Well the Star Wars EU is such a mess that power levels are all over the place, and there's certainly some versions of SW canon that would beat 40k. Specifically I'm talking about the part of the EU where Starkiller and the Sun Crusher live.

 

There are 20 guys in every Space Marine chapter that could wreck face with Starkiller in hand-to-hand combat, and pull off just as many cool tricks in the middle of a fight. And those aren't even the legendary Psykers.

 

Factor in that every Power Weapon (standard issue to Librarians and Inquisitors, and common enough on even seargents in the Guard) generates a field of raw, destructive power (sound familiar? It's like a lightsaber with a cruncy candy center), and in addition to just plain having raw mass that lightsabers lack, is likely being swung by a 7' tall genetic demigod that may or may not be using his psychic gifts (if he has them) to amplify himself to insane levels. And he's likely wearing armor that makes counter-attacks unlikely.

 

Each Librarian is also equipped with a device that does nothing but allows them to completely shut down anyone trying to use psychic powers in their vicinity, and they're personally 'iron will' personified. Factor in multiple redundant vital organs, and even some new ones (acidic blood, venomous spit - I'm dead serious, too, these are STANDARD Space Marine augmentations), and are trained specifically to fight not only physical threats but daemonic/psychic threats as routine...

 

These are people that are born, bred, armed, and trained to literally live in combat every single moment and devote their lives to it.

 

The Sun Crusher would only be an issue due to the superior sublight engines. However, it's one ship - the Imperium has thousands of ships on-par or vastly superior to the Death Star that are more then happy to go from planet to planet, unleashing orbital bombardments that make Taris look like a fireworks festival. Most Imperium ships are also designed to deal with far heavier ordinance then their Star Wars counterparts are - and by extension, they're used to having to put out more. While somewhat 'indestructible' in the SW universe, something like a conversion beamer (that does nothing but convert matter into raw energy upon impact - the tougher and more dense the material targeted, the bigger the energy release) would settle the matter Sun Crusher definatively.

 

And none of this is exactly 'uncommon' stuff.

Edited January 2, 2012 by Foxfirega

The Imperium is notoriously xenophobic, like the Empire x10000. I would imagine the Imperium would partner with the Empire to exterminate (not enslave) all alien species and then incorporate the Empire into the Imperium. Alien force users would be exterminated while human force users would be taken by the Black Ships to further server the true Emporer who sits on the Golden Throne.

The Imperium is notoriously xenophobic, like the Empire x10000. I would imagine the Imperium would partner with the Empire to exterminate (not enslave) all alien species and then incorporate the Empire into the Imperium. Alien force users would be exterminated while human force users would be taken by the Black Ships to further server the true Emporer who sits on the Golden Throne.

 

Empire's still full of unsanctioned psykers.

 

Purge the heretic, purge the alien, purge the mutant!

You know sometimes brute force or sheer numbers doesn't always win you the fight. And for argument sake i'm encompasing all of SW including the EU, because frankly even if GL doesn't want to acknowledge half of what in it he still make money out of it.

 

I'm going to start in saying that i'm not that well versed in Warhammer 40k so take everything I say here with a grain of Salt.

 

while the FTL is clearly on the SW advantage here and that Warhammer have people they can send in without even making a dent in their numbers. SW have the Force,

 

"The Force is what gives a Jedi his power. It's an energy field created by all living things. It surrounds us and penetrates us; it binds the galaxy together." - Obiwan Kenobi.

 

And I don't think Librairians would stand much chance against a Jedi, Dark Jedi or even a Sith since their powers have nothing to do with being psychic.

 

As we have seen the force will always keep the balance in the SW universe. Order 66 and with Luke redeeming his father are example of the balance.

 

So in the short W40K might seem to have the upper hand at first but SW will end up the victor in the long run sure the loss of life will catastrophic, the Force will prevail(unless they find a way to destroy it)

 

W40K vs SW, The Force wins because that what it wanted

You know sometimes brute force or sheer numbers doesn't always win you the fight. And for argument sake i'm encompasing all of SW including the EU, because frankly even if GL doesn't want to acknowledge half of what in it he still make money out of it.

