obligatory BNW screenshot thread

[Eagle Pursuit]

You know, there's still an advantage there, even against human players who would know who it was attacking them. That is the ability to destroy their infrastructure before you inevitably declare war anway.

If they are disguised as barbarians and treated as such by other players, it stands to reason that they could act as barbarians as well, including walking onto another civilization's territory w/o an open border agreement and without declaring war.

It would also make it dangerous for anyone to send missionaries/great people/workers etc into your territory or even near your territory. They'd be captured without hesitation and without a declaration of war.

And you could sneak into a rival's territory and nab workers to use as your own or to hinder their growth.

It would be mean as hell, but human players would always know who to blame.

 

[wilbeard]

A couple of points regarding the apparent native american barb. After doing some reading, it is apparent that the Apache would be a good fit, on the assumption that the unit is some kind of privateer raider. From wikipedia:

" Raiding was done with small parties with a specific economic target. The Apache waged war with large parties (often using clan members), usually to achieve retribution....
Though raiding had been a traditional way of life for the Apache..."

It also seems to be the case that the Tomahawk as a weapon has an association with the Apache. Given that a Plains Native civ is more likely for a second Native American entry, the Apache would fit nicely.

Regarding the gameplay aspect of this argument, as others have said, this might be a set up image.

 

[blackcatatonic]

They do look ever so slightly like an army of very very tiny Mr. Ts...

But I still think they are Native American, and too obviously so to be a generic/available to all unit.

 

[ferretbacon]

And you could sneak into a rival's territory and nab workers to use as your own or to hinder their growth.

It would be mean as hell, but human players would always know who to blame.

Obviously this next suggestion of mine is absolute baseless speculation, but hey, what're we here for?

What if this civ had some sort of UA to counterbalance their UU, something of a cooperative nature, perhaps related to trade, that would seriously make a civilization reconsider declaring war on them.

I don't know what kind of incentive it would have to be to make someone look the other way when one of their settlers is captured, but maybe.

 

[Eagle Pursuit]

I like my misplaced Civil War scenario barbarians theory the best.

 

[cybrxkhan]

I like my misplaced Civil War scenario barbarians theory the best.

That's my bet for now.

Given that the unit looks eastern native american, I doubt they'd have another eastern native american civ alongside the Iroqouis.

 

[ferretbacon]

A couple of points regarding the apparent native american barb. After doing some reading, it is apparent that the Apache would be a good fit, on the assumption that the unit is some kind of privateer raider. From wikipedia:

" Raiding was done with small parties with a specific economic target. The Apache waged war with large parties (often using clan members), usually to achieve retribution....
Though raiding had been a traditional way of life for the Apache..."

It also seems to be the case that the Tomahawk as a weapon has an association with the Apache. Given that a Plains Native civ is more likely for a second Native American entry, the Apache would fit nicely.

Regarding the gameplay aspect of this argument, as others have said, this might be a set up image.

I was thinking the Apache might be the strongest possibility. Roughly the same geographic area as the Pueblans and a history of raiding. They also might have an unmounted UU; while they have a reputation as mounted warriors like nearly every other western/plains tribe, it isn't as strong of a reputation as the Sioux.

I think there's a case here for a fiercely anti-expansionist civilization, a civilization that can really thwart your settlers, stop your missionaries from spreading your faith, and mercilessly undermine your infrastructure.

So, however unlikely, for the record, I'm standing by my suggestion. I'm not exactly sure how the unit would work, but I don't think it's that far-fetched if done right or counterbalanced.

 

[Matthew.]

How would that work with diplomacy though? If they aren't at perma-war I don't see such an ability being welcomed by the audience.

*sign declaration of friendship with Apache (or whatever tribe it is)*

*get great prophet stolen*

*get settler stolen*

*opens diplo screen and Apache are still friendly*

 

[wilbeard]

Apache civ with Geronimo as leader. I'm calling it!

The Apache Wars were a significant event between the Confederates and the Apache aswell, so they'd tie into the Civil War scenario perfectly.

 

[cybrxkhan]

Apache civ with Geronimo as leader. I'm calling it!

The Apache Wars were a significant event between the Confederates and the Apache aswell, so they'd tie into the Civil War scenario perfectly.

The Civil War is only focused on the eastern front, though, according to the devs.

 

[Louis XXIV]

If it's a tomahawk, why can't it just be a barbarian replacement for an Archer (like Brutes replace warriors)?

 

[Dragonflow]

Guys, the screenshot is staged.
Nothing prevents the dev from taking a civ's UU and placing it on the map as a barbarian unit.
They might not want to give away the civs colour and this unit is probably a well hidden hint as most people didn't pay attention to the barb at first.
I strongly suspect this to be a hint at a Native American civ.

 

[Gucumatz]

@ Louis. Its possible. I would like it better that way too. Either way another unit only the Germans can get...

 

[Eagle Pursuit]

I concede that the raider concept does fit with many NA tribes where the leader would only have loose political control over his bands, and raiding parties would hit anything that isn't strongly defended. However my skepticism continues to come from how lopsided of a playstyle that would be. It would kick ass in the hands of a human player, but the human player could counter much better than the AI too.

 

[ferretbacon]

If it's a tomahawk, why can't it just be a barbarian replacement for an Archer (like Brutes replace warriors)?

I guess that's possible, though I don't know why Firaxis would bother. They've been content representing early game barbarians with brutes and archers since Vanilla.

 

[Vandal Thorne]

In my post before the one you quote, I suggested that perhaps it only appears to be a barbarian to the Polish player.

I'm thinking it might be some sort of raiding unit that is able to pillage, capture workers, and cause general mayhem for other players without declaring war. The upside is that you're able to disrupt your enemy's infrastructure. The downside is that your UU would be targeted and killed by every other civilization and CS on sight.

If this turns out to be so let's hope they change the Denmark UU to be a replacement for this potentially new unit. Would be quite appropriate.

 

[ferretbacon]

If this turns out to be so let's hope they change the Denmark UU to be a replacement for this potentially new unit. Would be quite appropriate.

Yeah, I suppose it would be quite appropriate for old Harald Bluetooth.

 

[Gucumatz]

If it is a UU, I am guessing its Cherokee, not Apache. I can't imagine the art for the Apache being made to look like that. Warclub/Tomahawks have different usage depending on what tribe its used by, but it just doesn't look Apache IMO

 

[cybrxkhan]

If it is a UU, I am guessing its Cherokee, not Apache. I can't imagine the art for the Apache being made to look like that. Warclub/Tomahawks have different usage depending on what tribe its used by, but it just doesn't look Apache IMO

That's my second guess after the Civil War unit guess - although the Cherokee look rather different than the Iroqouis, it's still easier to pass off the Tomahawk and the mohawk look as Cherokee than Apache or Sioux. (Granted, the Civ series has done worse - for those who remember it, the Iroqouis UU in Civ 3 was a mounted Sioux warrior basically)

 

[AriochIV]

Of course, no reason a barb can't look native American or African. The current in-game barbs are white with deer/elk skins giving off a northern viking-ish vibe, but surely there are other people in the world that speak Barbar as well (Barbar, the official language of Barbarians, of course )

Right, it could simply be that they've added some diversity to the Barbarian units.

I'd definitely say that's a tomahawk, though. And not a primitive stone axe, but the metal sort that were made by Europeans for trade.