Are halbs the single best unit in the game?

Let's face it, halbs rule the game.

First of all, let me cite the golden rule of AOE2 trash unit wars:

Hussars counter skirms

Halbs counter hussars

NOTHING counters halbs

Second of all, good trash units are essential, they are you bread and butter in late game. They present the fundamentals and the soul of the game. The reason why Turks are viewed as a weak civ is because they have horrible trash units.

Obviously, due to the game having so many units it's possible to win without even producing a single halb. But halbs are the one unit you definitely want to have on your roster. The lack of halbs needs to be heavily compensated by the civs that don't have them to have balance. You can lack any other unit and it's not so crucial, but if you lack halbs you need to be strong pretty much everywhere else.