# Who would win, the squad from Predator or Aliens? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 27, 2018, 12:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-win-the-squad-from-predator-or-aliens/822013 "2018-09-27T12:04:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2018, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-win-the-squad-from-predator-or-aliens/822013/21 "2018-09-27T17:59:42Z")
> [@Scumpup](#): > > The SEALS analogy was spot on. The Predator squad is presumably smart and well led enough to do a little recon before committing to battle. This supposes that the Colonial Marines are just sitting around in a jungle somewhere for the Predator team to find. I’d assume that, given the OP, both are entering the “arena” aware that they’ll be facing hostiles and acting accordingly. > [@Patch](#): > > They all switched to IR, but they didn’t detect the aliens. We don’t know if it’s because they blended in with the walls, or if their biology makes them difficult to detect. They remarked that it was hot in the nest, so that may have masked them. My assumption was that the aliens were the same basic temperature as the secretions covering the all the walls (especially in the heat), camouflaging them both visually and from heat signatures. Another aspect of the reactor fight was the aliens’ acidic blood which wouldn’t be an issue when fighting humans. ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2018, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-win-the-squad-from-predator-or-aliens/822013/22 "2018-09-27T18:12:01Z")
> [@Jophiel](#): > > This supposes that the Colonial Marines are just sitting around in a jungle somewhere for the Predator team to find. I’d assume that, given the OP, both are entering the “arena” aware that they’ll be facing hostiles and acting accordingly. Depends on what “the arena” is, I would say. What little we see of both teams in action points at the Predator squad as more comfortable working stealth. The Aliens team did a recon in force. Another point worth considering is that we see team Predator (okay, just Dutch) construct traps and field expedient weapons. We don’t see the Marines do that nor do we have any indication that they are on the lookout for same. Their tech is never shown to have any use detecting traps, either. Dutch and company could whittle down the Marines by use of relatively simple traps. After the first couple grunts are killed or wounded by traps, I expect their morale will suffer. Wounded might actually be better. Then they have to deal with their comrade on top of everything else. ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2018, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-win-the-squad-from-predator-or-aliens/822013/23 "2018-09-27T18:22:23Z")
> [@Scumpup](#): > > Depends on what “the arena” is, I would say. What little we see of both teams in action points at the Predator squad as more comfortable working stealth. The Aliens team did a recon in force. Another point worth considering is that we see team Predator **(okay, just Dutch)** construct traps and field expedient weapons. We don’t see the Marines do that nor do we have any indication that they are on the lookout for same. Their tech is never shown to have any use detecting traps, either. Dutch and company could whittle down the Marines by use of relatively simple traps. After the first couple grunts are killed or wounded by traps, I expect their morale will suffer. Wounded might actually be better. Then they have to deal with their comrade on top of everything else. Dutch’s entire team (the survivors thus far at least) did set up the 2nd camp with traps made from natural materials, after they realized the Predator could see trip wires. Dillon even complains “You really think all this boy scout bullshit is gonna work?” And it was effective - they did catch the Predator in a net until it blasted its way out. ---
**Author:** ![JB99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/439d5e/32.png) [@JB99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JB99)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2018, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-win-the-squad-from-predator-or-aliens/822013/24 "2018-09-27T18:40:54Z")
I was confused because OP talks about a ‘squad’ led by Ripley. Are we talking about the entire platoon? Or just the group of survivors that occupies most of the movie? ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2018, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-win-the-squad-from-predator-or-aliens/822013/25 "2018-09-27T18:52:24Z")
> [@muldoonthief](#): > > Dutch’s entire team (the survivors thus far at least) did set up the 2nd camp with traps made from natural materials, after they realized the Predator could see trip wires. Dillon even complains “You really think all this boy scout bullshit is gonna work?” And it was effective - they did catch the Predator in a net until it blasted its way out. You’re right, they did. I plead that it has been a decade or more since I last saw either movie. ---
