@TallestDavid: Very good idea to start a separate topic for raiders, since so many comments are about them.

@all:

Remember that attacks in this mod are simulations of actual war battles against neighboring tribes attacking to conquer you. They are not viking-like raids that even if you lost, the attackers will leave and your village can continue to be independent. If you loose a battle, you are conquered, as were the vast majority of settlements in history, so it is very realistic that many will loose. Unrealistic would actually be for the majority of players never to get conquered.

If you are loosing the first battles against the neighboring tribes, then Hardcore mode is too difficult for you. You must play on the default Normal mode (Peaceful Times), which is already difficult on harder climates. Hardcore mode is quite easy for hardcore players like myself (even my wife easily defeated first 3-4 attacks with very few losses, on Wooded Hills v3.3, and I play considerably better myself). V4 should be even easier, and I am afraid that if I make it even easier, to be too easy and boring for players like myself.

That being said, here are some tips for people who do not want to try too hard to learn from self-experience, to defend against first attack:
(by grownups I mean adults+elders; tips are in descending order of importance/impact they have)
-if many grownups are tired/unhappy, they will fight worse, especially will flee much sooner (I think, but not sure); try not to have many of your grownups so far away, or tired from hunting (hunt manually);
-activate Alarm immediately when you received the Raider Attack message; all grownups must wait clumped together for the raiders, before fighting starts, so they all attack together (not just half or less), otherwise they will also flee if morale drops because many of your people died (I think);
-do not fight with weaker weapons than the enemy. Wooden weapons have 1-star Fighting, while the raiders have 2-star Fighting; also bows have longer range than spears;
-35 grownups is a bit low; try to have 40 grownups defending (keep welfare above 75% most of the time by having lots of food, and free space for more people around your adult women count; also hunt manually with more hunters);
-do not give commands while Alarm is on, and disable Alarm only after you won the fight;
Hope this helps.

PS: some stats (from the print-screens she took before and after the attacks) from when my wife played Wooded Hills v3.3 (v4 is even easier):
-1st attack: she had 79 population, from which 43 were grownups with bone spears (8ma+13fa+10me+12fe), and lost only 4 people;
-2nd attack: she had 108 population, from which 67 were grownups with bone/flint spears (24ma+24fa+7me+12fe), and lost only 2 people;
-3rd attack: she had 141 population, from which 108 were grownups with bone/flint/(very few)copper spears (29ma+33fa+22me+24fe), and lost 25 people;
If you played equally well or better, and still lost, let me know. If you played worse and lost, then either just play Normal mode (which will still be difficult for you), or try again and again and again until you match these stats.

Also this video might help with gathering sticks and manual hunting.

I agree the raider attacks in the early game are too brutal given how slow tech progression is (and lack of animal diversity slows it down even more). If towers or walls were available at the start it would help level the playing field in the early game.

Does normal mode have any raiders at all?

I really love the realistic terrain maps, great job!

@CaperMike: Yes, Normal mode does not use raiders functionality at all. Hardcore mode uses raiders functionality to simulate conquest battles. This mode does NOT simulate real raiders/raids at all (viking-like raids). Towers or walls at the start are not needed, actually will make the simulation less realistic, since the purpose of the conquest attacks is to conquer weaker villages (the vast majority of players should fail to defend, as they did in reality).

Real raiders are more like a band of thieves than an army of soldiers. They attacked to steal food and wealth, and raid will be abandoned and raiders will flee if they failed and risked to be all killed. Raiders will not fight and die on the battlefield (even less to the last man), like soldiers in a conquest war.

Since raiders/raid simulation in this game is still unrealistic (they behave more like soldiers, than like raiders), it will not be added to the mod since behavior can not be changed in mod. I've addressed this to the devs and they answered that combat will be improved the next update (1.6), so if raiders behavior will be made realistic, I will add raids simulation in the mod as well.

