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Message: <blockquote data-quote="wingsandsword" data-source="post: 5723622" data-attributes="member: 14159">I think that one key problem is a language barrier.  English (or whatever language local soldiers are speaking) is almost certainly NOT Common, Undercommon, Orc, Giant ect.  This makes language-dependent spells less useful unless they also have Tongues up.  The more prep-magic spells they have to spend every day, the less combat ability they will have.The use of illusions, divination and enchantment will be a big advantage for the magic army, but just how much of it will they have?  If you have a 9th level Cleric who can cast Commune and Raise Dead, you probably won't have an awful lot of them.Also, if you assume that the magical invaders have high-level spellcasters, it is fair to assume that leaders and the elite of the non-magical army are equally high-level in non-magical PC classes, so they'll have good saves and probably their own abilities (the abilities of classes like Smart Hero, Field Officer and SpecOp from d20 Modern come to mind)I think that the use of magic for intelligence gathering and psyops are the main advantage of a magical army, the biggest thing that the modern army will not easily counter.On the battlefield, in a straight-up shooting war the modern army has an advantage.  A modern US Soldier packs more destructive firepower than his non-magical historic equivalent and is better trained.  The force multipliers of the spellcasters depend on how common they are.  In most settings, spellcasters are fairly uncommon and magic items are also fairly limited.  Unless it's Thay or some other magiocracy invading, I would expect casters to be a significant minority of the invaders.I am kind of wondering about the idea of what if the magical army brings magic "with them", making magic possible in a mundane world through the process by which they invade.  Chaplains find they get miracles happening (i.e. spells), some soldiers find they can make things happen by their will alone (Sorcerers and Wilders), ect.  In that case the magical army will find that they have an initial advantage in training, but the modern army will have a long-term advantage in organization, professionalism, and tactics.Honestly, the entire concept kind of reminds me of the old "Star Destroyer vs. Enterprise" threads on usenet from the '90's.  Fun debates, but you'll never solve them because they come from completely different models of reality and changing even one assumption can completely change the results.  Let's understand up-front that no definiative solution is possible because the results depend on so many different variables that can change the outcome.</blockquote>

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