Heaven’s Reference Pages

Chariot Archer
Age: Bronze
Prerequisites: Build Town Center, build Barracks, build Granary, build Market, build Archery Range, research Wheel.
Upgrade Cost: - - -
Research Cost: - - -
Cost: 40 food, 70 wood
Hit Points: 70
Attack: 4
Armor: - - -
Piercing Armor: - - -
Range: 7
Speed: Fast
Upgrade of: - - -
Special: High resistance to conversion; triple attack against Priest.
Description:
The Chariot Archer is a powerful fighting unit that combines the speed and mobility of the Chariot and the attack strength of the Improved Bowman.
Researching Nobility increases hit points. Researching Alchemy increases attack strength. Ballistics increases accuracy. Leather Armor, Scale Armor, and Chain Mail increase armor. Woodworking, Artisanship, and Craftsmanship increase range.
Comments
The Chariot Archer is probably the most popular Bronze Age unit. Its combined speed, strength, range of attack, and the fact that they cost 0 gold, make civs with CAs preferable. They are great for raiding towns in the Bronze age, and can actually stand up to non-upgraded slingers. Their speed allows them to fly right past towers and catch villagers on the run. Their range is 7, making them see much farther than cavs, which is great for finding villagers. Use them for axemen, scouts, and the protection of wood and food gathering areas (your's and the enemies'), but beware of a Bronze age opponent or one with many slingers.
Cherub Sting and Angel Washizu
History
Around 1700 BC, two existing technologies of military consequence, the chariot and the bow, were merged to create a fearsome new military weapon-the chariot archer. Armored archers carried in fast chariots dominated the battlefields of the civilized world for the next 500 years and remained useful for some time after that. In the open ground of the settled plains and river valleys, the chariot archer was devastating due to its speed, mass, and firepower. Chariot archers were typified by the Egyptian nobility and pharaohs of the New Kingdom, 1552-1069 BC, who prided themselves on their archery. The first recorded battle of history, Megiddo in 1460 BC, was fought between chariots with archers involved on at least the Egyptian side. The chariot archer was the dominating battlefield weapon from China to Greece from about 1600 to 1200 BC, according to the historical and archaeological record. The long reign of chariot armies was due to several factors, including most importantly the placement of a composite bow archer in the basket with the driver and using the chariot as a mobile firing platform. The fast-firing chariot archer was devastating against slow, poorly armored infantry in the open areas of the civilized cultures. The glorious vision of elite archers from the nobility fighting from their expensive chariots and wheeling around the battlefields at will pervaded all civilized cultures of the time.
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