Greatest armies in history.

my list

Ancient Macedonian army (under alexander)

Arab army -- 7th-9th centuries

Ottoman Army -- 15th-18 centuries

The golden horde (mongol army)

French army -- Early 19th century

Roman army -- (1th century bc)

German Wehrmacht -- WW2 (conquered almost all of europe and fought against 15+ countries)

Aaaand lastly :

Bruxae -- Forever

Me.

Assyria's definitely missing. And Egypt under the rule of Ramses II.

Spartans from 700 bc - 500 bc

Army of the dead.

@bruxae: I knew it.

Mongol

History, not the world!!!!

Mamluks were heavy duty...look them up, they battered the Mongols and Crusaders. Also Muslim army under Salah Ah-Deen (not the same as Arab!).

@deathpoolthet1000: I know

You should do a fictional army version.

The Red army.

They were indestructible and ruthless.

I would add Hannibal's army during his invasion of the Italian continent circa 218-215 BC. Wiped out several roman armies and was basically undefeated for 16 years.

Attila the Hun's army was largely undefeated as well.

The Frankish army under Charlemange.

Prussian Army from 1700-1786 and again from 1835-1918 (German army after 1870)

Spanish army in the 16th centry during the Reconquista

I'd also mention the Hang, Ming and Qing dynasty's of China - as he had a powerful military during the height of their respective powers'

Assyrians...sometimes

Galactic Empire

The United States Army - All Times.

Leave Nazis out of anything with the word "greatest," it's just stupid. They really weren't even that powerful, they were led by morons.

lol. Hitler might have been one of the biggest assholes in the history of humankind, but you're ignorant to make that statement. The Wehrmacht had some of the best commanders and soldiers of their time and to dismiss their military accomplishments because you don't agree with their ideals is stupid.

Furthermore the armed forces of Germany, the Heer (Army), Luftwaffe (Air Firce) and Kreigsmarine's (Navh) war crimes were nothing in comparison to the SS, which committed most of them. In fact I'd go so far as to say they probably committed no more than any Allied Army and especially the Red Army did.

Bottom line, the Wehrmacht revolutionized warfare on land, sea and air. You cannot argue that, period.

Mongols

Huns

Spartans

Zande

@fallschirmjager: I like how you say "don't agree with their ideals" like it's just an opinion. Anyone who agrees with their ideals is a complete moron, so to at all give it a sense of credibility is ridiculous.

All that I'm saying is that using any word like "great" to describe Nazis is ridiculous. Hitler was actually tremendously stupid, and let relatively weak forces. They were ruthless, not talented.

And you clearly know nothing about military history and are just here to cry about the fact that the someone mentioned the word Wehrmacht. Like it or not, history doesn't lie. And their military accomplishments speak for themselves. What their motives were are not being discussed here.

@dabee:

Hitler may have been a bad person but you can't ignore the fact that they were a powerful army. I'm pretty sure they mean "Greatest" as in powerful.

@fallschirmjager: Whatever you say. :-)

Yes....they were. They were one of the greatest military forces the world has ever known. It's not an opinion. It's a fact.

Mongols

Romans

Macedonians

Samurais

@dabee: Wehrmacht=/=Nazis.

From what I've seen in my experience (outside of the US Armed Forces obviously) the British, Australian, and Polish forces are pretty well trained.

@edamame: *sigh* if only someone liked Hitler's art... :P

America is the greatest spender, that's for sure.

Bruxae is certainly the greatest. But the Golden Horde is a close second.

It could be argued that it is over expenditure, I won't debate against that. But I've worked with many men and women from all branches. I will not call them all "great" or "the best". I've, quite honestly, met many douchey, unintelligent people in the military (officer and enlisted) and in the military industrial complex. But most service people are very, very good at what they do and very committed. At least the people I have had a close working relationship with. The spending alone doesn't buy dedication, which is what a volunteer force helps build.

I was really just commenting on the fact that the US is if not the current biggest spender of their military is certainly up on the list. Wasn't necessarily saying that that made it the "best" or the "greatest". But how big of a budget a country spends on their military is a factor into how "good" they might be, as far as what money can buy.

I know, I should have continued with what I was saying, but I was lazy. A lot of that spending goes into the training of personnel. It was in six figures just to train me for my basic job, which was TACP. When I elevated to it's SpOps variant, JTAC, it was that much more. Then you consider training our Tier One level operators (CAG, DevGro, the 24th STS) can be upwards of a million per troop. It doesn't all go into tomahawk missiles and jets. Not saying you didn't know this, but the quality of people you turn out is equivalent to what you put in. "Garbage in, garbage out" as the saying goes (not calling our people garbage, but you get what I'm saying). There is absolutely military wasteful expenditures, though. The military and the government could save itself a lot of money if it re-vamped it's spending practices. I will be the first to vouch for that.

Spending does not always equal quality though. I've seen that first hand. A jamming weapon is a perfect example...

I really doubt armies from thousands of years ago can compete with the advanced technique and training of most modern militia, let alone the difference in weaponry. Maybe a Spartan was a bit tougher than a Marine, but the modern man still wins since he knows what he's doing.

Haha, a 300 reboot where one A-10 gun run is the whole movie. The "Three Second War".

@nickzambuto: I think you pretty much missed the point of the thread. It says "in history" which means you're suppose to look at each military during the time it existed.

This isn't a battle thread.

No, the OP is simply asking which army in all of history is the greatest. Most people are listing armies from thousands of years ago, which I find ridiculous.

@nickzambuto: Yes, because several of the ones listed conquered entire countries and continents which clearly makes them worthless, right?

Again. This isn't a battle thread. No one is asking who would win Alexander's army vs the US army of today.

I see.

That is true.

I think it is a battle. OP is clearly asking which is the greatest army in history, in which case the modern US army is clearly superior to, say the Spartans.

@nickzambuto: lol.

Did you read the post he made? He listed off several great armies. Made no mention of them combating one another. He didn't set up rules, a battleground and this thread isn't in the battle section.

Nothing suggests its a battle thread.

Well if that's what you think Mr. lol than good luck.

It's funny how much you've misunderstood this topic haha

Greatest armieS in history.

Yes, a modern army would crush an ancient one technology wise. If you take the armies listed relative to their time period they are great. You take them and compare to a modern army it is quite silly, unless we are talking strategy and tactics in which some things have carried through history others given technology are unneeded.