Using Chariots effectively in DEI

[RaggaBaby]

In the vanilla game using chariots was incredibly OP and no fun at all to use. But in Dei I had a lot of trouble at first using them effectively. So I searched the forum for any hints in using them. And if they even were a unit worth recruiting.

Well.. Every single post or mention about the effectiveness of chariots in Dei were either saying don't use them they're worthless or they considered them to be a less successful substitute of your ordinary shock cavalry. Using them as your hammer. Generally people simply said Don't use them.

But I'm a stubborn guy and just as I would use the phalanx when I'm a hellenic faction, use horse archers when I'm a nomadic faction and would use Elephants when I'm an Eastern faction. I wanted to use chariots when I was a Britannic faction or if was playing as the Seleucids, Egypt, Pontus etc.

So I used them nonetheless and after a whole bunch of trial and error. Seeing that they were indeed nothing more then a type of Shock Cavalry that needed a whole lot of more micro-managing then the ordinary ones. I finally found a way that I could use them in their own unique way. And in my own opinion they were more effective to me then your standard shock cavalry and also way more fun to use.

They do need a lot of micro but as I will show with the screenshots that I'll include this is my way in which I could demoralize the enemy way more then any type of shock cav could and also rack up way more kills. You can even drive them manually if you don't have to worry about managing the rest of your army for a minute which was is also a lot of fun.

What I would do is I would use my infantry to pin the army down and use the chariots to flank my enemy and hit them in the rear. Not going straight into the enemy mass but driving them through and chipping of the edges of the infantry that is then fully engaged with my own infantry.

Cause if you would flank and just drive them straight through they will get stuck and will all be gone before you know it. But by like I said chipping away bits and pieces making sure they don't get stuck they are almost always the winning factor that makes sure I gain a decisive or heroic victory.

What sets them apart from your average shock cavalry is the devastating effect on the enemy morale they can deliver if properly utilized.

Anyways I hope this will help out some people who at first faced the same issues as me and are able now to start using them in their arsenal.

Because in my opinion contrary to what I read from other people on the site chariots can be very useful not as your typical hammer bashing against the anvil but more as using the hammer to to give the sword its form and edges while the iron is still hot. The sword symbolizing the enemy. And again using them solely as your hammer or In conjunction with other cavalry I found them to be a crucial part of my army's composition.

[ablebodie]

The problem with chariots is the problem with both elephants as well. Yes they're useful, extremely so in the right circumstances. That said, there's loads of opportunity for things to go wrong with the unit like missiles, heavy cavalry, micromanagement mistakes, stamina, and so on. In a perfect scenario, chariots can wreck. Fighting a heavy infantry army, chariots don't do enough casualties to justify their cost, and are a lot more likely to die when doing these drive-bys.

Chariots wreck fighting light infantry, without much micro, when their army also has missile superiority. Cool. So does medium cavalry, for less cost.

[Furgon]

Yeah, totally agree on your anvil point. Considering that chariots are designed to hit and run, smashing them head on into melee blob is a dumb thing to do. Frankly, Britannic chariots are perfectly viable alternative to cav and are widely underrated.

Their scythed cousins however seem totally dead for me and there are two reasons why. Their stupidly huge carriage and their tiny unit size that is by no means compensated by their stats. I suppose you can manually perform grazing maneuvers, but I'm too lazy to embark on experiments with low expectations on positive result :\
If you would have any success with those, please do share it.

P.S. don't quite see what is the problem with oliphaunts, unless the first thing you do in battle is charging them away.

[ablebodie]

They're different but similar in risks. Javelins wreck both, elephants risk running amok on your own troops while chariots require heavy micromanagement. Both capable of massive casualties on the enemy. The only similar non-special unit might be your unarmored shock troop types you see in Celtic, some African, & Thracian factions.

[♔Greek Strategos♔]

Εlephanst weren't used as charging units, Historically speaking. They were used near the end of the battle as a havoc unit or as ''meat grinders'' of already retreating units.

[Furgon]

I for one use elephants in several ways and not in one of those my beasts are anywhere near being endangered.
a) crush flanking cavs in the skirmish phase of battle;
b) trample enemy missiles alongside my cav during melee phase;
c) obviously, wipe moderately armored inf from the back;
d) to look terrifying.. behind a pike wall (so just for morale debuff).
You don't have to charge absolutely everyone. Routing 2-3 units is more than enough to tip the scales, free your inf units for flanking and snowball from there. Because when you are greedy, that's the only way to get your elephants killed.

[vbus]

I am eager to try Charriots in DEI when I pick up the britons, I had a lot of fun with them back at Europa Barbarorum. But elephants I have been using like Furgon said. They are amazing cavalry counters that have saved my flanks more than once. Keeping them in reserve and then sweeping them through the flanks of "shaken" enemy units is also a battle winner. And my personal favorite maneuver is the elephant atom bomb, when I rush them through the enemies knowing they will run amok and take advantage of the disorganized lines.

[♔Greek Strategos♔]

I am eager to try Charriots in DEI when I pick up the britons, I had a lot of fun with them back at Europa Barbarorum. But elephants I have been using like Furgon said. They are amazing cavalry counters that have saved my flanks more than once. Keeping them in reserve and then sweeping them through the flanks of "shaken" enemy units is also a battle winner.

That's the right way.

[EliteExpression]

Εlephanst weren't used as charging units, Historically speaking. They were used near the end of the battle as a havoc unit or as ''meat grinders'' of already retreating units.

What did you just say? Elephants were the first in battle in a lot of battles...

[PrimoTw]

Use elephants as @vbus, they preserve your flanks superbly.

[♘Top Hat Zebra]

Obviously quite late here, but Im playing through an Egyptian campaign and I've found that the chariots are extremely effective at chasing down routing units. When the entire enemy army is routing, especially when they are all blobbed up, the chariots can wrack up an insane amount of kills.

[gangster19]

After my Pontus campaign I have to say I'm a chariot lover, specially used against long lines of missile units, just driving through them destroys everything, however don't use them behind huge blobs of infantry! That's reserved for cavalry

[RollingWave]

Chariots are useful in the right situation but as every notes if it goes wrong it goes wrong fast.

However in most fights you win they end up with huge kill ratios.

They're certainly viable but I usually limit myself to one chariot per stack max. and it's certainly something I sub out for other stuff often (like say if you're going against the Romans or Nomads they're pretty much useless. )

Elephant unit of any sort is awesome, they help you first and foremost win the flank cavalry battle.

The only truly useless unit I feel is dogs, they're like chariots but even if you do everything right is only moderately useful.

[Summary]

I found a huge frontal charge and then go right through them kills off almost 25%-50% of their army in one pass, in this time your main front line needs to pin them down. Then they can do the same charge, this time a more deadly one from the rear, killing yet another 25%-50% of their army and causing a massive rout. Literally ended a battle in 3 minutes this way.

https://ibb.co/c6G2Jqr

[H-Khan]

Found some old screenshots, but yea they all can be used occasionally. Likely there's much more costeffective stuff for for it tho.

Dogs just love the unarmored missile troops especially from rear

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