| Barbarian |
|---|
| Power to loot and pillage |
| Destroys opponent's hand |
|
| FFG |
|
| Wild When gaining compensation or rewards, you may look at the cards you receive and discard any of them that you do not want. Any of these cards you discard are not replaced. |
| Super You may use your power as an offensive ally. |
Barbarian is an alien that debuted in the FFG edition of Cosmic Encounter. When it wins an encounter as the offense, it gets to look at the defense's hand and take a number of cards from it up to the number of ships it had in the encounter; the rest of the defense's hand is discarded. This power is used before compensation is claimed.
Strategy[]
| Strengths | Weaknesses |
|---|---|
| Depletes opponents' hands | Not used often Allows opponents to draw new hands quickly |
As Barbarian[]
Barbarian's main strategy is rather simple - as the offense, send many ships, lay down a big attack, and pillage the opponent. There's not much more to it other than deciding what to keep out of the opponent's hand, which should be rather simple - the best attacks, a negotiate if necessary, and any artifacts or flares.
Against Barbarian[]
Facing Barbarian is almost as simple as playing as it. When defending against it, there are two main choices - either play the biggest attack (since it will probably be lost anyway), or play a N to try and recoup the losses. Playing any artifacts or reinforcements is also a good idea, either stopping Barbarian from winning or preventing it from taking said cards. However, sometimes being rid of a hand is a good thing, such as having middling attacks and a bunch of N's. Intentionally losing to Barbarian also allows drawing of a new hand faster.
Matchups[]
Genius is not very happy if Barbarian is anywhere close by. Barbarian is good against other card-hoarders such as Clone, Filch, Kamikaze, and Healer. Philanthropist, Reserve, and Citadel also have a problem with Barbarian, as they are rendered useless without a hand to play cards out of. On the other hand, aliens that play out their hands quickly may enjoy Barbarian blanking them, such as Mutant or Trader.
Text[]
| Edition | Power Text | History |
|---|---|---|
| FFG | You have the power to Loot and Pillage. As the offense, after you win an encounter but before compensation (if any) is collected, use this power to loot your opponent's cards. Take your opponent's hand and look at it. For each ship you have in the encounter, you may choose one card from your opponent's hand and add it to your own. Afterward, discard the remainder of your opponent's hand. | A savage race from a harsh solar system, the Barbarians roared out into the Cosmos as soon as they discovered space flight. They have crushed many civilizations before them, carelessly tossing aside priceless cultural treasures in their endless quest of glory, battle, and the lamentations of their enemies. |