sparten

And oh yeah, Taimur (Tamerlane), he never lost a battle, made the Ottomon Queen dance naked, and sacked Lahore. Nuff said.

__________________
"Any relations in a social order will endure if there is infused into them some of that spirit of human sympathy, which qualifies life for immortality." ~ George William Russell

sparten

Chandragupta Maurya. Anyman who can unite India (and capture a bit of Afghanistan too boot) deserves repect.

s_qwert63

no matter who says what,
Post Marian Roman Army wins hands down.

ExNavyAmerican

I voted U.S. WW2, Napoleon, and Imperial Rome.

__________________
"I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just; that His justice cannot sleep forever."
- Thomas Jefferson

Jay

That bastard enjoyed his life

__________________
A grain of wheat eclipsed the sun of Adam !!

Blademaster

I vote the Mongols because they were virtually unstoppable. No one in the world had any idea of how to defeat the Mongols. They were a force of nature to be reckoned with. However, if the vote was for the greatest Empire, it wouldn't be the Mongols. It would be either the Romans, the Qin Empire, Persia Empire before Alexander conquered it and after 275 where they were a force till the Mongols.

Kansas Bear

The man knew how to party.

entropy

In general, I choose Rome. A completely pragmatic force, simplified to the maximum and made to work as one.

In our times, I choose IDF from it's birth until about 1980.

__________________
If memory serves...

Shamus

Ater debating heatedly with myself(this happens a lot)I came down on the side of the Mongols.Greatest light calvary the world has ever seen although the Plains Indian tribes were close.Just a thought but I have always admired the Zulus' warrior tradition and tactics such as their "buffalo horn" attack formation.

__________________
A positive attitude may not solve all your problems, but
it will annoy enough people to make it worth the effort.

JAD_333

Alexander the Great is a good choice when it comes to frontal assaults, skillful use of calvary, sheer bravery, inspiring leadership and skill in use of weaponry. But for sheer brilliance of strategy and tactics, I have to go with MacArthur and his forces in the Pacific during WWII. Any general who considers minimizing casualties a key element of his battle planning is high on my list. Time after time he struck where the Japanese least expected it and when they massed in expectation of a major land battle, he skipped over them to their chagrin, frustrating them no end. He had one thing in common with Alexander; he repeatedly risked his life at the front lines. Other than that he was an insufferable egoist, or maybe that's what it takes...

lazybastard

So was Alexander. You may be on to something here.

astralis

JAD,

i don't know if the tiger of malaya was so shocked and awed by macarthur.

__________________
Never let the future disturb you. You will meet it, if you have to, with the same weapons of reason which today arm you against the present.

-Marcus Aurelius, Meditations

nabilfannoush

Hello All
I dont know about 'all time', but in the above list, I chose Imperial Rome. This military was a pioneer of its kind, and much of the modern doctrine used today was a Roman innovation. In my opinion it was in Roman times that practical military strategy and tactics were raised to a science. Aside from the fact that they conquered a vast empire, the way the empire was gained with regard of overall campaign strategy and field tactics against varying and divergent types military opposition gives a man like me food for thought....I hope nobody takes this the wrong way, but I actually find Roman military actually more competent and talented than many a current counterpart.

juanjux

The Spanish Tercios are missing!

Demosthenes

I would have voted Napoleon...but then again, who defeated him? The British Empire...more or less the biggest empire to ever exist such that it was named the "empire which the sun never sets" since the sun would always shine in one of its numerous colonies.

offtopic:
French Field Marshal Michal Davout was a whole lot better general than Napoleon. No offense to napoleon fans.