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It’s been a long time that their physical abilities have far outstripped a human.

The speed thing I’ll need to check. But in terms of sheer endurance? A Marine being able to run/jog for days on end I think goes back to 2nd Ed.

Scratch that. Just checked my Codex Ultramarines, and it doesn’t include a list of the implant organs, or mention anything specific about what makes them super human.

Might’ve been 3dd ed? As much as 2nd Ed codified the craziness of 1st? It was 3rd that cemented the galaxy as we know it today.

We can also look at real world, top atheletes.

Usain Bolt for instance. He’s been clocked sprinting at around 27mph.

Now, of course being a sprinter, it’s incredibly doubtful he could maintain that for any real length of time. He’s fast, yes. But still human, and wouldn’t be able to do that over 200m, let alone longer distances because of biological limits. His are different and clearly superior to pretty much every other human, but still there.

Astartes? Those limits we know are stripped away. And their Power Armour assists there as well.

So I don’t think it’s entirely daft to say an Astartes can run at the same speed, if not slightly higher due to increased height and so stride.

How long can they keep up a flat sprint? Now that’s debateable. Including whether say 30mph, for an Astartes, is a sprint, or just a determined run.

 Insectum7 wrote:

 kabaakaba wrote:

Still we have books that say they ran with horse speed

The books say a lot of conflicting or outright very incorrect things though.

But we have multiple game systems spanning 30 years that say Marines are not sufficiently faster than regular humans to represent in the rules, and slower than many aliens.

Combat conditions do matter there though. Advancing in an active engagement area means proceeding with caution. Like being more aware of your surroundings, not just bombing it around as fast as you can go and that.

Where an Astartes physical prowess really comes into it is sustained fighting, and forced marches.

Whilst we don’t, and probably never will now, have a set top speed for Astartes? I think we’re comfortable saying that at a run, they can match humanity’s top sprinters. And thanks to their genhancements, can maintain those speeds far longer than a human. We’re also reliably informed that (by no means at their top speed), they can maintain a run for like….a day. A whole day. Without resting, and still be combat effective at the end of it.

Let’s rationalise that, hopefully without being silly with the numbers. And I’ll again refer to Usain Bolt’s fastest recorded speed of 44.72kmh/27.8mph.

As I mentioned above, I’m satisfied an Astartes could comfortably match that as a sprinting speed, even fully armoured. But I don’t want to argue “and they can maintain that for ages”. Instead, I’m going to argue their marching speed between war zones could easily be 20mph.

If they keep that up for 24 hours? That could see them hoof it 480 miles in a single day. Which is a ludicrous distance. And, importantly, not only do so without rest periods, but still be combat effective at the end of that march.

Of course terrain and general geography is gonna impact that. Even super strong super speed super endurance has to contend with “yeah, well, I’m a bloody big mountain”, different ground types (marsh, sand, rock, concrete, snow). But…so would their enemy, unless they’ve got skimmers sufficient to carry everyone.

To put that in greater context? I was born in Edinburgh. I now live on the Kent Coast. The distance between my forever home, and my childhood home? 452 miles. So, setting off right now, a squad of Marines could travel between the two (something I normally drive or get the train for) in a single day, and still not be knackered.

Though, another important caveat to such a feat? I’m fairly certain it’s confirmed that whilst Astartes are capable of all these wonderful things, they will eventually need rest. Proper rest. Even when doing the whole “let half your brain sleep at a time” thing isn’t a permanent solution. And presumably, the more of this sort of thing they’ve recently done, the longer that Proper Rest needs to be.

The Marine’s armour contains a nutrient gruel thing, which keeps them fed without them having to actually have a meal as such.

On calorific expenditure? A Marine, even at rest, is going to burn more just on account of his size and muscle mass.

I dare say some kind of wizardry was done to help balance it out to some degree. But you’re still starting with a human template, so surely some constraints must remain, however stretched beyond their norm?

