Helpful hints for playing Warlords Barbarian scenario

[Curious142]

What's the deal with this scenario? All my units just get picked off like they're a bunch of cub scouts on a picnic outing. I've tried the scenario twice (once at the settler level) and got my head handed to me before I could do anything. What's the secret to being a successful barbarian?

CB

 

[JrK]

Barbarians scenario is easy. Always have a stack with:
-trebuchets(these are citykillers)
-axemen(3-5)(protection vs melee)
-spearmen(2-3)(protection vs mounted, give them the medic ability so they have some use)
-chariots(3-5)(protection vs axemen, good for quick pillaging, which is mightily important in this scenario!!! 50 gold per pillage!)
-swordsmen(2-4)(upgrade them for city attack so they can mop up after the trebuchets killed the nasty archers, city raider is a must!)

The only thing you have to do is make sure your stack doesn't get seperated EVER. ONLY use your chariots for quick pillages if you're sure there are no units nearby that will pick them off, because they WILL.

I haven't had any trouble with ships attacking my galleys, but you might just want to have some triremes handy just in case.

 

[Curious142]

Thanks for the advice. So, the "trick" is to keep all your units in one big stack -- strength in numbers. I finally did win on my third try at the barbarian scenario. But I was playing at settler level and had the scenario at easy level. That should practically be a "gimme". I think that I was lucky to win even under those circumstances. Oh well, it can only get better. Thanks again.

CB

 

[Ammar]

The Barbarian scenario is actually a good example for the failings of the AI concerning military matters. As said above, the best way to win is moving your units around in a huge SOD. If the AI would actually use catapults against you, that would quickly make this particular tactic worthless.

 

[Curious142]

The AI has been attacking me with catapults. It doesn't do much damage. But that might be because I'm playing at chieftain level. It looks like the way to play the barbarian scenario to use 4 or 5 trebuchets and all the axemen you can build. and maybe 2 or 3 mounted units to run about bringing in some cash by pillaging the countryside. Just moving one hugh stack of axemen and trebuchets frome one city to the next isn't very exciting (or even fun) but it definitely gets the job done (eventually).

CB

 

[Padma]

Moderator Action: Thread moved. Not really an article.

 

[Curious142]

Oppps. Sorry 'bout that. But I did get some very good advice about playing Civ4 -- put all your offensive units and one hugh stack and charge.

CB

 

[romelus]

well i did my 1st try on monarch and normal setting (65 turns, big mistake :suicide

when i started it was very easy to sack cities. but as soon as i ran into longbows in cities it became troublesome. i also made the mistake of sending out 3 unit pillage parties. they initially didn't encounter problems, but soon AIs started hunting those down with macemen. i then realized small stacks attracted AI attention and kept my units together but i had already lost quite a number of units, and AIs had teched up so everyone had longbows and maces defending. i managed to sack 7 or 8 cities before i ran into an english knight, who easily killed the 2 spears in my stack on 2 consecutive turns i gave up soon after because all the AIs became advanced, and my obsolete and dwindling units couldn't handle them. i played on a small map which was too big still.

i wonder if i would be able to buy better units like pike and longbow or am i stuck with those units? that would make the game extremely hard

 

[Murky]

I played this scenario today and had a blast.

Tips:
1) Trebuchets are awesome, buy atleast 3 at the start.
2) <F4> brings up the buy menu incase you have trouble figuring it out.
3) Leave no improvement unpillaged you can even pillage city ruins.
4) Horse archers are great for cleanup work after you raze a city.
5) Great generals go well with crossbowmen.
6) Keep your units together in a stack.
7) Protect your camp at all times.

 

[bitterguy]

the thing about the barb mod is that you need to keep making money to recoup your losses. every potential battle should be evaluated based on your likelihood of winning vs the amount of money you'll gain by fighting. this includes sending out small groups to pillage improvements. it's pure risk/reward. if you send out a lone chariot to pillage a single farm and he gets smoked by a spearman that's a bad trade. if your chariot gets 5 farms before getting killed you're still in the black, but you're probably better off to try not to suicide any units since your income isn't a predictable stream.

