A Battle between Comrades

Civil War is coming, very soon. Two of our favorite heroes are going to truly face off for the first time on the big screen. But how exactly will the fight go? What makes sense?

The Morals

Always an extremely important element to a fight between friends and especially in a fight between a high street level and a mid tier. Due to a severe advantage in weapons and artillery, morality is what stops Stark from blowing Steve away in the opening moments. As it's unlikely Tony will actually being trying to kill Steve he will certainly be sticking to non-lethal means of incap (repulsors and good ol' punches).

On the other hand, Cap can't afford to hold back very much. He doesn't have to worry about hurting Iron-Man nearly as much as vice-versa and will have to abuse his advantages from the beginning.

The Setting

An enclosed space. The size of the room means one of Iron-Man's biggest advantages in a fight against Cap is effectively negated. The otherwise empty room also means that if Cap is separated from his shield he has very few options to protect himself with.

The Assets

It's a good idea to look at what each of these guys is bringing to the table before we jump into the actual fight.

Iron Man

Strength and Durability are his biggest advantages. Earlier Iron Man suits have been capable of lifting jets and supporting transports, although the best indicator of his strength actually comes from War Machine,

who was capable of lifting 60 tons (or thereabouts) of tank back in his 2012/Avengers era suit. We can safely say that Iron Man is superior to war machine in strength and his suit has improved since that time. Stark is capable of lifting 60+ tons, realistically around 70. Cap is strong, but he's nowhere near Stark.

Durability wise Iron Man's suits have taken a tank shell and not been compromised, survived an encounter with a weakened Thor (while amped) and the initial blast during the destruction of Sokovia;

The final area Tony holds an advantage is energy projection, via repulsor blasts. Although he certainly won't be using his most powerful settings (which have blown through extremis soldiers) they'll still knock the Captain around.

Captain America

Roger's holds several advantages, the first being skill;

Combat speed is another advantage he holds. While Tony has displayed some very impressive reaction times his actual H2H speed leaves a lot to be desired. Agility also lies with Cap.

Steve's final and best asset is his shield. It provides him with an excellent way to deal with the durability disparity between him and his opponent;

and is his sole way of hurting Tony;

We've look at the scenario and the players; time for the main event!

The Fight

As soon as they get into it Cap needs to be very careful. If Iron Man gets a proper grip on his shield he'll take it from it him very quickly (think WS but easier) and the first Avenger will be in a lot of trouble. Stark also has to be cautious as Steve could very well open with a shield throw which is going to do a lot more then tickle.

Assuming they make it past that point Cap is going to have to play keep away from his opponent. He'll need to dodge Stark's fists (which will likely be mixed in with the odd repulsor blast) and try to strike at weak points to force him into a vulnerable position. At point blank Steve won't be producing enough force to leave meaningful damage to Stark's suit (the man inside will tire though), he needs to attack vulnerable areas or have a wind up to do that. His end goal is to penetrate something vital (i.e his chest plate, mask) and expose some skin, either tiring Stark out or hurting his actual body enough he can't continue.

The easiest way for Stark to win is to separate Steve from his shield. Provided he can catch him the matter of grabbing his shield should be relatively easy and assuming he puts it somewhere out of reach for the rest of the fight a definite game changer. Once unarmed the Captain can continue to avoid Stark's fists and blasts for a time but eventually he'll get hit. A punch from Tony isn't coming close to one shotting him (see his fight with Ultron) but it's definitely putting him in a world of hurt. Separated from his shield and thus without a way to hurt his opponent or strong defense he'll eventually be tagged with a repulsor and put into an awkward spot or Tony's sustained blows will take there toll and he'll succumb to exhaustion.

With that said;

The Winner?

Iron Man. It's going to be a long fight but ultimately it's much easier for him to win then it is for Cap. Whilst the latter will have to work hard at breaking through his suit, Stark just needs to keep punching until eventually he starts to hit him. The strength disparity also means that if Tony can get a good hold on Cap it'll be nearly impossible for him to escape it. Make no mistake Captain America can win. But to do so he'd have to be spamming his strongest throws and strikes, at which point he would actively be trying to murder his friend. That's hardly in character, so due to superior stats and an excellent ranged game Stark wins.

This is how the fight would play out with no outside factors (teammates, prep) right now (both of these characters will improve in Civil War). The result in Civil War is up in the air.