Quoted:
I don't think the Orcs would be that clever.  They would just trample each other in the panic.  Let their panic and the wall be your main weapons and save ammo for use at the Pelenior fields.

Like I said, drop frags on their heads to deal with the survivors.

Quoted:
Spartan led Greek force of 4,000 guards held the pass of Thermopylae that the Persians needed to get past to invade Greece proper.

We have to remember that while the Persian soldiers themselves might not have understood what it would be like fighting Greeks (because most had never even saw them), the Persian leadership knew what was going to happen, they just didn't really believe it. Who is working with the Persians? None other than the exiled former king of Sparta, that dude is giving a play by play account of how the Greeks fight, how the Spartans fight, they still fucked it all up. Xerxes basically blows him off. Luckily there is no disgraced former Marine that works for the enemy, Jim Webb was too busy on book tours.

A Marine Platoon could win the day, but not alone. Greeks will be there with them, but as a supporting effort only. If nothing else, I want my guys eating hot meals before and after and the Greeks will provide that, no fucking MREs for us.

Here is why I'd do with my platoon armed only with M4s and ACOGs.

1. We all dress like Greeks and stage our weapons and body armor (we'll need them to possibly resist arrow storms) at the pre-staged firing line. The goal is to get them to deploy as if they are fighting hoplites
2. Distances will be marked in 100 meter intervals, with accompanying range flags for wind.
3. All weapons will be properly zeroed at a location many miles away, far enough from Thermopylae, and no Greeks can watch (cant risk a Ephialtes incident). The makeup of the ad hoc squads I'm creating will be based on past shooting ability. The better will shoot further, the worse will get less challenging marksmanship duties.
4. I don't plan to show them the full might of what we're capable of the first battle, just give them enough to break and run. Why spoil everything if we might need to engage them a second time?
5. Xerxes has to die. He's the mission. The proud fucker is going to plant his throne on the side of the mountain just outside bow shot range of the Greeks (300-500 meters away) so he can watch the battle in comfort, while he is shaded, fanned, and given wine and blowjobs. I'm going to interrupt his OODA Loop using a barrage of 5.56 from the best shooters in my platoon shooting from supported positions at known distance and they will light his ass up. I want his ass riddled in bullets and I want his whole army to see it happen. I want them to think Zeus just openly killed their Emperor.  
6. Targeting Xerxes initiates the battle. At that point we will not wait for the enemy to charge our line, we will light them up at max effective range. I don't want panic pushing them into close combat with us, I don't want the pressure from forces in the rear pushing those in the front up closer to us. I want them nowhere close to us. I plan to utterly destroy their morale, cohesion, and I want them to think they've just been attacked by their Gods. I want them to have room to run. The battle isn't about defeating cannon fodder, I don't give a fuck about them. If the Xerxes plan works we already won the war, by chasing off the Persian infantry we also won the battle. So fire into them with intense sustained fire until they break and then we cease fire and start high fiving one another.
7. At this point we break contact, we leave our initial fighting positions, shed our bullshit Greek dress, then take cover in pre-established camo'd fighting positions along the side of the road to the flank of the point element of the Spartans. If the Persians want to keep playing, they will still think the Greeks were responsible for what happened (only those who don't think the Gods did it). So if and when they charge, my guys, now in camies, face paint, and inside their fighting holes, will x-ambush the barbarians and give them a nice rogering from up close and then let the Spartans loose on the surivors to do their thing.
8. I'm also going to have a squad pulling guard on the hidden goat trail. If any Persian force uses it, their point element gets annihilated in near ambush with rapid rate of fire, the rest turn and run away.
9. Battle is over, war is won. Me and my guys get the pick of whatever booty we want. We get our own weight in gold. Supposedly the whores from Athens, the Hetaira, were quite good so they are brought out to us riki-tik. After we fucked and drank our fill, we take our gold and go back to the future. Where we'll probably have to start prepping for some gay ass IG inspection.

* We might be Marines but there is no fucking way I'm risking mine or their lives on those rickety ass boats. So no triremes or naval engagements for us. Besides, with Xerxes dead the throne is in jeopardy and they will be lucky to get across the Hellespont intact.

