Barricades

[el_griffador]

Does anyone use them? I didnt even know what they were until I was messing about on the civilopedia the other day. I dont think I've ever seen the AI use them (but maybe they have and I didnt know what they were) What is the most effective way to use them? (if there is one)
I was thinking of building forts along a thing chockepoint, with barricades in front of it, and massed artillary in the forts to blast them down to red as they're stuck in the barricades!

 

[ChaosArbiter]

The one time I've seriously used them was a small chokepoint (about 8 tiles) that consisted mainly of Mountains. I was playing as the Germans on a Huge Pangaea and didn't want to tangle with the Dutch/Chinese/Korean forces on the other side (as I'd much rather force them to take the long way around, through the Ottomans and Arabians). I recall placing a TOW Infantry and Mech Infantry (or was it Guerrilla and Infantry ...?) before I had to stop the game. Think I've still got the save somewhere ....

 

[Ataxerxes]

You almost never see anyone use barricades. A more mobile strike force or the "funnel of doom" usually works better. I think they have their place, but only in very specific situations. I like having enough workers, but I don't want to waste worker turns on barricades.

"Fixed fortifications are a monument to human stupidity" George S. Patton, Jr.

 

[AutomatedTeller]

You can get a poor man's "funnel of doom" with barricades. I've seen them on choke points from the AI - that's about it, but then, the AI rarely has enough workers anyway.

 

[creamcheese]

You can get a poor man's "funnel of doom" with barricades. I've seen them on choke points from the AI - that's about it, but then, the AI rarely has enough workers anyway.

Definitely a poor man's funnel of doom if used correctly! Judging by this thread I may be one of the few players who uses them regularly.

In a peaceful game playing an industrial civ, I usually have some spare worker turns; using them on forts/barricades can really some in handy in a defensive war. I you put one every other (or all but one) square on your border with one of your best defenders in each the AI will mostly ignore them unless they have way better attackers. When they move past you get a free shot, and this works like a mini-funnel to knock lot of hits off of units.

If you have, say a lux or strategic you wish to guard, sometimes just a unit fortifed on it is not enough to deter AI (esp on higher levels where their tech lead may be significant) And you need at least a fort, if not a barricade. These situation are rare but the barricade does a lot since they cannot move onto it and pillage it in one turn! Even with no defensive unit!

If you have railed all that you can and have too many workers left over for what you need for pollution control (in the later game obviously) you can barricade pretty much wherever you want to limit the movement of the AI's armies if they attack.

I usually end up building at least one fort-and-barricade per game.

Edit: In some games I have even had enough spare workers to make Maginot-style defensive line along a short border. No matter what Patton may say, they work wonders against an AI too stupid to use artillery. +100%defensive bonus is like defending a metro!

 

[Sparthage]

My Helm's Deep...

1 Tile mountain island + 10 Mech Inf + 1 Settler + 2 Radar Artillery + Barricade= 72 Defense Value

 

[EvilConqueror]

I don't think I've ever built one. I would consider using them when playing other humans but not against the dumb AI.

 

[padisah]

i use them to protect strategic tiles, like iron, or horses. Sometimes, when the border area has mountains, make an additional protection line there.
Forts/barricade as i saw attracts the ai units, so despite it's higher defence, the machine attacks them. I also put many artillery insde them, so any enemy getting nearby get weakend sufficiently to be killed by more dynamic units. The ability for barricades to stop the attacker can be important, with the strategic tiles, and also if the terrain has limited movement possibilites. For example, the terrain falls into your culture, and there is only 1 patch of plain/grassland, the rest is hill/mountain. The enemy could overrun 3 tiles deep with armor or cavalry, but the presence of a barricade on the first tile stops this. I never used them in this role though.

 

[invector]

I used them in protecting luxury/strategic resources, and in defending tight spots, once I was alone in an island with America, and I blocked their troops reaching my side by putting a unit in the tightest spot. After some expanding and etc, I built fort + barricade there to defend better.