FireKnife wrote:
When someone asks 'best' i usually put a begineer army as often the question (no offence) is asked by those that are new and after a good starter force that is easy to balance and play, not a force like Rohan that can take ages to get right.
'FireKnife'
Fireknife, that is as good an answer as any I've seen.
However, it's been my observation (with one exception) that it isn't the lists themselves so much as certain groups within them. So you can easily make decent Rohan and Angmar lists by focusing more on value (though Elves? Don't know either.) however a couple of the lists contain particular clusters of undercosted footsoldiers and heroes. So Mordor is considered good for beginners because their 'elite' Morranans are 10pts (ie almost 2/3 the cost) cheaper ea than an 'elite' Uruk Hai coy for little appreciable difference in capability and then Gothmog is very cheap and Ringwraiths are Mastery 3 Darkness casters with bonuses. Something similar happens with Misty Mountains.
Now, to most people's credit, you don't always see Moria and Mordor lists made that way - so they may not have any real edge over say an Isengard list. However, they can be made much stronger and it is immediately obvious to players building their lists how this can be done.
I think the bigger issue for this game is not lists themselves, but the combination of how some of the groups of units within lists are costed and the very generous ally allocations. If the problem in the fisrt place is underpricing some things, then making an ally allocation based on price isn't exactly the most meaningful form of restriction. So what's the solution for Elves? Allying in heaps from the Gondor list, apparently!