If any of our sources are to be believed, Alexander's armies were on a much, much smaller scale to China's. At the battle of Yique, 120,000 Qin soldiers defeated 240,000 soldiers from Wei and Han in the year 293BC, not too long after Alexander the Great's death. Alexander the Great invaded the Persian Empire with around 30,000 soldiers. Manpower-wise, the Warring States could provide armies much, much larger than Alexander's. This is because by the end of the period all men in the state were required to serve in the military.

Secondly, in terms of tactics and overall strategy, Alexander seems to have liked to have fought the Persians in straight confrontations despite the odds being stacked against him. The greatest Chinese strategists of the era probably would have followed the tenets of Sun Tzu: do not commit to battle unless they are sure of victory and try not to meet the enemy army head on. This demonstrates a pretty much completely different opinion about battles and fighting to Alexander.

Thirdly, in terms of technology, the Macedonians made use of long spears called sarissas but also seemed to rely quite a lot on cavalry. In the words of Ralph Sawyer, "chariots remained more important than the cavalry". Though they may be frightening, chariots are not exactly the greatest weapon of war, and this demonstrates a weakness. However, cavalry would only amount to 10% of the Qin army that ended up unifying China. Compare this to 15% used at the battle of Issus and at Hydaspes Alexander reportedly used 6,000 infantry and 5,000 cavalry. The average Chinese infantryman would wear leather armour but the Macedonian Phalangite would wear a kind of armour made of linen and sometimes metal armour. Infantrymen in China would often use halberds and swords, coupling them with a wooden shield. A phalangite would use the sarissa and kopis. The sarissa, requiring two hands, meant that a shield would be used on the shoulder of the soldier.

Finally, in terms of organisation, the structure of the military during the Warring States seems to have been fluid and would have changed according to the needs of the state. There was a military hierarchy however. According to Sawyer, there was a standing army to create the core of the army. Alexander's organisation would vary depending on the period. The Macedonian foot companions were organised into blocks of 1,500. There were also three battalions of the 1,000 Hypaspists. Leaders of the Chinese armies were often court officials who may or may not have been very good, while Alexander seemed to have some good generals with him, though he was doing most of the leading in the Persian campaign.