Chariot Heroes

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Ielthan
Posts: 362
Joined: Sun Oct 17, 2004 11:33 am
Location: Saphery

Chariot Heroes

#1 Post by Ielthan »

Now that chariot nobles benefit from combined profile would you guys ever take one. They are pretty much the only thing from all the high elf books I've never tried, because well, they looked horrendous on paper.

I can see them potentially having uses now. Although they'd be a lot better if they could take the mage prince honour, I don't really see any reason theme or balance wise for why they can't.

For 70pts you can put them on a reaver chariot, another 15pts to give him vanguard. That get's them +2 wounds and +1 toughness, which is pretty handy, he also get's swift reform which I guess is useful. You'd probably want to put him in a unit of 3 other chariots to avoid being cannon bait. At 195pts without vanguard, approximately that again for the hero, it isn't cheap, but it hits hard, and you can easily get him a 2+ armour save making him reasonably tough.

Lion chariot, at 100 points it isn't cheap, but you get a guy that will likely have a 1+ armour save and hit very hard indeed (with lance, 4 s5 attacks, 4 s6 attack, d6 s5 impacts). The noble also gets the valiant rule, with that 1+ armour save he could really hold something up. You again could hide him in a reaver chariot unit though not sure it's worth the drop in speed and maneuverability, though valiant on the unit could really catch people off guard. Could be fun.

Sky Sloop is an interesting option, 75pts, 100 with the bolt thrower (BS6 though). They can be taken in units now too, so if you're willing to fork out the cash for 4 of them, this could be a very expensive harrasment unit I guess. You'd probably give him the coastal guard honour. I'm not really sure this would ever be worth it now it only does S4 impact hits.

Any thoughts? Would it ever be worth it over say an eagle noble (that can also be a wizard)? The Daemonhunter Helm in particular seemed to make chariot nobles relatively viable (especially vs skaven/daemons).
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Prince of Spires
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Re: Chariot Heroes

#2 Post by Prince of Spires »

Our very own herald SpellArcher runs a chariot prince in his 9th ed. army => Chariot Prince Evolution

I think that given the changes they will be decent. I don't think they will end up in the strongest tournament lists. Mainly because they have several downsides (like cannon vulnerability). But they are good enough for fun pickup games and mid level tournament games. A bit like non-flying, cheap, lower power dragons.

I guess the Lion chariot will be the main goto in this case (though it remain to be tested of course). For 30 more points you get better armour, higher strength and better ws and more attacks on the mounts. And, as with dragons and the like, if you are forking out the points for something like this, you might as well go all the way.

The sky sloop could indeed be an interesting choice. It probably fits less well in many armies, it's a bit more 'left field'. I can see it working in an avoidance style, shooting army. It gives you a flying bolttrower which is decent in combat. You can pair it with ambushing seaguard, shadow warriors, other flying monsters and cavalry. If played well you can really take your opponent off guard and run circles around him. Sounds like fun. Just don't run into any static gun lines...

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Nicene
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Re: Chariot Heroes

#3 Post by Nicene »

So if my Commander is in a Sky Sloop and is equipped with the Greatbow of Elu, is the Sky Repeater fired at BS4 or BS6? Assuming my commander fires his Greatbow, I assume that means the crew has to fire the Repeater.

BRB states: "A crew member or rider can choose to shoot a weapon carried by the chariot instead of its own weapon."
[url=http://www.ulthuan.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=51&t=61399]my MSU army list/battle reports[/url]

[quote="Nyeave"]Omg it's a parrot chariot - a parriot... :D[/quote]
SpellArcher
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Re: Chariot Heroes

#4 Post by SpellArcher »

I've always tended to shy away from fighter hero characters that aren't BSB's. Reason being they generally haven't been either tough enough or hitty enough. This seems to have changed a bit now. But in general I like multi-tasking characters for economy reasons. The Chariot Prince for example gives me mobile Ld 10 bubble, combat power and effectively an extra bolt shooter.

The issue with the hero-level equivalent historically has been that with only 50pts of magic items, he can't cover those bases. He can be a BSB but it's not as safe and reliable as a foot guy in infantry. Given the war machine issue, a 4+ Ward or equivalent is very desirable. That means there's no more points for magic bow or combat buffing. I guess the flying version does have the shooting. Lion guy seems a decent fighter.

The cannon issue is complex. Before, Charmed Shield and Dragon Armour meant the chariot would often go down before the rider, which was actually a good thing as he could then jump into an infantry unit. Now both parts live or die together. Four wounds means you have a 2/3 chance of surviving a single unsaved ball. I've chosen to go Dragon Armour (which nerfs Flaming cannon) with 4+ Regen (which nerfs Holy Attacks) which the Hero version can do but he can't add the Lucky Shield to ignore the first hit. Also, the better the character is in combat, the more he can consider charging straight into combat to escape being cannonballed. Hills now block the shots which is important and we may also be able to screen with certain troops. I believe we would need five R&F chariots to protect the character here?
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