Raging barbarians causing rage

[sinimusta]

Since friend of mine insists on always playing with raging barbs on I've been practicing it lately. Difficulty is immortal, speed epic, large map and fractal. It seems to me it changes the way you play a lot. From what I've experienced taking any gambles on copper or horses is impossible, you have to tech archery, since you've got to be ready at about T30-40 when barbs come for you. Worker first seems like a waste, since you have to protect every damn improvement you make, so it's about 2 archers per improvement. Spawnbust is impossible if there is enough room which seems common with these settings. One solution is just to expand in order to spawnbust and use unimproved land (and a couple of easily protected hill improvements).

It seems to me it's easier (or less frustrating) to have to deal with AI civs than barbs. Mainly you can negotiate with ai, you can locate their main stack and keep an eye on it and you see when they start plotting war. And you can rush the ai and take their land. Barbs just come to burn your beatiful improvements to the ground. Well barbs do have cities too but way more units/cities than ai civs.

Anyway I'm trying to take this as a challenge and not just to go for crowded maps where ai spawnbusts for you. Any tips how to handle with barb rage? Please nothing civ-specific: I know that mali, inca or native 'merica would deal with this easily.

Save is one of my practise games, BAT-mod.

 

[Seraiel]

1. GW

2. The settings you're playing are making it a lot worse, so get tougher ^^ (large maps = more land for barbs to spawn, slower game-speed = more barbs / time) .

Most important thing about Barbs, is, that they attack units standing on tiles with high defense bonuses and with low odds, so you'll have to defend those, it'll attract the barbs like magnets and make you able to defend a lot better.

Starts without forrested hills can be a pain to play, and fogbusting is essential, though not in the very beginning.

And yes, AIs are a lot easier with the settings you've chosen. There were time's when I tried Huge / Marathon with RBs, I'm still traumatized from that today ^^ .

 

[sinimusta]

Thanks for the response. However to me it seems they often pass the units at good defensive tiles, going for the improvements instead. Usually the city itself is the best defensive tile and has to be protected anyway. So spawnbusting with cities the way to go?

 

[Seraiel]

Afaik, the chance with which barbs attack units with low odds, is totally random, and it's still higher than the chance of them bypassing them, so you're still best of, with having units on the hills, and and with counter-attacking units that come close to the improved tiles in the 9-tiles square.

Spawnbusting with cities a good way, but also spawnbusting with units. I imagine the real problem to lie in the settings though, so it might be that you're right, and that there is simply no way for what I'm describing. In general, spawnbusting with 1 unit on a hill can save you a lot of units somewhere else, but of course, you first must get into the position, where you're able to move out at all.

Sitting on the improvements and defending them with 2 (!) units / improvement, sounds highly ineffective to me, as 1 Cottage only gives 3 (with FIN) and 2 units cost you already 2 .

 

[RagingHordes]

Did someone summon me?

Barbs are heart breaking. You welcome them in your home, you improve the land to feed them, you receive them with warm cities and good odds... and they still suck out on you. They listen to no reasons and hit you mercilessly when you're down. They really are Barbarians!

And such a pleasure to slay!

I was playing raging barbs on Deity when I made this account. In fact, I will do it again right now.

Thanks for bringing this up and reminding me of the good times!

 

[MarigoldRan]

Assuming no GW:

1. Don't bother improving any non-hill/forest tiles more than 1 spaces away from your capital until you have roads connecting to it.

2. Roads. Very important

3. Native Americans or a PRO civ.

4. Don't bother building cottages. Waste of time. They'll get pillaged anyways.


You need:

1. A fortified defense force of archers.
2. A reaction force of axes or chariots.
3. Forget about spawnbusting. Doesn't work.

 

[plasmacannon]

The units that survive, reach their 10xp max quickly.
So rotate them back from the front lines and keep bringing up newer units for the xp.
Eventually, you will have highly promoted units to attack an AI with.

When I play with Raging Barbs on, it is at a lower level, because of this new element being added. You might want to suggest this to your friend.

 

[georgjorge]

You might want to try this challenge out...

http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=363758

If you survive that, you shouldn't have any problems with Barbs afterwards.

On the topic of Barbarians attacking at very unfavorable odds, I seem to remember that the chance for this was quite low, no more than ten or maybe twenty percent. No doubt someone in the know like Tachywaxon will soon swoop in and provide the correct numbers.