I always found the Barabarians less interesting as time goes by. No buildings to build. Stagnant units. Some of that has been addressed in 1.0 and who knows about 1.1!??
My sig says itall, really. In my Sab'yn campaign, I actually knocked the Ptolmies on thier collective a#$#$, but ...they got back up and by then the Grey Death had discovered me. It was a grinding war of attrition that I finally threw the hat in on.
Now, I'm deep into my Romani campaign and not tired of it at all. Struggling with my next campaign - another Romani or a Massillian campaign (transplanted KH)