MEQ

Refers to "Marine-equivalent", a term that comes from tabletop Warhammer 40k.

MEQ races tend to follow similar patterns.

What makes a faction MEQ
Within Tabletop, MEQ referred specifically to units with a similar stat-line to Tactical Space Marines. We use the definition more loosely to describe the entire faction design as a whole.
 * Their main combat units:
 * Tend to be Heavy Infantry with significant ranged capability.
 * Their squad leader tends to have Elite Heavy Infantry armour, with superior melee DPS through powerswords or powerfists.
 * Tend to be 3 population in cost, meaning that the number of squads between players becomes similar.
 * Tend to cost around 50 or 55 requisition, with no or low power cost.
 * Tend to have multiple special weapons, which provide hard counter capability.
 * Their unit dedicated to early game capture of points (capper) tends to be Light Infantry.
 * They have a melee Jumper unit in Tier 1 or 1.5
 * Tend to have a model that can attach to other squads, providing Health Regeneration. Such as the Apothecary.
 * Their elite combat unit(s) tend to be Elite Heavy Infantry or Daemon armour.
 * Their commander tends to be an early game bruiser that enjoys fighting commander duels.
 * They have a Rhino transport, available from the HQ

Learning Curve

 * New players can pick up multiple factions simply by playing only one of them.
 * New players can quickly learn how to defeat multiple factions, simply by opposing one of them.
 * Veteran players can extend their mastery of one faction across multiple factions, making the game easier and more rewarding to master.
 * Veteran players can feel like they're flexible in their options without feeling as handicapped.

Different army styles to learn
Certain factions depart significantly from the MEQ design, some more than others. For example:
 * Eldar requires that you deeply learn the armour type and weapon counter system.

Gameplay

 * It allows almost mirror matches, without the factions being completely identical. Therefore, you have "balanced asymmetry". Think Ken vs Ryu, from Street Fighter.
 * Small factional differences become a more prominent point in focus, which can be used by skilled players.

Balance

 * Non-MEQ factions must be balanced against many other factions. The MEQ design provides a framework that helps the non-MEQs be closely balanced.

Which are the MEQs
Some factions are, frankly speaking, more MEQ than others.
 * Space Marines
 * Chaos Space Marines
 * Sisters of Battle
 * Tau (to a lesser extent)
 * Dark Eldar (to a lesser extent)
 * IG Kasrkin openings (to a lesser extent)
 * Ork Ard Boy openings (to a much lesser extent)

For Tau we have tried to deviate from the patterns that make a faction MEQ, but it still resembles it loosely.