Light Chariot

From Warbirth Wiki

"There was scarcely room for two people on board. But then the vehicle was built for speed and manoeuvrability on the battlefield ..."

David Gemmell, Shield of Thunder (cap 23)

In game[edit | edit source]

Chariot icon.png
Light Chariot — Vital statistics
Light Chariot

Light cavalry unit, with a fast, javelin-based attack. Very useful against slow-moving targets, but must be protected from cavalry and archers.

Prereq: Build time HP LOS Attack Attack speed Movement
speed
Upgrade of Upgrades to
Level 2: Rank and File Military
17.2s
(258t)
117 10 25 1.6s
(24t)
32 Onager icon.png

Lightcav TAP.png l Baragatai.png

Cost Created from Armour Weapon range Specialty
Base Ramp Pop
Timber: 80;
Wealth.jpg: 60
Wealth.jpg: 1;
Food.jpg: 1
2 Stable.png 2 1–7
  • Attack debuff versus buildings, heavy cavalry.
  • Armour-piercing ranged attack.
  • Bonus damage versus elephants
  • Defence debuff versus long spears, pikes, elephants.
  • Can attack enemies while moving.

Roundel ark.png Roundel knaan.png Roundel teresh.png Roundel scythoi.png Roundel greek.png Roundel elamite.png Roundel s3ba.png Roundel troy.png Roundel phrygia.png Roundel ord.png Roundel bbwel.png Tartessos.png Roundel assur.png Xianyu.png Roundel .khmer.png

Overall strategy[edit | edit source]

The Light Chariot is a powerful war machine, ideal for skirmishing against melee units. Armed with a medium-strength ranged attack but possessing little in the way of hitpoints and armour, Light Chariots nevertheless have some speed, so while they aren't as powerful as the other two orders of chariots, they are still highly effective at what they do and that is to function as a fast skirmish/raiding unit, but even so, they have several drawbacks. The first is that they are costly, so while raising them might seem like a good idea, only the richest and most powerful nations can hope to raise them in sufficient numbers — least of all their mercenary equivalent, the Hurrian Warlord which is available to factions with a historic presence in northern Mesopotamia and Asia Minor. Secondly, for nations stuck with them early in the game, they are not the most optimal unit for use in the late game when cavalry archers and more effective melee cavalry units begin to appear. In which case, you are better advised instead to hold back on recruiting them, and instead go for Javelin Cavalry instead. This is especially moreso for Funan in Age of Empires — in that mod, the Light Chariot is there only for historicity reasons, and will be easily outclassed by most other chariot units — not to mention true cavalry.

As a result, the best use of Light Chariots is for skirmishing slower melee units, especially those without armour. Light Chariots can throw salvos at any angle — so you can use them to run rings around an enemy while the jockeys in the chariots pelt the enemy with javelins. That said, some factions in Age of Chariots and Rise of the Ancients have better versions of the Light Chariot. Most notably, the Mitanni, the Egyptians and Celts all have different perks when it comes to light chariotry. Maryannu Chariots, raised by the Mitanni are known for their immense train speed (at the cost of greater expense to build). Egyptians favour a light chariot, the Werryt, which is easier to build, has better turning speed and attack, while the Celtic Karbantos sacrifices its range and rate of fire for added HP and an increased attack bonus versus infantry. While most of these units will eventually be outclassed by Horse Archers with regards to cost and armour, they still retain the advantage of being capable of attacking while moving which makes them highly useful as skirmisher units alongside the Steppe Archer.

Unit summary[edit | edit source]

  • Hurrian Warlord — This mercenary is an exact copy of the Light Chariot, differing only in that it trades off cost and accessibility in exchange for a fast training time. In addition, it may be recruited only from a Warrior Hall, not the Corral.
  • Medium Chariot — Built by a slew of civs, including the Shang, zhou, Indians and Hittites, this replacement of the Light Chariot is slower but more powerful.
  • Maryannu Chariot — The Maryannu Chariot is a unique light chariot unit available to the Mitanni which sacrifices cost advantages in favour of greater speed, as well as an archer-based attack.
  • Werryt — Like the Mitanni, the Egyptians create a unique light chariot unit called the Werryt with faster turn speed as well as faster build time.
  • Karbantos — The Celtic Karbantos cannot fire as often nor as far as other Light Chariots, but is still highly efficient at destroying infantry units.

See also[edit | edit source]

Notes[edit | edit source]

Khmer light chariot used by Funan must be based off the Celtic Karbantos. A new unit needs to be minted, but it's unknown how this unit would look.

Some ideas:

  • Strip the Indian slinger and an Indian longbowman of turbans and heads. Replace the heads with Chinese-style ones.
  • Re-rig the Indian longbowman to meet the needs of the new unit.
  • Finally, change the colour of the horses from dark brown or red to dirty grey.

History[edit | edit source]

A chariot is an ancient horse-drawn two-wheeled vehicle used in primarily for war and transport, then later in races and processions. There is much debate on how the chariot first emerged, with people arguing that chariots first emerged along with the wheel in Mesopotamia. Excavation of graves in the ruins of the old Sumerian city of Ur (near Nasiriyah in present-day Iraq) by Wooley in the 1920s revealed that the Sumerians of the early 3rd millenium BCE used large four-wheeled vehicles possibly drawn by donkeys, but these wagons differed greatly from true chariots, which were built for speed, could at best carry only up to three people, and had two wheels instead of four - possibly for reasons of speed and mobility. In contrast, others postulate an origin with Central Asian horse-breeding cultures. Excavations in Russia during the final years of the Cold War revealed that chariots might have been invented at least 2 millenia earlier by the people of the Eurasian steppes, as represented by the Maykop culture in the Caucasus.

A chariot could either function as a transport for dignitaries (the most common use) or in suitable terrain, be used as a platform for the use of missile weapons in hit-and-run tactics. Regardless of the chariot's origins, what is most certain is that the proliferation of chariotry took place after 2000 BCE in Europe, Asia and the Middle East. One of the culminating battles of chariotry came early in the 13th century BCE when armies of the Hittites and Egyptians clashed on the plains of northern Syria at Qadesh. By the end of that century, as armies learned to blunt the attacks with swarming infantry and later mounted cavalry, the age of the chariot as a weapon drew to a close. The high-speed vehicle was reduced to roles in sport and regal parades.

References[edit | edit source]