Wild Smurf 14: sp4rt4n:Why spartan III's did crazier things then any of the ODSTs. They went on such suicidal missions and came back alive. 10,000 spartan III's would be a WAY better force then 10,000 ODSTs.
Spartan III's didn't come back alive, only like two did.
Actually that is some what incorrect.
Alpha Company of the Spartan-III program had a successful track record of surviving their missions until Operation PROMETHEUS (assault on K7-49). There are a total of 10 noted combat actions. Four of which have been named on page 81 of Ghosts of Onyx. Those are as follows:
Insurrection of Mamore
New Constantinople
Bonanza Asteroid Belt
Far-gone Colony Platforms
An additional 6 combat actions were referenced but unnamed.
Beta Company has an unknown history. There are no records of any combat actions beond Operation TORPEDO (assault on Pegasi Delta). While it is possable that they had a few combat missions before hand there are no references. So it is assumed that they went through one successful combat action with only two survivors.
Gamma Company also has an unknow operational track record. The majority of Gamma Company was off planet during the events of Halo 3 and Ghosts of Onyx.
And for the primary question, are we talking armored up units or unarmored hand to hand combat?
Armored I will give it to the Spartans (with heavy casualties of course). Doesnt matter what series they are. One has personal shields and another has stealth tech built in to their armor. Both major advantages.
Unarmored its up in the air for me. The suit would have made Spartans faster and unbeatable in hand to hand but with out it I firmly believe an ODST is able to keep up with them. But that is a personal opinion.