Scythe Chariot

Template:AoEUnits The Scythe Chariot is a unit in Age of Empires: The Rise of Rome. It is an upgrade of the Chariot and is only available to certain civilizations.

The biggest advantage of the Scythe Chariot over the regular Chariot is that it can inflict Trample Damage, inflicting damage on units and buildings adjacent to the unit or building it is attacking. Thus they can be a nice alternative to a War Elephant, preventing enemy villagers from fleeing to a far location and restarting their town. As with its regular counterpart, the Scythe Chariot deals double attack towards Priests and is highly resistant towards enemy Conversion.

Civilizations

The Scythe Chariot is an uncommon unit, and only these civilizations can train them:

• Egyptians
• Babylonians
• Hittite
• Phoenicia
• Sumerians
• Shang
• Roman
• Palmyrans

Note: Assyrians have Chariots but cannot upgrade them into Scythe chariots

Upgrades

Tool Age

• Toolworking: Increases attack by 2 points.
• Leather Armor: Increases armor by 2 points.

Bronze Age

• Metalworking: Increases attack by 2 points.
• Scale Armor: Increases armor by 2 points.
• Nobility: Increases hit points by 15%.

Iron Age

• Metallurgy: Increases attack by 3 points.
• Chain Mail: Increases armor by 2 points.

Note: Nobility is the prerequisite for upgrading Chariots to Scythe Chariots, so this upgrade is automatically added

Civilization Bonuses

File:Scythed Chariot.gif

Egyptians are the only civilization with a bonus that concerns chariots.

• Egyptian: Scythe Chariots have 33% more HP, with a total of 182 after Nobility is researched.
• The Scythe Chariot is not available for the Carthaginians, Choson, Greeks, Assyrians, Macedonians, Minoans, Persians, and Yamato

History

“	Chariots went out of favor by the beginning of the last millennium BC in favor of cavalry. But they did not disappear completely. Some armies continued to use them and they remained a symbol of prestige. To make chariots more effective and fearsome, scythe blades were attached to the axles. As the chariot moved, the blades rotated through the air. A foot soldier facing an oncoming Scythe Chariot faced the prospect of being ridden down by the horse, shot by an arrow, stabbed by the soldier on board, or hacked by the blades. This could be a terrifying weapon against broken troops trying to flee. Against steady veteran troops, however, the Scythe Chariot was still a chariot with inherent weaknesses. If the horses could be wounded, the chariot faltered. The Persians attempted to use Scythe Chariots against Alexander the Great, but the weapon made little impression on the disciplined phalanxes.	”
—The Rise of Rome manual

Releated Articles

• Chariot (Age of Empires)
• Chariot Archer (Age of Empires)
• Stable (Age of Empires)