A few days ago a friend asked a question: Is there any army in MeG that can field superior units only? Exceptional are of course accepted too! We had a small brainstorm which armies have this potential. Then I decided to check them all, list by list, army by army as it was a really interesting question - which armies can bring the most quality to the battlefield?
And here comes the result.
It is all about fun, but I had to make some basic rules:
Army has to have legal composition
Army should be of 9900pts at least
CAN have maxed generals to fill the points so as the best possible camp
No allies allowed
As overly restricted rules would limit armies too much due to minimums that are obligatory, I assumed that some average units are acceptable but no more than 3 UGs in total and no more than 2 TuG amongst them.
Armies below are in chronological order.
Before you check for the answers, I strongly encourage you, for the sake of fun, to think for a minute or two which armies have the potential to be Superior only, in terms of units quality. The results might surprise you!
Ready?
1. New Kingdom Egyptians - Egypt and Hatti
New Kingdom Egyptians is the only army from the Chariot Era that can field almost purely Superior force. In fact 1 more unit could be used if not minimums required. Note that Nubian Skirmishers are Skilled archers, so also a kind of elite unit. What makes this army so great is that in this composition it might actually perform very well on the battlefield.
2. Hittite Empire - Egypt and Hatti
This army was added by a friend to the list. Hittite army list is rather complicated and I missed this option initially. Similar to the army of Egyptians above, with a bit more melee combat potential. Worthy enemies - no doubts!
3. Five Hegemons - Mandate of Heaven
Five Hegemons army has trully mighty chariots at its disposal. And only 24 of them are enough to make this army Superior. Note that foot Warriors and Archers are a single TuG, so there are 2 non-superior TuGs only. Probably points can be optimised here better using skirmishers.
4. This IS SPARTAAAA! - Greece and Macedon
Probably one the more obvious armies here. Of course that Spartans can field nearly purely Superior army! In fact 2 more bases of Spartans could be added and 1 Peltasts removed. But I like the army as it is now better. And consider it more viable in the battlefield.
5. Alexandrian Macedonians - Greece and Macedon
Alexanders army would normally field more average units but it has enought elite to make the Superior list as well. As a rare case - it has access to superior skirmishers! And Cretans, although average, are still an elite unit due to Skilled shooting. I think the numbers fielded by Alexander might not be enough against most of the possible opponents, but perhaps you would like to try and prove otherwise?
6. Alexandrian Expeditionary - Greece and Macedon
Another variant of Macedonian army and the most unique of all as core of the army is made of foot skirmishers and the rest are elite cavalry TuGs. It is like taking things backwards... But in proper terrain (PBS here is 9, scouting is 4!) that might actually work. And the most important - it is the first trully and only Superior units army in this list! Also, it is the 3rd from 'Greece and Macedon' group - certainly the best one to search for elite armies.
7. Nikephorian Byzantines - Byzantium
As it is already a medieval army, if you bet that there must be some Superior Roman army or some horse elite army from atiquity, sorry, but I could not find such. Sure, there are many that can field a few Superior of Exceptional units but not enough to meet the requirements.
Nikephorians are not 100% Superior as they need to field 1 average TuG due to minimums. Otherwise Byzantine general could easily field purely Superior force. In fact this army has by far the biggest choice of Superior/Exceptional units of all! So the above roster is only one of several variants possible.
8. Mongol Conquest - Genghis
An army that has no problem to field purely Superior force. Probably not the most obvious one as in common view Mongols had a horde army, but it is not entirely correct. And 16 bases of obligatory Superior Tumen Cavalry is probably the biggest contingent of Superior minimums to be met by the roster. Personally, I think this army of all armies presented here would do the best in a competetive game .
9. Tuareg - Medieval Africa
The biggest surprise of all, no doubts. I had little hope to find any Superior army in Africa, but here it is! 24 bases of Superior Camelry, some superior cavalry and acceptable 3 UGs of average units. That would be a sight on a battlefield!
10. Crusade of Nicopolis - House of Osman
I was sure that I'll find some elite medieval knightly army and I did, but in the most unlikely place - House of Osman list. And this army can be used in 1 year only, which is very rare if not the only case. Average units were necessity in this case, but I was able to achieve perfect 10.000 points score with the crusaders.
11. Medieval Polish - Ostsiedlung
Almost purely cavalry army that is famous for winning the biggest battle of Medieval Europe - battle of Grunwald 1410. High quality knights with no lesser lithuanian horsmen and some support of shooting lighter units are force to be wreckoned with. The roster below need polishing for sure but its potential is clearly visible I think.
12. Late Swiss - Italian Wars [edited]
Steve Charlton paid my attention to 2 more armies - both from Italian Wars lists. Late Swiss have several options to field Superior army, even could skip Skirmishers completly and field exclusively Superior force. So roster below is just an example, can be improved for sure! And I know that Swiss have a great tournament potential. So one of the best choices if you wish for a competetive army.
13. Italian Wars French - Italian Wars [edited]
Another elite force used during Italian Wars. Army list below is only one of several possible options. I like this one due to perfect 10k points score :) Kind of like a Swiss army, but with solid cavalry units. The Rennaissance was a period of major changes in european warfare so if you like the period - Italian Wars French offer a lot of interesting options.
And thats it! Out of roughly 650 army lists only 13 of them can field almost exclusively a Superior quality units. No Romans, no Samurai, no Assyrians, no Templars or Janissaries can be used without solid support of average units.
I wonder - what your bets were? Would be great to see them in the comments.
If I missed any army that can meet the requirements or made any mistake - let me know!
BONUS - Hittite Empire with allies - Egypt and Hatti
In this case allies from Mitanni have to be used. Perhaps there are more armies with allies that could be considered 'Superior army', but this one was the obvious for me. Tons of superior chariots and 3 infantry units only. Interesting army for sure.
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