What If:

**Aenir** · August 08, 2009, 12:49 AM

I have been noticing a bunch of what if threads lately, and I would like to toss this into the ring,

however this is not a traditional what if, IE had the Japanese launched a 3rd wave at Pearl, what would have happened, but more along the lines of, At Thermopylae could a single modern era infantryman (m-16 and m203, body armor, and such) in additon to the spartans and thebans (and other greeks) have WON the fight? This is also discounting the "Oh god, they have gunpowder....PANIC" and it is just more about could the one man swing the balance?

**bushbush** · August 08, 2009, 12:51 AM

i think that wouldn't change the fact that America had overwhelming industrial and manpower advantage over Japan. Would it delay the american victory for a few years? maybe. Would it overcome all the material disadvantages for Japan in the long run? doubtful.

**Salem1** · August 08, 2009, 01:24 AM

Originally Posted by Aenir

I have been noticing a bunch of what if threads lately, and I would like to toss this into the ring,

however this is not a traditional what if, IE had the Japanese launched a 3rd wave at Pearl, what would have happened, but more along the lines of, At Thermopylae could a single modern era infantryman (m-16 and m203, body armor, and such) in additon to the spartans and thebans (and other greeks) have WON the fight? This is also discounting the "Oh god, they have gunpowder....PANIC" and it is just more about could the one man swing the balance?

This depends on whether he'd have unlimited ammunition or not. Even if he died, he could teach a group of others quickly on how to use the equipment, so that it could be passed around if the unlikely event occured that he'd actually die. So yeah, if he did have unlimited ammunition or at least a whole lot of it, then yes they could have won and indeed most likely would - the only way to counter him would be to overwhelm him with a massive cavalry charge, or use artillery which his body armour wouldn't protect against.

Now if there was a machine gunner there...

Originally Posted by bushbush

i think that wouldn't change the fact that America had overwhelming industrial and manpower advantage over Japan. Would it delay the american victory for a few years? maybe. Would it overcome all the material disadvantages for Japan in the long run? doubtful.

Think you either hid your sarcasm too well or got the wrong thread

**bushbush** · August 08, 2009, 01:30 AM

Originally Posted by Salem1

Think you either hid your sarcasm too well or got the wrong thread

i am just still in disbelief that the OP actually listed some of the stuff there....

**Aenir** · August 08, 2009, 01:58 AM

Originally Posted by bushbush

i am just still in disbelief that the OP actually listed some of the stuff there....

i just like alternative history

Fave plane is the p-38

just wanna get peoples opinions on such things

**frontier-auxilia** · August 08, 2009, 02:13 AM

To be honest i want to know what happaned if Spartacus actually defeated Rome.

**Entropy Judge** · August 08, 2009, 03:27 AM

Originally Posted by Aenir

... could the one man swing the balance?

As noted earlier, unless he had a massive amount of ammunition, no. The Greeks would still have lost the battle. What he might have done, however, is inflict enough casualties to make further invasion impossible - depending on how close the Persian infantry got, his bullets might have enough power to penetrate (unsure ... guns are not my strong suit) and injure/kill multiple soldiers.

The Doomguy with a Berserk Pack, on the other hand ...