Raging hordes

[Viseus]

Ok, I just got attacked by a stack of 24 - twenty four - barbarian horsemen. Is this normal? I'm in the early stages of an Emperor game with, granted, "raging hordes" barbarian setting. But still...24 in a single stack, right out of nowhere. A bit much, isn't it?

Luckily, they all disappeared into the same city, and I didn't have much gold or improvements to pillage there. If they had split up and gone to all of my cities... well, at least it's not like in Civ 1 where I'd lose the city.

Well, just thought I'd mention it. Did look a bit like a bug. And I did think, for a while, that the game had locked up and kept showing the same horseman ride into view again and again forever.

[SpencerH]

I seem to get these kind of stacks every third or fourth game (I usually play monarch and emperor) without changing the barbarian setting to "raging" so I dont think its a bug.

[Purple]

Yes, but with the default Barb setting, the stacks only contain nine units. However, if your empire is bordered by several unsettled regions, you may be attacked by stacks from all such regions.

[duckey]

Depending at what level you play at (I play deity) the barbarian hordes land in areas that aren't occupied by any civilization (areas without borders touching them) at specific times throughout history. If all the territory around your cities are occupied then none will appear at that time. Remember that barbarians always appear out of encampments so if you destroy all encampments then the barbarian hordes will appear elseware. just build a city with a population of one in their path and use this oppertunity to spend all of your gold on purchases. Reload at a previous save before the horde and go out and destroy the encampment before they appear. I've gotten attacked by a horde of 24 in three cities at one time.

[Diodorus Sicilus]

The first time the 2 x dozen barbarians hit me I thought it was a bug, too. Since then I've had them appear virtually every game in which there was room for an encampment. I'm not sure what the trigger is - I always play with the barb setting on 'Raging Hordes', but I've had them appear in every setting from Warlord up to Deity. One thing, in 25+ games they have never appeared before about 250 AD and they seem to crop up everyhwere at once: I have seen 4 different civilizations get hit with a 24-stack all within 2 turns, each stack coming from a different encampment. Like the previous post, I once got hit by three stacks within three turns, overrunning three different cities.
The good thing is that the stack hits one city and disappears after entering it. The bad thing is that each surviving barbarian horseman that 'sacks' the city takes more gold out of your treasury. You can lose a lot of money very quickly if, say, the city only had one warrior in it and 18+ barbarian units each takes a hit on your treasury!

[Laertes]

I always randomise my barb setting. If I detect a high level of barb activity early in the game, I assume a megs-stack is going to come, and build walls and vet units for outer cities, and try and be prepared. It is expensive, but does not cost the whole treasury, and it is a buzz to defeat the whole stack!

[zulu9812]

To be honest, the best solution is a pre-emptive strike. The massive barbarian horedes don't appear until a few hundred years into the game, so explore your surroundings and take out the barbarian camp before they build up their forces. Then use the sentry command (Y) to keep your unit there in case a new camp springs up nearby. This tactic needn't be a drain on funds either, since one regular spearman (or even warrior) is more than a match for a conscript warrior, even if fortified.

[Bobby Dread]

Periodicaly, there will be a "Massive Barbarian Uprising near city XXXXXXX". Sometimes you will get a pop-up telling you this, other times you will see this in the "adviser" box on the Militray Adviser screen. When this happens, all the existing barbarian camps will generate a stack of horsemen. The number depends upon the level you have set for the barbarians, NOT your player difficulty level. It will be either 8, 16 or 24 horsemen.

If there are. for example. three camps in an area, each will generate horsemen, and they will all head towards the nearest city, unless there is a unit with-in their range of sight. It is possible for the stacks to 'merge', thus having a HUGE number of horsemen coming at you!

What you thought was a game 'hang' was not, it was just that there were a LOT of peices to move. To make this go faster, hold down the Shift key, they will move with out animation or sound. Normal animation/sound will return when you release the Shift key. This is useful at other times, like when you have 100+ workers on Automatic, or when moving large stacks of units yourself.

One method I have found that helps is to post a unit outside your borders on a hill or mountain. A Scout unit is good, which you should have available if you are playing an Expansionist Civ. They are cheap, and can stay out of harms way with their movement of 2. From a mountain, they will see the barbarians BEFORE they can be attacked. You can then often 'siphon' several of the horsemen away from the stack by using the scout to lure them away. They will chase the scout as long as it remains in their sight. This will make the remaining ones easier to deal with. It can be tricky at times, staying just out of their reach. If you are good enough at it, you can lead them to your ENEMY'S cities.... ;-)

Another way to deal with this is to use old, outdated units. They can also hunt down and destroy the camps. Even an Warrior can beat a barbarian horsemen most of the time, espeicaly if they have earned Veteran or Expert level.

When the attack hits, you are better off to have many 'decent' defenders then a few 'great' ones. As each takes damage, the undamaged ones become the next to be attacked. The low attack rating of the barbarian means they can rarely take out a fortified unit in a city on a one-to-one basis, several horsemen will have to attack to take out each defender.