Chariots - absolute nightmare!

[Joul Ironhand]

Morning all

Does anyone have any thoughts on how to counter Egyptian Chariots when you're commanding a Roman Army? Was thinking either Velite Gladiators or Light Auxilia.

I had a lovely army of Spear Auxilia and Legionaries, along with a unit of Praetorians and a First Cohort. And they got totally ripped apart

Thanks for any advice!

[kostas84]

1 word: Archers.

[Titus Maximius Thongus]

jav cav

[Joul Ironhand]

Thanks both. When I get in tonight i'll use a more balanced army rather than mass infantry and a few (Roman) cavalry units

[dra3z]

i'm not completely sure whether or not this was just luck or coincidence but i noticed that when the egyption chariots fire at you then run away hitting them in the rear with light cavalry like equites is very effective ( i wiped out a whole egyption chariot archer unit using that plan )

[caesar_37th]

slingers and nercenary hoplites, javelins do well too.
Remember it only takes a strike from whatever to get rid of a hit point....

[Mega Tortas de Bodemloze]

jav cav

he speaks the truth...Shredd and be shredded for the greater good. I hate chariots, btw.....!!!!
.

[Plant]

I beat them with Rome. I put my Preat Cav on my right side threatening to attack from that side so he put his chariots on that side. I started up and he charged. I quickly changed direction and travelled around my formation whilst my urbans and legionnary first cohorts showered them with pillum. I also had a pair of roman archers within my formation (I retreated them from the front when I saw the chariots move for my cavs). Then I lure him into my Auxilia line where they rout

Your counter is to use an entire army against what would make up a third of the points of another? You used preat cav, urbans, archers and auxilia (which auxilia?...theres 3 of them).

he speaks the truth...Shredd and be shredded for the greater good. I hate chariots, btw.....!!!!
.

Yeah...a massive picture does not a truth make. What happens is that the javelin cavalry throws all 6 javelin and perhaps kill 2 of 9 of chariots in the unit if you are exceedingly lucky. Then the remaining 7/8 chariots would catch and kill the javelin cav, or go off and destroy the rest of the roman army. Do you play online by any chance?

[Mega Tortas de Bodemloze]

No, unfortunatley I don't. So perhaps my relevance is outdated.... I was thinking back to vanilla RTW against the AI where three or four units of jav-cav kept you out of trouble. You are quite right that against another person dealing with chariots is probably a whole different kettle of fish...
.

[Ars_Malleus]

Your counter is to use an entire army against what would make up a third of the points of another? You used preat cav, urbans, archers and auxilia (which auxilia?...theres 3 of them).

What were you expecting me to do? Challenge his Chariots to a one-on-one match like in the movie Troy? It only makes sense to outnumber any element of an opponent's army. Yes, I used my entire army against his chariots, what of it? The reality is that his Chariots were dead on the field, my Cav did not lose a single unit, and they became free as hell to do whatever they want.

Initially, my plan was make a feint with my cav to lure his chariots into my right wing then, while my cav swiveled to my left wing, I was going to cut off the chariots with my line of 3 Auxilia then surround them with my right wing. However, I figured that he might just try to follow my Cav wherever so I ran my cav THROUGH my formation and in his attempt to break off the chase, I was already too close to my soldiers and ran right into my Auxilia where they were promptly surrounded while my cav came out of the other end of my formation. Obviously while he was chasing my cav I'm not just going to keep my army idle so i set my Urbans to skirmish mode so I can kill the chariots faster. So was that cheap? Was that in anyway showing weakness? Did you expect me to just "man-it-out"? NO!

You think I'm weak for having to use my whole army to get rid of 3 chariots? Keep in mind that HE charged ME. My army didn't even move. All they've done was march up. It's called, "Utilization of resources to achieve the desired goal while maximizing the result". My resources were my Cohorts, Cavs, Archers, and Aux; My goal was to get rid of the Chariots early in the battle; my resolution is to use all the resources at my disposal to achieve that goal. The result was MAXIMUM carnage and my Cav was able to get on with their business without being ghosted by enemy chariots.

Therefore, I rate your reply to my comment...as a total fail

[Warhammster]

so i set my Urbans to skirmish mode so I can kill the chariots faster.

You set your Urbans to skirmish mode? I've never seen anyone pull that one off before, you must be a really awesome player.


Really normal chariots aren't really that big deal, it's much worse to be facing chariot archers if you got no slingers. To counter chariot archers you need to force them to target some useless units and wait until the chariots are at least tired, after that you can kill them with peasants, cavalry or whatever.

[Plant]

No, unfortunatley I don't. So perhaps my relevance is outdated.... I was thinking back to vanilla RTW against the AI where three or four units of jav-cav kept you out of trouble. You are qonline is uite right that against another person dealing with chariots is probably a whole different kettle of fish...
.

Shame, it is fun when you play with people.

What were you expecting me to do? Challenge his Chariots to a one-on-one match like in the movie Troy? It only makes sense to outnumber any element of an opponent's army. Yes, I used my entire army against his chariots, what of it? The reality is that his Chariots were dead on the field, my Cav did not lose a single unit, and they became free as hell to do whatever they want.

Initially, my plan was make a feint with my cav to lure his chariots into my right wing then, while my cav swiveled to my left wing, I was going to cut off the chariots with my line of 3 Auxilia then surround them with my right wing. However, I figured that he might just try to follow my Cav wherever so I ran my cav THROUGH my formation and in his attempt to break off the chase, I was already too close to my soldiers and ran right into my Auxilia where they were promptly surrounded while my cav came out of the other end of my formation. Obviously while he was chasing my cav I'm not just going to keep my army idle so i set my Urbans to skirmish mode so I can kill the chariots faster. So was that cheap? Was that in anyway showing weakness? Did you expect me to just "man-it-out"? NO!

