Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

Rough Rider horses are specifically noted to be heavily enhanced with chemical augments, bionics or even blatantly bioengineered in the case of Death Riders, so I expect them to be significantly faster than normal horses.

Considering real world race horses can reach 70 kph, I could see a Rough Rider horses reaching 100 kmh.

But also yes 40k lore is heavily inconsistent, the rules are also considerably inconsistent, specially for non-Imperial armies.

At the end of the day Space Marine movement speed is whatever you want it to be, because it is fiction.

If space marines can run at 60kph how fast can genestealers, gaunts and eldar run since they are definitely faster than space marines?

 Tyran wrote:
Rough Rider horses are specifically noted to be heavily enhanced with chemical augments, bionics or even blatantly bioengineered in the case of Death Riders, so I expect them to be significantly faster than normal horses.

Considering real world race horses can reach 70 kph, I could see a Rough Rider horses reaching 100 kmh.

^Source that thay're faster and not just tougher/have more endurance?

They could be just like Space Marines, stronger, tougher and quicker reactions, but not faster enough to merit a stat increase in-game.

 Da Boss wrote:
If space marines can run at 60kph how fast can genestealers, gaunts and eldar run since they are definitely faster than space marines?

Eldar heavily depends on the individual quality, with higher end characters like Lelith, Phoenix Lords and Harlequins being basically "yes, they are faster than whatever your are thinking".

Solitaires get the cake, with their current rules allowing them to outrun pretty much anything that isn't an aircraft.

With Tyranids... Well depends on how fast the Hive Mind wanted to make them today, given their heavily customised bioengineered nature.

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.

So do Genestealers run at 70kph? Eldar too? and hourmagaunts are even faster so we looking at 90kph, or 100kph?

We actually have a statement in Warriors of Ultramar of a Tyranid Swarm covering 60 kilometres in an hour, and even that not being their fastest speed.

Unlike everyone else, Tyranids do not use transports for mobility and yet we have examples of Tyranid armies outmaneuvering mechanised ones.

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.

Which Tyranids? Because we know some of them can be very fast. Also Nids are known for being fast through difficult terrain, whereas armored vehicles are prone to getting stuck or have to move at more cautious speeds, making it very believable that Nids can outmaneuver mechanized units (especiallly ones modeled on WWI/WWII tech). There have also been biomorphs which increase the speed of Nids, or the hive mind can be capable of pushing it's "bodies" beyond their typical limit.

There's more wiggle room for high "Nid swarm speed", narratively speaking.

The same is not the case for Eldar though, and they're also faster than Marines. But we don't hear about typical Eldar running around at crazy speeds. So this still caps Marine speed. If Guardians aren't running around at 50kph, then Marines shouldn't either.



Automatically Appended Next Post:

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:

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.

I think this is really more in line of an uncanny valley response. For uncanny valley, things need to only be slightly different than expectation. A "human" moving with slightly quicker reaction times and with slightly faster explosive power would be enough to be jarring, especially if it's a huge guy in armor.

But "unexpectedly faster" doesn't need to be a huge jump in top speeds, especially when it's already exceedingly rare to see a human move over 20mph, and if they are it's going to be in the realm of athletic events and wearing gym shorts.

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

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

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:

So whilst I’d still stand by my “20mph is really fast all things considered, but shy of being silly”?

Kmh for marching and mph for sprinting? The unit swapping is hurting mah brain Doc.

My bad! Should be 20mph.

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:
My bad! Should be 20mph.

Well I disagree with that speed for marching (that is already elite level sprinting) but at least we got consistent units.

For reference 20mph is a mile every 3 minutes. The current world record for running a mile is 3:43.

You're saying Marines "march" for extended periods 25% faster than an elite athlete runs a single mile.

Darn, they are superhumans, designed to do super things. Why can't they march 20mph if needed?

 kabaakaba wrote:
Darn, they are superhumans, designed to do super things. Why can't they march 20mph if needed?

Because a quick google search tells me that a "fast time march", essentially a "moderate jog" is about 6 mph. Armies aren't doing that for any length of time in full kit. Moving that fast for days in full gear is already superhuman. Doubling that speed, pushing that to 10-12mph in battle-ready kit and doing it for hours/days is already a dream capability for any commander, and sufficiently superhuman.

If the argument is that an average Marine in full battle gear is "marching" 25% faster than the fastest mile-run-guy (specially trained, proper equipment, ideal surface, peak day of performance), I'm not there for it.

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.

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:
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.

Endurance is also exactly why it doesn't have to be 20mph though, too. 10-12 is already a run.

I'm going to clarify my current position.

I believe a marine reaching 60kph is believable, but I was speaking of sprinting in good terrain in a straight line. Think a marine charging into melee.

I do not believe Marines march at 60kph. A Marine marching is going to be significantly much slower. So I think a sustainable marching speed should be around 20kph/12mph.