Based on what? Really I'd like to some evidence here.Mith wrote:Well, I guess I should give my own analysis on this. Oh, and JMS, as far as 'invasions go', I suppose relative peace would be the best assumption.
Size & Industry
Clearly, the Imperium has a much larger bulk than the Federation. Their industry would simply be unbelievably massive. At the same time however, their sophistication I think is inferior. It takes them decades to build large warships--and although these ships are much more massive than UFP ships, the UFP's production rate is clearly much higher (although, it should be noted that this is a more recent thing--early UFP would have been easily outmatched).
That said, the populations of both are actually around the same. The Federation had lost millions during the war with the dominion and the end estimation should the Alph-Beta powers lose the war was 900 billion (civilian and military assumed) and the Imperium has 'countless billions'. Given the rather violent nature of 40k, I suppose it isn't too shocking that the don't vastly outnumber the more prosperous Federation by a hundred to one.
Fleets
Fleet sizes. The Federation has a confirmed 10,000 starships minimum and a more probablye 30,000 (note two factors; the registry numbers of 70,000+ starships and that the authors of DS9 considered that to be the fleet numbers. Also note that the UFP uses a great deal of older ships). The Imperium, taking Oraghan's higher end number of 50,000 or so, would be considerably larger.
In terms of general upkeep, both sides are actually commonly seen using really old designs. Miranda, Excelsior, and even Connies were seen in the Dominion War, despite being over a hundred years old in some cases. The same can be said for the Imperium, though they can number in the hundreds of years.
That said, I would actually consider the Federation fleets to be in better shape overall. The Federation has a healtheir industry and doesn't rely upon archaic technology surrounded in mystery.
Ground Combat
No doubt about it this is where 40k trounces Trek ground forces. Even with phasers set to high enough levels to one shot Space Marines, the Federation is simply not a war-like culture. That said, they do have the potential to be just as powerful, if not more so than the Imperium on ground combat, if they were really clever and used a great deal of tech-of-the-week.
That said, I see most ground battles going to the Imperium unless the UFP forces have space superority, in which case precise strikes against military targest is probably their only means of taking control. I could see that even coming to hurt the UFP more, given that this would mean a Starship would need to remain within reasonable distance in order to assist.
Just some general thoughts on it.
The IoM has a vastly better Military due to the fact.. they are a real military. No Hippies in space with weapons.
The one advantage is Speed. With no warp the IoM is some trouble. They won't be able to react as fast.
Ship vs Ship.
Lets assume the weapons are about equal.
The IoM ships still have more of them per ship. And more ships. The ground battle isn't worth mentioning.
The IoM simply covers more space then the Federation and are geared for a real war, and will not shy from it. The Federation can't say the same. No matter how awesome Picard and Sisko are (and they are bloody awesome)