 

I'm going to start in saying that i'm not that well versed in Warhammer 40k so take everything I say here with a grain of Salt.

 

while the FTL is clearly on the SW advantage here and that Warhammer have people they can send in without even making a dent in their numbers. SW have the Force,

 

"The Force is what gives a Jedi his power. It's an energy field created by all living things. It surrounds us and penetrates us; it binds the galaxy together." - Obiwan Kenobi.

 

And I don't think Librairians would stand much chance against a Jedi, Dark Jedi or even a Sith since their powers have nothing to do with being psychic.

 

As we have seen the force will always keep the balance in the SW universe. Order 66 and with Luke redeeming his father are example of the balance.

 

So in the short W40K might seem to have the upper hand at first but SW will end up the victor in the long run sure the loss of life will catastrophic, the Force will prevail(unless they find a way to destroy it)

 

W40K vs SW, The Force wins because that what it wanted

 

You assume the force is the only godly will in this battle, try the C'tan, Ruinous Powers(Chaos Gods) and the God Emperor himself, that's not counting the old ones, etc....they counter each other, so no, the force, does not win this fight.

 

Oh and the Average Jedi wouldn't stand a chance against a Librarian, not even close, Librarians can win whole wars by themselves, thats the sole reason the Imperium doesn't wipe them out for being Psykers.

You know sometimes brute force or sheer numbers doesn't always win you the fight. And for argument sake i'm encompasing all of SW including the EU, because frankly even if GL doesn't want to acknowledge half of what in it he still make money out of it.

 

I'm going to start in saying that i'm not that well versed in Warhammer 40k so take everything I say here with a grain of Salt.

 

while the FTL is clearly on the SW advantage here and that Warhammer have people they can send in without even making a dent in their numbers. SW have the Force,

 

"The Force is what gives a Jedi his power. It's an energy field created by all living things. It surrounds us and penetrates us; it binds the galaxy together." - Obiwan Kenobi.

 

And I don't think Librairians would stand much chance against a Jedi, Dark Jedi or even a Sith since their powers have nothing to do with being psychic.

 

As we have seen the force will always keep the balance in the SW universe. Order 66 and with Luke redeeming his father are example of the balance.

 

So in the short W40K might seem to have the upper hand at first but SW will end up the victor in the long run sure the loss of life will catastrophic, the Force will prevail(unless they find a way to destroy it)

 

W40K vs SW, The Force wins because that what it wanted

 

Direct counterpoint: Every human in the Imperium is at least partially psychic through connection to the Warp of Chaos. Those who aren't (Blanks) are a) rare and b) make everyone else uncomfortable because they project a bubble of null-Warp presence that actively prevents Psychic ability from acting (and because everyone in the Imperium has a warp presence and is thus limitedly psychic, is a jarring experience).

 

The Warp <-> The Force, albeit the former is through a very dark, dystopian mirror. Because it is Chaos Embodied.

 

Because of this, and because a Psychic Hood is an active, directed psychic assault against the mind of the enemy psyker (interrupting their ability to access the warp, and otherwise focus themselves), I imagine that they would still be able to shut down a Force user with the same ease as they do other psykers (that is, your mileage may vary - Space Marines as a rule are very strong willed, as are Inquisitors, but then again so are a lot of Jedi/Sith; At best it would be a stalemate).

 

Further, a Librarian has a full suite of powers beyond just shutting down enemy psykers. In addition to being just as, if not more, capable in hand-to-hand combat as a Captain or Chapter Master (best in the unit, in guys that are renowned for combat), there are a number of psychic powers that do nothing but make the user stronger, faster, harder, better. In addition to crazy things like firing blasts of energy that bore through the hardest tank armor like it were tissue paper, lightning, flames, providing forcefields, breaking the will of people around them, etc. It's an exhaustive toolbox.

