Using Heavy Chariots/Scythed

[Dutch_guy]

Nice post you've obviously done your research.

And yes Chariots are the best against light cav. and are good to disrupt formations and are also not bad versus elephants.
Never really bothered to use them though, although I have never played as Pontus
Always found that ( especially the general unit ) die to fast and often run amok when they get casualties , and I don't want them to disrupt My formations

But if I use them ( which I rarely do ) I tend to target the generals cav. or attack from behind into an engaged enemy unit.

[Marcus Maxentius]

They're very expensive auxillary units, though most people want to use them as primary attacking units. They're good at protecting the flanks since the scythes destroy cav trying to attack. Even if they lose, they will have left the cav weakened for another unit to destoy. A great setup would be chariots with spears protecting their rear. If the chariot decides to attack a unit ahead of it and feints, the attacker will be met with the spears and then hit from behind by the chariot.

Chariots would be best at the beginning to weaken the morale and disorder the ranks and delay the enemy until the army is in position. Use them in comination with missle cavalry/skirmishers &melee cavalry watching over all of them.

On the offensive, I would hold off on them until the enemy is sufficiently broken and exhausted and then use them to create a mass rout.

[SpencerH]

They're pretty effective but they can cause as much trouble as benefit if they rout into your lines. Therefore, as with elephants, I never used them as shock troops. Instead, I kept them on the far flanks to counter enemy cav and to pincer into the second rank missile units.

[amazon77]

Sorry to post in my own thread (upping).

Yes, they need micromanagement, but i think not too much. Also they are expensive (mostly it's their support cost), yet i find them better than cataphracts, which come much later in the game anyway. Most annoying thing is the 2-turn build time but cat's have the same as well. I use them against certain cav heavy factions. That way i don't need too many of them, 2 units are ok +1 spare to fill losses, as they go amok when they start with too few men. Good thing is you can retrain them in almost any town as they only need a blacksmith, quite low tech. Cat's on the other hand are much much higher, tech-wise.

If anyone is interested on results of 1 vs 1's in different difficulty lvl's drop a line telling me vs what unit and i'll run the test some times publishing results, tho you can do on your own anyway.