**Author:** ![MichaelEmouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/michaelemouse/32/101_2.png) [@MichaelEmouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MichaelEmouse)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2018, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-win-the-squad-from-predator-or-aliens/822013/26 "2018-09-27T18:59:07Z")
> [@JB99](#): > > I was confused because OP talks about a ‘squad’ led by Ripley. Are we talking about the entire platoon? Or just the group of survivors that occupies most of the movie? I’m presuming they start off with much the same relationship as they did at the beginning of the movie; Dismiss her then take the lead from her/Hicks/Apone if they’re still alive. > [@Patch](#): > > They all switched to IR, but they didn’t detect the aliens. We don’t know if it’s because they blended in with the walls, or if their biology makes them difficult to detect. They remarked that it was hot in the nest, so that may have masked them. I don’t know what outside canon says about the matter. I guess their IR wouldn’t have been useful if they’d been up against the Predator then. > [@Patch](#): > > The Marines needed time to recover from the fight in the nest, which would have been devastating to the morale of any unit. Once they bunkered in the facility, they did well. > > I’ll point out that the Marines did proceed with caution, both entering the facility and again when they entered the reactor to search for the colonists, so they weren’t blundering grunts. They moved carefully and kept two motion trackers up and running on both occasions. Their trouble was they got hit hard and quickly lost 4 people (How would Dutch’s team have reacted if in the space of 30 seconds they lost Hawkins, Blain, and Poncho?) They probably would have lost Dietrich and Frost regardless (Dietrich was ambushed and killed Frost with friendly fire), but if everyone had rifles up it would have been a much different fight. > > Which is an interesting aside – if the order to collect magazines hadn’t been given, would the Marines have been wiped out? The aliens overran the sentry guns in the deleted scenes, so it’s possible that with more firepower, the Marines may have felt more confident that they could deal with the aliens and not fallen back. That would have given the aliens more time to respond to the intrusion and called more troops to defend the hive. Drake’s smart gun ran dry before they reached the APC, and Vasquez’s wasn’t likely far behind. They may well have been overrun by sheer numbers. You make a good, counterintuitive point: Having their ammo taken away might have been a good thing for the Marines since panicking and running away, while suboptimal, was preferable to standing and fighting in that situation. I still get the impression that, for the Preds, being even-keeled is the rule with some exceptions (Mac, the guy who breaks his razor shaving himself) while for the Marines, it’s the other way around. Both movies have an “antechamber before Act 2” moment where we see the squad in a dark, cramped vehicle that will deliver them to the valley of death. I invite people to watch and compare the two segments. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2018, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-win-the-squad-from-predator-or-aliens/822013/27 "2018-09-27T19:42:49Z")
> [@Scumpup](#): > > Depends on what “the arena” is, I would say. What little we see of both teams in action points at the Predator squad as more comfortable working stealth. That’s different from implying that they’d so recon and the Marines wouldn’t. Upon arriving, Ferro does a swing across the complex to check for anything. They land and break into squads, Hudson runs the bypass on the door and the Marines enter, again breaking into groups to do a sweep through the complex with motion detectors. After the Marines inside confirm nothing of danger, the rest of the Marines come in and meet up in Operations to check the computer for additional clues, etc. There’s nothing to really suggest that the Colonial Marines would just bumble about or sit on their thumbs while the Predator team scoped them out. You also don’t need cutesy Boy Scout traps when you have four automated sentry guns 😉 What were they going to do – net two hundred xenomorphs? Looking at the script, the Marines didn’t switch to infrared until the aliens started attacking (probably in response them “coming out of the walls”). So we don’t really get a feel for whether the aliens are detectable via infrared or not. ---
**Author:** ![G0sp3l](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c68b51/32.png) [@G0sp3l](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/G0sp3l)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2018, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-win-the-squad-from-predator-or-aliens/822013/28 "2018-09-27T20:35:23Z")
I chose the Colonial Marines. And not just to rep my Corps. Extrapolating from the USMC, they were Force Recon or Long Range Recon. Remember they were expected to self-sufficient and wouldn’t even be missed for ~ 17 days. I also didn’t get a newb vibe from them they were combat vets. Hudson lost his shit AFTER they got their asses kicked, he did his job while it was hot. The Marines detected the xeno movement at about 75 meters (IIRC) that’s a long ass distance, if they ping Dutch and his team, Vasquez and Wierzbowski TPK them in about 40 seconds. A lot depends on if they know they’re in a fight. ---
**Author:** ![Aquadementia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aquadementia/32/555_2.png) [@Aquadementia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aquadementia)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2018, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-win-the-squad-from-predator-or-aliens/822013/29 "2018-09-27T20:40:15Z")
Career wise, the marines are where the Predator squad was 10 to 15 years ago. Despite the Marines more advanced weaponry I think they would have looked like little more then raw recruits. That was a tough group. If the Predator had one you can bet he would have been on the cover of all the safari magazines, probably with Dutch’s head mounted to the wall, 8-points of cigars sticking out of his mouth. Ripley wouldn’t make a bit of difference during such an engagement. She would probably hide and escape during the firefight. I see Dutch going off after her alone while the rest are securing the parameter and any prisoners. So it would end up being one on one. Now, who wins depends on one question: are they on a spaceship where the airlock can be blown? ---
**Author:** ![Asuka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@Asuka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asuka)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2018, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-win-the-squad-from-predator-or-aliens/822013/30 "2018-09-27T21:08:42Z")
Considering the Aliens crew had two sentry guns, I could easily see them setting them up to either ambush, overwatch, or protect a flank and you know a couple on the Pred crew are going to die to them. ---
**Author:** ![Patch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a183cd/32.png) [@Patch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patch)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2018, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-win-the-squad-from-predator-or-aliens/822013/31 "2018-09-27T21:18:12Z")
> [@Jophiel](#): > > Looking at the script, the Marines didn’t switch to infrared until the aliens started attacking (probably in response them “coming out of the walls”). So we don’t really get a feel for whether the aliens are detectable via infrared or not. In the movie, the aliens are approaching the squads, but combat has not yet commenced. Apone issues the order to activate infrared. More dialog, blips get closer, Dietrich states, “Maybe they don’t show up on infrared at all,” her last words right before an alien comes off the wall behind her and hauls her up. Should be clips of the battle on YouTube. My connection sucks or I’d search and link to them. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2018, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-win-the-squad-from-predator-or-aliens/822013/32 "2018-09-27T21:34:57Z")
I think it all comes down to who spots who first, and for that the Marines have the edge with their better tech. I give them two to one odds. ---
**Author:** ![D\_Odds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/d_odds/32/2882_2.png) [@D\_Odds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Odds)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2018, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-win-the-squad-from-predator-or-aliens/822013/33 "2018-09-27T21:42:47Z")
Didn’t see a thread (but also didn’t look too hard), but the actor who portrayed Sgt. Apone passed this week. He was a real marine who served in Vietnam and earned two purple hearts. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2018, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-win-the-squad-from-predator-or-aliens/822013/34 "2018-09-27T21:48:15Z")
> [@Patch](#): > > In the movie, the aliens are approaching the squads, but combat has not yet commenced. Apone issues the order to activate infrared. More dialog, blips get closer, Dietrich states, “Maybe they don’t show up on infrared at all,” her last words right before an alien comes off the wall behind her and hauls her up. You’re right. Reading that, I can picture it. Of course, none of this matters when looking for humans with infrared which I’m pretty sure works just fine. ---
**Author:** ![ExTank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/35a633/32.png) [@ExTank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ExTank)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2018, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-win-the-squad-from-predator-or-aliens/822013/35 "2018-09-27T21:51:20Z")
> [@Patch](#): > > The Aliens squad got cut to pieces before the fight even began, but managed to extricate themselves under heavy pressure due to Vasquez and Drake. **Drake got buck fever and was killed outside the APC** ,… Just a quick point of order: Drake ran out of ammo and dumped the smart gun, switched to flamethrower, and was falling back in good order, covering everyone else’s backs, when he got flanked by a Xeno; Vasquez spotted it, and hosed it down with her smartgun, splattering Drake with acidic Xeno blood in the process. I voted for the Marines, but it’d be a near-run thing\*; in a “stand-up fight,” I think their training and experience is more in line with that kind of fighting, and they definitely have the technological edge with motion trackers and IR visors. Almost everyone had rifles, except Drake and Vasquez with their smart guns, and each rifle also has a 5- or 6-shot grenade launcher on it; I think 1 or 2 other Marines had flamethrowers, but whether as primary weapons or as backups, I can’t recall (Drake had a flamethrower as backup; he takes it up after his smartgun ran out of ammo and he dumped it). If Team Predator can get the drop on Team Xeno and surprise them, then the battle goes to Team Predator; that Gat is nasty business! ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2018, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-win-the-squad-from-predator-or-aliens/822013/36 "2018-09-27T22:15:45Z")
Sentry guns are disallowed by the rules of the OP. ISTM that the Aliens Marines are bloodied but not particularly experienced and overconfident whereas the Predator squad are both bloodied and experienced but not overconfident. The marines are more likely going to want to engage in a stand-up fight whereas the Predator squad will try to avoid that at all costs - ambush and shock and awe are their ways. ---
**Author:** ![Reindeer\_Flotilla](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reindeer_flotilla/32/3024_2.png) [@Reindeer\_Flotilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reindeer_Flotilla)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2018, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-win-the-squad-from-predator-or-aliens/822013/37 "2018-09-27T22:25:43Z")
Some great analysis, I’m now siding with the Marines but have a question: While the Marines had some high-tech targeting and detection equipment, their weapons were all still line-of-sight, no? Meaning the ammunition doesn’t alter course and instead just goes ballistically where the weapon was aimed when fired. Some of the pro-Marine arguments seemed to factor in the fact their ammunition was guided, but I don’t think that’s correct. I would probably know this if I had a Class 2 rating. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2018, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-win-the-squad-from-predator-or-aliens/822013/38 "2018-09-27T23:04:10Z")
> [@Reindeer\_Flotilla](#): > > Some great analysis, I’m now siding with the Marines but have a question: While the Marines had some high-tech targeting and detection equipment, their weapons were all still line-of-sight, no? Meaning the ammunition doesn’t alter course and instead just goes ballistically where the weapon was aimed when fired. My understanding (unless someone knows better) is that the smart guns like Vasquez used were “guided” in that they would lock onto a target and then mechanically follow it without the operator needing to aim (hence the robotic harness and eyepiece). I don’t believe that the ammunition itself was able to change trajectory midflight. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2018, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-win-the-squad-from-predator-or-aliens/822013/39 "2018-09-27T23:07:05Z")
> [@](#): > > Sentry guns are disallowed by the rules of the OP. I don’t think they are. The OP says “no vehicles, just what they were carrying”, but weren’t they carrying the sentries before they set them up? That’s a heck of a lot more plausible than Ahnold wielding a minigun one-handed, anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Sloe\_Moe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8797f3/32.png) [@Sloe\_Moe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sloe_Moe)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2018, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-win-the-squad-from-predator-or-aliens/822013/40 "2018-09-27T23:09:43Z")
Ahnold’s squad had no nukes, no hottie pilot. On the other hand, Ripley’s squad had at least a couple of whimpering cowards. And that guy Burke behaves like he should be born with a 10X ring on his forehead. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-win-the-squad-from-predator-or-aliens/822013.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-win-the-squad-from-predator-or-aliens/822013.md?page=3)