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I've been interested in chariot-heavy armies for a while now, mostly because I'm always on the look out for low model-count armies in general and chariots are something I have yet to use overly much but have enjoyed each time.

With that in mind, any tips on good chariot-heavy builds? Vital support units (fast cav for one!), hitty vs magic? And most importantly, which army lends itself best? Armies with chariots include:

Chaos Beasts -- tuskgor chariot (core, hitty boars, cheap, MoCU)
Dark Elves -- cold one chariots (special, stupid, fear, ???)
High Elves -- tiranoc chariot (special, fast), lion chariot (special, fear, hitty lions)
Chaos Mortals -- chaos chariot (core, tough, marks)
Orcs & Goblins -- boar chariot (special, animosity, hitty boars, ???), wolf chariot (special, fast, additional crew / mounts, low Ld, weaker)
Tomb Kings -- light chariots (special, weaker, less hitty, command, undead, magical assist = fast fast fast)

And there's also the demon chariots, but for my purposes I'm interested in 1000 point lists (hence TK as special only). Every list has light cav support as well, except for the undead who can't flee (and the HE ones are special slots as well).

I'm thinking I'd want all characters mounted in chariots too, or on some kind of mount if not riding. I've previously played the 3 MoT XC in chariots a few times, and really didn't like it too much. 11 power dice of odd magic, but a total inability to pass Ld tests just sucks ...

HE and O&G do get special mention for having plastic chariot models though

Appreciate any thoughts, or chariot tactics in general!

- Salvage

For that i would use beasts
Their chariots are core and not to expensive.
Plus, you get ambushing units to combat cannons and you get cheep wolfs to help out the chariots.

Tomb kings are also good. Take a couple blocks of medium horsemen and some chariot units. Mount your prince in a chariot and stick the priest in the horses.

Gonna get into a decent number of models though.

If you really care about model count eliminate orcs from the list.

Also, high elves and dark elves don't really work for chariot armies. They can but not well.

Actually orcs look like they can make a decent list, though yeah not tiny armies. I need to run the points on ...

Black Orc Big Boss - pigstikka, ha, chariot
Black Orck BSB - warbanner, ha, chariot
Goblin Shaman - stealin', wolf

5 Wolf Riders - bows, music
5 Wolf Riders - bows, music
5 Spider Riders - music

2 Orc Chariots

Think it comes close to 1000. Discovered since posting that character chariots in O&G don't take up a special slot

Good point on the ambushing units being useful, though I've had baaaad experiences with playing Beasts (weak, bad Ld).

- Salvage

Just take more beasts, will make up for your leadership.

Thats a lot of points in chars for 1000 pts, well over half the army by my reckoning.

If you really want a small army try this

high elves
dragon mage lvl 2
elf mage lvl 2

10 archers
10 archers

2-3 tyronic chariots (if you skimp on magic items i think you can fit 3)

But that is just wrong.

I like the Tomb Kings idea for that whole Egyptian feel.

You can even try the big daddy special character with them.

I like the High Elf and Beast Men ideas too.

Well, really small is the chaos chariot list of infamy (which as noted, isn't really much fun for anybody) ...

I do like the HE kitty chariots. 140 points each is enormous, but so new and shiny ...

On the HE list, remember you only need 1 core choice @ 1000 points

I know a guy who runs all chariots - with some carrion, scorpions, casket, horses - for TK. It's absolutely murder @ 2000+ points, only seen him get a draw once, the rest were total massacres, with his forces at full strength after healing them back up.

- Salvage

Word of warning: If you choose army that has the option to get masses of non-light chariots, don't go overboad. It'll just create silly and boring games. I think it's often good to stop at 4 (in beasts or o&g army for example).

In the O&G army, remember that a goblin shaman can ride a chariot too. Kevin Coleman's GT army from last year used a shaman like this, with the magic item that causes him to explode and deal S6 hits to every unit in contact if he dies. Cool combo.

I think 5 is the upper limit for fun with chariots- unless they're tomb kings, for which 6-8 chariots is still fun.

Beasts make a great chariot army, as Ambush puts you behind the enemy, hounds flank well and remove enemy ranks for cheap, and your Shamen are actually alright fighters when you put them in chariots (GW or 2+ save, plus nastiness if you can get Bear's Anger off). With Lore of Beasts, they really help chariot hordes along. And alongside a unit of Bestigor, enemy shooters have a hard time figuring out what to aim warmachines at.

And those plastic Orc chariots can be used as Beasts, too.
I do happen to own 8 beasts chariots. And they're coming to the 'Ard Boyz (muhuhaha!). Heck, I may buy a couple more just to prove the point.

Finally, I wouldn't touch Cold One chariots with a 10-foot pole. They always fail stupidity at just the wrong moment. If they had been actually cost-adjusted for that they might be alright, but they're not.