Will asked the following questions about chariots:
The Barbarian army list gives seperate stat lines for the Chariot and the dismounted Warrior. So, I assume that (before AoA at least...see below) you could dismount the Warrior from the chariot... No provision for buying more figures for transport in the chariots is provided in the list, so I assume you can't do that...
A: This is correct
The AoA mods to the Barbarian list have a special rule for British chariots. The Warrior in the chariot is allowed to take all of the attacks against the Chariot onto himself, simulating the "trick" of dismounting the warrior to fight while the chariot waited a short distance away.
Question one: Should this replace the rule in the book allowing the Warriors to dismount from their chariots and move seperately?
A: Yes
The AoA mods also say that all of the Warriors in the chariot unit must use this tactic or none. If there are 8-11 models in the unit, they get a +1 rank bonus. +2 if there are 12+ models in the unit.
Question two: Doesn't this seem to be a nearly useless rule? Certainly the British can field this many chariots, but what unit exists that is big enough to possibly allow 12, or even 8, chariot models (480mm or 320mm frontage!) to contact it at once?
A: Contact with the enemy is not the issue, just the number of chariot models in the unit. Basically, if the unit uses the 'dismount the warriors' trick then it counts as having a rank bonus if there are enough models in the unit.
Jervis recently made a few comments that basically treat units of chariots a lot like units of skirmishers (e.g. any additional wounds transfer to the next chariot, etc.). Skirmishers have to rank up if they can't get into contact with the face of the unit that their unit charged.
Question three: Are chariot units subject to the same restriction?
A: Yes
Jervis Johnson