 

The real edge up here for the Librarian is twofold: First, the psychic hood. Second, anything that grants an Invulnerability save (Terminator Armor, which makes one pretty much a walking tank; Certain wargear items or psychic powers that project forcefields). The key advantages of a Jedi/Sith are neutralized here - they can't leverage full use of the Force in this instance, and there is a very good chance that their lightsaber won't actually penetrate the armor of their opponent or they're faced with the fact that they never get an opportunity, as force weapons (wrapped in energy fields and made of nigh-impenetrable materials) can be used for defense as well as offense.

 

At that point, it becomes a war of attrition that because of how many biological augments the Space Marine has (including the ability to go without sleep for months at a time), the Jedi/Sith is at a serious disadvantage. They're only human, and that's only a very thin label your average Space Marine wears.

 

...Sorry, I just find discussions like this interesting. Further worth noting that, while a Chapter Master or Captain wouldn't have the psychic hood or the abilities of a Librarian (anywhere outside of the Grey Knights anyway), they would be even more formidable in close-combat and are all generally centuries old, having spent the majority of that time in combat.

 

It's not a fair contest at all.

You assume the force is the only godly will in this battle, try the C'tan, Ruinous Powers(Chaos Gods) and the God Emperor himself, that's not counting the old ones, etc....they counter each other, so no, the force, does not win this fight.

 

Oh and the Average Jedi wouldn't stand a chance against a Librarian, not even close, Librarians can win whole wars by themselves, thats the sole reason the Imperium doesn't wipe them out for being Psykers.

 

Jedi by themselves also won war. Average is Average but there is also the exceptional jedi and there are other people in the SW Universe that are exceptional. Grand Admiral Thrawn is one i can think right now and Jedi by themselves also inspired other even if they were just average.

Jedi by themselves also won war. Average is Average but there is also the exceptional jedi and there are other people in the SW Universe that are exceptional. Grand Admiral Thrawn is one i can think right now and Jedi by themselves also inspired other even if they were just average.

 

I don't think you understand, there are hundreds of thousands of Librarians, the same can't be said for the Jedi order, their highest ever number was 16,000 and that was pre-Clone Wars.

 

What you fail to understand is that WH40k outnumbers Star Wars by infinity, they also have every advantage but Travel, and as i stated in my first post, it's impossible for Star Wars to win.

It's not a war that would be won by the ground troops but rather entirely by naval success.

 

It's no secret that the ships, weapons, armor and personnel required for a fleet can be built, trained, equipped and fielded in a far shorter time frame for the SW forces compared to the 40k ones.

 

The advantage of reliable FTL, the (comparative) ease with which they can replace their losses. The SW factions should win.. eventually.

 

Don't get me wrong though, the casualties would be truly horrific.

Edited January 2, 2012 by WatchTheGrass

It's not a war that would be won by the ground troops but rather entirely by naval success.

 

It's no secret that the ships, weapons, armor and personnel required for a fleet can be built, trained, equipped and fielded in a far shorter time frame for the SW forces compared to the 40k ones.

 

The advantage of reliable FTL, the (comparative) ease with which they can replace their losses. The SW factions should win.. eventually.

 

Don't get me wrong though, the casualties would be truly horrific.

 

The Imperium doesn't have a problem making newer ships as long as they're not battlecruiser+ grade, actually. They have entire planets for that express purpose, as do they have entire planets that do nothing but train and ship off Imperial Naval recruits. While the turnaround isn't near as fast as it is with the Imperial Guard ("Get on the boat, we'll teach you how not to die on the way."), they still have enough planets doing so that they can churn them out constantly.

 

Cruisers and below are not uncommon for Forge Worlds to churn out, and the problem with the logic here is that while they do take a bit longer to get going then in SW... they're already in bulk and have millions of ships in the Imperial Navy as it is. It's a guarantee that the Republic would be exhausted long before the Imperium.

 

It's entirely the fact that the Republic generally only has control over the core worlds, and loose membership for the surrounding galaxy... and the Imperium has almost full control over a galaxy all to itself fueling it's war engine, and in constant high-attrition mode all of the time.

 

You're throwing a setting that is designed for constant war, strife, and conflict against one that's smaller in scale designed to support more dramatic, engaging storylines and conflicts. If it comes to a war, there's no question who's going to win here - it's the guys that won't even have to bother gearing up to do it as they're already in high gear from the gate and haven't stopped being so for millenia.

