Space Marines are the poster boys of Warhammer 40,000 and for many fans the ultimate power fantasy. But they are by no means invincible. A few aliens even have weapons that can punch right through their thick armor by default.
Genetically engineered supersoldiers are certainly a powerful weapon, and Space Marines are one of the reasons why the Imperium is one of the most powerful factions in Warhammer 40,000.
As they are literally superhuman, they can wear armor and wield weapons that a normal human could not even put on. They have better reflexes, are taller, and live significantly longer.
A user on Reddit played as a few Space Marines in a mod for Arma 3 and delved deep into the fantasy of these supersoldiers: he simply overran almost every settlement.
At least, until he encountered a few Xenos: T’au, one of the younger species in Warhammer 40,000. They suddenly gave him a real challenge…
“Are the T’au really that deadly?”
The user ConsulJuliusCaesar explains how he simply mows down opponents with his Space Marines. The armor holds up quite well, and he laughed at all the enemies until a group of T’au nearly wiped out his squad.
The Xenos weapons shot straight through his armor as if it were butter, he says. He asks if the weapons of the T’au are really that strong and receives answers from lore fans. In short: Yes, they are.
In the top comment, a user quotes from the novel “Throne of Light” by Guy Haley from 2022. In it, a mercenary in the service of the Inquisition uses a T’au pulse rifle and takes out a Chaos Terminator with just five shots: four to the chest, one to the head.
Terminator armors are the strongest personal armors ever created by the Imperium. They are reinforced with servomotors, allowing even heavy weapons to be wielded with ease. And a T’au rifle simply pierces through them cleanly from front to back.
The T’au have even crazier weapons
In the ongoing discussion, there are more comments about the weapons of the T’au. Because even a pulse rifle is not always enough to take down a Space Marine. The supersoldiers have two hearts, so a single shot to the chest typically wouldn’t kill them at all—if the projectile even gets through the armor and their steel-hard bones.
The traitors and followers of Chaos also receive special blessings from their gods. The Death Guard, for example, followers of Nurgle, could heal their flesh directly, a user explains.
Here the T’au also have an answer: Fusion weapons. They operate with nuclear fusion and simply melt everything, including a Space Marine’s brain: “No one comes back from that.”
The thread creator is so impressed with the T’au after the discussion that he now wants to switch sides.
Pulse weapons are nothing against the guns of the Space Mummies
If you think that the T’au must be the absolute masters when it comes to weapon technology, you are absolutely correct. But even they are overshadowed by another faction: the Necrons.
Necrons are ancient beings trapped in bodies of living metal. While for the T’au things like fusion blasters and pulse rifles are specialized equipment, the Necrons have Gauss technology in their standard weapons.
Gauss weapons do not simply fire projectiles; they disintegrate the target, meaning: those who are hit are dissolved into their components at a molecular level. Not even Land Raiders stand a chance against this, and even a simple foot soldier of the Necrons can pose a threat to a Space Marine.
However, humans are also not the weak, useless beings they are often portrayed to be. Sure, the imperial army primarily serves as cannon fodder, simply overwhelming enemies with their mass. But there are indeed some pretty crazy players in the Imperium: Forget Space Marines: A women’s order in Warhammer 40,000 is much more impressive because they are “just humans”
