Let's get down to business, one Roman Manipular Legon
vs. the royal guard!


The guards are using a greek formation.

Romans learned to defeat phalanx formations early and quickly in their conquests. Ponies, as always, take it in the ass.

2190853
Problem: Equestrian Royal Guards lack meaningful feats with which to compare. They have unknown strength, unknown training, unknown discipline, and unknown tactics. All they literally do besides get set up as redshirts for the big bad(s) of the season to casually brush aside is patrol around looking stoic.

But, in this scenario... considering the Romans are undoubtedly quite familiar with Macedonian psiloi formation tactics, they will at least have an advantage there. Magic is annoying but we don't see many battle-applicable spells nor many unicorns that actually use them in canon so it's not likely a huge problem in the end. Pegasi are also annoyances but are not immune to arrows.

In the end, I think it comes down to attitude. Are the ponies willing to engage in bloody combat or are they stuck in the "non-lethal" mindset?

2190860 Still, they were attacked off guard (No pun interested) and may might have the ability to fight.

2190853
2190860

Not to mention how Romans answer every defeat with more competent redshirts so the royal guard are whittled down as the Carthaginians were. (Competent Redshirt is almost an oxymoron, you know?)

2190886 So... a a red shirt army vs a army wearing red shirts...

2190884
But we don't know. That's my point. We can't make meaningful comparisons because they have no feats.

2190895 Fair enought.

2190860
Well, if the Equestrian royal guard are incapable of holding of an invasion (presumably the entirety had been mustered in defence after a threat was made) for more than A FEW MINUTES, we can presume that they are glorified statues.
2191006
And yet, the entirety of the Royal Guard, with people as strong, if not stronger magically than Shining Armour, were totally incompetent, and lost their CAPITAL CITY to an invasion.

2191006

What if he just channeled it into a destructive force and knocks them all over?

That is, of course, assuming he can do so—despite never having even hinted at, much less shown that kind of ability. It's going to be more complicated than you're making it out to be. Shining Armor has only shown the capacity to cast a shield spell. It's a hasty generalization to assume he can do things we've never seen him (or anypony really) do, not logical scaling.

2191106's got a point, and it's the same point I've made in the past. The Royal Guards as a whole don't ever do anything remotely impressive, existing merely to be set up to fall victim to the villain of the hour. They're basically a joke.

2191145
1.) ...What is RIDF?
2.) If there is no evidence suggesting the existence of something, we don't just assume it exists without basis. We don't rule it out as a hypothesis either. We consider it an equal possibility and look for evidence to support it. Hence why I said that we cannot simply assume he can do things he's never shown aptitude in without supporting that assumption first.

I think there is also the matter of what time period the ponies are in. I mean the Romans especially those using Hastati's, Principe's, etc were from around 200 BC, 2200 years ago. So would the ponies also use equipment, tactics, etc from 2200 years ago?
If so then from what I remember the ponies would all be in tribes and their knowledge of using magic defensively/offensively wouldn't be as substantial, giving the Romans another advantage

The Romans have familiarity with Greek/Macedonian tactics, however it really came down to a matter of numbers. Rome had superior numbers to the Hoplites and could thus afford greater casualties. This might not be the case with Equestria as we do not have a real grasp of the guards size or organization.

The Romans also lack an adequate defense against magic and have never faced flying opponent before.

2191290
Okay then, take the offensive power of a firearm and convert it into a defensive armament. Go on, go it. It should be easy since you can just convert between the two things without a problem, right?

...It's not that simply and you know it isn't that simple. Yeah, a gun isn't the same thing as a magical shield.
...And that's actually my point.

Shining Armor hasn't shown any offensive ability. You're allowed to say "maybe he has them" but until some kind of confirmation appears it's going to stay within the realm of speculation.

Also, a gun isn't a magic shield.

As I said: "...And that's actually my point."

2196208

When fighting a flying enemy can't the Romans just rain down arrows into the sky also they were well trained so that is to assume there archers are good shots. When coming to magic depending humans since theres not any magic in our world be immune to magic? Sinces there's no magic in our body like everything in equestria has? Also Shining armor combat magic shouldn't be that great due to the fact he specializes in shield magic. Therefor if humans are immune to magic they should be able to walk right through the shield. The main capital also can only hold so many guards so that is safe to assume if there is a direct invasion they may only have a couple hundred to 1 thousand or so at most. While the romans probably outnumber them.

2190853 http://www.fimfiction.net/story/235/2/elements-of-tragedy/loyalty-is-loathing

Mane Six vs Julius Caesar. The guy just convinces them to turn on one anither

4226893 This is a 70 week old thread.

Admins pls lock.

4227097

k, I guess.