In pre-2.08 games - or perhaps pre-Warlords - I remember being able to draw barbarians away from my cities by dotting archers on hills a few tiles away from my borders.
These days however I only see the black flags merrily bypass my fogbusters and head straight for my cultural borders, even when those are 4-5 tiles away. Has their detection range or decision-taking algorithm perhaps changed in the latest patches?
Since I only play large or huge maps completely busting all fog is simply not cost-effective, nor is setting up an FB network that covers +5 tiles from my borders. I'm a bit at a loss as to an effective counter now I must admit. Is there a reliable barb-countering strategy that does not involve acquiring copper, horses or iron very early?
This also makes me wonder about the value of Archery. Archers can still defend my cities no doubt, consitently being pillaged back to the stone age is more or less equals a lost game though, so I don't quite see the point of the tech anymore (except as a prerequisite of course).
These days however I only see the black flags merrily bypass my fogbusters and head straight for my cultural borders, even when those are 4-5 tiles away. Has their detection range or decision-taking algorithm perhaps changed in the latest patches?
Since I only play large or huge maps completely busting all fog is simply not cost-effective, nor is setting up an FB network that covers +5 tiles from my borders. I'm a bit at a loss as to an effective counter now I must admit. Is there a reliable barb-countering strategy that does not involve acquiring copper, horses or iron very early?
This also makes me wonder about the value of Archery. Archers can still defend my cities no doubt, consitently being pillaged back to the stone age is more or less equals a lost game though, so I don't quite see the point of the tech anymore (except as a prerequisite of course).