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snake wrote:Shaq is 7'1" and over 300, but not 350...

Shaq is 7'2" and 330 pounds.

Given the basketball player's build in that picture, 350 is no stretch at 7'6".

Yikes...really? 350 pounds? how do they run so fast with so much mass dragging on them? I can guess that they have around a 50-60% muscle on their body, but still, that's alot of weight to be dragging around. Or is a basketball court not as big as I think it is? I'm not very knowledgeable on basketball

LumenPraebeo wrote:Yikes...really? 350 pounds? how do they run so fast with so much mass dragging on them? I can guess that they have around a 50-60% muscle on their body, but still, that's alot of weight to be dragging around. Or is a basketball court not as big as I think it is? I'm not very knowledgeable on basketball

They have long legs, increasing their stride.

And most basketball players are not 7'6" lol.

They're really, really strong and have two hearts and, iirc, three lungs (or was it four?).

Psienesis wrote:They're really, really strong and have two hearts and, iirc, three lungs (or was it four?).

Space Marines have three lungs.

LumenPraebeo wrote:Yikes...really? 350 pounds? how do they run so fast with so much mass dragging on them? I can guess that they have around a 50-60% muscle on their body,

Much lower on most of them. They are mostly very skinny. Being tall makes you extra heavy because as height increases linearly, volume increases quadratically.

A two foot tall toddler might weigh 30 pounds, but a six foot tall man is not 90 pounds (3 times as much), he's 200ish.

DarknessEternal wrote:

LumenPraebeo wrote:Yikes...really? 350 pounds? how do they run so fast with so much mass dragging on them? I can guess that they have around a 50-60% muscle on their body,

Much lower on most of them. They are mostly very skinny. Being tall makes you extra heavy because as height increases linearly, volume increases quadratically.

A two foot tall toddler might weigh 30 pounds, but a six foot tall man is not 90 pounds (3 times as much), he's 200ish.

Indeed, Robert Wadlow (The tallest man ever recorded at 8'11) was built like a 9 foot Peewee Herman, but he still weighed 485lbs. You could expect a body builder the same hight to be double that weight, and a Space Marine would probably be well over 1000lbs.

Realistically these kind of weights are not practical. Robert Wadlow was hardly able to walk. The fact that he could walk at all was impressive, most people become crippled by their weight before they get anywhere near his size.

If I was going to design a super soldier to fight on a million different worlds all across the galaxy, then the last thing I would want to do is make him 9 foot tall. His size would constantly present a problem. Making him Smaller would be much more efficient and tactically flexible. Space Travel, Food, Supplies, Armour, would all be made cheaper by making the soldier smaller. On the battlefield he would find it easier to hide or take cover, or move through confined spaces if he were smaller. He would also be less impaired by the effects of high gravity, and generally have a lower centre of gravity.

If I where going to design my soldier around humans, then the best height would probably be regular human height (about 6 foot). Perhaps they would reach 7 foot or more due to extreme health, but I wouldn't want them any bigger. Making them bigger would only impair their ability to fight and use regular human equipment (guns, cars, ships etc...).

Smacks wrote:

DarknessEternal wrote:

LumenPraebeo wrote:

If I was going to design a super soldier to fight on a million different worlds all across the galaxy, then the last thing I would want to do is make him 9 foot tall. His size would constantly present a problem. Making him Smaller would be much more efficient and tactically flexible. Space Travel, Food, Supplies, Armour, would all be made cheaper by making the soldier smaller. On the battlefield he would find it easier to hide or take cover, or move through confined spaces if he were smaller. He would also be less impaired by the effects of high gravity, and generally have a lower centre of gravity.

If I where going to design my soldier around humans, then the best height would probably be regular human height (about 6 foot). Perhaps they would reach 7 foot or more due to extreme health, but I wouldn't want them any bigger. Making them bigger would only impair their ability to fight and use regular human equipment (guns, cars, ships etc...).

6 foot soldiers would get their asses kicked by everything in the 40k or 30k world. Space marines were built to wear the best armour and use the best guns.
why do you want them to be 6ft? why not make em 4/5ft tall? and call em. i dont know. squats for example.

ChaosGalvatron wrote:6 foot soldiers would get their asses kicked by everything in the 40k or 30k world. Space marines were built to wear the best armour and use the best guns.
why do you want them to be 6ft? why not make em 4/5ft tall? and call em. i dont know. squats for example.