40k power levels are also really, really confusing. Space Marines are either elite versions of Imperial Guardsmen, high level though not overwhelmingly powerful units, or gods among men among gods depending on the writer, and more importantly, who's POV it is. It's not as bad as Star Wars, where Jedi sometimes develop the ability to throw black holes around and pull starships out of the sky and sometimes have trouble force choking a single guy, but there is a degree of variance among 40k lore. Edited January 2, 2012 by Archereon

There are 20 guys in every Space Marine chapter that could wreck face with Starkiller in hand-to-hand combat, and pull off just as many cool tricks in the middle of a fight. And those aren't even the legendary Psykers.

 

Factor in that every Power Weapon (standard issue to Librarians and Inquisitors, and common enough on even seargents in the Guard) generates a field of raw, destructive power (sound familiar? It's like a lightsaber with a cruncy candy center), and in addition to just plain having raw mass that lightsabers lack, is likely being swung by a 7' tall genetic demigod that may or may not be using his psychic gifts (if he has them) to amplify himself to insane levels. And he's likely wearing armor that makes counter-attacks unlikely.

 

Each Librarian is also equipped with a device that does nothing but allows them to completely shut down anyone trying to use psychic powers in their vicinity, and they're personally 'iron will' personified. Factor in multiple redundant vital organs, and even some new ones (acidic blood, venomous spit - I'm dead serious, too, these are STANDARD Space Marine augmentations), and are trained specifically to fight not only physical threats but daemonic/psychic threats as routine...

 

These are people that are born, bred, armed, and trained to literally live in combat every single moment and devote their lives to it.

 

The Sun Crusher would only be an issue due to the superior sublight engines. However, it's one ship - the Imperium has thousands of ships on-par or vastly superior to the Death Star that are more then happy to go from planet to planet, unleashing orbital bombardments that make Taris look like a fireworks festival. Most Imperium ships are also designed to deal with far heavier ordinance then their Star Wars counterparts are - and by extension, they're used to having to put out more. While somewhat 'indestructible' in the SW universe, something like a conversion beamer (that does nothing but convert matter into raw energy upon impact - the tougher and more dense the material targeted, the bigger the energy release) would settle the matter Sun Crusher definatively.

 

And none of this is exactly 'uncommon' stuff.

 

In certain EU iterations, individual star destroyers are capable of sterilizing entire worlds with a few hours of bombardment, with large fleets being capable of cracking a planet into tiny pieces in a matter of minutes. Plus the Death star is actually better in terms of raw destructive power than any Imperial ship; It completely vaporizes a planet rather than shattering it like high powered Exterminatus does in 40k. Then there's that battlestation that was capable of triggering supernovas in star systems tens of thousands of light years away For the sake of giving SW a chance, I'm looking at the most favorable parts of canon in terms of power level.

 

Honestly, people are really undervaluing what the mobility advantage gives to the Star Wars: It would force the Imperium to either leave themselves open to attack by one of their many, many enemies. In the time it would take for the Imperium to bring a battlefleet to Star Wars space, the Republic/Empire/Whoever could easily have gone and sterilized the agri worlds feeding dozens of hive and forge worlds, which would starve in a matter of years. If Star Wars could survive the initial surge of Imperial forces, this advantage would become cumulative; either the Imperium would be forced on the defensive, or carefully calculated attacks would cripple all their assets in the vicinity of the SW nation. While that wouldn't put a dent in the Imperium as a whole, it would make any future assaults on Republic/Empire space more difficult, and compound the mobility advantage. The sheer size of the Imperium would also help SW in the same way its helped the Tau; it would draw a lot of the nastier denizens of the galaxy, particularly Chaos and the Tyranids away from SW.

 

In short, I think SW would survive in the 40K galaxy in the same way the Tau do.

