These first few battles are your tutorial. The Barbarians are lightly defended, have no walls, and field only light infantry.
Ensure your capital city has enough resource storage capacity to hold the incoming loot. Surplus resources from a raid are permanently lost if they exceed your warehouse limits. ikariam barbarian village attack guide
After a successful raid, the barbarians rebuild. The cooldown timer increases with the village level. These first few battles are your tutorial
You need a high-level Barracks to train troops quickly. have no walls
A wall appears, and the barbarian numbers swell into the hundreds.
When your navy arrives, manual battle. Focus fire on their Flamethrowers first (they devastate Speedboats), then Rams, then standard ships.
Certain levels reward you with victory points.