Best raw melee fighters? (race/class combination)

[Zerubbabel]

Looking for convincing as to why these two builds are not the best Melee fighters (not including ranged or magic)?
Offence:
1. Half-orc Barbarian Zealot
2. Half-orc Fighter Samurai
Balanced:
3. Half-orc Battlemaster
Tank:
4. Half-orc Barbarian (Bear totem) or Spirit Guardian
5. Half-orc Cavalier

Convince me otherwise... you'll notice a lot of Half-orc, they just seem ideal for melee fighters in all circumstances, their racial traits are outstanding.

[GlenSmash!]

Looking for convincing as to why these two builds are not the best Melee fighters (not including ranged or magic)?
Offence:
1. Half-orc Barbarian Zealot
2. Half-orc Fighter Samurai
Balanced:
3. Half-orc Battlemaster
Tank:
4. Half-orc Barbarian (Bear totem) or Spirit Guardian
5. Half-orc Cavalier

Convince me otherwise... you'll notice a lot of Half-orc, they just seem ideal for melee fighters in all circumstances, their racial traits are outstanding.

While I love the Half orc, in almost all cases Variant Human's Feat is going to give a more measurable boost to offense or defense at low levels. Over time it will balance out though.

Also for Defense I find Goliath has the edge over Half orc due to stones endurance.

[CheddarChampion]

While I love the Half orc, in almost all cases Variant Human's Feat is going to give a more measurable boost to offense or defense at low levels. Over time it will balance out though.

Seconded.
A level 1 V. Human gets PAM/GWM/what-have-you and a +3 strength modifier. At level 4 they have two feats and +3 or one feat and +4.
A level 1 Half-Orc can usually take one more hit and hits a bit harder 5% of the time (0.325 damage per hit with a greataxe) with a +3 strength modifier. At level 4 they have one feat, +3, and racial abilities or +4 and racial abilities.

So for a good portion of play, V. Human has a feat over the Half-Orc.
So, are the racial abilities better on a barbarian than, say, PAM? Better than +2 strength? I think not.

Additionally, Warforged Juggernauts get the same stat boosts as half-orcs but much better AC. But you could go with Envoy instead for just about as good of a fighter or barbarian.

Finally, why not Half-Orc Barbarian 2/Champion 18? Crit-fish for days, regenerate health while having damage resistance.

[Zerubbabel]

While I love the Half orc, in almost all cases Variant Human's Feat is going to give a more measurable boost to offense or defense at low levels. Over time it will balance out though.

Also for Defense I find Goliath has the edge over Half orc due to stones endurance.

Variant Human definitely makes a more flexible Samurai class, I just can't get the Samurai role playing well with a half-orc.

[Zerubbabel]

Seconded.
A level 1 V. Human gets PAM/GWM/what-have-you and a +3 strength modifier. At level 4 they have two feats and +3 or one feat and +4.
A level 1 Half-Orc can usually take one more hit and hits a bit harder 5% of the time (0.325 damage per hit with a greataxe) with a +3 strength modifier. At level 4 they have one feat, +3, and racial abilities or +4 and racial abilities.

So for a good portion of play, V. Human has a feat over the Half-Orc.
So, are the racial abilities better on a barbarian than, say, PAM? Better than +2 strength? I think not.

Additionally, Warforged Juggernauts get the same stat boosts as half-orcs but much better AC. But you could go with Envoy instead for just about as good of a fighter or barbarian.

Finally, why not Half-Orc Barbarian 2/Champion 18? Crit-fish for days, regenerate health while having damage resistance.
I don't do multi-classing in games I DM, which are usually heavily role-played/in-character. We like to keep the diversity of different roles in the team. I respect multi-classing makes a lot more sense with less players in a group, though.

[Zerubbabel]

No doubt Warforged Juggernauts are OP melee fighters - didn't include them as I'm not going to be dipping into Eberron (just not feeling it... yet). Although I'd definitely be getting into Eberron if there was no hope for Planescape.

[Expected]

While I love the Half orc, in almost all cases Variant Human's Feat is going to give a more measurable boost to offense or defense at low levels. Over time it will balance out though.

Thirded. Variant Human is, in my opinion, the best race for melee builds, which usually rely on feats to maximize damage (e.g. GWM, PAM, etc.). You also get 16 (+3) in two stats of your choice (Str/Dex+Con is ideal).

My very first build was a Half-Orc Barbarian 2/Champion Fighter 18 with a greataxe. It was effective, but PAM+GWM+Sentinel is far more effective. Variant Human is hard to compete with because of that feat at level 1.

@OP: Be careful posting subsequent posts. I don't see what the big deal is, but you'll get a warning like I did.