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[FalseDead]

Use Bridges to close all my main hallways and force the enemy to travel down one tile width hallways that end with a small balista bunker.

[Findulidas]

Combination of cage traps, weapon traps (serrating and balls), grates that open down to a fall of 14z and 15 legendary axedwarves+10 marksdwarves. Nothing has gotten through so far. Though some dwarves have obviously died in the traps themselves. That shit always seem to happen no matter what I do.

[GavJ]

Most effective I've made so far (excluding lame cage and weapon traps, of course) is a room lined with floor grates with a larger drain room below pumping off the map edge.  Fed by 10 pumps tapping straight into a volcano all around at even intervals.

Close bridges, throw ON switch, and drains close, room fills instantaneously with 7/7 magma.  OFF switch closes magma and turns on drains.

Maybe I'm way overthinking it, but I've never been able to build anything simpler than that that filled and drained in a few seconds without waiting for evaporation or gravity.

[vjek]

Most effective I've made so far (excluding lame cage and weapon traps, of course) is a room lined with floor grates with a larger drain room below pumping off the map edge.  Fed by 10 pumps tapping straight into a volcano all around at even intervals.

Close bridges, throw ON switch, and drains close, room fills instantaneously with 7/7 magma.  OFF switch closes magma and turns on drains.

Maybe I'm way overthinking it, but I've never been able to build anything simpler than that that filled and drained in a few seconds without waiting for evaporation or gravity.

Ever had any building destroyers go after the grates?

[GavJ]

Ever had any building destroyers go after the grates?

No, but if they did, they would merely fall into the drainage room, which is also soon to be full of magma.

For magma proof baddies like I dunno, dragons or something, I have a second small room behind that one, with fortifications aroudn the top for shooting stuff to death if necessary, or caving in, but I've never had to use it.

[Eric Blank]

With the abundance of trained marksdwarves of at least competent skill straight out of the migrant waves, I devote resources to two full squads of marksdwarves and an enormous trap hallway. Nothing makes it through. Blood and gore and flying bolts everywhere. The melee troops are for cleanup and last line of defense only. With the possible exception of resqueing some poor bastard if I deem it likely they'll actually succeed.

[BinaryBeast1010011010]

I use a big minefield around the keep, a long dodge me trap in front of the fort (it's only one level deep but with repeater linked spikes at the bottom). The ennemy that dont get crushed by the landmines helps me getting rid of kittens and puppys, afterward my marksdwarves will pincushion him as he tries and reach my chained grizzly bear behind the first dodge me trap. Even when the deads walk I dont have to use my second line of defense (wich has been very useful before) : a 15 lvl deep dodge me trap, with spikes at the bottom and ballistas to shoot anything still alive. Used it once, never had to use the ballistas tho. Werent it for the aquifer and the need of providing arena dummies I would have built the 15lvl dodge me outside and wouldnt have used cage traps at all... Gotta train my steel clad midgets for hell!

[GavJ]

Ever had any building destroyers go after the grates?

Updated idea: IIRC, fortifications permit water to pass from the sides OR THE TOP.  So you could make a "floor" entirely out of fortifications built one z level below, and then simply dig a few blocks further out to the side on the fortification layer.  so like:

Top layer:
[] _  _  _ []

Bottom layer
  F   F   F   _  _  _ --> to drain


Water goes in the top, and drains out to the side, which ends up beneath the walls of the room above.  Should act essentially just like grates for drainage purposes to the side, and invulnerable to building destroyers.  Yes, stuff could swim up through them the other way, but simply keep the trap closed during peacetime by default, and that solves that.

[shifty]

So far my most intricate trap has been simply to flush out invaders who enter my keep into the neighboring river. I've got a marksdwarf tower by the water to shoot the flushed swimming/drowning vermin. The water gets red very fast.

[Yag Alone]

Updated idea: IIRC, fortifications permit water to pass from the sides OR THE TOP.  So you could make a "floor" entirely out of fortifications built one z level below, and then simply dig a few blocks further out to the side on the fortification layer. 

Unfortunately, AFAIR, built fortification lack a real walkable floor above... Perhaps it changed in the latest version however.

Am I the only one to bother with the cowards who try to flee?

My current simple system is composed of several part :

- The first part is the main entrance corridor with a raising bridge in the middle, and two windy side corridors filled with traps - one with cage traps, the other with weapon traps. Those windy corridors are also locked by raising bridge by default, and have a retracting bridge over a stairwell for maintenance access (so my dwarves can refill the cage traps or clean the weapon traps even in the middle of the invasion.

- The second part a bit further is composed of the main corridor, with a raising bridge which block the main access and leave only the passage thru the firing range (open area, ditches forcing the invaders to zigzag, a large moat, a serie of fortification and the marksdwarfs armory behind)

My usual strategy is to :
- Switch to red alert, forcing all marksmen and haulers (a 20-strong hauler force with basic crossbow & bone bolts is quite efficient for massive fire support...) to the marksdwarfs armory and the other civilian to the "Food & drinks" and "Lockdown command" burrows

- Raising the second bridge, leaving only the path throu the firing range available

- Waiting for the gobbo to proceed and trapping them by raising the first bridge and unlocking one of the two side corridors

- Looking at the bolts flying and blasting most of the invaders around the firing range until their morale is broken.

- Then looking at the fleeing cowards getting trapped in the only available exit path