Which historical armies could a battalion of 2026 Marines defeat?

all of them

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unlimited ammo

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Then all of them.

Read about what happened to the Comanches once we invented repeating rifles.

Woke DEI Marines or the real Marines?

Why the frick would you give them unlimited ammo?

Why not IDDQD while you're at it?

How big an army we talking about? The entire German Army of WW2?

I couldn’t come up with a number.

Welcome other parameters from the board for discussion. Certain old armies would also have heavy artillery and many thousands of fighters. And the Marines still have to sleep sometime.

Define what you mean by army. I say that because what constitutes an Army can vary wildly based on time period. For example, the Army of Northern Virginian at its apex in 1863 consisted of three Corps and a division of cavalry with the equivalent of two artillery brigades. But it was equipped with muzzle loading muskets and cannons. Thus, its volume of fire compared to 20th century armies was minuscule. Fast forward a little over 50 years to WWI. A typical German field army in 1914-18 likewise was usually made up of three Corps with a cavalry division a usually 3-4 artillery brigades, though this could vary depending on circumstances. This meant Imperial German field armies had almost twice as much artillery, now breechloading, as field armies from the mid-19th century such as the Army of Northern Virginia. And the infantry was equipped with bolt-action rifles and, most importantly, copious amounts of machine guns.

Also, when you say a battalion of Marines, are you meaning purely a battalion of Marine riflemen with their organic mortar assists? Or are you including the external resources usually at the disposal of a typical Marine battalion, specifically artillery and air support?

Having said all that, as long as we’re talking about a modern Marine battalion against a historic army, they could almost certainly handle a field army from the mid-19th century like the Army of Northern Virginia. But if they had to face a formation like the Imperial German 1st Army, a modern Marine battalion would be wiped out. The numbers and firepower would simply be too lopsided in favor of the Germans in this instance. That is unless the Marines could call on additional external assets such a as artillery battalions and close air support.

Are the Marines mobile or on foot? Do they have heavy weapons or not? When you start facing off against industrial era armies this would be a factor. A Civil War army would have artillery that could outrange most of the Marine's individual weapons. A combined arms Marine task force would run roughshod over most anything earlier than the 1960s.

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Why not IDDQD while you're at it?

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:Iunderstoodthatreference: