The Force vs The Warp

WARNING - SPOILERS AHEAD

It's a tale almost as old as Science Fiction itself and one that has it's roots deeply sown into the playground of every Primary, Junior, and Elementary School across the globe. Who would win a fight between two fictitous characters.

We thankfully live in an age where access to the knowledge needed to formulate an answer is as easy as reading the source material. Of course there is no shortage of "experts" giving us their opinions on Youtube as well as the folks behind Death Battle, the latter providing thoroughly researched evidence for who would win and why. Their efforts have put to bed the argument over Batman versus Spiderman or Superman versus Goku, much to the chagrin of the fans of those respective franchises.

However, Death Battle can't answer every question of who would win in a fight and it would be unfair to ask the team to do so. It is therefore upto us, the open minded fans, to assist them in scrutinising each of the fictional combatants to see who would win in any match up. This article will look at a fight between the Dark Lord of the Sith, Darth Vader, and the Cheif Librarian of the Ultramarines, Varro Tigurius.

The question really is what Imperial Psyker to put up against Darth Vader and that is often a difficult one as there are a few notable Psykers to choose from. There is Mephiston of the Blood Angels, who's force of will overcame the Black Rage. Ezekial of the Dark Angels. Any of the named Grey Knights such as Kaldor Draigo, Aldrik Voldus, Garran Crowe etc, or even that most enigmatic of psykers, Alpha Primus. Still, the only option save the Master of Mankind himself, is Varro Tigurius.

Why Tigurius?

Tigurius is unique among the Adeptus Astartes and the wider Imperium. He is the only imperial psyker to make contact with the Tyranid Hive mind and not go mad. You might ask why this matters as a feat of his prowess; and for those who have never experienced the Grimdark Universe of Warhammer 40000, the Tyranid Hive Mind is a universe spanning gestalt conciousness that controls all Tyranids and Genestealer Cults, driving it's spawns to spread it's malevolent control far and wide. Imagine, if you will, the protester standing before the tank on Tianmen Square but the tank is particular instance is the size of the Burj Al-Arab. That is how impressive and powerful Tigurius truly is given the only other psyker capable of this feat in the WH40K universe currently occupies a Golden Throne in the deepest dungeons of the Imperial Palace on Terra.

Tigurius is among the first space marines to volunteer to cross the Rubicon Primaris, a procedure to turn Firstborn Marines into Primaris Marines, in fact his crossing was delayed by the intervention of the Ultramarines Chapter Master. Marneus Calgar told Tigurius he was far too valuable to lose should the procedure fail, that says something about him when his boss is willing to risk death in his place. Again,those with no clue what that entails let me explain what a Space Marine is.

Space Marines start out as normal children. When selected to join the illustrious ranks of the Adeptus Astartes, the candidate undergoes training, indoctrination, as well as physical and mental conditioning. Somewhere between the agees of 11 & 13 years old, they begin to undergo genetic enhancement. Over a number of years a total of nineteen extra organs are implanted into the aspirant; each of these organs has a specific purpose such as causing the neophyte's bones to grow larger and stronger, or allowing them to see in near perfect darkness. After the last implant, known as the Black Carapace, the aspirant joins his Chapter's scout company as they can't wear power armour until the Black Carapace has solidified and fully bonded with the scout's nervous system.

It has to be said that many aspirants do not make it to this stage, the vast majority of those chosen will have either dropped out to become Chapter Serfs or died during the long process of tranformation. Becoming a Primaris Marine is as always an option, no Battle Brother is forced to cross the Rubicon Primaris. Some do, some don't, and there are a few who have no choice as doing so would save them from death. Lord Commander Dante, of the Blood Angels, crossed the Rubicon when his blood filled sarcophogus could no longer sustain his life.

To become a Primaris Marine is to once again risk death. A marine is laid out face down and then cut open from crown to heel, his hearts are then stopped. The surgeon then inserts the Significat, an organ that supercharges the Marine's other organs, especially the Biscopea and Ossmodula. This makes the Marine taller, his muscles denser, and his bones stronger than before. The surgeon then implants an organ known as the Belisarian Furnace which activates when the Marine is near death, flooding their system with healing and combat stimms to keep the Marine alive. Before the surgeon restarts the Marines hearts and stitches him up, they give the volunteer the Wolverine treatment by reinforcing the Marine's skeleton with coils of Durasteel. By no means does this make the Space Marine indestructible, it just makes him harder to kill. This whole process, providing they survive, makes them harder, better, faster, stonger than their Firstborn brethren.

This means Tigurius is as tough as nails where Librarians are concerned. As a Psyker he is particularly skilled with Precognition which has come in handy during the Ultramarines' many campaigns being able to see events before they happen and allowing his superiors to make changes to their battleplans. The premonitions often come across as waking dreams, sometimes acting like a "spidey-sense." When Cadia fell to Abaddon the Despoiler, the Great Rift that sundered the galaxy in two affected every psyker outside the Warp, Tigurius included. He fell into a mind-coma when the rift's psychic backlash hit him after it's violent birth. However, this coma wouldn't last long as Tigurius soon pulled himself out of his coma and joined the fight against the forces of Nurgle during the Plague Wars. Using his impressive psychic might he steeled the will of the Ultramarine Auxilia (local Planetary Defence Force) against the corrupting hordes of the Plague Lord.

Tigurius has at his disposal save his power armour and bolt pistol, is the Hood of Hellfire which supercharges his already impressive psychic powers, he also has a potent force weapon known as the Rod of Tigurius. It is to be believed that he recently come into ownership of the Force Staff of Malcador the Sigillite. He also has access to a variety of Psyker abilities such as:-

1. Smite - Which bombards the enemy with psychic lightning
2. Storm of the Emperor's Wrath - Far more powerful than Smite and has been known to strip away armour.
3. Vortex of Doom - Which tears a hole in realspace that leads into the Warp, sucking in the target.
4. The Quickening - Giving the wielder prescience, enabling them to predict their opponents attacks.
5. Machine Curse - Which causes the Machine Spirit of a Vehicle, or any machine, to misbehave.
6. Fear of the Darkness - Which fills the soul of the target with the fear of death and the truth of that person's insignificance in an uncaring universe. Basically giving the target an existential crisis.
7. Might of Heroes - Supercharging his strength and speed to levels beyond a normal Space Marine.
8. Telepathic Assault - Channels a burst of Telepathic energy into the foe's head like searing hot blade
9. Precognition & Prescience - Tigurius' bread and butter

These are just a few of the options available to Tigurius. In short, Tigurius is anywhere between 8 and 10 feet tall, and far stronger, faster and more reactive than the Firstborn. There are no official statistics to state what the differences are but a Firstborn Marine is capable of a 900KG Deadlift when not wearing his power armour. Within the armour, a Marine could lift upwards of a Metric Ton. Primaris Marines are said to be an order of magnitude beyond their Firstborn counterparts meaning that in his underpants, Tigurius should be able to Deadlift a Metric Ton with ease.

Space Marines are capable of running at a pace of 60mph for sustained periods of time, factoring in the upgrade in speed, Tigurius will be able to run at 70mph+ as well as having lightning quick reflexes. His combat training, transhuman physiology, decades of experience, and his potent psyker abilities make him a formidable warrior.

What about Vader?

We've all watched the Star Wars movies, including Rogue One, and we've seen how Anakin Skywalker becomes the imposing giant that is Darth Vader. We see his journey from humble slave as he learns the ways of the force under Obi-Wan only to end up the pawn of Palpatine. This comes with the snazzy title of 'Lord Commander of the Imperial Forces' and a shiny new suit which must've cost him an arm and a leg.

Bad puns aside, Vader is no joke. His connection to the force is stronger than anybody else's, save his son, his only hinderance being the life sustaingin armour he wears which was designed to irritate him to prevent him reaching his full potential and snuffing out his Boss. If you ever watch Rogue One, there is a scene where he emerges from the darkness and starts killing everyone around him, he did this with his life support switched off. He didn't want the rebels knowing he was there until it was too late, conducting the short lived assault whilst holding his breath.

His skills with a lightsaber as said to match that of Jedi master Yoda's skills, evidence of this can be found when he beheaded Count Dooku. Count Dooku is no slouch when it comes to lightsaber being a practitioner of the lightsaber form Makashi, which is specifically designed for lightsaber duels. The only Jedi to surpass Dooku was Yoda, and among his equals is the legendary Mace Windu. Vader is an adept of Form V, both Shien and Djem So variants, as well as Form IV, Ataru. Combining these two gives Vader a style with good offensive and defensive skills, the only limitations are the bionic replacements to his limbs.

Being strong in the force and a good swordsman are one thing, but we need to look a little closer at what Vader is actually capable of. He has been seen stopping the foot of an AT-AT, the camel shaped Imperial Walker, from crushing him; and whilst there is no offical stats to how much the AT-AT weighs or what the PSI of its legs are, what we do know is that the weight is upwards of 3500 metric tons. He not only stopped it from turning him into a pancake but crushed it. Now this is with the force and not as a show of real physical strength but it is impressive nonetheless. We do know he can lift a man with ease, a feat he has done several times, but his physical prowess is something lacking in the saga unless you count his piloting skills and his Donatello level of skill with machines. The vast majority of Vader's skills, and feats, are largely due to his ability to manipulate the force. He has also tangled with Star Wars' version of Godzilla and still came out on top.

Skilled force aside, who else has the guts to go toe to toe with Darth Maul and impale himself to defeat the upstart? None other than your boy Vader. As impressive as it is, most of his body is cybernetic these days which means his organs are somewhat disposable. Before we get down to the nitty gritty of who wins this fight let us look at what Vader brings to the fight, I am omitting skills like Force Lightning as it interferes with his suit:-

1. Skilled Lightsaber Swordsman
2. Skilled Telepath
3. Tutaminis - The ability to absorb and deflect blaster bolts
4. Force Deflection - Blocking blaster bolts with a lightsaber
5. Force Destruction - Both offensive and defensive uses
6. Force Barriers
7. Force Cloak - basically Force Camoflage
8. Force Speed - In short concentrated bursts
9. Force Healing - Only as a last resort when his suit fails as it requires a lot of concentration due to the technique needing him to be angry at all times.
10. Skilled Telekinetic
11. Force Choke and Force Crush
12. Force Stasis
13. Kinetite - Similar to Force Lightning

Vader is a force to be reckoned with and an imposing one at that. If you see the Dark Lord of the Sith heading your way it would be wise to run.

How do the two stack up against each other?

The biggest problem we have is that both of them have what is referred to as "Plot Armour." Effectively meaning they can't lose unless the narrative requires it, such as Vader's sacrifice in Return of the Jedi. However, discerning a winner is no easy task as both Vader and Tigurius have impressive feats alongside their abilities and skills. It ultimately comes down to a comparing them side by side analysing their weapons, skills, abilities, and their overall experience with combat.

With that in mind I propose the following list of categories:-

• Short Range Weapons
• Mid Range Weapons
• Long Range Weapons
• Special Weapons
• Melee Abilities
• Ranged Abilities
• Special Abilities
• Physical Prowess
• Experience
• Wargear

Short Range Weapons

Vader has his iconic red lightsaber. Lightsabers are not actually light but a magnetically confined blade of plasma. They can cut through just about anything other than another lightsaber, Beskar, force fields, and a few other materials in the Star Wars universe. It isn't comepletely infallible, if the energy is redirected back towards the blade it will shut itself off and if the internal circuity is shorted the lightsaber requires recharging. This is evident in the novelisation of The Phantom Menace when Obi-Wan needs to recharge his upon landing in the swamps of Naboo. Plasma cutters in real life can reach up to an impressive 25000º Celsius, or 13871º Fahrenheit if you speak ye olde english, so it would be fair to say that the operational temperature of a lightsaber is around the 20000º - 25000º Celsius. Impressive for a weapon that existed in our galaxy in the distant future (read the books and comics, it refrences Earth in a few of them).

Tigurius on the other hand has a lot more short range weapons at his disposal being a Space Marine of the Ultramarines Chapter, but for the purposes of this I'll be using the wargear listed on his datasheet in order to keep it fair. If I didn't then Tigurius could walk into the fight with chainswords, power swords, meltaguns, lascannons, and other weapons that would likely turn Vader into a smear on the landscape. However, when it comes to special abilities I have to look beyond the datasheet and reference the wiki and Lexicanum as Tigurius has access to much more than the two psyker abilities listed on his datasheet.

For short range Tigurius has the Rod of Tigurius which is known as a Force Weapon, which when attuned to the user can act as a channel their psychic powers, unleashing all manner of devastation in their wake. On the tabletop, the Rod comes with 5 attacks, has a strength characteristic of 7, has an armour penetration (AP) characteristic of -2, has a damage characteristic of D3, and Tigurius makes a succesful hit on a 3+. This might not mean an awful lot to most people who are not familiar with the game. Imagine Tigurius attacks an enemy, with the rod he makes 5 attacks when he swings it back and forth, it is strong enough to beat most infantry, HQ choices, and other battleline units (vehicles, monsters, and characters such Guilliman will usually have high toughness characteristics). The AP-2 means that when the opposing player rolls to save against the attack they have to add 2 to their save.

Warhammer is essentially math with guns. All attacks are based on which number is higher, strength(S) or toughness(T). The baseline number to roll in 40K is 4, below is a simple guide to for anyone not familiar with the game:-

• If S = T: 4+
• If S > T: 3+
• If S ≥ Tx2: 2+
• If S < T: 5+
• If Sx2 ≤: 6+

1 is always fail and 6 is always a critical hit. Some attacks give bonuses for critical hits such as Sustained Hits which gives you extra hits on a crit, Devastating Wounds which can't be saved against, or Lethal Hits which automatically wound, you can make a save against Lethal Hits.

Tigurius' Rod means that whatever number a model's save characteristic is the opposing player has to add 2 to it. Every unit in the game has a save characteristic which denotes the minimum number on the dice that has to be rolled to consider the defence a success. If a model saved on a 4+ it would now be a 6+. If the wound roll is successful, you would roll 1D6 (or 1D3 if you have any) and whatever the result is the damage dealt where 1&2=1, 3&4=2, and 5&6=3 wounds. Outside of the tabletop, Tigurius' Rod is listed as a unique Force Weapon in that in Tigurius' hands his attacks are devastating and he rarely misses.

Short Range Weapons: Darth Vader. It's a close match given their respective abilities with their weapons but as the Rod of Tigurius doesn't have any built in power fields and requires Tigurius to channel his power through it. The lightsaber wins this category for it's easy to use On Button, and it's versatile cutting power.

Medium Range Weapons

For medium range weapons, excluding the Force, Vader only really has his lightsaber. At a height of 2.03 metres or 6' 8", Darth Vader can comfortably extend use his lightsaber in both short and mid range combat and we've already seen what a lightsaber is capable of doing.

Tigurius on the other hand has his Rod of Tigurius (I'm sure there is an innuendo in there) which is actually taller than he is. If we lowball his height to 8' and lowball the height of his staff to 9', Tigurius has an impressive mid range weapon, psyker abilities aside.

Mid Range Weapons: Tigurius. The Rod of Tigurius has a longer range and if we are lowballing Tigurius' height, he is still 1' 4" taller than Vader when he's not in armour. With armour he is significantly taller. The Rod in Tigurius' hands wins the Mid Range round

Long Range Weapons

Sticking primarily with weapons and not force abilities, Vader has only one real Long Range weapon, his lightsaber. Vader is an adept at the old lightsaber throw, as seen in Return of the Jedi (or Masters of Teras Kasi for those who remember the obscure beat 'em up). Putting the Force to one side, the lightsaber throw is a bit hit or miss. Against your average battle droid or rebel trooper, the lightsaber throw is a devastating attack that takes the target by surprise. Against Jedi, Sith, or any other skilled opponent, it becomes a little pointless as it robs Vader of his primary weapon. Yes Vader can fall back on the Force but anyone skilled enough will know how to capitalise on this, meaning that in a fight to the death, Vader's lightsaber throw is a waste of time and effort.

Tigurius on the other hand has his handy Bolt Pistol. A Space Marine Bolt Pistol is compact weapon capable of devastation. It fires mass reactive .75 Calibre shells which explodes the moment the round detects organic matter. On the tabletop the Bolt Pistol has a range of 12" which is difficult to scale to real life but with a bit of digging we can estimate the bolt pistol's effective range is 30-40m.

Long Range Weapons: Tigurius. The bolt pistol has the better range, stopping power, and versatility.

Special Weapons

I'm beginning to sound a lot like a broken record as the only weapon Vader has in his arsenal, the lightsaber. Tigurius on the other hand has access to a lot of weapons, but as stated earlier I will be focussing primarily on his Datasheet or wiki entry. What Tigurius does have is Krak and Frag grenades. Frag grenades are akin to the types of frag grenades that exist IRL, only stronger. Drop one inside the hatch of a tank and watch it split at the seams. Krak grenades are a different kettle of fish. Krak grenades are portable bunker busters used to break open armoured vehicles and fortfications. Despite not being a weapon in the traditional sense, Tigurius has the Hood of Hellfire which amplifies his already impressive psychic might.

Special Weapons: Tigurius. He has access to both these grenade types giving him anti-infantry and anti-armour capability. Either of these grenades could turn Vader into a million pieces.

Melee Abilities

Now we can look at what abilities both Vader and Tigurius can use to bolster their melee combat skills.

Vader can use Force Speed to give himself bursts of speed for short periods of time. It has been said that anyone adept at using Force Speed can cover 100 metres in 1 second, giving the user a speed of 223.7mph. It has to be pointed out that this is not the super speed a character that The Flash or Quicksilver can use but a small burst of speed to cover a short distance or to escape a near death situation. It can be used as an offensive weapon as when you take into account of the equation F=MA. This would mean Vader could use Force Speed to deliver a 12000N punch to any opponent. There is a downside to Force Speed however, it drains the users stamina and affects their connection to the Force. According to Isaac Newton 3rd Law, for every action their is an equal and opposite reaction. This means that when Vader delivers a 12000N punch to the jaw of his opponent he is receiving 12000N in return. Now Vader's body is largely cybernetic, taking a swim in lava and a life of being a badass takes it's toll on the human body. The physical well of stamina he can draw upon will be limited and overuse of Force Speed will make him weaker over time.

Vader can also make use of Force Barriers, protecting himself for a short time and given his strong connection to the Force his barrier is near impregnable. The downside is that it requires Vader's full attention robbing him of his ability to fight.

Vader can also make use of Telekinesis during melee combat as he is one of few individuals skilled enough to do it without using his hand to guide the object. Vader can use Force Destruction which at short range will vaporise any foe and knock asunder any foe at range. Like all OP Force abilities, Force Destruction has a downside, it drains the user dry. Force Destruction requires a large amount of Force energy to be built up and unleashed, this would be akin to a car dropping it's fuel tank to save weight. As strong as he is, Vader can't evade the repurcussions of Force Destruction.

Being a skilled Telekinetic, Vader can use Force Choke and Force Crush, both devastating attacks. Vader certainly has a lot of abilities to buff his close combat attacks.

Tigurius on the other may not be able to sprint at 100m/s but he can augment his speed with The Might of Heroes which enhances his speed and strength which is already impressive as it is. If we lowball Tigurius' stats and give him a top speed of 70mph and a maximum sprint speed of 85mph, this means over the same distance Tigurius would be delivering over 8000N of force. Now you don't have to be a genius to know that 12000 beats 8000 but what you have to take into account is that 8000n punch is being delivered by a Space Marine and he can do more fast punches over a protracted period of time than Vader can. It's all part of being an genetically enhanced Angel of Death.

The Quickening (obligatory Highlander reference) boosts Tigurius' precognitive and prescient abilities allowing him to see his enemy's movements before they make them. Similar to how Vader uses the Force to predict his opponent's attacks.

Melee Abilities: Vader. It's a close call but as we are looking at "magic powers" and not physical abilities, Vader has more options at melee range. It can be said that both can use ranged attacks in melee range but doing so risks creating an opening that either combatant could exploit.

Ranged Abilities

Ranged abilities is a different kettle of fish. Vader ca use Kinetite which is a ball of electricity fired from his palm like some kind of Hadouken. Vader can use Force Lightning but as it requires channeling through his body, he is loath to use it as it affects his suit's life support.

Vader can also use Force Stasis which can freeze his opponents as he slows down the atomic motion of their body as well as Force Crush, Force Choke, and Force Destruction. Vader's Force powers can comfortably be used in both melee and ranged combat, however he does have to make sure he uses the right power at the right time to avoid leaving himself open. Vader can use Force Deflection and Tutaminis to redirect blaster fire.

Tigurius' ranged abilities are an order of magnitude above Vader's powers. Don't get me wrong, Vader is impressive and he has only gotten stronger the more his body is replaced with cybernetics and if he's angry you'd better get out of his way. Tigurius can channel lightning through himself and his staff with Smite, he can use Storm of the Emperor's Wrath which is like Smite but far stronger as it is capable of stripping away armour. He can open a rift in realspace type rift with Vortex of Doom, transporting his target to the Immaterium AKA The Warp. Tigurius can use Telepathic Assault which is described as attacking the opponents mind with a hot blade of warp energy.

Ranged Abilities: Tigurius. Vader's Force powers are incredibly versatile and we have seen how devastating Force Lightning can be, but Tigurius can use a variant that would destroy his life supporting armour and he can remove Vader from the fight with Vortex of Doom. No doubt Vader is a tough opponent but I don't think even he could survive in the Warp for long before he ends up as demon chow.

Special Abilities

Vader can use Force Healing to recover from his wounds and for a short period of time he can use it to sustain himself outside of his armour. The only downside is he requires to be in a constant stage of rage to make best use of it. He can use Force Cloak to give himself invisibility by bending both light and sound around him. Like many Force powers it requires a lot of concentration. Point of note, this is a cloaking device designed to make the user untraceable by sight or sound, it does not mask the user from anyone who can use metaphysical means of detection such as psychic powers.

Tigurius can use Machine Curse, which causes the Machine Spirit (AI) of a machine or vehicle to misbehave. He can use Fear of Darkness to give his opponent an existential crisis filling them with the truth that they are inherently insignificant in the universe. Tigurius is if nothing, incredibly skilled with Precognition and Prescience, being able to predict the enemy's movements and being able to plan accordingly. These abilities allowed the Ultramarines and other defenders of Ultramar to defeat Hive Fleet Behemoth, no small feat. It has to be said that these abilities are outside of battle as they take the form of daydreams or seizures.

Special Abilities: Tie. It's difficult to draw a winner from this as both warriors have abilities which can both help and hinder them.

Physical Prowess

For Physical Prowess we have to look at their base stats without their special abilities.

Height

• Vader: 6' 8"
• Tigurius: 8'~

Weight

• Vader: 120kg
• Tigurius: 1500kg~

Strength

• Vader: 100-200kg. Difficult to assess as the only real physical feat comes from Episode IV when he chokes Captain Raymus Antilles who would weigh around 90-100kg, and he tossed him aside like a rag doll
• Tigurius: 1000kg+

Speed

• Vader: Vader's speed without the Force is difficult to calculate. If we highball his performance to match IRL World Record endurance runners, his top speed would fall around 14-15mph. For sprinting we know he's no Usain Bolt but is reasonably fast given his long metal legs. Maybe he could run the 100m in 11 seconds, who rally knows? At this point it is all hypothetical as Vader has no real reason to run and a lot of the source material is inconsistent and sketchy at best. Assuming an 11 second time for the 100m Sprint, this would give him a top sprinting speed of 20mph, give or take.
• Tigurius: 70mph endurance running, 85mph sprinting

Physical Prowess: Tigurius. There is no two ways about it, the process to turn Tigurius from an aspirant to a Primaris Marine gives him all the physical advantages. Vader's cybernetic body has robbed him of most of his speed and acrobatic fighting style. Yes, he has leardned to live with his prosthetics and is still a formidable warrior but his cybernetic enhancements are not even in the same league as the Firstborn Space Marines, never minf the Primaris Marines.

Experience

Vader has a lot of experience it has to be said. Being a slave on Tattooine unearthed his innate piloting and mechanical abilities. He was frequently the only human in the planet's Pod Racing events. He built his own protocol droid, C3PO, and his own podracer. If you ever watch The Phantom Menace keep an ear out for the podracers, Anakin's sounds like an F1 engine from that era whereas Sebulba's racer sounds like a whomping great diesel engine.

Trained as a Jedi, he has had numerous adventures and escapades. He also led the 501st Clone Battalion during the Clone Wars, this Battalion would continue to be his personal guard during the reign of the Empire. His experiences as a lord of the Sith are where the vast moajority of his greatest feats lie. He has faced down Jedi Masters, countless Jedi, Sith Lords and other beings as dangerous as he is and come out on top. It is fair to say that by the time of his death at the ripe old age of 45 he had gathered a vast degree of experience.

