
It can never just be one stray barbarian but a fucking wave of them every fucking time. And they can never even wait until you get a unit out before hounding you. It's so aggravating that they're all up in your business the second you found your first city.

Before someone misconstrues what I say. No. It's not giving me a hard time. Something being extremely annoying is not synonymous with difficulty. I just completed my first game ever yesterday with a victory. Obviously this is not a game that is focused entirely on warfare. They're other ways to play. So when I started a second game intending to play a different way, only to end up playing like the first game, (Having to conquer other people very early on to get more resources since I was forced by the incessant barbarian harassment to have my military literally be the only resource I had in abundance to build a stronger nation with.) It's gets really annoying. 


Because it limits my options on how to play. And I know every barbarian on the map is focused on me and ignores everyone else. At the start of the game! Because all of the other civs armies are pathetic and would have been decimated if they had to deal with the same level of assaults that I had. Yet despite that they have all of these diverse non-military buildings giving them all of these wonderful passive resources that they wouldn't have had time to build if they were facing the same pressure I was. And it puts them ahead of me in the leader board in every category aside from domination. And it stays that way, for the most part, for the entire game. Because they had a better start. Noob excuse? Probably.


All I'm asking for is a fucking grace period. 25 to 50 turns without them raiding your city for you to decide **how** you want to play the campaign, and build from there. 

It's just crazy that on the very first turn. Where I set up my capital, and queue up a builder. The very next turn, a barbarian scout shows up in my city. And I know I gotta change my queue to a slinger. Because I know if I don't, I will never get a chance to. Because slingers take about 9 turns to finish and the barbarians arrive in like 5 to 6 turns after you see the scout, with no less than three to four groups of them. Without fail and in multiple waves. Meanwhile Gandhi is on the other side of the water probably thinking the barbarians haven't spawned into the game yet. 

I know there's an option to get rid of barbarians. But that's not the authentic way to play the game. Plus once you're actually settled in the barbarian attempts to raid your lands and fighting them while on your way to settle new land is actually really fun. 

So I restarted. In the screenshot I posted you're probably wondering why I'm so late into the game, considering my rant. I swear to God it's because in this new game I thought they would move on if I didn't make any units leave my capital or built anything destructible for them. So I just made a builder without making him leave my capital. And any other upgrades I had access to all while my capital was literally surrounded by barbarians. Lol. I literally thought if I did nothing I wouldn't have to fight them. After awhile, when only some left. I just made a slinger and decided to kill what remained. Only for a few to come back when the units left the capital. Leading to the screenshot. Because I knew more would come after them and I was severely outnumbered now. 

I really don't want to turn off the barbarians because they're only a pain in the ass at the very start of the game, but makes the game really fun the rest of the time. But I'm going to try a few games without them. 

I don't even think there's a strat for dealing with them so early in the game that doesn't require you going a full war economy type playthrough. 

Idk though. I'm still a noob. Aside from that though I'm loving the game. 

Why do barbarians always focus on hounding the player?! It's so goddamn annoying! [Rant]