Will 40K Bring Chariots to Spaaaace!
July 4, 2012 by dracs
Those of you who have managed to get your hands on the latest 40K rules may have noticed that there has been some significant changes made. One of the most surprising is the addition of rules for a new type of vehicle. Chariots!
No, this is not something from Chariots of the Gods or Ancient Aliens. If you would like to turn to open up your shiny new rule book.
Chariots are personal war machines for high-ranking characters who prefer to survey the battlefield from a lofty perch. They differ from other transports in that they can only carry a single passenger - a character - referred to hereafter as the rider. - Warhammer 40,000, (Nottingham: Games Workshop, 2012), Page 82
This got us thinking, who might be using chariots in the 41st millennium?
(Jokaero Tracked from Beasts of War MiniRama by infojunkie)
After trawling through the existing rulebooks we only came across one mention of a chariot, the Primarch Vulkan's Obsidian Chariot, found in the background for Vulkan He'stan on page 93 0f the Space Marine Codex.
(ForgeFather Vulkan He'stan from Deviant Art by laundryhamper)
This led to much speculation as to whether or not this might indicate that the Salamnders could be getting their own army book, or maybe Vulkan will receive an update, having found this hidden arcane item of his Primarch's.
Another possible candidate for getting chariots is of course the Chaos Daemons.
(Herald on Chariot from Dakka Dakka by 9mmmastermind)
These guys have more than enough gribbly creatures to be pulling chariots and with rules for chariots already found in the Fantasy army book it takes no great stretch of the imagination to see them crossing over to 40K.
One final possibility is of course the Space Wolves.
(Custom Space Wolf Cavalry from Deviant Art by OOHellsingOO)
It is quite easy to picture a Space Wolf commander howling from the back of a chariot drawn by massive wolves.
Of course with rules for the chariots working as skimmers as well as normal ground vehicles we could be seeing quite a wide variety of such methods of transport on the fields of 40K soon.
What are your thoughts on the addition of chariots to 40K? Can you think of some designs for various races?
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Chariots eh? I hope I can have Commander Farsight in his XV8 Battlesuit on a chariot being pulled by a mighty steed as he swipes and swings his sword across the battlefield.
Oh wait he has Jetpacks.
Or you know it could be because there already is a chariot in game ? the Necron Lord on command Barge is one is it not ?
The command barge was the first thing, that came to my mind, while reading this.
I think adding a vehicle type “chariot” to the game is ok, if it is only a short form of “this thing has the universal special rules X, Y and Z”. Everything else would by to complicated and unnecessary.
Their are already chariots in 40K, they are in the Daemons codex.
This is the pt where GW has gone over top with transferring WHF to 40k.
Alright, chariots. Nice models, but I don’t think they really need seperate rules…
they were already there tho ragg they have now just put them in the main rulebook so if say more are introduced they can just say ‘is a chariot’ rather than printing the rules again
how about catacomb command barges ?
Spacelizards could use chariots.
pulled by termites the size of bison.
Only chariot I know about in 40k (don’t know about demons codex) is the Necron Catacomb Command Barge. In the Necron faq, “Chariot” has been added to it’s unit type.
Sweep attack should have given it away Sam 🙂
Ask Darrel next time 🙂
It was Darrell who got me to write the article as, and I quote, “I don’t do writing.”
It’s not your thought then Sam.
We all know that we have to take a whole ocean of sult when Darrell starts quoting rules:)
To add to the chorus Chariots have been in 40k for quite some time. I think all the Chaos Daemon heralds get it a way you can upgrade them. In fact one of my very first games my wife played a slaanesh army against me and had a chariot in it. Nothing new. Move along, nothing to see… 😉
HMM.
Well at least Charriots in WHFB use the same profile as every other unit …
I guess 40k is going to gain ANOTHER artificialy seperate unit with more special rules….
WHFB game mechanics work for WHFB .
WHFB game mechanics do not work well for 40k .
Unless you are happy with an over complicated counter intuitive ‘ WHFB in space’ type game?
Well it makes chariots more interesting. Take the Chariot of Tzeench from the Chaos Daemons; It already changes by adding +2 attacks, +1 toughness, +3 wounds, unit type to Jetbike + Furious Charge. Now it also gets +1 on it’s armour save, Fearless (had it already) and a special hammer of wrath gaining D6 I10 attacks at S6. Not bad for a 15 point upgrade! Oh and, apologies, but I can’t pass up the opportunity for another passing dig “Another possible candidate for getting chariots is of course the Chaos Daemons.” who have had them, at least, since 4th edition… Read more »
Well the necron Catacomb command barge is confirmed as a chariot in the new necron faq’s. Also, I would say that maybe the daisle of destruction MAY be a chariot because it is a personal transport for one special character.
I think it comes down to what you think a space chariot is. The Eldar had a special character that would ride on the back of a Viper. That could be seen as a chariot.
So it’s not that uncommon as they had them in the books just not called chariots.
good point manpug, the wild rider one right? the whole point of the chariot in this game is that a character can fight from it without getting out. They get the swipe attack after which they can charge another unit and gain the benefit of the mass of the vehicle as “impact” hits. Add to that it can’t be locked in combat and seems a great ride for your combaty character. It really emphasizes the shift toward characters in 40k in this edition, and how many of the rules allow them to stand out rather than sit in the back… Read more »
Chariots in 40k? Really GW? Did they forget that standart issue weapon for humanity’s most powerful soldiers that they gave them are basically small rapid fireing rocker launchers so riding on chariot is last thing that I would consider. Are they that desperate to get new kits to be released that they want to bring chariots to 40k. Only chariots that I would considering being possible are Chariots of Tzeentch used by Demons of Chaos.
all the fuzz for it to be “chariots” guys ? really? It just a term and it means that one or more guys ( preferably some special characters ) are fighting aboard a vehicle of some kind …. it doesnt mean that there will be horse driven-wood-chariots now . And actually it has been there before ( aka Asdrubeal Vect, Nanduu Fireheart etc ) now it just got a name-tag and a set of fixed rules ….Not everything GW does has to be “just for the money” …. you guys should really relax some time ….
IIRC the exploded diagram of the Leman Russ they put in WD a while back had a list of materials used to make the tank which included wood for armour so horse drawn wooden chariots isn’t that big of a stretch – hmmm perhaps putting a character in a chariot makes him/her/it ineligible for the “look out sir!” special rule 😀
I reckon the dark angels will have a new raven to fly on and chaos will have a daemon to ride lol