@TallestDavid It's like he said, it's meant to be real, I'll give you an idea, try whenever possible to create a good amount of spears, that means that the more spears the more people can fight. Even if you are weaker if you have more spears you would win the battle, because you were 50 to 20

I dont suppose that adding new difficulty settings is an option? So that people could have one version inbetween normal and harcore where there are assaults but they are weaker?

@Lucius Junius Aemilianus: That would be a solution, yes, but even if it would be a possible option (I requested this to the devs), it would not be realistic, and will break the very essence of the mod. Only the best leaders should not be conquered and remain independent. As long as 1% of players manage to win all 10+ attacks and achieve "The Great" milestone (and peace), I say Hardcore mode is realistic and balanced enough. I understand people want a less realistic mod that will make them think they are great warchiefs (even if they are not); unfortunately this is not that mod they want :)

i was FULLY prepared. i made sure to have 125 worth of flint spears. and they were all in center ready for combat. full dog pack too. killed the old dogs to keep em young too.

keeping my pop happy was easy.

@TallestDavid: I am curious how you can get heavy loses then. How many people did you lost, more preciselly? Have you followed the rest of the tips listed above? Any one of them can cause a failed defence. For instance, you said you had 55 pop, which seems low; how many grownups were there?

Originally posted by Primeval Angel:

@TallestDavid: I am curious how you can get heavy loses then. How many people did you lost, more preciselly? Have you followed the rest of the tips listed above? Any one of them can cause a failed defence. For instance, you said you had 55 pop, which seems low; how many grownups were there?

everyone
THEY DESTROYED IT ALL even the kids were killed.

it was the first raid i had no tech too. besides doggys and flint weapons

@TallestDavid I think the main reason for you loosing the fight is you only had 55 pop. You need to try again and reach 75+ pop (or at least 40+ grownups), or play Normal mode (which you will still find difficult). I have added more stats at the end of my first post above, so you better know how to defeat the first raiders.

I really love the dedication to realism (it's what I have been craving from this game since it came out) but I think you're fixated on applying realistic raiders without providing realistic outcomes of raiding at the same time. Real raids on villages were common throughout human history, but it wouldn't result in 100% of villagers being killed. More often the raiders would focus on looting supplies and maybe taking some slaves, but it was in the raiders' interest to keep the villages operating so they could replenish their stocks (and be a good raiding opportunity the year after). There's no vassal system in Dawn of Man, Villagers don't run to safety and return later to rebuild like they do in the real world, nor can you pay off raiders with loot. Until those conditions are met you should adjust the raiders' strength (or put some towers in the pre-built starting village)

@CaperMike I am glad we both agree what raiders should be like, and, as mentioned in my answer to your first post (my 2nd post above), this is exactly why I have not included them in the mod, and included instead enemy soldiers in conquering armies (using the raider mechanics).

I'm using raiders interchangeably with soldiers. When soldiers invade, they don't want to kill 100% of villagers. They want the villagers to give them valuables, they might want vassalage, etc. But people were the most important resource of the stone age so it doesn't really reflect reality if 80% of villages are wiped out in the mesolithic age.

Possibly consider adding the terrain only as a separate mod. I really like the maps but want the game's original battle mechanics.

While Playing on the Eurasian steppe map, I am struggling to progress March past pottery in the tech progression panel. Looking at the panel that shows where the next checkpoints will come. It's starting to get difficult to get points other than at the end of winter every year. I do appreciate the historical realism and the difficulty of the mod. Still, I feel that on the Eurasian steppe, hunting is much more difficult. And that until the devs add the ability to ride on horseback, this map will not be viable. Although I can see that if somehow I do manage to get to agriculture, this map might actually become overpowered. Due to the sheer amount of flat land. Perhaps you could increase the range of slings and bows. Considering that the short-range in the game is unrealistic, Or if that seems like it would make it too easy. you could increase the damage of the slings since contrary to popular belief things are actually quite powerful they should be capable of killing anything As big as a deer were smaller with one well-placed shot