I have a few questions about the chariot equipment in the rulebook (pg 63).

Are the equipment options on a per-chariot basis, or a per unit of chariots basis? For example, if I have a unit with 3 chariots, can I give each chariot a Gruesome Totem so it will give a combined penalty of -3 to rout saves for my opponents units that are in B2B? Or am I only allowed one grusesome totem that the unit of chariots shares? Likewise, can I purchase multiple upgrades for the unit provided each chariot also has the upgrade?

Do the driver & passenger for each chariot need to be equipped the same, aside from any characters riding on the chariot?

The Damage Mod stat for the chariot is "Special," does this mean the DM is based on the equipment the driver/passengers are carrying? In melee combat, the rulebook says the chariot gets to make 2 horse attacks, are these at DM 0 or is it possible to give them a damage mod?

When given a "Charge" command counter, can a chariot make passing attacks against closer enemy units it passes on its way to charge a further back enemy unit? How does this impact the number of attacks the chariot unit has when it finally reaches melee range?

How does giving an amulet to a Chariot or unit of Chariots work? Suppose I want to give an Amulet of Set to my unit of 3 chariots. The chariots would each have 2 passengers, so would I pay points solely for each passenger? Would I also pay the cost of one amulet for the chariot? Would I have to buy 1 amulet for each horse?

Thanks for your answers in advance, trying to get this stuff down before I bring one of these units to a game.

Anybody have any thoughts on the answers to these questions, or at least page references if I just missed the answers in the rulebook?

Are the equipment options on a per-chariot basis, or a per unit of chariots basis? For example, if I have a unit with 3 chariots, can I give each chariot a Gruesome Totem so it will give a combined penalty of -3 to rout saves for my opponents units that are in B2B? Or am I only allowed one grusesome totem that the unit of chariots shares? Likewise, can I purchase multiple upgrades for the unit provided each chariot also has the upgrade?

I believe that you buy upgrades for each chariot separately. You can upgrade each chariot the same, or differently. You buy them for the chariot not the unit, so if the one that has a gruesome totam is destroyed, the unit no longer has one.

Do the driver & passenger for each chariot need to be equipped the same, aside from any characters riding on the chariot? - No.

The Damage Mod stat for the chariot is "Special," does this mean the DM is based on the equipment the driver/passengers are carrying? In melee combat, the rulebook says the chariot gets to make 2 horse attacks, are these at DM 0 or is it possible to give them a damage mod?

DM is based on the driver and passenger. THe horses have a DM of 0.

When given a "Charge" command counter, can a chariot make passing attacks against closer enemy units it passes on its way to charge a further back enemy unit? How does this impact the number of attacks the chariot unit has when it finally reaches melee range?

Not sure about that one.

How does giving an amulet to a Chariot or unit of Chariots work? Suppose I want to give an Amulet of Set to my unit of 3 chariots. The chariots would each have 2 passengers, so would I pay points solely for each passenger? Would I also pay the cost of one amulet for the chariot? Would I have to buy 1 amulet for each horse? I don't think you can give an amulet to a chariot. Maybe to the passenger and driver, but not the chariot itself. I have no rulebook reference, but this seems like the way it should be. I think you would just pay for it for the "crew" and not the horses, and the chariot itself would not benefit from the amulet.

Chariots are odd beasts and over half of the rules section is dedicated to the imponderables of chariot-ness...

A good rule of thumb for chariot units is to think of each chariot in a unit as a warrior (so a 3 chariot unit would be made of 3 individuals that would each need to be equipped with extras) BUT then there's the possible character, so that screws stuff up.

For drivers and passengers, each driver needs to have the same gear in a unit of chariots and each passenger (except for the character if there is one) needs to have the same gear BUT the driver and passenger don't need to have the same gear. So a unit of chariots could have the drivers with hand weapon and light armor and the passengers with polearm, bow and medium armor -- THEN whatever fancy stuff the champion or hero in the lead chariot has (spear, bow, shield and heavy armor).

I believe you can do a passing attack on the way to the charge taret, but however many attacks you use up on the way are subtracted from the attacks you have when you reach the target.

As for amulets-- Horses can't have amulets (I'm pretty sure about that) but each person on the chariot would need to buy an amulet.

