Game Info[]
"A fast ranged unit highly effective on flat ground, but slowed significantly when entering rough terrain." — Civilopedia
- Common abilities:
- May Not Melee Attack
- No Defensive Terrain Bonuses
- Rough Terrain Penalty (Entering rough terrain consumes all
Movement.)
They are the first unit to require a strategic resource - 
Horses.
Strategy[]
"Chariot Archers are fast ranged units, deadly on open terrain. They are more powerful than the Archer and can move twice the distance on open terrain [4 MPs; allowing them to reach elements of the enemy army other units can't]. However, Chariot Archers suffer a movement penalty when entering forest, jungle, or hill tiles unless roads have been constructed in them." — Civilopedia
Note also:
- With marsh, they suffer the normal movement penalty when moving through tiles rather than losing their resting MPs, since these are not considered to be rough terrain.
- Despite information given in the Civilopedia (amongst required resources and appearance too), they are considered to be an Archery unit, not a mounted unit – and so are not abnormally vulnerable to the Spearmen-line of units.
- Moreover, they're too bulky to use natural terrain defense, and unlike melee mounted units, cannot move after attacking!
Advice:
A strong mobile alternative to the Composite Bowman, use the Chariot Archers to explore the world and deal with Barbarians. Against other civilizations, they're excellent at getting into privileged positions and raining fire on the enemy from afar, but stay out of melee range (or block them with your own zone of control) – they are weak in close combat!
There is one more important detail to remember: Chariot Archers and all three unique alternatives (Hunnic Horse Archers, Egyptian War Chariots, and Indian War Elephants) – are ranged units, and receive promotions as such. However, come the Medieval Era, they will all upgrade to Knights, which are regular mounted units with melee attacks! This means that all attack-oriented promotions the unit received will suddenly become useless, since it now attacks in melee, not from a distance! To circumvent this annoying fault, try to choose non-attacking promotions, such as March, which will remain useful after the unit changes its attack mode.
For the Mongolian and Arabian civilizations, the Chariot Archer is more future-proof as their replacements for the Knight, the Keshik and the Camel Archer respectively, are ranged mounted units as well, allowing them to make use of the inherited promotions specific to them until upgraded further to Cavalry.
Civilopedia entry[]
Before the invention of the stirrup, it was virtually impossible to fight from horseback. There was no way to brace oneself, and the slightest push could unhorse the warrior, with disastrous results. Horses first appeared on the battlefield pulling chariots. A chariot team usually consisted of one or two horses, a driver, and an archer. The chariots' mobility made them especially dangerous to infantry: they could rush within range, fire off a volley, then escape before the foot-bound soldiers could close with them. The greatest weakness of a chariot archer team was its inability to deal with difficult terrain. On open plains they were the kings of the ancient battlefield; in hills or woods they were at a significant disadvantage.
Unofficial custom card[]
Custom homemade card featuring the Chariot Archer.
See also[]
- Chariot Archer in other games
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