Fight!
If its axe head was made of tungsten carbide or U-238 it might crack the Abrams’ armor, or at least disable the guns. And the tank can’t chase it around Moria.
The Balrog wins.
Could a balrog lift an M1 and just chuck it off the mountain?
Not likely. The strongest balrog there ever was couldn’t even fend off an elf captain.
It’s like Batman vs. Captain America: everything depends on the venue.
Out in a wheatfield, the tank pops the Balrog at long range. In a cramped, crowded forest, the Balrog can get up close, and will eventually figure out how to break the tank’s treads.
(Combined arms: tanks aren’t for poop without infantry, artillery, and air support.)
Is it a magical Abrams with the mana-ball canister round and runic wards add on armor package?
What if it’s this Abrams?
I think Balrog has lens flare immunity along with a +6 on saves vs reboot.
The Balrog just gets on top of the tank and allows it to absorb a lot of that heat and fire until it doesn’t like it anymore.
Balrog wins. Fire may not do too much to an M1A2 Abrams; the crew, on the other hand…
Does the Balrog have wings?
What is a balrog? If it is those dragons from LOTR, didn’t dwarves kill them using magical guided arrows? According to the LOTR wiki, they are only twice as tall as elfs, so just big lizards with wings. It would surely die from a quick machine gun burst, right? The Abrams can just blast it away from hundreds of metres away using the fifty.
Since Balrogs are Maiar and can command nature to do their will (see the battle of wills between Gandalf and the Balrog over whether a certain door should be open or closed), the 'Rog would just command all the ammunition to explode.
Well, my last Diablo III character was a barbarian named “Abrams” (because he’s a tank, of course), and he was able to solo the lord of all demons. I don’t remember if there were balrogs in the game, but they can’t be any tougher than the Prime Evil.
dude robert, Balrogs are demons, not dragons.
The Abrams might have pretty good mobility, but how is it traversing dungeons? Might have some problems crossing Durin’s Bridge?
My money is on the Balrog, he doesn’t have to cleave the tank, just heat it until it explodes. The tank shells will not kill a Balrog, though it might knock it down for a while, hopefully long enough for the crew to realize they should drive away fast.
Or as Gandalf would tell them, “Fly you fools!”
Does the M1A2 Abrams have wings?
Yes, but not attached to the tank itself. Rather, the tank’s wings are attached to the A10s that they’ll radio in for air support.
Black arrows are not guided :o
And a Balrog is not a lizard, its a corrupted maiar and not sure how bound its form may be as compared to the limitations imposed on the Istari, so the .50 might be just a waste of ammunition.
Since elves are taller than humans, Balrog might be 14 to 20 feet tall.
And again, it isn’t mortal flesh and blood
Or, it might have mortal flesh and blood, but only as a sort of garment it wears over its true self.