Quoted:
Spartan led Greek force of 4,000 guards held the pass of Thermopylae that the Persians needed to get past to invade Greece proper.

We have to remember that while the Persian soldiers themselves might not have understood what it would be like fighting Greeks (because most had never even saw them), the Persian leadership knew what was going to happen, they just didn't really believe it. Who is working with the Persians? None other than the exiled former king of Sparta, that dude is giving a play by play account of how the Greeks fight, how the Spartans fight, they still fucked it all up. Xerxes basically blows him off. Luckily there is no disgraced former Marine that works for the enemy, Jim Webb was too busy on book tours.

A Marine Platoon could win the day, but not alone. Greeks will be there with them, but as a supporting effort only. If nothing else, I want my guys eating hot meals before and after and the Greeks will provide that, no fucking MREs for us.

Here is why I'd do with my platoon armed only with M4s and ACOGs.

1. We all dress like Greeks and stage our weapons and body armor (we'll need them to possibly resist arrow storms) at the pre-staged firing line. The goal is to get them to deploy as if they are fighting hoplites
2. Distances will be marked in 100 meter intervals, with accompanying range flags for wind.
3. All weapons will be properly zeroed at a location many miles away, far enough from Thermopylae, and no Greeks can watch (cant risk a Ephialtes incident). The makeup of the ad hoc squads I'm creating will be based on past shooting ability. The better will shoot further, the worse will get less challenging marksmanship duties.
4. I don't plan to show them the full might of what we're capable of the first battle, just give them enough to break and run. Why spoil everything if we might need to engage them a second time?
5. Xerxes has to die. He's the mission. The proud fucker is going to plant his throne on the side of the mountain just outside bow shot range of the Greeks (300-500 meters away) so he can watch the battle in comfort, while he is shaded, fanned, and given wine and blowjobs. I'm going to interrupt his OODA Loop using a barrage of 5.56 from the best shooters in my platoon shooting from supported positions at known distance and they will light his ass up. I want his ass riddled in bullets and I want his whole army to see it happen. I want them to think Zeus just openly killed their Emperor.  
6. Targeting Xerxes initiates the battle. At that point we will not wait for the enemy to charge our line, we will light them up at max effective range. I don't want panic pushing them into close combat with us, I don't want the pressure from forces in the rear pushing those in the front up closer to us. I want them nowhere close to us. I plan to utterly destroy their morale, cohesion, and I want them to think they've just been attacked by their Gods. I want them to have room to run. The battle isn't about defeating cannon fodder, I don't give a fuck about them. If the Xerxes plan works we already won the war, by chasing off the Persian infantry we also won the battle. So fire into them with intense sustained fire until they break and then we cease fire and start high fiving one another.
7. At this point we break contact, we leave our initial fighting positions, shed our bullshit Greek dress, then take cover in pre-established camo'd fighting positions along the side of the road to the flank of the point element of the Spartans. If the Persians want to keep playing, they will still think the Greeks were responsible for what happened (only those who don't think the Gods did it). So if and when they charge, my guys, now in camies, face paint, and inside their fighting holes, will x-ambush the barbarians and give them a nice rogering from up close and then let the Spartans loose on the surivors to do their thing.
8. I'm also going to have a squad pulling guard on the hidden goat trail. If any Persian force uses it, their point element gets annihilated in near ambush with rapid rate of fire, the rest turn and run away.
9. Battle is over, war is won. Me and my guys get the pick of whatever booty we want. We get our own weight in gold. Supposedly the whores from Athens, the Hetaira, were quite good so they are brought out to us riki-tik. After we fucked and drank our fill, we take our gold and go back to the future. Where we'll probably have to start prepping for some gay ass IG inspection.

* We might be Marines but there is no fucking way I'm risking mine or their lives on those rickety ass boats. So no triremes or naval engagements for us. Besides, with Xerxes dead the throne is in jeopardy and they will be lucky to get across the Hellespont intact.

Quoted:
Don't forget to have your Corpsman check the whores first.

Quoted:
After about 1000 rounds spent, the persian soldiers would most likely decide that they had something better to do.

