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[NTJedi]

History:
Currently squad names are randomly generated and there's no method of changing the squad name other than randomly generating a new squad name.  Because training works better with less soldiers a single dwarf fortress might have 20 or more squads.  When looking at squad names like 'The brass bells', 'The ignited doors', 'The sacks of weight', 'The fair letters', and so on and so on... it becomes difficult to remember what weapons are equipped for each of them.

Concern/Issue:
The randomly generated squad names take lots of time during my gameplay because I want a way to easily identify the squad by what they're using.  As a result multiple squads of swordsmen will have me spend chunkloads of time waiting for a randomly generated name which involve some type of swords(sabres,razors,etc.,). I could have less squads, but I've read squads with more soldiers don't train as fast.  I've listed some suggestions to save gameplay time for myself and others.  Adding even one of the suggestions below would be of great help.

Suggestions:
A} Allow gamers to rename their squad to whatever they desire.
 (This would be the greatest benefit because then we could have a tailored name such as "The Iron AxeMen of the WestGate".)

B} Allow gamers to assign a specific color to the squad name.
 (Then we could have all macemen soldiers assigned to one color for easy recognition)

C} Allow gamers to assign a specific symbol or character to the end of a squad name.
 (Perhaps the same method for how we choose a burrow symbol)

[james296]

yeah having spearmen with the squad name "the miners of the ground" doesn't really help much.

[PeterisP]

Random names have their advantages; howver, I'd be very very very happy if I could distinguish archer squads from steel axedwarf squads - so the optimal improvement IMHO would be that I don't have to rename anything but that the random name components could be split between melee and ranged squads, so that it'd be obious if I need to order "The Mighty Hammerdeath" or the "Nimble Feathershaft".

Or just have their names be highlighted in different colors in the squad choice, that'd be even simpler.

[Iapetus]

The best solution, IMO, would be to make them work the same way as the FOrtress/Group/Adventurer names.

I.e. they get randomly generated, but you can keep rolling new names (without having to delete and recreate teh squad), and you can also customize the name.


(Also, I consider the "large squads train slowly" feature to be a bug that ought to get fixed, although I don't know if Toady agrees).

[Urist McDagger]

The best solution, IMO, would be to make them work the same way as the FOrtress/Group/Adventurer names.

This. The more consistency we can get in this game the better.

[bombzero]

Yeah, +1 for randomly generated but editable.
color coding would be helpful, even more if the squad list was sorted by color, making selecting similar groups easier.


and i also feel large squads training slower is a bug, they should be able to:
a) split into smaller groups on their own.
b) train in a more organized manner so 90% of their time isn't organizing a demonstration, and instead is them actually training/demonstrating.

[dizzyelk]

While I do like the thought of having the naming screen like with the fortress and group, I'd also like the squad to be color coded to whatever weapon they're assigned. I tend to have all dwarves in a single squad assigned a single weapon type and I'd be happy with looking at the squad name and going, "Oh, green, these are my Xbow dwarves!"

[zwei]

I really like symbol/"insignia" idea.

Pick foreground, background color and symbol. That should be enough to allow players to distinguish squads.

Insignia can be also defined at unifrom and newly creted squad would inherit them.

Some special squads (i.e. guard) could have premade symbols.

[NTJedi]

I'm about to create 2 squads of pick soldiers, 4 squads of hammermen, 4 squads of swordsmen and 4 squads of spearmen.   I'm dreading all the deleting and recreating of squad names which will take at least 40mins.  If any of the above options were available I wouldn't need to spend time recycling names.

 

[tsen]

Def. +1.

[zwei]

I really like symbol/"insignia" idea.

Also, soldiers could flash their squad symbol.

[NTJedi]

News Flash:
   It seems DFHack now allows you to rename your squads.  I lost an entire evening just rerolling for squad names with spears or lances in the title... so this is definitely good news for all us perfectionists.  Now I can finally have squad names which are useful such as "The Iron AxeMen of the WestGate"... telling me location, weapon, sex_type, and metal of the squad!!       

   Much better than having to stomach something random like, "The Hatchets of Curiosity".   

[slothen]

Naming squads would be great, but I think it has to do with them being considered entities the way governments and civilizations are.  I just use dfhack when it gets on my nerves.   The other thing is after your dwarves are trained up in 2 man squads, there's no reason to not consolidate them.

[aka010101]

I am definitely behind making militia squads easier to identify. It would be REALLY easy to have the naming work like it does for adventurers and fortress names, and would save a LOT of time and hassle. Also behind the customizable unit symbol suggestion, would make keeping your units straight in the heat of battle easier. This stuff IS going to be important sooner or later, as toady has mentioned army arc is gonna happen when he finishes the current development cycle, so we might as well get this stuff on the table now.

[NTJedi]

0.34.08 update:  Squads can be given nicknames from v-p or the military screen


Thank You !!  Thanks !!