Do barbarians engage in coordinated attacks?

[Murvel]

As much as the descriptions says, my question is if different barbarian units from different barbarian encampments sometimes purposely engage in coordinated attacks at different locations of your empire. I often find my military outstretched fighting at more then one front. At times it almost feels as though you are fighting an invasion army with 5 or more units attacking at the same time rather then isolated barb-bands.

Question is: is this an AI feuture or just plain coincidence?

 

[Save_Ferris]

I'd hope it's AI. I want to see either barbs fighting each other or barbs teaming up to become a real nuisance, possibly taking cities and making them encampments. Either way, the game would be better.

 

[vexing]

they definitely team up. this is easy to see by just fortifying a warrior on a hill somewhere, eventually a barbarian will come and flank him just moving back and forth, then another will come, and another.

 

[JoeBas]

My last couple games I've seen them descending on my cities in packs... none at all, and then at the same time 2 or 3 appear from different directions.

 

[snarzberry]

Do barbarians engage in coordinated attacks?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AwCbG4I0QyA

 

[King Patrick]

Yes. I've had cities or units between two or more barbarian camps attacked from multiple directions at once. I don't think it's a grand strategy, though - that is, I don't think the AI is consciously coordinating the attacks. I think it's just a case of multiple barb units being attracted to the same target, because they all share the same targeting priority AI. So if 3 units spot my scout, all three are going after him because that's what barbs do, not because of a grand plan. At least, that's my theory. (In practice, it doesn't matter whether it's accidental or purposeful, you're still getting swarmed by barbarians).

 

[SureYouCan]

Bibor has a youtube channel with playlists. This particular moment of this particular playlist always cracks me up.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MHdcqBNNvBg&feature=player_detailpage#t=928s

Relevant to barbs btw.

 

[Thormodr]

It would be nice if this modeled history somewhat. Reminds me of this:

Barbarian conspiracy

In AD 367 Roman Britain was attacked at the same time by the Picts, Gaels, Irish and Saxons. The Roman historian Ammianus Marcellinus called it ‘barbarica conspiratio’ – a ‘barbarian conspiracy’.

It is impossible to say if the enemies of Rome planned their attacks together but for a year the Empire fought battles on all sides. The Alamanni, Sarmatians, Quadi, Austoriani and Goths attacked the Romans from Gaul to Africa and around the Danube.

During this period practically the whole Roman world heard the trumpet-call of war, as savage peoples stirred themselves and raided the frontiers nearest to them... the Picts, Saxons, Scots [Irish] and Attacotti were bringing continual misery upon Britain...

...a concerted attack by the barbarians had reduced the province of Britain to the verge of ruin.

Ammianus Marcellinus, Res Gestae Divi Augustae

http://www.ltscotland.org.uk/scotlandshistory/caledonianspictsromans/barbarianconspiracy/index.asp

However, I find the Civilization 5 Barbs to be so toothless, this just doesn't happen very often. Has anyone actually ever lost a city to a barbarian?

Barbs capturing workers or settlers was a decent start I will admit. Perhaps them being able to actually take over cities or at least be able to break through occasionally and be able to loot them would be cool. Maybe reduce the city by half its population rounded up and have it produce half its normal gold for a few turns or something like that. Perhaps if they looted successfully a few times then they could eventually develop into a city state or barbarian state. At the very least at least let them heal for crumb's sake!

That might not be in Firaxis' vision for the game though. (ie No negative barb hut results and no random events that could be nasty, etc.) Can't make it too tough on the new casual players as they might be scared off.

 

[gozpel]

I had barbs attack my new town once, but I didn't think about that achievement and bombarded them, so finally they lost and so did I on that concept.

Last time I really put a city between 2 encampments, my scout saw 5 brutes waddling around, so I though, I've got it!

But no, 2 barbs started to chase my scout, 2 went north for a citystate and only one wandered to my my city. So to get this achievement, you just have to be lucky.

 

[bcaiko]

I just experienced this last night while playing with a friend. I sent my spearman south to take care of a barbarian emcampment near the very beginning of the game. Suddenly, 5 barbs appear and swarm my capital and steal all my workers before I could do anything. I'd babrely had time to make workers, it was that early in the game. I looked at my friend and asked, "Did you turn on raging barbarians?" He just looked at me with o_O . He was having the same problem. Raging barbarians was off, too. LOL

Took my a good chunk of the game before I could make that up those losses.

 

[Randall Turner]

Took my a good chunk of the game before I could make that up those losses.

Yeah, an early barbarian incursion can screw your whole initial plan.

I'm convinced that the very first Honor policy, ie, just opening the branch, is worth it. (Shows you the encampment positions automatically.)

 

[blasto]

This is what I see them do a lot... a nearby encampment will pop out a unit and then the unit will sit tight until a couple more are in play. Then they'll all stop by for a visit.

 

[TPQ]

I've never seen them do more than send one, or possibly two units at one city. Even with raging barbs on, the Civ5 barbs are no threat at all, they're just walking barracks plus armoury and their camps are just little piles of gold (or big pile of gold if you're playing the Songhai).

Civ4 barbs were a real pain if you didn't have the great wall. So much so that I always went straight for the great wall every game. Civ4 barbs were multiple, aggressive city-takers if you didn't have the great wall, or lots of units to fight them off.

With Civ5, I've rarely needed more than the city it's self to defend against barbs, even when they're supposedly "raging". Idk, maybe I'm picking settings that make it more difficult for barbs to get organised into enough numbers to become a threat.

I've never even seen a barb attack one of my cities and they only occasionally pillage.