Barb or not to Barb

Soneji

Soneji

Prince and Great Steward
Joined
Jul 12, 2006
Messages
896
Location
Dùn Èideann
Can we maybe have a poll? (Or has there been one)

I would like to see the rough numbers of those who play with Barbarians on and off?

I personally have them on, yes attacks are annoying but to me it is a hell of a lot more realistic in the early years. Also, capturing Barb cities can save on production.
 
I used barbs to boost my units' xp (raging barbs), until I discovered that the AI get xp for barbs beyond the ten, I as a player, get.
I was wondering how the AI always would show up outside my borders with units with five or six promotions...
Since then I've switched back to normal barbs.
 
I'd never play with them off, though sometimes I wished there was a "reduced barbarians" option I had used to set up the game... :lol:
 
I always play with them on unless it is a game for the HOF, where the emphasis is on speedy victories. They make the game harder in the early going which helps to offset the human advantage over the AI.
 
I usually play with them, but on a fairly low setting- enough to make the early game a little more interesting, not quite enough to topple empires.
 
I like large-huge maps. Normally, what i do depends on a lot. If i want raging barbarians i make a game with less civs.
 
Always play with Barbs on, don't see the point in not having Barbs to play around with. Can give you something to try your army on before taking on a real civ.
 
Yep, ON... pretty much free xp's if you have copper or iron.
 
Barbs on for me. The only time I have played with raging barbs was in a WOTM game (WOTM11 I think), that was my only conquest victory ever. It was Prince difficulty but the map was really easy, Egypt with horses nearby. I also built the Great Wall because I had never played raging barbs before. I still got some XP from killing barbs outside my cultural borders, and I still had a city razed when I declared on Liz and her bounced warrior got to my gems city before I could send reinforcements. I spanked everyone though, 1380AD conquest win I think. It was a Terra map and I never went to the new world (never even got to caravels, I was researching guilds when I won).

I also play most HOF games even gauntlets with barbs on. When I fill up my HOF table I may turn them off for a more competitive score. I did turn off barbs and huts for my many failed attempts at the deity cultural win major though.
 
Barbs on.

With them off, my tech path would change drastically. I don't think I'd ever research Archery.
 
i always leave them off if i'm playing a game below noble. that way, if i pop a settler he can go exploring for me until i can afford to actually make a city with him ;). being gandhi and getting a free worker from a hut is awesome, he moves farther than a scout. he goes off to get me more huts, and hopefully more workers and settlers!

sometimes high-level OCC i use raging, since i have only one city and i know the AI will be crowding me, so they'll get harassed more than i do. but usually i just go normal barbs. HoF gauntlets tho, always barbs off.
 
You big scaredy cat KMadCandy! :p

What level do you play?
 
sabo said:
I dont even tech archery with barbs on, I go for bronze and Iron working.
Click to expand...

I'll research Bronze before Archery, and if I have easy Bronze access (especially if I'm an Agg leader), I'll skip Archery.

But waiting until Iron Working has never worked for me. At Monarch level, the Barb Axemen and Spearmen always show up before I can get that researched and hooked up.

So without Bronze, I need Archery to make sure I'll survive the initial wave of the Barb invasion without impact to my civ.
 
gdgrimm said:
I'll research Bronze before Archery, and if I have easy Bronze access (especially if I'm an Agg leader), I'll skip Archery.

But waiting until Iron Working has never worked for me. At Monarch level, the Barb Axemen and Spearmen always show up before I can get that researched and hooked up.

So without Bronze, I need Archery to make sure I'll survive the initial wave of the Barb invasion without impact to my civ.
Click to expand...

That's what Chariots are for :)

Cheers.
 
manu-fan said:
I'll research Bronze before Archery, and if I have easy Bronze access (especially if I'm an Agg leader), I'll skip Archery.

But waiting until Iron Working has never worked for me. At Monarch level, the Barb Axemen and Spearmen always show up before I can get that researched and hooked up.

So without Bronze, I need Archery to make sure I'll survive the initial wave of the Barb invasion without impact to my civ.
Click to expand...
That's what Chariots are for :)

Cheers.
Click to expand...

So they can watch as all your mined hills and Gold resources get wiped out by the Barb Spearmen who approach via the forests?

Or so that about 3 or 4 of them can die for every Barb Spearman that shows up? Flanking and Shock can help, but even then you're still looking at initial attacks with odds of only about 30% or less. Losing 2 or 3 units to each Barb Spearmen is no way to run an empire.

On the attack, Shock Archers are significantly better than Shock Chariots against Spearmen (though you need to still expect to lose 1 for each Spearman). And you can easily defend your important hills and resources with just regular Archers that can withstand a Barb Spearman attack.
 
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