A different army- chariots!

[Big Rob]

Hi all,

I generally like armies that aren't the traditional massed infantry blobs, and like the chariot aesthetic in particular. Although the premiere chariot riders aren't in AoS any more (Tomb kings) I see that some of the Chaos factions have the ability to take both hero and battleline chariot units. Slaanesh and Tzeentch in particular caught my eye since their aesthetic is so thematic to their faction.

Although I know chariots in general aren't the most competitive types of units nowadays, I was curious to see if there's a way to make them at least somewhat playable. For instance, making a themed Tzeentch "flying circus" where every unit must have flying, or a quick Slaanesh godseeker "blenders" army with multiple chariot types. In either case, when building towards 2k points the beginning would start with 1x Herald on chariot and 3x units of 1+ burning/seeker chariots.

Any thoughts if something like this could work out? All feedback appreciated!

 

Thanks,

[Overread]

Slaanesh can do a full chariot army if you want. The Seeker Chariots are Battleline in a Godseekers Host whilst the hellflayers, seekers and exalted chariots can all have a herald mounted which makes them count as a leader choice. So if you wanted you could take a whole army thundering on spiked wheels pulled by seekers. 

 

 

[Big Rob]

45 minutes ago, Overread said:

Slaanesh can do a full chariot army if you want. The Seeker Chariots are Battleline in a Godseekers Host whilst the hellflayers, seekers and exalted chariots can all have a herald mounted which makes them count as a leader choice. So if you wanted you could take a whole army thundering on spiked wheels pulled by seekers. 

 

 

Yea that definitely caught my eye- kind've wish that hellflayers instead of/in addition to seeker chariots became battleline, but what can you do! What are your thoughts on the various chariot rules/points costs?

I know on the Tzeentch end they only have 1 type of non-hero chariot, so less diversity. The only obvious synergy I see with taking large units of them is with Fold Reality + Kairos to reroll 1s (for the ability to heal a dozen wounds worth of models in 1 spell) though a max unit of enlightened or even flamers would also work here instead.

[firebat]

I think chariots for Slaanesh can probably work. The biggest issue is that they're the least efficient for attacks or area for points which they trade for durability. For similar points you get 9 attacks and 6 wounds for the chariot where as Daemonettes or seekers get 20 attacks and 10 wounds. But it's all or nothing for the chariot as you get all the attacks until the last wound is lost. For the objective game you get 1 model vs 10 or 5. The best way if it was about speed is probably to take the minimum battleline as chariots and then load up on seekers with the Bladebringers being the main chariot component.

Bladebringer on Exalted Chariot
Bladebringer on Exalted Chariot
Bladebringer on Exalted Chariot
Bladebringer on Exalted Chariot
Bladebringer on Hellflayer
Bladebringer on Hellflayer

Seeker Chariot
Seeker Chariot
Seeker Chariot

15 Seekers

1960pts

There is a lot of room to move stuff around like having Bladebringers on Seeker Chariots instead of Hellflayers. I think you'd be looking to be split into 3 components roughly. Have the seeker chariots charge soft targets or in places they'll be safe so they can retreat and charge each turn and maybe use an exalted chariot and the smaller herald chariots as a missile to just launch at the enemy and make them deal with them. Assuming all 3 charge and you roll a 3 for the godseeker host trait that's 26 DP's if you do lose them all so nearly enough to replace both the big and one of the small chariots and doesn't factor in any wounds inflicted, or the Fane refund.

Without having tried it I guess it depends if with the rest of the army you can be generating enough to summon at least 2 or 3 chariots every turn to fire off at the enemy. It will be like Beastclaw Raiders though with objectives being the biggest issue without some Seeker (or Hellstrider) support and it can be easy to zone out your army since the bases are so big.

[Big Rob]

5 hours ago, firebat said:

I think chariots for Slaanesh can probably work. The biggest issue is that they're the least efficient for attacks or area for points which they trade for durability. For similar points you get 9 attacks and 6 wounds for the chariot where as Daemonettes or seekers get 20 attacks and 10 wounds. But it's all or nothing for the chariot as you get all the attacks until the last wound is lost. For the objective game you get 1 model vs 10 or 5. The best way if it was about speed is probably to take the minimum battleline as chariots and then load up on seekers with the Bladebringers being the main chariot component.

Bladebringer on Exalted Chariot
Bladebringer on Exalted Chariot
Bladebringer on Exalted Chariot
Bladebringer on Exalted Chariot
Bladebringer on Hellflayer
Bladebringer on Hellflayer

Seeker Chariot
Seeker Chariot
Seeker Chariot

15 Seekers

1960pts

There is a lot of room to move stuff around like having Bladebringers on Seeker Chariots instead of Hellflayers. I think you'd be looking to be split into 3 components roughly. Have the seeker chariots charge soft targets or in places they'll be safe so they can retreat and charge each turn and maybe use an exalted chariot and the smaller herald chariots as a missile to just launch at the enemy and make them deal with them. Assuming all 3 charge and you roll a 3 for the godseeker host trait that's 26 DP's if you do lose them all so nearly enough to replace both the big and one of the small chariots and doesn't factor in any wounds inflicted, or the Fane refund.

Without having tried it I guess it depends if with the rest of the army you can be generating enough to summon at least 2 or 3 chariots every turn to fire off at the enemy. It will be like Beastclaw Raiders though with objectives being the biggest issue without some Seeker (or Hellstrider) support and it can be easy to zone out your army since the bases are so big.

Honestly I really like your direction here! I'd even be OK shaving or downgrading some exalted heralds (into hellflayer heralds) for more seekers and/or sybarites battalion. Or getting the new KoS... either way this looks pretty sweet.

[Hannibal]

There is even more to this theme:

 

1. Tzeentch: offer Hero on Chariot as well as Chariots that count as battleline. There are even warscroll battalions including chariots.

2. You can also run chariots as battleline in Slaves to DArkness Allegiance, though there is no hero on chariot available. On the other hand, they offer a nice supporting hero for their chariots (Lord on demonic mount).

3. You can freely include the Slaves to Darkness chariots in any Chaos Allegiance (Khorne, Nurgle,...) because they can all get the appropriate keyword.

4. There are Khorne "chariots" (skull cannon) as well as a hero on chariot.

 

I think Slaanesh might be the best of all. That combination aof fall back and still be able to charge in conjunction with mortal wounds after a successful charge is just insane.

 

 

[Big Rob]

24 minutes ago, Hannibal said:

There is even more to this theme:

 

1. Tzeentch: offer Hero on Chariot as well as Chariots that count as battleline. There are even warscroll battalions including chariots.

2. You can also run chariots as battleline in Slaves to DArkness Allegiance, though there is no hero on chariot available. On the other hand, they offer a nice supporting hero for their chariots (Lord on demonic mount).

3. You can freely include the Slaves to Darkness chariots in any Chaos Allegiance (Khorne, Nurgle,...) because they can all get the appropriate keyword.

4. There are Khorne "chariots" (skull cannon) as well as a hero on chariot.

 

I think Slaanesh might be the best of all. That combination aof fall back and still be able to charge in conjunction with mortal wounds after a successful charge is just insane.

 

 

Thanks for the suggestions! Slaves to darkness indeed offers some more chariots, though admittedly their models are a bit... dated lol

I do really like that Warpflame battalion tzeentch chariots can go into- extra mortal wounds is never bad.

And ultimately I do agree Slaanesh seems the best for this theme- biggest variety in chariots helps. The previous poster's suggestion of minimum chariot battleline, mounted units, and several chariot heroes seemed especially like a fast thematic army.