The CHARIOT was the first true fighting vehicle. It was used by the armies of antiquity to transport archers and other troops to the battlefield, where they would then disembark to actually fight. The CHARIOT was turned into a fearsome offensive weapon by the Assyrians, whose archers and spearmen fought from the car of the CHARIOT itself. Few enemy armies were able to withstand the onslaught of a host of Assyrian chariots, and this devastating weapon was soon adopted by many of the Assyrians' enemies, and used against them with good effect.