You think I'm weak for having to use my whole army to get rid of 3 chariots? Keep in mind that HE charged ME. My army didn't even move. All they've done was march up. It's called, "Utilization of resources to achieve the desired goal while maximizing the result". My resources were my Cohorts, Cavs, Archers, and Aux; My goal was to get rid of the Chariots early in the battle; my resolution is to use all the resources at my disposal to achieve that goal. The result was MAXIMUM carnage and my Cav was able to get on with their business without being ghosted by enemy chariots.

Therefore, I rate your reply to my comment...as a total fail

Joul Ironhand asked for a counter, not for a boast.
He asked for advice, not for an opportunity for you to say you can win a game that he says he couldn't.

No-one expects you to "challenge his chariots to a one-on-one match". I don't care about your "showing weakness" or "man-it-out" or any other masculinity insecurity issues you may have. The truth is that you used an entire army to defeat a small part of another army is NOT a counter. Some of us has helped him with our comments, giving appropriate advice which he asked for, but you have not. I rate your original comment and reply, as well as your thinking as a total failure.

[HanatielHawk]

Missile-units like archers, peltasts, slingers etc. And very effective are hoplites

[rubenandthejets]

How to deal with Egyptian chariots?

Install a mod to remove these pathetic anachronisms from a thousand years in the past. Get rid of the bronze kopesh style swords, "phalanx" Germans and everything else reeking of ridiculous "Hollywood History" while you're at it.

The Egytpians should be a Hellenistic, Successor style faction. I half expected to see mummies when I played vanilla RTW.

Do yourself a favour and get XGM or any other mod that has some historical accuracy.

EDIT
Sorry, seems a bit ranty.....I guess you might be playing MP, so go for slingers-cheap and effective.

[Joul Ironhand]

How to deal with Egyptian chariots?

Install a mod to remove these pathetic anachronisms from a thousand years in the past. Get rid of the bronze kopesh style swords, "phalanx" Germans and everything else reeking of ridiculous "Hollywood History" while you're at it.

The Egytpians should be a Hellenistic, Successor style faction. I half expected to see mummies when I played vanilla RTW.

Do yourself a favour and get XGM or any other mod that has some historical accuracy.

EDIT
Sorry, seems a bit ranty.....I guess you might be playing MP, so go for slingers-cheap and effective.

Ranting is acceptable I'm determined to complete it at least once in "vanilla" mode, and then i'll explore mods and BI.

I used Roman Cavalry last night and it was disgustingly effective against the chariots. This shall be my future weapon against these monsters!

EDIT

Mind you, having had a read through of XGM mod, I may install it after my weekend holiday...

[geyserik]

Ranting is acceptable I'm determined to complete it at least once in "vanilla" mode, and then i'll explore mods and BI.

I used Roman Cavalry last night and it was disgustingly effective against the chariots. This shall be my future weapon against these monsters!

EDIT

Mind you, having had a read through of XGM mod, I may install it after my weekend holiday...

I agree if they are busy attacking your infantry roman cavalry will wipe them out!

[|Sith| Max]

How to deal with Egyptian chariots?

Install a mod to remove these pathetic anachronisms from a thousand years in the past. Get rid of the bronze kopesh style swords, "phalanx" Germans and everything else reeking of ridiculous "Hollywood History" while you're at it.

The Egytpians should be a Hellenistic, Successor style faction. I half expected to see mummies when I played vanilla RTW.

Do yourself a favour and get XGM or any other mod that has some historical accuracy.

EDIT
Sorry, seems a bit ranty.....I guess you might be playing MP, so go for slingers-cheap and effective.

He came asking for advice on owning chariots and not whining from people that play sp mods.

@ OP: as beforementioned ranged units, dense concentrations of inf and phalanxes are the best way to go. However velites are not the best option. Go for balearic or rhodian mercs. Due to their way of firing they. Are better at hitting fast moving Chaz and Chaz arch.

[|Sith|Galvanized Iron]

"phalanx" Germans and everything else reeking of ridiculous "Hollywood History" while you're at it.

Germans in phalanx formation is a lot more historical than the German axemen, the spear was the main weapon of the Germanic warrior and on the field they formed well disciplined shield walls (which is mimicked by the in game phalanx). Elite German units would have used swords as this was the sign of high status in the social hierarchy (not pickaxes...)

[Saint_jimmyz]

Germans in phalanx formation is a lot more historical than the German axemen, the spear was the main weapon of the Germanic warrior and on the field they formed well disciplined shield walls (which is mimicked by the in game phalanx). Elite German units would have used swords as this was the sign of high status in the social hierarchy (not pickaxes...)

The phalanx formation is still horrific. A triarii style spear unit would be ideal for the base germanic warrior, but as equipment was not standardised you would expect a smattering of axes among the poorer warriors, and as you have said the richer units could afford swords and some reinforced armour.

Germans were actually quite famous for their pikemen

17th century germans may have been, but germanic tribes certainly were not.

[|Sith|Galvanized Iron]

The phalanx formation is still horrific. A triarii style spear unit would be ideal for the base germanic warrior, but as equipment was not standardised you would expect a smattering of axes among the poorer warriors, and as you have said the richer units could afford swords and some reinforced armour.

The shield wall formation from BI would do, it's strange they didn't port that formation to RTW 1.5 when they ported the berserk ability.