Chariots are fun to use but the rules do take a little bit of getting used to. Maybe do a mini-battle with a chariot (or chariot unit) on one side and a unit of warriors on the other to help test out the rules

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http://minismithsforge.blogspot.com/ http://shefdumabuki.blogspot.com/

Trying to figure out as much as I can before we set up for a game. :)

P. 66 of the rules under Chariot Combat states, "There are three basic types of attacks that can be made from a Chariot: a charge attack, missile attack, and the special Passing Attack."

As the above rule states it's attack, shoot, or passing attack.

Now, this still doesn't fully answer the question because Clarke is still 1/2 right. If Chariot A happens to perform a passing attack on Chariot B, Passenger B may use one of their #Att against the activated Chariot A performing the Passing Attack. Now, when Chariot B activates, if it reveals a Charge, the passenger will have 1 less #Att to draw from in melee, because he technically used that Attack on Chariot A, as a Passing Attack even though he'd not been activated. Confused yet?!?!

Anyways I highly encourage the use of chariots (& downloading their turn templates from the last forum). Some shy away from them, but their maneuverability can really help cover up deployment mistakes & p/u objectives. They can really help warbands with limited mobility, like To-Tanem & Sebeki. Remember though these are historically accurate chariots, really more wicker baskets on wheels, gun platforms. As noted in the book, their strength lies in mobility, charging them headlong into melee will get you 2 dead horses & most likely a dead driver & passenger. Not that charging them in is always the wrong thing to do. If there's a Harbinger on board & an enemy Harbinger in your Charge sights, the chariot is the ideal Hammer to soften up your enemy leader!

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Slayer of the Minotaur Lord of Knossos (S.D. '10), Savior of Calydon (S.D. '11)

Chariots seem like pretty much the strongest things in the game. A unit of 3 Chariots + Harbinger should be able to roll through almost anything when it charges, and with a 20-inch charge it WILL get a charge on something. I just want to make sure I know how to use them before I bust them out on the table.

Easy there, I love Chariots! I run one in almost every warband I have, but thery're wicker baskets. Yes a 3 Chariot unit w/Harb. will most likely Charge what it like, but then what? An Asar unit like that equipped is going to cost about 210 pts. It does not create any character slots, so that's a negative. When it does charge it will hit w/6 Horse, 3 driver, 2 passenger, & 3 Harb. Attacks. Law of avg. should give you about 9 hits, of those your opponent should save in the range of 3. So, that's 6 kills, Awesome, almost an entire unit is killed!

Problem is it never really works that way, Archers can fire 30", & Slings 24", so odds are the unit has already taken missile fire. Chariots are only Armor 2, w/3 wounds & as soon as they have taken 2 wounds their Mv is halved, so 10" is their top speed.

I've played well over 10+ games w/a 3 chariot unit & no matter how hard you try, by turn 2 you only have 2 Chariots left & one of those is usually damaged or missing a crew member. Yes, you do get to charge with the 2 Chariots, but now you only end up with a total 10 attacks, 5 should hit, 3 should die. Yes, that's usually a rout check, but if the opponent passes... watch out when that unit activates. They should be able to kill another Chariot. Don't get me wrong, the 3 Chariots will kill whatever they charge outright, but they will sacrifice themselves in the process. Not to mention if they do survive they can only move at base speed to start.

So, in a battle where you heavily outnumber your opponent, by all means, but in general it's better to use the points else where or keep the chariots mobile.

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Slayer of the Minotaur Lord of Knossos (S.D. '10), Savior of Calydon (S.D. '11)

Don't forget there is target priority in this game. With a 20" charge you can put other stuff in front so they have to make a Discipline save before they can shoot your chariots, and you'll still be able to charge whatever you want. Don't forget about Spells your MoW can cast to make it harder for your chariot to be shot and the range penalties for shooting pretty far out.

I was planning on putting together a unit of Sebeki drivers/passengers w/Harbinger to try it out. They should be pretty survivable and it should be a decent hammer.

Akori hates fire and forget chariots...

Mummy chariots are very good in units and as hammers when there are archers about, but that's about the only time I can personally recommend chariots for simply charging into units (that's not to say I haven't recklessly charged many a chariot into a unit to help save a nearby unit that later came to the un-charioted survivors' aid). Sebeki in chariots are a lot tougher than most folks and if carefully maneuvered should be pretty lethal to most units- especially if one of the Sebeki is a Harbinger....

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http://minismithsforge.blogspot.com/ http://shefdumabuki.blogspot.com/