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So I was talking to my friend about armies and he was telling me he thought the best armies right now are Necrons and Tyranids. I was about to tell him what I thought were the best armies but I couldn't think of why for a few reasons.
I couldn't pinpoint what makes an army better than others right now.

-Is it a cheap tactic and army has that is very foolproof.
-Is it an armies ability to have good counters to most threats.
-Or is it that an army came off really wel by the 6th edition rules and now is very good.

Any help would be great as to what you think of when you say an army is better than another.
Also reasons why you think a army is better would help me too.

Was it written as an OP gimmik-fest, with fluff that makes the army out to be more powerful/special/awesome than any other?

Then it's the 'best'

Truly though, Orks are the best. Anyone else is just kidding themselves

If he thinks Nids are the best then he's proven he doesn't know what he's talking about. They got a nice boost with 6th, but they're still weaker than most armies.

Necrons are very, very good right now, and they have a specific build containing an insane amount of fliers that will be insanely difficult for most armies to deal with. Glancing vehicles to death became easier, which makes every gauss weapon more effective, and the units are mostly durable and dangerous.

Ascalam what makes an entire army OP is it becasue alot of its units are really good choices and there almost isn't a wrong choice.

Or is it like I said before their are alot of good tactics that have been made for that army that make it very flexible and versatile?

What makes an army OP is units that do more for their points cost than units in other codexes. In my opinion, there is no distinction between a "powerful" army and an "OP" army- "powerful" is a slightly less extreme version of "OP."

The player obviously~

No but seriously even with the best list in the world with a player that doesn't know how use it is still a bad army.

I think what makes an army the best is an overall cheap unit cost, good special rules, and no risk but massive reward tactics.

Chaos Santa wrote:Ascalam what makes an entire army OP is it becasue alot of its units are really good choices and there almost isn't a wrong choice.

Or is it like I said before their are alot of good tactics that have been made for that army that make it very flexible and versatile?

Pretty much what Doombread said.

Some armies are vastly undercosted for their capabilities, or have combinations of units and rules that make them near impossible to beat with certain other armies.

Generally it's not the entire codex (most have a few units that no-one seems to take, because something is better in the same slot), but specific builds within the codex that are pretty much signposted as 'take this, it's the best!' compared to other units. Often they will cost less than the equivilent in other codexes, or have better rules/wargear. An example would be Long Fangs compared to regular Devestators.

The aforementioned Flyerspam Necrons, for example, are an example of a near unbeatable build.

IG and Marines can take them down, with some struggle, due to a good supply of powerful and relatively cheap firepower, and cheap, overgunned fliers.

Other armies, not so much.


Another example would be a drop-pod spam SM list against Tau. The tau need you at range to have a hope of killing you. Being able to just drop pods anywhere you like (with little fear of mishap) on turn one, makes it a near impossible uphill fight just to force a draw.



Not whining, overmuch anyway, but you'd have to drop about 150 IQ to believe that the game is balanced. One particular author, especially, tends to make each succeeding book more and more OP than the last, with less and less weaknesses, but all of them have turned out codexes with severe imbalances at one point or another.


OP is subjective. What i consider OP might not mesh with what others consider OP. I've even has people claim that Grots are OP because they have a rule that allows them to clear minefields. The owners of the uber codexes tend to prefer to refer to them as 'strong', also

Thanks everyone for the replys.

Now if i can ask another question without big arguments coming out.

What would you consider is the better armies in 6th edition right now and reasons would be great?

Necrons are very 'strong', partly due to the sheer amount of fliers they can access and gauss being able to wreck anything in the game with just a few glances. A unit of warriors can put out a hell of a lot of shots, and it only takes a few 6's to trash that LR, or whatever..

Not the only reason. but that's oen of the biggies.

Most recent SM dexes are good or better, just for being SM's. Having the best tanks in the game, and the best armour, goes a long way. Having fething 2+,3++ termies goes even further, but that's a personal peeve. Power weapons no longer ignoring 2+ armour made SM dexes (the ones with the most 2+ armour ) stronger.

DE were good, but the new rules have basically gimped them hard. The WWP is now near useless, due being unable to assault on the turn you arrive for reserves combines with reserves coming in on a 3+ on turn 2, before you have had time to get it anywhere useful. Being able to disembark only if your vehicle went 6'' or less pretty much killed any build aside from venomspam trueborn or raiderspam DL spam, as many DE units are assault ariented, but fragile until they can get into CC.

Orks were average in 5th, and about the same in 6th. KFF got nerfed to 5+, walkers became a whole lot more fragile due to the new grenade rules. The change to Fleet (again!) didn't help them much, as they can no longer run then assault during a waaagh!

Being able to snapfire out of fast moving vehicles is a nice buff, as is the loss of No Retreat wounds.

What about GK? I hear so much about them but I'm not seeing those things.
Any more examples would be great?

Chaos Santa wrote:What about GK? I hear so much about them but I'm not seeing those things.
Any more examples would be great?

GK are one of the more powerful armies out there. I'd put them a little bit behind Spacewolves and Imperial Guard.

to me it is a matter of what is the funnest... so orks

Being able to have multiple effective lists and easy to learn.

Having a list that most folk have to tailor to to even compete - tenfold more if that list is something that is outside of the metagame's standard.

Having more than one means it's just a win, barring stupid rolling.

So back to my question about GK what makes them one of the more powerful armies out there?

And why are space wolves and Imperial Guard in front of them?

Chaos Santa wrote:So back to my question about GK what makes them one of the more powerful armies out there?

And why are space wolves and Imperial Guard in front of them?

Grey Knights tend to pack a lot of raw power in both mid-ranged and close combat. It makes them powerful and versatile mid-ranged fighters.

Space Wolves lack quite as much concentrated power, but you can field more of them, making them generally more survivable, and overall, they have slightly more versatile options.

Imperial Guard can hide behind a wall of armour, have the best artillery in the game, and can get it very cheaply.

Thank you Fafnir.

So would I be safe saying that some of the armies that are the best in 6th edition could be these ones:
-Imperial Guard
-Space Wolves
-Necrons
-Grey Knights
-???

It does vary, and (usually) a good player with a bad codex will do better than a bad player with a good codex. And there's always the dice.

Under the 6th Edition rules, both Daemons and 'Nids can run a pretty effective flying monstrous creature list. However, these lists typically do have some holes. Either way, I think they're very potent.

Chaos Santa wrote:Thank you Fafnir.

So would I be safe saying that some of the armies that are the best in 6th edition could be these ones:
-Imperial Guard
-Space Wolves
-Necrons
-Grey Knights
-???

I'd say in this order:

God Tier
Necrons

Top Tier
Imperial Guard
Space Wolves
Grey Knights

High Tier
Blood Angels
Dark Eldar

After that, it kind of is a wash until you get to the trash tier codecies.

Models that make you drool and fluff tha makes you grin from ear to ear. That's a good army in my book!

I love the Ork fluff and the army is actually pretty fun to play with a lot of interesting units, I find the shokk attack gun hilarious and the look on an opponents face when you roll doubles and going well I wonder what happened. That and of all the "gods" in the game the Ork gods Gork and Mork are the best by far.

The fluff, the game play, and interesting rules are what make an army the best and I would have to say that is the Orks.