Barbarians

I just wanted to throw some feedback at you about barbarians. Although I play the game completely muted I did listen to how the barbarian voices sound and want to let you know that it was well worth the wait because now I constantly want to have the sound on just to hear them talk

Their voice is a little too low anyway and they sound more like zombies than like barbarians. But as for their skills, i'm sure after a good training they will be of a good help on the battle field.

Now what i'd like to understand is what is the advantage or the difference they present in comparison to light infantry? Do they move faster? Do they heal faster and/or at lower cost?...

They move faster and hit harder but have no armor. So they are easier to flank enemies with and go after archers and enemies running away but they cannot last long in a hard fight. It's all about strategy ;D

barbarians are the same as all other new unit's fast strong fighters. there are flanking unit's if used correctly. i just used mine for the first time they didn't half scare the enemy when they flanked them but they died cos i had extreme lag

They seem to do great job against slashers. I used them on flanking too, they really help!

I'm still skeptical about the usefulness of barbarians. They can't wear armor and have zero armor to begin with. It would probably be safer to flank with light infantry units.

Enemy AI archers can already take out about 1/4 health of my +15 armor archers in one shot. I wonder how much damage will ensue for barbarians with negative armor.

The barbarians sprites during battle reminds me of caveman units from Empire Earth. I would imagine actual barbarians as wearing lots of fur armor or what-not. Their sprites are just unsettling. I like my army organized.

Vaylemn wrote:

and have zero armor to begin with

Mine starts with a +6 armor:

that's your research

Right! ... My mistake!
It's indeed my "studded leather armor" research that gives the +6 armor bonus.

When talking about the strengths/weaknesses, its good to recognize that all Light Assault units have very similar roles on the battlefield - its not just Barbarians.

From what I've seen through fighting against them and allies using them:

• Their primary role is close flanking support.
  
• They make short work of whatever they flank, but they are also very weak to being flanked themselves.
  
• They will perform poorly vs archers if they try to traverse 50+ range on open ground against archers.
  
• They will easily win vs archers if they can advance using cover to ambush them around corners.
  
• Because they are unbreakable, they can use a strategy that is normally limited to Undead. Like the Undead, they do not have to worry about fleeing due to incurring heavy losses. Because of this, it may be better to use multiple units of ungeared LIA against singular superior geared units to cause flanking bonuses/penalties. They can be very AP efficient when used that way in your army.
  

The berserkers of any class are pretty much the same regardless of race, high damage and low survivability. Good combo's are using them in tandem with heavy infantry for a 1-2 combo with chasing abilities, I prefer a blitz style with zerkers and cav.

Hegorn wrote:

When talking about the strengths/weaknesses, its good to recognize that all Light Assault units have very similar roles on the battlefield - its not just Barbarians.

From what I've seen through fighting against them and allies using them:

• Their primary role is close flanking support.
  
• They make short work of whatever they flank, but they are also very weak to being flanked themselves.
  
• They will perform poorly vs archers if they try to traverse 50+ range on open ground against archers.
  
• They will easily win vs archers if they can advance using cover to ambush them around corners.
  
• Because they are unbreakable, they can use a strategy that is normally limited to Undead. Like the Undead, they do not have to worry about fleeing due to incurring heavy losses. Because of this, it may be better to use multiple units of ungeared LIA against singular superior geared units to cause flanking bonuses/penalties. They can be very AP efficient when used that way in your army.
  

I found that moving faster, Barbarians can be used to take enemy units to chase them (not archers, of course) while you can send Light Infantry fight against otherenemy units without being flanked, or break the archers. It needs to put them near a lake, a forest, or whatever, attracting the approaching units, and make them turn around that spot. The distance between them and the chasing units is big enough not be reached, but still short enough for chasing units to keep on chasing and be focused on the Barbarians.

When archers or slashers are distroyed by the infantry, it's then easy for Barbarians to bring the chasing units in flanking ambush with the remaining infantry. Cool!

Yea, there are a fair few roles that they can handle well. This is the metagame of different unit types - figuring out how they all piece together to form a cohesive and effective army comp.

try again to equip them with armour