I'm sorry but hight is a very weak indicator of strength or fighting ability. I guarantee you that a 4 foot chimpanzee would literally tear you limb from limb in a fight. Chimps being pound for pound twice as strong as humans.

The reason I picked 6 foot is because Marines begin their life as normal humans, and 6 foot is quite a normal height for normal humans, so I wouldn't mess with it. If I really had free reign to make troops however I wanted then I would not base them on humans at all, I would probably design them to be ant sized, or microscopic nano-bot type things, that can eat through metal. Then I would produce billions upon trillions of them and own everything.

I'd like to see how a Space Marine is supposed to fight a million nano-bots eating him away from inside his armour.

Lynata wrote:

Gorskar.da.Lost wrote:To be fair, it's more like 7'6''

As per GW, apparently not. Why the bartering for inches?

Smacks actually raised a very good point. 7 feet is freakishly huge already. There's really no need to go beyond this size as the established average just to prove a point. From an outside perspective, that just sounds as if their fans would perceive the Marines as not being "l33t" enough as they are as per what GW intended, or that they feel threatened that there's a chance the Astartes might get pushed out of the limelight every so often.

Which is what I said about people who are over 7ft tall. Why restate my point? I chose 7ft6in as it seemed to be the most common measurement of their height.

Gorskar.da.Lost wrote:Why restate my point? I chose 7ft6in as it seemed to be the most common measurement of their height.

Ah, sorry, it wasn't really "focused" on you in particular - I just have the impression that a lot of fans seem to ignore actual GW statements (-> 7 feet) in favor of something else out of personal preference (Marine badassery) . Even a single additional inch raises the average above the height stated by the studio, and it is such a "creeping growth" that results in a word of mouth-style dissemination of flawed information, which is probably why some people truly believe that Marines are 8 or 9 feet high by now. I've even honestly read someone claiming 11 feet once.

It's all part of what seems to be a popular myth making more of Marines than they actually are (as defined per GW) - as if that wouldn't be enough already. Let's just say I am a stern opponent of this myth (which seems to originate in various BL novels unsurprisingly focused on the Astartes as invincible heroes), as I've now seen the negative effects this can have on the perception of other armies.

So, I've misunderstood your reasoning behind the height you've mentioned. If the "correction" came off as snarky, I apologize!

The average height for Greeks was 5 ft. 6 in. 2000 years ago, and now the average height is 5 ft. 8 in., 2000 years later. By doing the math they should be about 8 ft. 10 in.

Quick piccie showing the difference between a 4' 11" muscled guy and a 6' 5" muscled guy. There's only 1' 6" between them but the difference looks massive! Add around a foot on each and you have a rough size comparison between an above average human and an average space marine... gulp...

Daedricbob wrote:Quick piccie showing the difference between a 4' 11" muscled guy and a 6' 5" muscled guy. There's only 1' 6" between them but the difference looks massive! Add around a foot on each and you have a rough size comparison between an above average human and an average space marine... gulp...

Yeah, its like the difference between a Catachan and a Marine

Lynata wrote:

Void__Dragon wrote:Notice how wide his legs are spread.

Obviously a Marine can only walk or stand with his legs spread apart as to not crush his giant adamantium balls. ?

why?he doesn't need em?does he?

I used to be friends with a guy who was 6'10" and weighed 550lbs. Words cannot describe how enormous he appeared compared with everyone else. We nicknamed him "the mad mountain" and it was fitting. I had another friend who was 6'8" and 300lbs, and he looked small next to the mad mountain even though he was a giant himself. I'm 6'1" and can't express just how tiny I felt around both of these guys.

A guy standing 7' - 7'6" and weighing close to a metric ton in power armor would seem absolutely monstrous to a normal person, even someone 6'+. You just can't comprehend the scale of that until you're staring straight ahead into his belly button and reaching up to tap him on the shoulder...

edit because I forgot to mention how perfect that pic Daedricbob posted is!

Back in the day, before the horus heresy space marines were 8ft, I don't know where this 7'6'' rubish is coming from. I'll always see them in the horus heresy 10' tall way. I mean 8 foot isn't exactly superhuman or impressive in my opinion.

Back in the day?

You mean when this picture came out?



