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  1. #1
    Member Member LordKhaine's Avatar
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    Default Re: Chariots.... any good?

    Bear in mind most of my chariot experience is with British Chariots... but you can't expect them to kill many men themselves. They are however perfect for charging the flanks or rear of the enemy battle line (once engaged with your infantry/cavalry). Before I've caused literally an entire battleline to flee at once when they were flanked by chariots this way.

    Personally I'd say elephants are far more powerful, since they can stay alive as well as disrupt the enemy. Chariots really are very flimsy and if they stop moving in an enemy formation they wont last more than seconds (Try keeping a British general alive, it's not easy). The moment you engage the enemy run *through* the enemy unit and keep moving. Never stop chariots.

    That's not to say chariots are useless when your army has access to elephants. Elephlump's are very expensive to recruit and maintain. And let's face it, chariots are faster and cooler.
    ~LordKhaine~

  2. #2

    Default Re: Chariots.... any good?

    I personally have made some very good expierences when using chariots.. Don't charge them straight into an enemy formation but let them use the blades on their wheels to cut down the enemy. To achieve this you'll have to get them to turn sideways and run up the enemy ranks.. I know it's difficult to time this but if successful this will cause the entire first rank of units, no matter what kind of unit you're attacking, to die instantly!!

  3. #3

    Angry Re: Chariots.... any good?

    How do you guys handle the british chariots when you play as romans? I have lost an entire army becouse of those pesky chariots... What kind of unit do you use to handle them, especially if your opponent has 2 or more of those units?

  4. #4
    Parentum voto ac favore Member Dark_Magician's Avatar
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    Default Re: Chariots.... any good?

    scyth chariots are uber unit. Every time I used them they achieved same result as cataphracts with only 1-2 chariots lost when it took 1/3 of cataphracts. I don't get why it is important that they do not kill soldiers at their charge, because they turn them routing. Chasing them thoough takes time provides with more enemies dead. Of course, being such a powerful unit they have special weakness.

    I remember one time huge initially successful SP battle with Egiptians which I had to reload. Because I had too many chariots and few normal units and great micromanaging difficulties. I was defending. Closer to the end, one routing enemy soldier stuck into my phalang somehow.
    I noticed it because my archers fired at my own troops with enemy retreating. AND, they did not miss chariots. Who went amok. And ran through elephants. Of 12 elefants 3 instakilled, the rest went amok and ran through my army, while mad chariots, as you know circle around. This accident caused casualties in couple of hundreds of good troops.

  5. #5
    Ming the Merciless is my idol Senior Member Watchman's Avatar
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    Default Re: Chariots.... any good?

    I've gotten the impression chariots are on the whole rather better at killing cavalry than infantry - infantry get distrupted and knocked down and (if they don't die) stand up some five seconds later, cavalry just die. I guess horse legs get torn up really well by those scythes all chariots have (yes, even the Brit chariots seem to have scythes as far as the game is concerned; they just don't show).

    'Course, cavalry can also absolutely shred most chariots *if* they catch them stationary, as unfortunately tends to happen if you forget to micro the buggers as they have this really annoying habit of starting a charge, slowing down about ten to twenty meters from the enemy, and restarting the charge. Works against infantry, but counter-charging cavalry come in too fast for the chariots to accelerate...

    The AI, naturally, has no problems of this sort (double-click seems to do the job, and the AI can multitask) which in practice mean I pretty soon stopped sending any cavalry after those pesky Egyptian chariots. Cav Aux, Rom Cav, Legionary Cav... all got torn up something nasty.
    Last edited by Watchman; 11-19-2004 at 12:28.
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  6. #6
    Member Member Orvis Tertia's Avatar
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    Default Re: Chariots.... any good?

    I have not experimented with this tactic yet, but last night playing the Seleucids, I noticed that chariots showed good potential at chasing down horse archers.

    One common problem I have had with chariots is that they sometimes will run amok as soon as the battle starts--before any enemy contact has been made or is even imminent. Seems like a bug. This happens typically to chariot units that are depleted in number from a previous battle. It's turned me off to using chariots very much, and now when I do, I treat them as expendable and charge them at something far away from my battle line and let them fight until dead or routed.

  7. #7
    Emperor Siris Member Siris's Avatar
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    Default Re: Chariots.... any good?

    Hm, if your playing as the Romans and have to fight some chariots, use your Triarii spearmen, they should be similtar to my phallanx of Armoured & Spartan Hoplites.

    If your on the defense, put your men in the unit deployment screen in a square formation, put about two units on the main front, where the hammer stroke will fall hardest, with two or four support units behind them. On the right put one or two units, same with the left. On the rear put two units protecting your flank, and put your General or Captain in the center, on Guard mode along with archers or peltasts.

    Put your entire force on guard mode. If you only have some Triarii, put them up front to take the blunt of the force. Hold your ground, and you should prevail. Chariots get massacred by the spears pointing forward, they just fall over dead. Occassionally a few may get through, but are always killed or rout.

    **On A Side Note**

    You may eat a ton of missles or peltasts and feel the urge to charge forward, but hold fast. I've done this battle defense formation many times now when horribly out numbered, and still won. You may suffer extensive losses, depending on the number of the opposition missle groups, or lack of phallanx formation units or Trarii, but you should inflict much damage to your enemy.

    This is effective vs. Chariots, Horses, foot troops. Do NOT use this vs. Elephants, you'll be massacred! If you do not have any sort of strong spearmen, do not use this formation either, do the typicall battle.

    I'll post a Screen Shot of my first square defense battle this weekend, if I remember. I won the battle & was out numbered by over 1,300 enemies.

  8. #8
    Member Member Gith's Avatar
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    Default Re: Chariots.... any good?

    So basically use chariots to knock everyone down and then hit them while they are disrupted. I'll try it some. I'm at the stage where I get armoured elephants, so I'm kind of set on those right now, but there are some regions far away without the ability to build armoured elephants, so I'll experiment around with them.
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