Barbarian spawning - seems impossible to overcome?

[Hitman]

I've had a barbarian outpost spawn near my capital and it seems there is nothing I can do to stop it.

I'm near the beginning of the game so only had a warrior and a spearman. They were killed by the barbarian horsemen (two of them) and archer and now I don't what to do to eliminate the outpost.

I had enough gold to buy another two spearmen over the next three turns but the barbarians are spawning so fast they were killed too when I approached the outpost.

Is the camp spawning a horseman every turn? If so I might as will give up as it take me 6 turns to produce each spearman.

[grognardgary]

If they are already spawning. Put your spearmen in good defensive terrain, Hills, forests and forested hills with forested hills being best. let the horses attack you, kill the mounted slinger asap. With the bonuses your spears get against horse units you should be able to hold out till you can bring missile units in support.

[Hitman]

Thanks.

How fast do they spawn?

If they do spawn every 1-2 turns as it seemed, then by the time I heal after defending, there’ll be more horsemen at the camp.

That’s what seemed to be happening.

[sauluxville]

Originally posted by Hitman:

Is the camp spawning a horseman every turn?

It depends if it had been triggered. Not triggered camps spawn units slower, but if a barb scout sees your city (it gets an exclamation mark then) and returns to the camp, the camp triggers and spawns a raiding party at an increased rate for a while.
So the strategy is don't let barb scouts near your cities or try to kill them first. Also, barb outposts can spawn in the fog, so have some units to fogbust approaches to your territory.

But once in a while you get the absolute nightmare - the worst scenario - a triggered horse spawning camp at the start. But still, do not despair, barbs cannot take your capital. Other cities they can take and raze, but your capital will always survive a barb attack, it will just stay there with 0 hp left. So don't panic, build some units and kill them off one by one. That's a good baptism by fire :)

[Hitman]

Thanks. So it sound like the spawning eventually settles down and there is an opportunity to rebuild my forces to take out the camp?

[sauluxville]

Originally posted by Hitman:

Thanks. So it sound like the spawning eventually settles down and there is an opportunity to rebuild my forces to take out the camp?

Yes, eventually the spawning should return to normal, unless the scout hangs around and retriggers the camp. So it is better to have an archer garrison in the city, then push out some spearmen or other melee units around your capital first, then add more ranged and try to go and take out the camp rather than wait for a respite.

[Hydragal]

You could also, if you find barbarians just difficult to deal with in general, install the Nerfed Barbarians mod.

[Havan_IronOak]

Couple of tips about Dealing with Barbarians... 1) Keep an eye out for their scouts. If you see one it's important to kill it before it reports back. That what starts the spawning. 2) Be sure to have the Discipline Card in play. That gives you +5 Combat Strength vs. Barbarians.

A single warrior CAN eliminate a barb camp (even on Deity level) if it's done right.
Military Tradition helps though as it gives you a flanking bonus. https://civilization.fandom.com/wiki/Flanking_and_Support_(Civ6)?so=search

Head an almost ready to promote warrior to the camp as soon as you spot it. Attack it once. Barbarians don't heal even in camp. Your guy does. Use a promotion to heal as well.

ASAP get a second military unit up to help, even if it's a scout. so you can get a flanking bonus.

Wish they'd covered this better in the promo video.
https://youtu.be/VGg2LdGRWpE

[anynamewilldo]

i believe if a barb camp is spotted by another civ's unit but your city is the first one spotted by a barb unit your city becomes the target. i have had barbs attack me before i found their camp or the scout found me. i've had barbs go right by another city to attack me. i guess on their passing by it they didn't reveal it. toss in fog of war and the other civs finding more camps and you may have barbs attacking from several camps while you think there is only one.
another problem is a barb camp spawns on a peninsula and access to the camp is blocked by a civ. the civ doesn't attack the barb camp or even find it. the barb finds you first and its trimenes spawn into a massive force along with some land units that will attack you unless the civ decides to wipe them as the leave the peninsula..

[Mo'Drogon]

If you are getting waves of barbarians early game, just restart. You are going to get behind from the AI.

[MetalMind85]

Yeah, that need of restarting is soooo irritating. I can't believe that AI is spawning a hordes of barbarians on king difficulty. I literally had no chance within first 40 turns. No wonders, buildings, all I had to build was military just to defend.