Edited January 2, 2012 by Archereon

In certain EU iterations, individual star destroyers are capable of sterilizing entire worlds with a few hours of bombardment, with large fleets being capable of cracking a planet into tiny pieces in a matter of minutes. Plus the Death star is actually better in terms of raw destructive power than any Imperial ship; It completely vaporizes a planet rather than shattering it like high powered Exterminatus does in 40k. Then there's that battlestation that was capable of triggering supernovas in star systems tens of thousands of light years away For the sake of giving SW a chance, I'm looking at the most favorable parts of canon in terms of power level.

 

if you are talking about the Delta Base Zero thing a star destroyer does it's not canon as it goes against what is set in the movies.

 

However yes the death star would be a HUGE advantage for Star Wars especially if its the 2nd death star that can fire every few minutes. If protected the Death star could do massive damage.

Well as I said, I'm trying to give SW a fighting chance, and the movies never said a Star Destroyer couldn't destroy a planet, they just never did.

 

Plus the Imperium is absolutely horrendous at logistics, in no small part to its sheer size. In a hypothetical SW 40k crossover, the Republic/Empire could have conquered or sterilized hundreds of worlds before the Imperium even realized they were under attack. This would give SW a familiarity with 40k technology, and even the opportunity to reverse engineer some of their stuff or take over the production facilities (something the Imperium would never do), which would even the weapons technology gap quickly if the Republic/Empire survived int he initial surge of Imperial forces.

Edited January 2, 2012 by Archereon

As for force vs psionics, it varies from writer to writer, but both seem to be able to perform similar feats. It all boils down to the drawbacks: 40k psionics have some rather substantial risks attached to them, whereas the force doesn't seem to have any.

Jedi and or sith vs some space marines or eldar aspect warriors or orks and so on. That would be a pretty good fight, with the force likely making the difference in a close fight.

 

If you introduce primarchs, daemon primarchs, greater daemons, avatars and things of that magnitude, well that's not even close. Magnus himself could probably obliterate every one of them with a thought.

It's not even possible for Star Wars to win here, it would be facing innumerable legions of forces from multiple different races, all of which have greater technology, strategical advantage and every other advantage but travel.

 

Now let me point something out, the only way you could defeat the Imperium of Man is by destroying either the Astronomican or the Emperor himself if that's even possible, and if you did manage that, congratulations you just made things infinitely more impossible for yourself, you've allowed Chaos to pour in and absorb the entire universe, along with every other universe there is, You have literally let Hell, four different versions of it, loose, because the Emperor and the Astronomican is the only thing stopping the Chaos powers having free reign over everything and everyone.

 

Star Wars simply cannot win, it's a lose/lose situation.

 

Maybe i need to restate this.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rayla_Felana

It's not even possible for Star Wars to win here, it would be facing innumerable legions of forces from multiple different races, all of which have greater technology, strategical advantage and every other advantage but travel.

 

Now let me point something out, the only way you could defeat the Imperium of Man is by destroying either the Astronomican or the Emperor himself if that's even possible, and if you did manage that, congratulations you just made things infinitely more impossible for yourself, you've allowed Chaos to pour in and absorb the entire universe, along with every other universe there is, You have literally let Hell, four different versions of it, loose, because the Emperor and the Astronomican is the only thing stopping the Chaos powers having free reign over everything and everyone.

 

Star Wars simply cannot win, it's a lose/lose situation.

Maybe i need to restate this.

 

 

 

Maybe i need to restate this.

 

Just to play devil's advocate to a fun little discussion here. What if the Jedi were smart enough to realize that once chaos was unleashed into the universe and destroyed humanity, it would burn hot and fast and eventually burn itself out of the galaxy.

 

If you don't know what I'm talking about, read the Alpha Legion horus heresy novel. It's an interesting daydream to match the jedi up with the Cabal. It's a good fit.

 

Here's a good little read about it: http://wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/Cabal

Just to play devil's advocate to a fun little discussion here. What if the Jedi were smart enough to realize that once chaos was unleashed into the universe and destroyed humanity, it would burn hot and fast and eventually burn itself out of the galaxy.

 

If you don't know what I'm talking about, read the Alpha Legion horus heresy novel. It's an interesting daydream to match the jedi up with the Cabal. It's a good fit.

