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So I was talking to a fellow 40k'er and we were discussing HQ's (He likes Kharn, I like Mesphiton) and got me thinking-

Who, overall, is the best HQ character in the game? Or the best for the points you pay at least..

For me it's either-
Gazhgull Thraka (with the right friends)
Mesphiton, Lord of Death
Calgar with H. Guard

What is it for you?

No HQ choice does more for his army than a Big Mek with KFF, but if we're talking specials than you gotta believe the hype and go with Vulkan. He makes two of the best weapons (meltas and flamers) and one of the best units (TH/SS termies) better, and still manages to be a solid combat character, all for cheap.

Hands down Eldrad. No character does more stand alone or in an army then Eldrad for his point cost.

Eldrad is pretty important in a foot, and possibly a mech Eldar army. Very hard to kill a re-roilable 3++ can give units re-rolling to hit or wound. Can potentially 'snipe' characters with mind war.

Ghaz is very good. a 6" waaaaagh with lots of Ork Boyz is very nice. And when he's got his 2++ for two turns of combat/1 turn of combat and shooting from enemy he is very very tough to kill, and can kill most other CC units in the game.

Meph is supposedly really good. I've only seen him used once, and he ripped his way through a Nid army.

Lash Princes very good as well, even in the mech environment.

Every army has a very good HQ really.

rodgers37 wrote:Every army has a very good HQ really.

This. You can't compare across codexes.

BlueDagger wrote:Hands down Eldrad. No character does more stand alone or in an army then Eldrad for his point cost.

Hehe

Astorath the grim he makes his army stronger 1-3 for red thirst can easily crack other characters plus you can take more deathcompany and allows his squad to re roll to hit

steeds of war wrote:Astorath the grim he makes his army stronger 1-3 for red thirst can easily crack other characters plus you can take more deathcompany and allows his squad to re roll to hit

Meh, he's just an angry chaplain at best.
More than one DC squad is a points waste, unless you're going for a full army

Yeah, all the top ones mentioned already. I would also add:

1) Rune Priests; versatile and cheap with several great psychic powers.
2) Autarchs; give mechdar a great boost.
3) Lash or Warp Princes; Tend to be the best unit in a CSM army.

Tactical Genius. That is all.

Best at what?

At melee, the ubiquitous thunderlord is a contender, although the Swarmlord is pretty scary.

At shooting, Bjorn. He's a dreadnought with a plasma cannon and BS6!

Support? I think Eldrad deserves honourable mention.

Dashofpepper wrote:

rodgers37 wrote:Every army has a very good HQ really.

This. You can't compare across codexes.

I think you can compare how valuable a given HQ is to any given army. I mean, CCSes are amazing for IG, but the army works well without them. Orks don't work nearly as well without a big mek with KFF, and eldar don't work as well without a farseer.

rodgers37 wrote:
Every army has a very good HQ really.

All Tau HQ's suck, particularly the special characters...

Best HQ...I'd say Belial. He's not a huge killing machine, but he is really cheap for what he does.

Polonius wrote:

Dashofpepper wrote:

rodgers37 wrote:Every army has a very good HQ really.

This. You can't compare across codexes.

I think you can compare how valuable a given HQ is to any given army. I mean, CCSes are amazing for IG, but the army works well without them. Orks don't work nearly as well without a big mek with KFF, and eldar don't work as well without a farseer.

You can certainly compare them in terms of how well they augment the type of force you are trying to run with. And while I might agree that every army has a "good" HQ choice, some of them most certainly have more variety of choices, and more utility within those choices. Other books (Chaos) have a little more narrow focus with less nifty gear/options, but still good HQ choices none the less.