in this fight is from the expanded AvP universe of novels, comics, and games
I'm trying to go with strong but not over-the-top portrayals of both the predator and space marine

Would it be worth noting that marines have their amazing plot armour to protect them, form what I have seen of Predators they have no such luxury.

In a face to face CC, I have a feeling that the marine would win quite convincingly, largely on account of his power armour, and the fact that he is a dedicated CC warrior. I also think his indignant hatred for the xenos abomination, and the extra reach of a chainsword should carry him through.

In a game of cat and mouse however... The predator is a dedicated stealth hunter, I don't really see how he could loose... Though if he could I imagine he probably would when you consider his weak sauce plot armour that Predators have.

Grunt13 wrote:The only real method of cross comparison between predators and space marines that we can really use in detail is how they fare against normal human combatants. Mainly because that is a standard used in both universes. It’s the Rosetta Stone of cross universal smackdowns.

In typical predator story format, the predator hunts downs and kills about a dozen humans until he runs into one that manages to kill him. Whereas, space marines are in the middle of a battlefield fighting against opponents that outnumber them a hundred to one. Marines have died to lucky shots, warp cursed poisons, and when fighting a triumph up character. But, in the predator universe there are humans with multiple predator kills who fought them in a one to one situations with knives and makeshift weapons. Duke’s brother personally killed about a dozen, even his Russian girlfriend bagged a few. Machiko Noguchi the female human I mentioned early, killed dozens of predators in direct combat. For comparison, I don’t think there is a guardsman in the 40K universe who has personally beaten half a dozen space marines to death with his lasgun.

I agree with the principle, but I think the comparisons you are using need adjusting. I don't think you can count Duke's brother and his girlfriend as 'normal combatants' because they are heroes/story protagonists. Predators are usually antagonists so they are always going to suffer a little from Villain Decay. Marines on the other hand are nearly always heroes so the comparisons are unfair.

I think to make the comparisons fair you have to try and find examples where the good guy/bad guy variable is evened out. In Predator 2 the Predator gets to play the anti-hero for a brief time killing drug dealers. In that role he is able to take out a room full of crazy drug gang mercenary guys, who are literally armed to the teeth. Then haul a 200 pound man 20 feet up a vertical drop, and hang him from the ceiling before the police even manage to get up the stairs.

Later he manages to take out another gang. Then an entire swat team who are supposed to be ready for him. In the previous film, the Predator has already wiped out an entire US special forces squad before the film even starts. Normal humans usually can't ever ever beat a predator "Unless they are main characters". Even Dutch really should have lost at the end of Predator 1... He really only won through extreme luck, and the fact that the Predator agrees to a fist fight rather than just shooting him when he had the chance.

It's harder to find examples of Space Marines in fiction where they aren't the super duper good guys who never loose. Comparisons with chaos marines performance might actually yield less skewed results.