 

Here's a good little read about it: http://wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/Cabal

 

That theory was proven wrong when the Elder Grey Knights figured out, in less than a second the Warp wiped out an entire sub-sector(a small part of Khorne's realm managed to become physical in this region), the galaxy? a few minutes, the universe? maybe an hour, point being, everything would be dead, humans and non-humans, and considering the Ruinous Powers could pour into all the other dimensions, including the Star Wars universe, well you get the idea.

 

And they realized that because the ruinous powers would cause so much massacre in such a small window of time, they might even become self-reliant.

Edited January 3, 2012 by Rayla_Felana

Well as I said, I'm trying to give SW a fighting chance, and the movies never said a Star Destroyer couldn't destroy a planet, they just never did.

 

Plus the Imperium is absolutely horrendous at logistics, in no small part to its sheer size. In a hypothetical SW 40k crossover, the Republic/Empire could have conquered or sterilized hundreds of worlds before the Imperium even realized they were under attack. This would give SW a familiarity with 40k technology, and even the opportunity to reverse engineer some of their stuff or take over the production facilities (something the Imperium would never do), which would even the weapons technology gap quickly if the Republic/Empire survived int he initial surge of Imperial forces.

 

yeah they did when they first get to what's left of Alderan Han Solo says "The entire starfleet couldn't destroy a planet it would take a 1,000 ships with more firepower..."

 

So you get some idea of how big the Empire actually is and how powerfull it is. Not as big as some of the EU books say it is. Plus it's also supposed to be a REALLY huge idea that the Empire now has a weapon that could do that. If they could already reap planetary destruction then the death star wouldn't be a huge deal.

 

I agree with you about the Imperiums lack of logistics but the problem is would a world fal to the empire? or would they give them a good fight. If there are Space Marines there then well forget it.

 

Death Star and the whole imperial fleet would be their best bet.

 

 

That or a straight ground war of Storm Troopers vs Imperial Guard.

That theory was proven wrong when the Elder Grey Knights figured out, in less than a second the Warp wiped out an entire sub-sector(a small part of Khorne's realm managed to become physical in this region), the galaxy? a few minutes, the universe? maybe an hour, point being, everything would be dead, humans and non-humans, and considering the Ruinous Powers could pour into all the other dimensions, including the Star Wars universe, well you get the idea.

 

And they realized that because the ruinous powers would cause so much massacre in such a small window of time, they might even become self-reliant.

 

That's interesting, I'll have to read up more about that. As a world eaters player who thinks the new GK codex is one of the worst abominations ever to be written by Mr. Ward (saying a lot) I'll just say that it serves them right! ... sorry for the bit of off topic.

Well as I said, I'm trying to give SW a fighting chance, and the movies never said a Star Destroyer couldn't destroy a planet, they just never did.

 

Plus the Imperium is absolutely horrendous at logistics, in no small part to its sheer size. In a hypothetical SW 40k crossover, the Republic/Empire could have conquered or sterilized hundreds of worlds before the Imperium even realized they were under attack. This would give SW a familiarity with 40k technology, and even the opportunity to reverse engineer some of their stuff or take over the production facilities (something the Imperium would never do), which would even the weapons technology gap quickly if the Republic/Empire survived int he initial surge of Imperial forces.

 

they do in A New Hope. When they reach Alderan Han says

 

"The Empire couldn't destroy a planet it would take a 1,000 ships and more firepower then.."

 

So that one line gives an indication of just how big the empire's fleet is and just how powerfull it is. The idea of the Death Star is that it was something more powerfull the universe had ever seen.

 

Of course authors of EU books have always tried to one up each other and make things more dire and the weapons more powerful then before so it seems more dangerous.

 

 

Thankfully due to the cannon system all these extra EU stuff is not canon so it doesn't get out of hand

 

But I agree with you on your other statement on the Imperium and their logistics.

Edited January 3, 2012 by jarjarloves

yeah they did when they first get to what's left of Alderan Han Solo says "The entire starfleet couldn't destroy a planet it would take a 1,000 ships with more firepower..."

 

So you get some idea of how big the Empire actually is and how powerfull it is.

