Reply To: The issue of the "elite" army (and finding opponents)….

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Starterboxes feature ‘elite’ armies, because of marketing. This is a business like any other.

Mention World War 2 and 9 times out of 10 people will mention Americans & Overlord (or at least that scene from Saving Private Ryan; ‘The longest day’ would be next). The 101st is also one of the first army ‘names’ the casual player learns (probably because of ‘Band of Brothers’).

The SS armies are next, because everyone has heard about ‘the great evil’

It’s the same reason why GW tends to use those blue space smurfs …

I’d argue that in order to get players to use the average grunt instead of the elite you need a good hook and better marketing.
Systems & scenarios that make such choices useful are next in that list.