Quoted:


What's your definition of the word primitive?

Quoted:

I'd go a step further and put money on a MEU establishing a medium size country.

Quoted:
Meaning no disrespect for the Marines, but...
the Air Force has a handier way of disposing of disagreeable aliens.

https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/23/ec/92/23ec927009901eb0a01eaba2fb1782c9.jpg

Quoted:


I would think so. I think this will be harder than it sounds if the Marines don't have their SAWs at a minimum.

Quoted:
Not very many, a squad or platoon at most.

I don't see very many bronze age infantrymen advancing into accurate automatic rifle fire.

Quoted:
Exactly! 120,000 fighting men with swords and bows will still take a significant force to suppress/kill. Let's look at facts here.

120,000 men will require obviously 120,000 rounds bare minimum. That's 4000 thirty round mags in a rifle with a 300 yard or so effective range. If you have 500 marines armed with M4's, it would require 8 mag changes and that's if every round met it's target and killed it. You can at least double the mag changes and enemies hit at a bare minimum. So, 500 marines given 16 loaded mags each may do the job.

Quoted:


Exactly! 120,000 fighting men with swords and bows will still take a significant force to suppress/kill. Let's look at facts here.

120,000 men will require obviously 120,000 rounds bare minimum. That's 4000 thirty round mags in a rifle with a 300 yard or so effective range. If you have 500 marines armed with M4's, it would require 8 mag changes and that's if every round met it's target and killed it. You can at least double the mag changes and enemies hit at a bare minimum. So, 500 marines given 16 loaded mags each may do the job.

Quoted:


War isn't a math problem, you're completely discounting the human element.

Also Marines is capitalized.

Quoted:
There is an animated series called GATE.

Basically it's a modern day army against people with middle ages technology.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RjLuYDf-VAY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xFxrzSrVv0I
Pretty satisfying to watch.

Skip to 2:38

Just think too, the Marines could bring some huge ass amps and blast heavy metal on the battle field. Totally freak out and demoralize the enemy.They were primitive people after all.

Quoted:
I never said war was a math problem. I was simply showing very basic equation to a make believe situation.

Quoted:
The correct answer is One. One man with a magic "BOOM STICK".

These were not an advanced people we are talking about. They were still offering sacrifices to a variety of gods and consulted their mystics before battle.

One man standing before an army starts summoning thunder and a horrific "death hole" magically appears in his enemies? "He's a wizard!" "It's a demon!" "The gods are angered at us and have sent their harold to deliver a plague of exploding chest holes!"

I figure about 2 mags tops would be all you need. The resulting collective "Fuck that shit" would be epic.

Quoted:
One with a lot of ammo

Quoted:
The correct answer is One. One man with a magic "BOOM STICK".

These were not an advanced people we are talking about. They were still offering sacrifices to a variety of gods and consulted their mystics before battle.

One man standing before an army starts summoning thunder and a horrific "death hole" magically appears in his enemies? "He's a wizard!" "It's a demon!" "The gods are angered at us and have sent their harold to deliver a plague of exploding chest holes!"

I figure about 2 mags tops would be all you need. The resulting collective "Fuck that shit" would be epic.

Quoted:


Well I did look it up a bit to refresh my memory of the battle

Apparently the original claim was a million.

I still find 100-150K hard to believe though

Maybe its because I just cant fathom looking out into the distance and seeing 100K enemy combatants. That's like mobilizing my entire city to fight a battle, but thousands of years ago

Quoted:
Meaning no disrespect for the Marines, but...
the Air Force has a handier way of disposing of disagreeable aliens.

https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/23/ec/92/23ec927009901eb0a01eaba2fb1782c9.jpg

Quoted:
Spartan led Greek force of 4,000 guards held the pass of Thermopylae that the Persians needed to get past to invade Greece proper.

We have to remember that while the Persian soldiers themselves might not have understood what it would be like fighting Greeks (because most had never even saw them), the Persian leadership knew what was going to happen, they just didn't really believe it. Who is working with the Persians? None other than the exiled former king of Sparta, that dude is giving a play by play account of how the Greeks fight, how the Spartans fight, they still fucked it all up. Xerxes basically blows him off. Luckily there is no disgraced former Marine that works for the enemy, Jim Webb was too busy on book tours.

