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Author Topic: Value/minimum pop before towers attack  (Read 939 times)

Findulidas

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Value/minimum pop before towers attack
« on: September 22, 2014, 09:14:15 am »

The problem is that its the fifth time a tower attacks me in df2014 (out of ten forts), just as my first wave of immigration arrives. This coupled with the fact that zombies are much thougher now. The only real way of beating them is to mass cagetraps at the entrances. However by the first immigration its a stretch to get enough traps up to stop 15x zombombos. Any other way of facing them with ~15 dwarves is just not feasible.

As such I propose having a minimum pop and value before the towers attack. Just like titans. It doesnt have to be that high though, just high enough that I wont have to build my fort around getting traps asap just because there happens to be one tower on the continent (which seems to always happen if the history goes past 300). I mean I want to face zombies and skeletons that early I will just play on an evil biome. That is quite fun, but I still want to have the choice of not having them knocking at the front door by spring.
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dwarf_reform

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Re: Value/minimum pop before towers attack
« Reply #1 on: September 24, 2014, 05:12:01 pm »

I've had some experience with this as well, though my numbers were usually 5-10 zombies.. And I've been doing just what you said, embarking with 10+ cages and making a drawbridge + gap for minor defense, but making the mechanisms and assigning the traps and bridge (and lever) (and channeling!) is pretty different than what I'm used to doing, which is digging a dorm-bedroom and basic storage areas while preparing beds/chairs/tables as a first move..

The early invasions are "dwarfly" but I'd prefer the initial necro-tower "probe" to be 2-4 zombies (still fully capable of destroying 7 untrained and unprepared dwarves, but more reasonable than 5-15..

Somewhat unrelated, but I have a fort of 80 that fought maybe 6 kobolds and assorted wildlife in its first couple years and then, out of nowhere 85 zombies show up :> I had heroic visions of my poorly dressed legendary squad of 7 methodically hacking 85 zombs to death in a blaze of glory, but they all got swarmed and murdered before dispatching even 10 zombies.. I like how the zombs shamble around all slow when they have no target but suddenly adopt panther-speed when they see a dwarf :> Right now I'm slowly trying to create secret above-ground fortifications to snipe at them from, but its hard to breach the surface safely when all 85 of them are spread out over the entire map.. If only I could set a surface fire..
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pisskop

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Re: Value/minimum pop before towers attack
« Reply #2 on: September 24, 2014, 05:16:57 pm »

Zombies can come at any time.  I dont know for sure, but the population requirement is bare minimal.  Ive had sieges by 7 zombies in the second season before.  And that was in 34.11.

If you embark by a tower, be ready for a siege at any time.  The good news is they only seem to use civilized corpses, which means no BDs by default.
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Findulidas

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Re: Value/minimum pop before towers attack
« Reply #3 on: September 25, 2014, 12:22:52 am »

Kobold zombies walking over my traps!
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Two

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Re: Value/minimum pop before towers attack
« Reply #4 on: September 25, 2014, 04:27:29 am »

The problem is more the undead than the time they attack. Even very early in development a fortress can withstand all kinds of attack (not saying its going to be easy but they can). However undead currently are close to invincible unless you happen to have exactly the right tool to defeat them, and that is the issue here.

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Deboche

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Re: Value/minimum pop before towers attack
« Reply #5 on: September 25, 2014, 09:31:36 am »

Somewhat unrelated, but I have a fort of 80 that fought maybe 6 kobolds and assorted wildlife in its first couple years and then, out of nowhere 85 zombies show up :>
I think it's related to wealth you create. So if that happened to be a time you started a lot of crafting or smithing, the next wave would reflect it. And even if you have several million fortress wealth, you can still get crappy sieges if you don't add to it. It's what I read somewhere anyway
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