The most versatile wargames army?

[TheBlackCrane]

Looking at the Pyrrhic War and the upcoming Forged in Battle kickstarter got me thinking that the Republican Roman army must be one of the most versatile there is for wargaming purposes. I'm thinking in terms of the different opponents it can face - Italian city states, Gauls, Iberians, Carthaginians, Greeks of sundry nations/forces, Successors & Eastern realms such as Mithradates and his Pontic chaps...

It's a lot of opponents, and variety amongst the forces those opponents are composed of, that one can use to all intents and purposes the same Roman force against! (Obviously I am discounting the possibility of somebody saying I can't use 'x' unit on the tabletop because it's painted as 'y' legion which never fought in such and such a war...  )

It got me to wondering, what other wargames armies, from any region, period etc, are as versatile? Any army you particularly like having as it lets you fight lots of different opposition?

[carlos13th]

Not to mention you could use it in fantasy games too. Could easily use a Roman army in Kings of War.

Imagine Greeks are pretty versatile too.

[v_lazy_dragon]

I would say any pesent/leavy based dark ages army would be fairly versatile - most of the forces fairly similar, especially the lower down the cast system one went. By swaping generals (and possibly elite troops) it should be possible to go from Late Roman era Germanic tribesmen through Anglo-saxons, Vikings, Anglo Danes and up to the 1100/1200s 'baron wars' and early crusades. 
And again, they could be used for Fantasy or as lost vikings living at the north pole for a Pulp game!

[Cory]

The two forces I have gotten the most use out of are my medieval peasants which have bulked out a wide variety of historical and fantasy forces and my interwar civilians that have fought invading aliens, monsters, Nazis, revenue agents, and themselves with great frequency.

Both forces follow what lazy dragon said about changing out leaders and a regular unit or two.

[grant]

Back from my DBA days, Romans and Hairy Germanic Barbarians - they fought EVERYONE, even each other!

[FramFramson]

I expect you'd get quite a bit of mileage out of Napoleonic Frenchmen too.

Maybe also Greek Phalanxes. Could serve in any Peloponnesean Wars, Graeco-Persian wars, or in any of the campaigns of Alexander, so long as you made them a bit generic and added a few more auxiliaries (slingers, cavalry, etc.) for the Alexandrine campaigns.

[HerbyF]

Monguls, pretty much any body in the medieval world from the far east, middle east, and northern & central Europe.

[von Lucky]

Ancient Greeks, Romans, Dark Age (most around the world), Samurai, Late Medieval, TYW/ECW all allow a lot of morphing.

I'd say the circa 1500 medieval army is the most versatile, as it can be used in ancient and renaissance wargaming and pretty much any country/kingdom etc.

[janner]

An Arab army can cover near a millennium of warfare stretching from Iberia (and into France) to Central Asia 

[pistolpete]

while not an entire army per se but gladitors would fill a lot of roles too from fantasy fighters to post-apoc survivors.

[Scorpio]

Robed cultists. My cultists have done scifi, pulp, Victorian, superhero, horror, etc. Add on a couple figs, they can fit almost anywhere.

[Cubs]

Normans.

Those babies were making friends all over the place in the 11th and early 12th centuries and can be used for 1st Crusade too.

[Vanvlak]

Normans.

Those babies were making friends all over the place in the 11th and early 12th centuries and can be used for 1st Crusade too.

And the last one too, although it's just one and not an army, although by extrapolation...

[Lowtardog]

An Arab army can cover near a millennium of warfare stretching from Iberia (and into France) to Central Asia 

Yup have to go with that one, next would be a saxon army which could be dragged back and forth from 410 ad to 1066

[janner]

Yup have to go with that one, next would be a saxon army which could be dragged back and forth from 410 ad to 1066

I'd be pretty comfortable running the basic foot as part of an Anglo-Norman army, such as for the battle of the Standard