A Marine Platoon could win the day, but not alone. Greeks will be there with them, but as a supporting effort only. If nothing else, I want my guys eating hot meals before and after and the Greeks will provide that, no fucking MREs for us.

Here is why I'd do with my platoon armed only with M4s and ACOGs.

1. We all dress like Greeks and stage our weapons and body armor (we'll need them to possibly resist arrow storms) at the pre-staged firing line. The goal is to get them to deploy as if they are fighting hoplites
2. Distances will be marked in 100 meter intervals, with accompanying range flags for wind.
3. All weapons will be properly zeroed at a location many miles away, far enough from Thermopylae, and no Greeks can watch (cant risk a Ephialtes incident). The makeup of the ad hoc squads I'm creating will be based on past shooting ability. The better will shoot further, the worse will get less challenging marksmanship duties.
4. I don't plan to show them the full might of what we're capable of the first battle, just give them enough to break and run. Why spoil everything if we might need to engage them a second time?
5. Xerxes has to die. He's the mission. The proud fucker is going to plant his throne on the side of the mountain just outside bow shot range of the Greeks (300-500 meters away) so he can watch the battle in comfort, while he is shaded, fanned, and given wine and blowjobs. I'm going to interrupt his OODA Loop using a barrage of 5.56 from the best shooters in my platoon shooting from supported positions at known distance and they will light his ass up. I want his ass riddled in bullets and I want his whole army to see it happen. I want them to think Zeus just openly killed their Emperor.  
6. Targeting Xerxes initiates the battle. At that point we will not wait for the enemy to charge our line, we will light them up at max effective range. I don't want panic pushing them into close combat with us, I don't want the pressure from forces in the rear pushing those in the front up closer to us. I want them nowhere close to us. I plan to utterly destroy their morale, cohesion, and I want them to think they've just been attacked by their Gods. I want them to have room to run. The battle isn't about defeating cannon fodder, I don't give a fuck about them. If the Xerxes plan works we already won the war, by chasing off the Persian infantry we also won the battle. So fire into them with intense sustained fire until they break and then we cease fire and start high fiving one another.
7. At this point we break contact, we leave our initial fighting positions, shed our bullshit Greek dress, then take cover in pre-established camo'd fighting positions along the side of the road to the flank of the point element of the Spartans. If the Persians want to keep playing, they will still think the Greeks were responsible for what happened (only those who don't think the Gods did it). So if and when they charge, my guys, now in camies, face paint, and inside their fighting holes, will x-ambush the barbarians and give them a nice rogering from up close and then let the Spartans loose on the surivors to do their thing.
8. I'm also going to have a squad pulling guard on the hidden goat trail. If any Persian force uses it, their point element gets annihilated in near ambush with rapid rate of fire, the rest turn and run away.
9. Battle is over, war is won. Me and my guys get the pick of whatever booty we want. We get our own weight in gold. Supposedly the whores from Athens, the Hetaira, were quite good so they are brought out to us riki-tik. After we fucked and drank our fill, we take our gold and go back to the future. Where we'll probably have to start prepping for some gay ass IG inspection.

* We might be Marines but there is no fucking way I'm risking mine or their lives on those rickety ass boats. So no triremes or naval engagements for us. Besides, with Xerxes dead the throne is in jeopardy and they will be lucky to get across the Hellespont intact.

Quoted:

Let me ask you, were you the kid in school when asked to hand in a double lined single page minimum assignment you will come in with a 40 page single spaced reduced gap novel?

Either way, bravo.

Quoted:


Sorry, I'm a stickler. You didn't show an equation (a statement that the values of two mathematical expressions are equal), you did a numbers dump with meaningless data to try to explain a hypothetical military conflict that would be fought by humans, who don't follow mathematical logic. If me and you got into a fist fight, would the winner be decided by the "Tale of the Tape" or something more? Of course something more, no fights are just decided by math. So describing a fight based on statistics and such, with no mention of the human factor, is unwise.