Tigurius, like Vader, began training at an early age when his parents offered him up to the Ultramarines as an aspirant. Before impantation of the many organs needed to make a Space Marine, Tigurius would have to undergo the Exposure Trial. The Exposure trial takes the young aspirant and places him on a planet within Ultramar where the ecological conditions are not great for human life, humans still live on these worlds but have long since adapted their learned to adapt to the environment such as hazmat suits, gas masks, or underground cities. Aspirants are given the bare necessities for survival and given a random number of days in which they must survive for. These environments can be harsh deserts, roaming swamps, or even toxic atmospheres. If they pass they move on to the next trial, the Challenge Trial.

The Challenge Trial sees the aspirant take on a full Astartes in any form of challenge ranging from unarmed combat to an endurance race, even a game of Chess. The idea of the trial is not for the aspirant to win, there a few who do win, but to see how much resolve an aspirant has. It is important that an aspirant learns not to give up when the odds are stacked against you, cowards make poor Astartes. So long as the aspirant has performed the challenge like he were an Astartes, even death will not stop his ascension as the Apothecaries of the Ultramarines will revive the boy and ready him for the gruelling and painstaking process of becoming an Ultramarine. Aspirants undergo physical and mental conditioning during the process to become a Space Marine. Their food is often laced with additives to help their bodies accept the new organs as well as making their minds more receptable to the Chapter's indoctrination.

This physical and mental conditioning continues until they reach the final stages where an aspirant becomes a Neophyte and typically joins the Scout Company. The mental indoctrination isn't Imperial brainwashing, it reinforces the training the aspirant receives in both combat and other aspects of Space Marine life, similar to subliminal messaging.

Training doesn't stop there. Every Space Marine spends their days training, maintaining their wargear, praying, learning, amongst the myriad of other duties they must perform. It is a running joke that a space marine only gets 15 minutes of free time per week.

Tigurius has over a century of experience fighting the enemies of the Imperium. He has faced the Orks, Tyranids, Chaos Sorcerors, and the Festering Legions of the Plague Gog Nurgle, and Daemon Princes. He might not have the experience of fighting Kaiju like Vader has, but Vader has yet to fight anything like an Ork or a Daemon Prince.

Experience: Tigurius. Vader has a few decades of life in the Star Wars universe, and yes it was packed with a lifetime's worth of experience but it wasn't all combat. Vader's training and experience make him a formidable warrior, capable of besting any foe (with the exception to Obi-Wan, Luke Skywalker, and Doctor Doom), but Tigurius has at least double the years of experience that Vader has had, and when he's not in combat he's in training. Frequently training his bady and mind to hone his skills and steel his mind against the corrupting influences of the Warp. His abilities have been brought into question many a time by his fellow battle brothers and imperial commanders alike. None however, can deny the powerhouse he truly is.

Wargear

Vader's wargear consists of his cybernetic body, his life sustaining clothing, and his lightaber resistant armour similar to Beskar. He wields a dual phase lightsaber, enabling him to change the length or power output of the blade at will.

Tigurius has his Artificer Armour composed of Plasteel, Ceramite, and Adamantium (not the Marvel kind), giving his armour incredible durability and resistance to most forms of attack, his armour is equipped with a customised psychic hood known as the Hood of Hellfire. It is not impervious. He has his Rod of Tigurius, a Bolt Pistol, and both Frag & Krak Grenades.

Wargear: Tigurius. This is a close category. The lightsaber is leagues apart from Tigurius' staff, but Tigurius' pistol and grenades give him better range and versatility in combat. The advantage of his staff is that he can channel his powers through. Vader can control his lightsaber with the Force, he can't channel his powers through it. Tigurius' Hood of Hellfire allowed him to best seven Chaos Sorcerors at once, no easy feat.

Overall Winner: Varro Tigurius, Chief Librarian of the Ultramarines.

I know anyone reading this will no doubt try to say 'Vader this, Vader that' or call me a Warhammer Fanboy or other such derogatory term but just hear me out.

