How do you deal with Manhunter swarms?

[ThatGuyUSA]

I played for a while now and every time I have a good colony going Randy just sends Scaria animals (like cats, fennec foxes, and other swarm animals) and then my entire colony gets wiped because they shred through armor by surrounding a pawn 1 at a time (specifically the brawlers first which are the only ones that can actually deal with the threat) and then jumping to the next guy until they're all incapacitated and eventually die.

I like playing on commitment mode and it's most definitely a skill issue. But what measures do I have to take to prevent this from happening on every single playthrough?

[dot]

I just stay inside, they keep being there 3~ days top

[Kitsunin]

Bunch up your colonists so that they can't be surrounded. Use explosives and/or create a space where a firing line gets shots before the animals reach your melees.

[Astasia]

Use a choke point. One tile wide entrance into an area where you have melee colonists blocking and range colonists stacked behind them. The animals can only enter and attack one at a time, while your colonists can attack all at once.

[grapplehoeker]

Originally posted by ThatGuyUSA:

How do you deal with Manhunter swarms?

I bunker down and let my killbox do most of the work ;)
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2565291830

Originally posted by ThatGuyUSA:

But what measures do I have to take to prevent this from happening on every single playthrough?

Never stay out in the open for a start or you will be overwhelmed in no time.
I would usually do as Astasia suggests above, but only after the numbers are more manageable.
Toughness of the critters is also a factor... It wasn't necessary for the rats, but if it had been cougars or worse, then after they were down to 20 or so I'd have gathered at the doorway and sent my elephants out. If it had been thrumbos though then only if there were 5 or so ;)

There are worse things than manhunting hordes of elephants, rhinos or thrumbos if playing with mods... I still painfully recall the horror of the manhunting Minions from my FFS 173 colony!
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1765228025

[ozzy osbourne]

create a large external wall and forbid doors, they also act as a defence against raids

[ASMR gaming]

embarassaries mod u can fire at them from behind a letterbox barricade wall.

[Naryar]

Just build an external wall, it's an essential part of defense.

[~ Fabulous ~]

i download mod to taunt the enemy hehehe

[ambi]

good suggestions.

if you wait in a building with multiple entries and exits, sometimes the horde will split up and become more manageable. I'll send my colonists to the exit with the least animals, kill what I can and retreat back inside. If this attracts the rest of the horde, I'll retreat my guys inside, go out another exit, kill any animals outside, and rinse and repeat.

[dande48]

Killboxes are perfect for manhunter swarms. Also, certain weapons are ideal for taking down large groups; miniguns specifically. You'll also want to focus on sharp damage, over blunt, since animals wear no armor and will bleed out quick.

Also, keep in mind that pawns can normally only occupy one tile at a time. So in your base's outer wall, if you have a 1-wide opening, only one animal will come through at a time. This chokepoint allows you to have multiple colonists deal with one animal at a time. What's more, is you can have your ranged colonists shoot over the shoulder of your brawlers, to finish off the animals waiting in line.

Plasma swords are great in chokepoints, since setting the animals on fire prevents them from fighting back, and their buddies in line prevent their escape.