How can I protect from barbs when...

[OTAKUjbski]

Unless I'm resource-starved, I almost always leave the fog for as long as possible.

Let the Barbarians get into your territory, then mow them down with whatever unit you have in waiting for them. Your units get more experience this way.

Sometimes, the barbarians will found a city in the fog -- in which case they're simple to take and will net you a lot of good unit experience, at least 40 and possibly even a good 4-pop city.

 

[axident]

What a great thread with a lot of tips.

I'd just like to reiterate that barbarians will frequently attack your fog-busters on their way to your territory. Thanks to all the defense bonuses your fully fortified fog-buster has (you did park it on a hill, or at least in a forest, right?) the barbarian will almost always die.

Forested hilltop ftw. I've actually grown to like getting barb-attacked--free xp for my Combat I axemen, and when they get to 10 xp I use them against the AI.

 

[Ecofarm]

The "no barbarians" option should be renamed: "no xp farming". Just park a unit some distance from your civ, on a forested hill, and bring him home when he has 10xp.

 

[Mehmed100]

I fogbust. I once got a unit with four promotions from barbs. If you have Warlords, you could build the Great Wall.

Forested hilltop ftw. I've actually grown to like getting barb-attacked--free xp for my Combat I axemen, and when they get to 10 xp I use them against the AI.

I do that too.

 

[Coase]

If you always got the same resources all the time, the game would be no fun.

True...but I've had games where it would theoretically be impossible for me to discover Bronze Working, plant a city next to the deposit, and build a road from it to any one city before a Barbarian axeman trampled down my capital. And as soon as they start tearing up farmland, you might as well quit. Sure, Archers work well in cities, but not really against pillaging, and once that starts, they can easily wear you down. Meanwhile, your AI opponents have nary a worry...

 

[Uncle E]

If you play the Incas, the Quechas start w/ Combat I already and add a quickly chopped barracks and you have Combat II warriors that when used defensively with hills, forests and behind rivers, can make for some quickly promoted CIII and CIV units that upgrade to nasty axemen and onwards.

It's also very easy to park one of your CIII units in a city so that when Literature comes around, you can build the Heroic Epic in your Hammer city.

Archers w/ CGI or II or Guerilla I or II make for some good barb axe killers if you dont have chariots. The barbs also like to go for improvements, so ill park a Guerilla I archer on a mine/hill and watch him slaughter axemen ... I'll leave one or two CGI archers in my cities bc warriors w/ 3 or 4 stars still seem to lose to barb axemen. Mmm mebbe I should build walls perhaps?

 

[morchuflex]

It is extremely rare to not have any strategic ressources within ten tiles of your starting location. Could it be that you are not expanding fast enough?

As JoeBlade said, it is on the contrary quite common, at least in my games.
Not to mention that, when "raging barbs" is selected, you can't afford to wait until you discover iron. If you don't have copper nor horses, you should immediately start researching hunting and archery.
Of course, archers won't prevent the AI from destroying your improvements. Fogbusting by expanding and placing sentries on hills is the way to go.

 

[Uncle E]

Of course, archers won't prevent the AI from destroying your improvements. Fogbusting by expanding and placing sentries on hills is the way to go.

I have to disagree.
Archers fortified on hills with mines and on improvements behind rivers even with one promotion can take out up to axemen ... pair them up and watch them get promoted quickly.

I do agree that fogbusting is very important as well, but I wouldn't leave strategic defensive improved tiles unguarded. Why let your worker turns go to waste by not defending certain improved tiles?

 

[morchuflex]

I have to disagree.
Archers fortified on hills with mines and on improvements behind rivers even with one promotion can take out up to axemen ... pair them up and watch them get promoted quickly.

True. But when these improvements are on flatland and there are no rivers, archers do a poor job against axes. And contrary to Vanilla Civ4, in Warlords, barbs will often ignore your fortified troops and go to undefended improved tiles. Which makes me think that ZOCs should never have been removed from the game. That, and the town council, are the two Civ2 features I sorely miss.

 

[Ray Patterson]

camping next to peak(s)

why next to peaks?

 

[Sovetskysoyuz]

why next to peaks?

Increases LOS, presumably. I haven't noticed this, but it'd make sense.

 

[cabert]

why next to peaks?

camping next to a peak with a sentry unit gives you a rather large sight. Try it, you'll enjoy it .
It allows to see over the forested hills if that gives you a hint.