a few tips:
- trebuchets with city raider 3 are the baddest boys on the block, buy a bunch
- buy promotions with money before you use experience to promote units, each promotion gets more expensive regardless of whether you buy or earn them
- take the free first galley before you buy any triremes
- keep at least one horse-based unit in each stack so that you can pillage as you go
- chariots are cheaper than horse archers for pillaging purposes
- leave some roads so that you can get around faster once you raze the cities
- don't ever leave your camp vulnerable, always keep him in your biggest/safest stack. ai will target your camp.
- move quickly, so the ai doesn't have time to get ahead in the tech tree on you. your tech won't get any better as the game goes on.
- get some medic promotions to heal you up faster and heal in neutral territory when possible.
- make a point to take out strategic resources early to make your life easier. you do not want to leave an elephant camp operational. if you can nuke copper and iron mines go for it. it will cut down the difficulty of future battles.
- manage your stack before you use a great general. you only get 20 experience points so figure out which units should divide those points and make a small stack of those before you pull the trigger. maybe you just want 2 trebuchets to pull all that experience, maybe you want every unit to get 1 point. either way, think about it.
- you can buy stuff at any time and as many times a turn as you like, so if you raze a city use the money to buy some more guys and keep going that turn if you like. especially use money earned to buy reinforcements for a bleeding stack so that you don't get counter attacked after tough battles.

 

[Curious142]

Is there a way for the barbarian to advance his tech? If not, it looks to me like his doom is pretty much a done deal by the time he takes on more than about three opponents. By that time the civ's have advanced their techs to the point that they have units like knights and crossbowmen. These units don't seem to have much trouble knocking off lots of barbarian axemen. After that the barbarian's tactics are restricted to either running and hiding or suicide. Just my observations after finally playing a barbarian scenario that lasted more than a few turns -- but still didn't have a happy ending.

CB

 

[chipix]

i am playing now a barbarian scenario (noble, easy, 40 turns to start the game).
I have done pretty well I believe but I have not yet won. I have 2 more civs that seam to have much more power.
I am using my generals to create uber-units. I have 2 uber-swordsman with full-city attack, medic, march, combat bonuses, leadership and of course morality (movement 2). With this way I can move from 1 city to another and attack with very good odds (over 95%).
I use my trebuchets to bombard and then attack. Afterwards my uber units take the other 2 units in the city. My units have always at least 2 promotions when I buy them in order to select a more advanced promotion after they win their first battle and gain the first 2 XPs.
I use a lot of horse archers and chariot to deal with AIs counter-attacks (cats, spears, axemen and some stupid swords - I do not have cities man!!!).

Regarding the upgrading of units: I have not yet coped with medieval units, however the manual depicts that more advance units are made available, or not?

 

[romelus]

i don't think more advanced units are given to barbarians, you only have the unit types you start with.

on a smaller map this would be easier. i tried a bigger map and AIs just rebuild new cities faster than i can raze them, even when i purchased enough units for 2 uber stacks. it was a losing cause. if i dragged this long enough, i might start seeing grenadiers and riflemen, a dim prospect

 

[aelf]

The Barbarian scenario is actually a good example for the failings of the AI concerning military matters. As said above, the best way to win is moving your units around in a huge SOD. If the AI would actually use catapults against you, that would quickly make this particular tactic worthless.

That is just not true. I just tried playing the scenario on Prince and 66th turn start. I killed 3 out 4 AIs easily, but when I came to the 4th, I got attacked by the largest stack I've ever seen so early in the game. Endless numbers of catapults, trebuchets, chu ko nus, longbows, maces, swords and spears. My entire stack died (I had no money left too) and I don't think the AI had run out of units yet in that city. It's crazy. How do you stop this from happening?

 

[JrK]

That's not exactly an example of military smarts, that's just spamming units.

 

[aelf]

That's not exactly an example of military smarts, that's just spamming units.

It does show that the AI can throw a lot of catapults at your SoD.

 

[Murky]

I just tried tried Prince +65 turns on a small pangaea map. It doesn't look possible because they start with too many units. Soon as you get near a city loaded with troops your SoD is dead. If you take out weaker cities they just rebuild them. Noble +65 turns might be doable. I'll try that next.

edit: Ok, just won on Noble, tiny Pangaea. It seemed rather easy compared to the previous attempt.

 

[aelf]

So Prince is just too hard? In normal games I don't see the AI building so many units. I thought being always at war is the cause of it, since it appears to me that even though you are barbarian, the game shows that you are at war with the AIs, thus implying a diplomatic relationship that might affect AI behaviour.

 

[the oob]

Where possible, use your galleys (which hold 5 units in this scenario) to carry your troops rather than going on foot, that way your army can heal on the move.

At first you should just have one big stack but later on a second stack is probably a good idea if you have the money.

 

[Naastriil]

I think you should have some crossbow man as well they become unit killers. Especialy agains Knights. That is the only advanced unit you start with. Trebuchet X 6 + Crossbow X 4 + Chariot X 1. Is the hoard you need. I razed 4 civs with this army until I started to get bored of killing infantry with Trebuchets.