********, Han Solo is not a credible authority on either the number of ships the Empire has nor their firepowers, Han Solo is a former Stormtrooper and a smuggler at this point. This would be akin to asking a US Marine turned coyote about the capabilities of a W88 warhead which he's never even seen. In fact later in the movie someone far more qualified than Han, General Dodonna, has this to say: The battle station is heavily shielded and carries a firepower greater than half the star fleet.

Not as big as some of the EU books say it is. Plus it's also supposed to be a REALLY huge idea that the Empire now has a weapon that could do that. If they could already reap planetary destruction then the death star wouldn't be a huge deal.

Planetary destruction wasn't the problem, it's planetary shields that hold off assaults for months, years, or even indefinitely in some cases. The Death Stars purpose was to shoot through these planetary shields. Besides a planetary bombardment that atomizes everything on the surface is orders of magnitude less than popping a planet like an M67 grenade.

 

I agree with you about the Imperiums lack of logistics but the problem is would a world fal to the empire? or would they give them a good fight. If there are Space Marines there then well forget it.

It takes months or years for an Imperium task force to go from one area to another, it takes the Galactic Empire less than a half hour to go from the the Core Worlds to the outer rim. All that is necessary is for the Empire to hyperspace in, blast the planetary defense forces and jump out. Hell as per the Force Unleashed novelization it only took five months for the Imperials to complete a brand new shipyard over Raxus Prime and have the first ships off the line. Edited January 3, 2012 by DarthMoord

********, Han Solo is not a credible authority on either the number of ships the Empire has nor their firepowers, Han Solo is a former Stormtrooper and a smuggler at this point. This would be akin to asking a US Marine turned coyote about the capabilities of a W88 warhead which he's never even seen. In fact later in the movie someone far more qualified than Han, General Dodonna, has this to say: The battle station is heavily shielded and carries a firepower greater than half the star fleet.

Planetary destruction wasn't the problem, it's planetary shields that hold off assaults for months, years, or even indefinitely in some cases. The Death Stars purpose was to shoot through these planetary shields. Besides a planetary bombardment that atomizes everything on the surface is orders of magnitude less than popping a planet like an M67 grenade.

 

Ummm he's a credible source because that was the entire purpose of that line. George Lucas wrote that so you could understand just how powerful this weapon is.

 

I'm glad you brought up General Dodonna's statement because it reinforces what I said.

 

"The battle station is heavily shielded and carries a firepower greater than half the star fleet."

 

he's referring to the defensive capabilities.

 

1. The Main gun is not a defensive weapon. It can only be fired once every hour in A New Hope.

 

2. All the turbo lasers turrets and other guns on the Death Star are what is equal to half the Star Fleet. Which makes sense given the size of the death star.

 

3. remember he is giving a briefing on why they can't attack the Death Star with Capital ships. As it is designed to fend off large capital ships with the power of half the entire fleet. If he was just talking about the main gun then all they would have to do is fly 1 capital ship in let it get destroyed then send the rest in and have an hour to destroy the death star.

 

4. Your analogy is wrong for Han Solo. It would be more like a solider being asked about the capabilities of the US Army which any soldier would be able to answer that. Most citizens would be able to answer that as Military Strength is something that is WIDLY publicized. Especially in an oppressive government like THE EMPIRE!!!

 

Think about Soviet Russia the frequently had large parades flexing their military muscle. To show just how powerful they were. You don't think the Empire did the same? To keep the planets in check?

In general, I've always seen the Imperium of Man as a force that could hurt the glalactic power of Star Wars dearly, but would ultimately fail. Not because of the Force or Jedi/Sith or even more advanced technology, but some far more mundane.

 

The Star Wars universe has a massive mobility advantage, and with that the ability to maintain a horrendous logistical edge. The qualitative edge in their equipment and personnel would be more telling after several years of battle, when the Imperium is struggling to bring more massive legions of guardsmen and fleets to bear due to their slower FTL, while the SW forces can keep moving and resupplying at will.

 

WH40K powers would leave scars that would never really heal and be the largest war the SW powers would ever see, but they'd eventually lose.