Whilst it is true that I love Warhammer, I also love Star Wars, I've even seen the Holiday Special and Caravan of Courage. I owned VHS copies of Droids. In fact I was born the year Return of the Jedi first hit cinema screens. I have been a fan of Star Wars since I was six years old. I didn't experience Warhammer until my last year of High School which was 98-99. Even then it was limited to what I could afford and lunchtime games at school. I wouldn't pick the hobby up again until the tail end of 9th Edition when I needed a hobby during lockdown to keep me busy.

I have read countless Star Wars books, and a fair number of Warhammer books. Both franchises have their diamonds and both have books that would be better used as a doorstop. Both Shadows of the Empire and Horus Rising are in my Top 5 books, behind Frank herbert's Dune and Terry Pratchett's The Fifth Elephant. I also own a copy of X-Wing First Edition as well as a modest collection of Warhammer models.

• Number of years a Star Wars Fan: 34 at time of writing this article
• Number of years a Warhammer Fan: 24 at time of writing this article

I tried to look at this from a neutral perspective, in fact it has taken about a week to write as I wanted to make sure I did the research, which wasn't easy as both sides have a lot of "plot armour" points where the character does someting incredible because of who they are. Vader crushing an AT-AT could be considered a plot armour point because it's meant to show how strong with the force he is. Tigurius making psychic contact with the Tyranid Hive Mind and not going Bat guano craxy is another example of plot armour points demostrating how powerful a psyker he is.

What it comes down to is essentially a game of Top Trumps. Once you've separated the wheat from the chaff (facts vs opinions), you can start to look at it from a mathematical point of view. Vader is by no means an easy opponent to beat, but take into account he would know next to nothing about a Space Marine and their capabilites, and vice versa for Tigurius. To Tigurius, Vader would just be another psyker. Vader wouldn't know what Tigurius was because he has no connection to the Force.

That leads me to a topic of much debate. Which is stronger, The Force or The Warp? The answer isn't clear cut. To quote the late Alec Guiness 'The Force is what gives a Jedi his power. It's an energy field created by all living things. It surrounds us and penetrates us; it binds the galaxy together.' Whereas the Warp is created by the psychic emanations as well as the strong emotions of psychically sensitive beings. The Eldar and Humans are among the chief sources of fuel for the Warp. Many actions carried out in 40K universe have an echo in the Warp. The daemon Drach'nyen was born from the very first murder in the galaxy. The first time a human actively chose to kill a person in cold blood and out of war, the Story of Cain and Abel is a good example.

This makes it difficult to determine which is stronger as it largely comes down to how skilled the individual is at manipulating their respective power sources. Vader is incredibly strong given he is the "Prophecised One" and Tigurius is considered to be second only to the Emperor himself after his connection with the Hive Mind.

Determening the winner is a matter of logic at the end of the day. Sitting each character side by side and analysing their respective skills, abilities and gear. Tigurius has Vader beat in a number of catergories. He has more versatile gear, better physical stats, and decades more experience. Vader is powerful and is skilled in the art of combat but only began living up to his potential when he was transformed in to the towering giant he is now. If he had the steely determination when he was a Padawan under Obi-Wan, he'd no doubt be far moer powerful than the Jedi Council combined.

Both combatants can make use of Telepathy during their fight, Vader is the more skilled telepath as Tigurius' bread & butter is prognistication and prediction. But there is very little for Vader to use against Tigurius in a battle of the mind for as a Space Marine Librarian Tigurius routinely trains his mind to resist the daemons of the Warp and their corrupting powers. Also, Tigurius knows no fear, Vader wouldn't be able to use his fears against him. As skilled a telepath as he is, Vader's history gives Tigurius a lot of fuel to throw on the proverbial bonfire. Tigurius' Telepathic Assault ability could make Vader relive the worst moments of his life, or remind of the good times, breaking his rage. Or even removing Vader from the fight altogether with Vortex of Doom.

Both can use an electrical attack and although Tigurius' armour needs power to function at optimal efficiency, Tigurius is still a powerful Psyker without it. Vader on the other hand needs his armour to live, yes he can sustain himself for a short time using Force Healing, but if his rage is broken even for a moment it stops and he returns to his current state.

When you look at it from this point of view there is only one clear winner, it wouldn't be an easy victory, but in the end Tigurius would win.