Digestion wise we know directly that a Marine’s is nearly 100% efficient. Which is part of why they can consume pretty much anything normally toxic to baseline humans, and ensures they produce little in the way of waste. Like how Vultures can eat even extremely rotten meat. Their stomach enzymes and acids are potent enough that the nasty little biting things that cause food poisoning just cannot survive.

On the Challenger Tank? To allow for even non-space-wizard-tech, how does a modern tank compare to say, a proven model used in WW2? Because that might give us an inkling of how future alloys and techniques might affect it - again without necessarily just going “space wizard tech did it”.

Not that that’s not a valid answer - but it’s not terribly interesting for a conversation.

 kabaakaba wrote:
Also doesn't our lovely backpacks virtualy nuclear reactors supplying armour with very energy to work perpetualy?(at least in observable timeframe). also you guys do your math without considering armour has own muscles and do The lion's share of work if we talk about motion.

It’s…a bit of both.

Power Armour does essentially balance out its bulk with its internal structure. And it provides some extra oomph to the occupant.

But, and here’s what might the crucial bit? I don’t think it’s gyro balanced? So it’s still reliant on the occupant to keep themselves upright, and generally coordinated in terms of limbs. So, yes it probably does assist in running, and may allow for a faster pace. But that’s still limited by the wearer’s balance and that. You can only move your legs so fast before you trip yourself up (ref, toddlers!). So there must be a limitation on how much it can add.

I still favour a comfortable running speed around 20mph. It’s super human, without being ludicrous, as 35-45mph would be. At those speeds, and with the force concentrated across a smaller surface? A Marine needn’t slow down to kick someone’s head in. You’d just run straight through them.

There’s also the power of their bodies.

With a punch, a Marine can push your face out the back of your head. Or at least shatter the front of your skull. With a kick? Pretty confident they could hoof your bonce right off your shoulders;

Turn that same strength to propelling themselves around? That suggests a solid turn of speed.

Also depends on distance.

Consider say, the Praying Mantis. When grabbing prey, it moves its limbs faster than the human eye can see.

And that all factors in. Very Dangerous Over Short Distances Indeed. Especially for an Ambush Predator. Also, consider that us average smelly hoomans can easily outrun a Horse or even a Car over short distances, as our initial acceleration is higher. Yes, even a fat lad like wot I are.

So a Genestealer vs Marine over 100 Metres? My money is on the Genestealer. Hands down (yes, all four of them. Don’t tell the Commissar!).

But, as the distance extends? The Marine may well gain the advantage due to greater endurance, depending how heavily the Genestealer bio-construct leans into Ambush.

Essentially? Speed and acceleration and endurance all matter in the natural world. Marines, because Emperor Clever Magic Space Science seems to have gifted them superior stats in all three, where normally one might only spec into a couple at most.

Finally for this post? I’m gonna be a semi-lazy slag and bring up Post Human Dread. The descriptive that Marines are so unnatural in their physical and athletic prowess? The human mind finds it difficult to process.

So whilst I’d still stand by my “20mph is really fast all things considered, but shy of being silly”? Maybe the higher end reports are our best window into Trans Human Dread. We literally cannot really imagine any being stegging it down the road, mile after mile, hour after hour, at 50mph.

Well, Lions can get up to 50mph, and Cheetahs 60mph.

Only over short distances (especially for the Cheetah!) and not without extreme exhaustion at the end.

But, given Nids are bioengineered, presumably they don’t have the stamina/endurance issue. So 60kph does seem more reasonable than perhaps at first glance.

Hence I favour an astounding, but not ridiculous, 20kmh for Marines on the march/legging it.

My bad! Should be 20mph.

All about endurance.

A jog can be kept up longer than a run, and a run longer than a sprint. And we all have different, increasing speeds for each.

A jogging pace is good for covering a lot of ground at a consistent pace. As is a march. So, to my mind at least, Marines on the march are running, rather than jogging, to take advantage of their immense endurance and stamina.