Choosing an army for Mortem et Gloriam from roughly 650 existing army lists is a great fun on its own. But at the start it can give a real headache. So I decided to choose several interesting options, with a short description to perhaps help the new players.
The idea is not to present the best or strongest armies possible. Not necessarily at least. I focus more on the history behind them, miniatures available and the general feeling of the army. Will try to present 2-4 armies from each of the army list groups starting from the Chariot Era.
I do not claim to be any kind of authority or expert. If you disagree, lets have a discussion :) But I hope you will find the opinion about the armies useful and entertaining.
The Chariot Era is, as the name suggests about chariots! With 2500 years of history covered by those lists not all of the armies use chariots of course, but I can hardly imagine a reason not use those machines of war if only available. They look really cool and associate with the earliest empires in human history.
Sumer and Akkad
The task here is tricky. Armies are fairly underdeveloped as this section covers deep antiquity starting at the early bronze age. Due to technological limitations, armies are somewhat similar one to another. Generally you will find here: unprotected warriors, little to none fast units and mostly tribal or formed at best. But they come cheap!
Late Sumerian
I really like Sumer as it is one of the cradles of human civilization. Great many inventions or improvements must have led also to innovations in warfare. Sumerian cities, once in the state of war, used kind of proto-chariots (4-wheeled cars). This unit is no game changer for sure, but gives a nice touch to the army. This army also has access to faster chariots if you wish, but not many can be used. You will field many Long Spear units with an option to add some shooting (both as skirmishers and TuGs). One of the reasons to consider this army is a great range of minis by Museum Miniatures - Sumerians “Z”.
What I like in this army: battle cars
What I do not like: mostly unprotected units
Similar armies: Sumerian, Akkadian Empire, Third Dynasty of Ur, Isin-Larsa.
Models available: Museum Miniatures
Nubian
screen from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qvO3_kYRRw8
This is strictly an infantry army, but due to the Fleet of Foot special rule, they are pretty fast. If bow is your weapon of choice, you care little about armour and you despise horses, that might be an interesting army for you.
What I like in this army: unique theme, tons of shooting footmen
What I do not like: mostly unprotected units
Models available: Khurasan Miniatures
Egypt and Hatti
Those army lists cover the first Empires. The era of fully developed chariots starts here! Armies depend much on the shooting, are well trained and start to wear armour. It also gets easier to find miniatures for this period.
Mitanni
If you want a heavy chariot based army, that is probably the best choice for you. 32 chariots, and that is not considering allies! Only Syro-Canaanites can field more of those early machines of war, however Mitanni has dedicated Fighting 15s miniatures, that is why I would suggest this army choice.
What I like in this army: Chariots. Many chariots
What I do not like: somewhat limited versatility
Similar choices: Syro-Canaanites, Kassite Babylonian
Models available: Fighting 15s
New Kingdom Egyptian
Probably the best known empire of Bronze Age era. As an army they field tons of chariots, and even better than those of Mitannies, but also more expensive. To fill the numbers Egyptians may field decent infantry units and they have quite a choice here, so from that point of view they get even more interesting but also more complicated when building your roster. When looking for a models, Fighting 15s has it covered.
What I like in this army: Exceptional Chariots
What I do not like: no allies and only professional generals
Similar Choices: Hittite Empire, Middle Assyrian
Models available: Fighting 15s
Hittite Empire
Once mighty empire that was almost lost in time. Now we know quite a lot about them as we can read Hittite texts. Although they are a pretty similar army to the New Kingdom Egyptian, they have 2 key features that their southern neighbours have not. For one, they can field allies. For two, they can also field internal allies and with them instinctive generals. Note that this army has such a rich list that it can be easily more infantry focused rather than contain many chariots. But I consider it a chariot based army. Many roster options make it a very interesting choice in my opinion.
What I like in this army: Exceptional Chariots, good allies options
What I do not like: no clear disadvantages in my opinion
Similar Choices: New Kingdom Egyptian, Middle Assyrian
Models available: Fighting 15s
Early Mycenaean and Minoans
The army that is kind of unique for the period. As both Minoans and Mycenaeans civilizations came from the mountainous terrains, they had less chariotry and more infantry. So the army is built around a solid core of longspearmen with a melee chariot attachments. A bit like Greek hoplites from the classical era, just with chariotry. Paradoxically, this army may be less effective in difficult terrain than some other armies from this period due to close formation infantry and lacking in good archers.
What I like in this army: Dendra armour chariots
What I do not like: No skilled shooters
Models available: Museum Miniatures, Fighting 15s
Similar armies: Trojan War - Achaean
Assyria and Babylon
After the Bronze Age collapse, new cities developed, new states were founded and the new empires arose, now forged in iron. Horses are not only used to pull carts, but also to ride on them. But geographically we are mainly still in the same area. Armies from this period use spears more commonly. Shooting is a bit less proficient than in previous eras. Although chariots are still widely used, they are not necessarily the core of the army any more.
Later Syro-Hittite
Another army based heavily on charioteers. What has changed compared to the Hittite Empire is that now chariots are not only shooting platforms, but can be also used for effective charges (3rd crewman added). However, note that overal training level of units is worse and skilled shooting is gone. What makes it interesting is a possibility to use also cavalry and camelry, though 1 unit of each only.
What I like in this army: Chariots with shoot&charge
What I do not like: No skilled shooters
Models available: Magister Militum
Neo-Assyrian Empire
If you are looking for an army that brings to the table almost everything that is on the menu, there aren’t many better choices than Neo-Assyrians. Exceptional charioteers, shooting units, good cavalry, decent infantry, good range of skirmishers and 9 possible allies options to choose from!
What I like in this army: Many, many options to build the roster
What I do not like: Not a fan of miniatures available in the market
Models available: Magister Militum
Similar Armies: Later Sargonid Assyrians (this army seems to be even more flexible from some point of view, but has lost access to several nice options, like exceptional chariots. Note that both armies can be used basically with the same figures, so no need to make a decision which of them suits you better!); Early Neo-Assyrians - more shooting is an interesting option, but I find them too similar to other armies already mentioned, that is why I pointed out Neo-Assyrians.
Later Vedic Indian
This army is the first one that can use elephants which are especially fearsome against charioteers. And has its own chariots too of course. Can be built using Museum Miniatures Indians Z, however I would rather go for Classical Indians Army List if I were going to use them. Xyston figures are also worth consideration. Still, an interesting choice for those who search for an army with chariots and an extra exotic touch.
Superb - we need more of that!