Hobby Update: KOM Chariots

Up now is a late post for the newish Chariots for the Kingdoms of Men!

A regiment.

The models are from Wargames Atlantic, which in my eyes has really been on a tear recently, creating lots of great kits for all kinds of games. Whatever wargame you play, seriously, go check them out. The kits, relative to their other kits, are becoming a bit modular as well, which is a neat design choice. This Bronze Age Chariot kit uses chassis (yep, that looks like the plural form of that word) that can be found in the Skeleton Cavalry and Chariot kit, and borrows horses from their General Accoutrements Light Horse kit, repackaging existing sprues into a new box to sell. I can appreciate this approach. 

Really efficient little sprues.

The horses got glued down to the base to start, then pasted to the unit base, and primed. They got just a mess of paints for their colorings, and I’m pretty happy with those. I didn’t realize it was harness or blanket, and I accidentally cemented the blankets on the first models I assembled. I didn’t really want to do patterns on the blankets, so I started with a neutral gray, and then tried a purple speed paint. I’m not quite sold on it, but it is painted, so laziness may prevail there. The chassis got the less vibrant tan coloring that has been my new, more muted, wood color. The ropes were painted dark brown, and the panels got purple and white to tie the unit to the rest of the army. 

A second regiment, with one on a 100x100 base.

The drivers are from Fireforge Games, and are the armored bodies from their Byzantine Auxiliaries kit. Their coloring was all pretty standard, save for the legs, which got I believe a tan base coat and then a Leather Speed Paint, as I didn’t want to try and paint all the pant straps. 

Originally, I wanted to get the drivers and occupants wysiwyg, running bows on units that have bows and more spears guys on units that don’t have bows… but that’s bananas. I will just get every chariot a spear guy, and then sprinkle the bow models in. The drivers were glued to the chariots with PVA glue, and the chariots were PVA glued to the horses, so I can more easily pry it all apart later, if needed.

A third regiment, with some unit filler. I didn't have a second 100x100 tray.

There is a completionist draw for me to complete and run these, as they are one of the few units I do not have hobbied up for my Kingdoms of Men, but I do actually think that they have a place in the army as I’ve been running it lately. 

These chariots have a similarity to skirmishing cavalry (like the Mounted Scouts), which have been pet units of mine across a few armies. Unfortunately, they have been very hard to make work. Trying them across several armies has been helpful though, and I’ve learned a lot. I have come to the conclusion that a bland unit like the KoM Mounted Scouts and Bows just doesn’t work well; a unit like this needs an edge, either Piercing, like the Halfling Wild Runners, TC like Herd Centaurs or Varangur Horse Raiders, or to get better ranged stats, like the Elves and their Silverbreeze units, to encourage a way to use them on the battlefield. I think Chariots can function similarly to these other Skirmish units, shooting a bit, but emphasizing the charge and melee combat. 

A fourth chariot regiment.

Hobby-wise, these are done enough for now. So far, the Chariots have done ok? 

Regiments though were lackluster in Battle 093. Skirmishing cavalry are ultimately chaff units, but these were victims of the dice before they could do anything. We’ll give them another try sometime, but I didn’t have high hopes for regiments. My gut says troops are going to be the most interesting, with hordes next, and regiments and legions neat, but probably not worth it.

Troops did pretty well in Battle 094. They were able to shoot a fair number of times, though I struggled to focus fire, and the Basilean Iron Resolve prevented much of the little damage they did from sticking around. Still, I treated it like a bit of a proof of concept for the shooting-aspect. On the fighting aspect, they were able to charge with impunity, and start the trades I wanted to make. I think that’s the role of the troop, so, so far, so good at this size.

Troops did mostly ok in Battle 097, getting multiple flank charges to start piece trades. Unfortunately, those charges were hindered, and the trades not a good as I had hoped for. They had tried shooting, but to little effect. I don't think the troops want the shooting upgrade, but if you have other sources of shooting, it could be worth it just for the versatility. Chariots are not nimble, so I think you're going to keep them close to your lines until you are ready to charge them out.

Hordes I have yet to try out, but my guts says they and Troops feel like the best sizes to run. The Chariot stats are mediocre, so smaller, cheaper disposable units or a larger more cost-effective ones seem like the best options. I think a horde could help Crossbowmen really lock out a section of the board though, or support a faster push alongside Giants or Knights.

Legions I have yet to run. It’s a ton of points for a mediocre unit with a huge footprint while lacking Nimble. I guess I will try at some point, but I do not have high hopes for Legions. I think like with the Undead’s Zombies, a horde is going to be about as effective as a legion, for less points. We’ll see though.

These have been a pretty big undertaking the last few months. They've seen the battlefield a few times already, so I wanted to get this out here. They've been interesting so far, and we'll try to do more with them soon!