If he stands at 7 feet slightly hunched, then 7'6" is where that number came from.


At 7'6, with denser bones, denser musculature, and an expanded system of internal organs, I'd guess that 600 pounds would be the low end estimate for the weight of a Space Marine unarmored.

Saul Tarvitz wrote:
Back in the day, before the horus heresy space marines were 8ft, I don't know where this 7'6'' rubish is coming from. I'll always see them in the horus heresy 10' tall way. I mean 8 foot isn't exactly superhuman or impressive in my opinion.

Uhh... an 8' foot tall supersoldier in bulky armor carrying a highly advanced automatic rocket launcher isn't impressive to you? You, sir, are difficult to impress.

 FuryTheBerserker wrote:
the english metric system!



(taken from Warhammer 40k wikia)

I hope you dont mind the size of the picture.

I now have an urge to punch anybody who uses this pic, or goes on the W40K wiki for information. This is unofficial fanon, and I should add that the artist, despite his official links with 40K, is an idiot as he appears to have completely forgotten what power armor even is and how it functions. It's not skin tight, and quite explicitly so.

As for height, it varies anywhere from seven to ten feet.

Saul Tarvitz wrote:
Back in the day, before the horus heresy space marines were 8ft, I don't know where this 7'6'' rubish is coming from. I'll always see them in the horus heresy 10' tall way. I mean 8 foot isn't exactly superhuman or impressive in my opinion.

10' is a bit OTT imo.

9' is a nice middle ground which I think works best.

Edit: Just realised the post I quoted is a necro post...

 Ashiraya wrote:

10' is a bit OTT imo.

9' is a nice middle ground which I think works best.

Edit: Just realised the post I quoted is a necro post...

Wonderful little snap shot of Dakka history though.

 Pendix wrote:

 Ashiraya wrote:

10' is a bit OTT imo.

9' is a nice middle ground which I think works best.

Edit: Just realised the post I quoted is a necro post...

Wonderful little snap shot of Dakka history though.

Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose.

 Ashiraya wrote:

Saul Tarvitz wrote:
Back in the day, before the horus heresy space marines were 8ft, I don't know where this 7'6'' rubish is coming from. I'll always see them in the horus heresy 10' tall way. I mean 8 foot isn't exactly superhuman or impressive in my opinion.

10' is a bit OTT imo.

9' is a nice middle ground which I think works best.

Edit: Just realised the post I quoted is a necro post...

Same here. Although I do still want to smack anybody who brings up sibbering with a codex.

 Wyzilla wrote:

 Ashiraya wrote:

Saul Tarvitz wrote:
Back in the day, before the horus heresy space marines were 8ft, I don't know where this 7'6'' rubish is coming from. I'll always see them in the horus heresy 10' tall way. I mean 8 foot isn't exactly superhuman or impressive in my opinion.

10' is a bit OTT imo.

9' is a nice middle ground which I think works best.

Edit: Just realised the post I quoted is a necro post...

Same here. Although I do still want to smack anybody who brings up sibbering with a codex.

Yeah, he even makes it clear on the page that it's only his opinion.

 Ashiraya wrote:

 Wyzilla wrote:

 Ashiraya wrote:

Saul Tarvitz wrote:
Back in the day, before the horus heresy space marines were 8ft, I don't know where this 7'6'' rubish is coming from. I'll always see them in the horus heresy 10' tall way. I mean 8 foot isn't exactly superhuman or impressive in my opinion.

10' is a bit OTT imo.

9' is a nice middle ground which I think works best.

Edit: Just realised the post I quoted is a necro post...

Same here. Although I do still want to smack anybody who brings up sibbering with a codex.

Yeah, he even makes it clear on the page that it's only his opinion.

And his opinion is also very silly and demonstrates that he doesn't know what armor even is, let alone power armor.

It's seven foot. Full-stop.



The bottom of the Marine's boot starts at the 1-foot mark.

 Psienesis wrote:
It's seven foot. Full-stop.

Clearly nothing more than a foul in-universe rumour spread to make the Marines seem smaller and thus their feats more extraordinary!

Can't be. The image is too high-quality to have been snapped by a pic-capture skull.

 Psienesis wrote:
Can't be. The image is too high-quality to have been snapped by a pic-capture skull.

Imperial propaganda-spreaders have good equipment.