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I'm just curious as to everyone's thoughts on the chances of such an army actually working out in game.
In the OnG book there's a story of an army with such wealth that basically everything is chariots or mounted units, and so a giant cloud of kicked up dirt and dust follows them everywhere.
I always thought it was a cool concept, and even thought of doing such an army, but never put much into thinking how well such an army could work.

So what do you think? I'm talking about an average army (2500pts) with maxed out chariots and the such, then filled in the Wolf Riders and Boar Boyz.
In 2500 you could get 4 Pump Wagons, 9 Goblin Chariots, and 3 boar chariots and that's not including characters, which I would probably also throw on the wooden death traps.
After that its just a ton of cavalry (depending on the points left over) backing it up. Although I wouldn't mind having warmachines and putting them on carts pulled by boars for the sake of theme (plus it would look cool!)

In theory and on paper it seems like it could do a massive amount of damage if played right, but the game is obviously a very different scenario so I'm not entirely sure.

What does everyone think? Is something like that test worthy, or would it just get utterly smashed?

I know the beastmen chariot army is pretty convincing, at least at low point levels... I'm not sure if it would be as effective for O&G, but it'd be awesome to see!

I had considered the same, as I have 10 Spider Riders from Battle for Skull Pass that I can't assimilate into my 40k Orks.

A few things in favor of this army:

1) Chariots don't take animosity tests!
2) The New Heroes for the Goblin Wolf Riders and Spider Riders are pretty sweet.
3) The overall speed of the army can lead to good use of the Goblin spells that give bonuses to flanking and such.
4) Calvary and Chariots, IMO, lack only in being stuck in combat and lack of support on the charge. With that many chariots, perhaps you can have enough damage on the charge to just plain wipe a unit off the map. -shrug- Perhaps.

Would love to hear how it works.

I'm not sure that I would actually do it anytime soon, it was more or less just curiosity. Although I wouldn't mind scratch building a bunch of chariots and pump wagons... always so fun.

If nothing else though, it would be a hell of a surprise to an opponent, so I guess there's one advantage.

I am considering Spider riders as eight legged infantry. 13pts is not too expensive for block units.

Can you add a boss on a boar to a spider rider unit, it would be nice to up their Ld.

I don't see why not as both are cav. However I personally would prefer Wolf Riders just for the sake of speed and mobility since I think warmachines would be one of the biggest threats to this kind of list.

Orlanth wrote:I am considering Spider riders as eight legged infantry. 13pts is not too expensive for block units.

Can you add a boss on a boar to a spider rider unit, it would be nice to up their Ld.

Keep in mind boars aren't fast cav so doing that hinders their mobility greatly.
Also consider bows the ability to march and shoot goes great with M7.

Woah, I didn't even realize that Spider Riders also had Fast Cav... makes them a better choice then I suppose.

Sadly my commitment to being overly fluffy will push me towards Wolf Riders should I ever do the list.

Well my forest tribe army is spiders and savages all the way

Thats the kind of thing I like to see! I do love me some fluffy themed armies, but damn, sometimes it can be a pain to make it work well enough without breaking the theme!

I might convert me some "spider chariots" eventually but for now i'm going pure

I have done this kind of list before. Masses of spider riders, wolf riders, pump wagons and a Big-uns boar boy star. Was fun

While I like the aesthetic of Wolf Riders over the Spiders, I'm having trouble justifying Wolf Riders. Sure, they have 2 more movement, but Spiders basically ignore terrain, including being able to assault buildings with Spider in tow! Poison Attacks, Obstacle/Forest Strider, assaulting buildings/IGNORING buildings plus a better mount intiative and man, it's hard to see Wolf Riders outside of theme and aesthetics.

Wolfies are usefull in their own way, they are indeed better WM hunters due to having said extra speed.

When it comes to fielding them in mass the cheaper woflriders really shine

HoverBoy wrote:

Orlanth wrote:I am considering Spider riders as eight legged infantry. 13pts is not too expensive for block units.

Can you add a boss on a boar to a spider rider unit, it would be nice to up their Ld.

Keep in mind boars aren't fast cav so doing that hinders their mobility greatly.
Also consider bows the ability to march and shoot goes great with M7.

I am looking at spider riders with hero as quasi infantry for a mounted themed army.

I really don't understand charriots well and don't like them in pretty much any book. They just seem such obscure technology. Like the Romans used them and it matched their terrain, but riding around on a charriot through the Moutains of Mourn or Badlands or Jungles of Lustria just seems...weird.

That said, I think Wyverns are now pretty decent. And the spider riders can do some damage.

You realise romans never actually used chariots in battle right?

They raced them. And I think rode them in parades. And put them on every type of artwork possible.

They were never a great military weapon as I understand.

That they did as they make for a good show, i think the egiptians had the best terrain for actual battle chariots to see use on.

HoverBoy wrote:Wolfies are usefull in their own way, they are indeed better WM hunters due to having said extra speed.

Extra speed, chance for 4+ AS while still being fast cav is what tips the balance for me.

Didn't the insular celts use chariots to pretty good effect in their armies?

Johnny-Crass wrote:When it comes to fielding them in mass the cheaper woflriders really shine

Yep, WR's are cheaper than SR', and can be more durable to boot. At 130 Points you're looking at 10 SR's, or 10 WR's with Full Command. In addition, WR's are more durable, and besides losing 1I and Poison on the mounts can be roughly as offensive... while still cheaper than SR"s (Spear, Shield, and Light Armor Wolf Riders are one point less than Spear & Shield Spider Riders). If you want something that's extremely fast or semi-durable for Fast Cavalry, take Wolf Riders.

In return, Spider Riders have the very helpful I4 Poisoned Spiders below them. This allows them to - before the unit attacks - throw out 2-3 poisoned attacks on any Wizards that they may be in base-to-base with. Their special character is also vastly superior, having a multi-wound weapon, Devastating Charge, first-round Fear (thus preventing a test on your unit and possibly forcing one on your enemy), Ambush, and Hatred (Empire) as opposed to upgrading your unit to a broke man's Dark Rider unit.

~ ~ ~

If you don't think it'd "spoil" the army, I'd definitely support the idea of War Machines. Bolt Throwers and Doom Divers seem the most likely of the machines to be taken, IMO. Bolt Throwers because they're very small and light (every two-to-three Chariots could fit the machine parts and the War Machine's crew), Doom Divers since it gives the Orcs & Goblins an eye in the sky to scout out without exhausting the mounts / wasting much in the way of time (Throw Goblin up, run Wolf Rider where it lands, go wherever it says things look promising). Then again, the only technical difference between a Lobba and a Doom Diver Catapult is the payload...

I definitely suggest Snagla if you think you might have to deal with (slow) Monsters, (slow) Monstrous Infantry, Gunlines, or so-on. Even if only Snagla and five naked Spider Riders, a gunline will put a lot of firepower into 180 points of cavalry (including a character) that appeared behind their lines, and that's a lot of firepower that's not being thrown into your Chariots, Cavalry Units, and so-on. If you actually make it into combat, they can provide a handy amount of active combat resolution in support of a brick, and versus Monsters / Monstrous Infantry you'll be making use of your poisoned attacks and multi-wound character (as well as the fact that the unit can't be stomped).

Take at least one Wizard with a Feedback Scroll. You don't necessarily need to go Magic / Anti-Magic heavy, but that 50pt bundle can be extremely useful.