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There has been some debate going around the FLGS about what armies were "Tier 1" in 4th edition. Myself and several other people outlined a list of what we considered to fit into this criteria, but some disagreed. I am interested to hear what others feel about it?

So, what were commonly considered the Tier 1 (ie: top performing) armies and lists for 4th edition?

For all (or most) of 4th edition:
Nidzilla
Chaos

Early 4th edition:
Space Marine AC spam

Late 4th edition
Eldar
Orks (after the new codex)

Contenders:
Mech Tau
Wych Cult

You should clarify that Eldar meant Tri-Falcon with Harlies in most cases. Stealershock was also equally as powerful as nidzilla due to the high amount of rending. Blood Angels could also bring alot of rending.

EDIT:

Chaos also meant Chaos 3.5 dex.

What caused Space Marine Assault Cannon spam to drop off?

Changes to the amount of Assault Cannons (half the amount in Termie squads!) and Rending I guess.

Only Rending on the roll to wound is different to hits!

That was a fifth edition change though. I would imagine it was lists adapting and newer lists rendering it less effective on the whole.

Ok, if we're counting the 3.5 codices, up until the 4.5 started coming out (e.g., counting the late 3rd Chaos codex, and ignoring the late 4th Chaos/Orks/Daemons)...

Top tier would be:

Chaos. Simply put, accept no substitution. You could have a HQ choice that got strength 8 power weapon hits at initiative 7 that ignored invulnerable saves and couldn't be shot if it passed a psychic test. And that wasn't even the most complained about HQ choice. Siren and Glaive princes aside, you get daemons (Bloodletter: S5 power weapon, A2, 3+/5+ saves, move and assault after Deep Strike... 23 pts?!?!), the old standard 6-man las/plas squad, and Obliterators, making the most ungodly assault codex ever written competitive with shooty armies in shooting.

Eldar. 4th edition Falcons were horribly, horribly broken. Combine the rest of the list having a lot of good choices (especially Harlequins) with the extreme effectiveness of Falcon-based point denial and you have a list that few lists really have a winning strategy against.

Tyranids. Stealer shock and 'zilla. 'Zilla effectively deserves comment -- throw up to eight cheap and cost effective monstrous creatures, and see how many T6 3+ armor wounds the other guy can chew through... while those T6 3+ wounds are hurling a lot of firepower at him.


Marines get honorable mention for Assault Cannons in Drop Pods; while still very good, eventually the tactical game caught up and knocked it out of the top tier.

whitedragon wrote:You should clarify that Eldar meant Tri-Falcon with Harlies in most cases. Stealershock was also equally as powerful as nidzilla due to the high amount of rending. Blood Angels could also bring alot of rending.

EDIT:

Chaos also meant Chaos 3.5 dex.

It did, but Chaos is still a top tier list with the new codex. While the 3.5 book was obscene, most people find the current book either 1st or 2nd (after orks).

As for AC spam, it was good for the same reason landraider spam was so good in early 5th: it was the first Marine build to really deal with the new rules and meta game. As everybody else came on board, it slipped. Early on, it was relatively mobile, started on the board in escalation missions, and spit out amazing firepower against any target. Eventually people begin building around it, and soon it was just another strong list, and nothing really special.

Polonius wrote:
It did, but Chaos is still a top tier list with the new codex. While the 3.5 book was obscene, most people find the current book either 1st or 2nd (after orks).

I agree whole heartedly, I just don't want people to forget that chaos used to be really uber when you could mix and match around just about everything. Now they rely on one archetype to really dominate.