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[Naryar]

So, I've not made a fort since quite a while, since the 0.31.25 days actually.

I am lacking ideas for a large trap to defend my fortress's only access, but I am seeking for something else than a standard drowning chamber/magma trap.

I have easy access to infinite magma and water, I am on a temperate/warm biome (so no ice traps). I have quite a bit of space. No lignite/bituminous coal either, so no !!lignite bins!! for me.

I could do a double-duty magma/water trap, but i'll probably end clogging it up with obsidian.

Any help, bay12 ?

[Astrid]

As a source for potency of usable bones i'd advice a 34 z level deep pit of doom.
Maybe with water as a pushover instead of a bridge? havent really tried if that would work.

It's still amusing to watch them go insta splat all across the room once they land.

[Max™]

Hmmm....

Make a layer-cake.

Dig out a big chunk of rock until you get a large cube of exposed stone and flat ground around it.

Now dice up the cube. In the middle dig out a big chunk the same size as the middle section you decide to use but don't remove the surrounds, just up-ramp down into the cube in a big square, build bridges for seals, use a linked support/wall to keep the center chunk up and remove everything under it in a block the same size but 1 z shorter.

Fill that with water.

Now go out, repeat the process and leave a solid wall around the center layer, seal that down at the level of the central water cistern, and then dig down far enough that you can sink that wall down to ground level, attack a support+floor to hold it up and remove the bottom layers, fill that with magma.

Now the last level, attack bridge seals around the outside edges, fill the space between it and the inner hollowed out piston with more magma, attach another floor+support to hold up the outer layer, then remove the bottom and, yep, fill it with magma.

It is up to you to determine how to get stuff into an area around the cube which is closer than the walls are high, but once you do this, drop the walls in sequence, outer, inner, this will flood the area with magma pretty rapidly but it won't be A LOT of magma, it should work out to be just a bit more than it should take to fill one layer to 7/7 or so before it spreads out.

Now that everything has taken a magma bath, drop the central block, teleporting a big column of water up where it was, and this is important: placing it one level higher than the magma around it.

With luck it should splash down and flash everything into obsidian.

Are there easier ways? Naturally, but this just seems more fun to me for some reason.

Outside
#############
#mmmmmmmm#
#m########m#
#m#______#m#
#m#_####_#m#
#m#_####_#m#
#m#_####_#m#
#m#______#m#
#m########m#
#mmmmmmmm#
#############

[Dwarf4Explosives]

I would suggest making a massive water moat-laser. Basically, make a giant cistern, as tall as possible, constantly fed by pumps. Make sure that it can only exit through two tiles. These tiles should be connected to a very long moat, spanning the entire area that you think might come under attack, and only two tiles wide. Make sure that it is filled with up-ramps, so that enemies need to go through the moat to get to your fort. Set up pressure plates or an alternative activation system to open the cistern when needed. Then watch as the water rushes down as quickly as possible, wiping all of your enemies away. I don't think water causes injuries on it's own, so if the water isn't enough to drown them, put a multi-z-level fall at the other end of the moat. That probably would help with drainage too. I'd recommend setting up at least two of these, in opposite directions so that you'll be able to deal with enemies moving over your moat too quickly.

It's a very simple trap, and I'm not sure if it's enough for what you want, but it's the only one I can think of that doesn't require untested assumptions, like my non-location-dependant-obsidianizer trap concept.

EDIT: Also, you might need a backup method of defense for fliers, but that can be taken care of by attaching archer/ballista areas to the cisterns. If you want to be able to recover bolts, try to set up the fall so that it empties into several aquifers, which you can control access to using floodgates. You may have to set up a pump arrangement to give the aquifer a flow in a certain direction if you want to do this, though. I've never tried this setup before.

[Naryar]

Hmm, the moat-laser seems promising and hilarious, and for not too much work. I should try it.

I am just remembering minecart railguns though. I should do that (maybe with a moat laser). Especially if I fill the minecarts with magma AND -large serrated iron discs-. It'll be the most dwarven trap ever.

[Dwarf4Explosives]

Hmm, the moat-laser seems promising and hilarious, and for not too much work. I should try it.

I am just remembering minecart railguns though. I should do that (maybe with a moat laser). Especially if I fill the minecarts with magma AND -large serrated iron discs-. It'll be the most dwarven trap ever.

Make sure to stop the magma from coming into contact with the moat, then. Alternatively, squirt guns are apparently pretty deadly if you build them right, and all you need to do is set up an accelerator and a system to auto-fill the minecarts with water.

[The Bard]

I'm partial to gas bombs to help my military train against armored foes.

Set up supports with a single tile on top on one side of a walkway with the other leading to a short (3-5 Z-level) drop pit. Link them to pressure plates on the walkway.

When gobbos trigger the plate, the cave-in dust will stun them and push them into the pit where the fall will injure but not kill them. Thne just let your military at 'em.

Bonus: chain some war animals down there out of the fall zone but where they can maul anyone who lands at the bottom.

[Aslandus]

Water constantly flowing through the fortress (keeping your dwarves clean as well as ensuring firey accidents don't happen) with magma that can be poured outside over the entrance, blocking the entrance with cast obsidian when enemies approach while the magma flows over the landscape. Not super efficient or easily controlled, but it'll clear the enemies out... alternatively, stuff with minecarts, traps components, spike traps, and/or cages stuffed with animals can be pretty effective if you're open to non-liquid based defenses.

[Baffler]

An easy thing you can set up on the surface near your fort is what I call a Dwarven Bouquet. Basically, 3x3 stone floors held up by a support on the surface. I link a small group of them to a single lever, and if enemies come near it they can get smashed into oblivion. It also serves as building destroyer bait. Even if they aren't crushed, they'll be stunned and are often seriously injured. Easy pickings for whoever you send out there to clean up.

Edit: I find that the ideal spacing for a group has at least 8 spaces between each support.

[Loud Whispers]

In that same vein I am quite fond of forests of pillars holding a singular wall above them (or maybe a longer string of walls) used like explosive charges to knock enemies around/stun them for Dwarven cleanup crews. Use them near traps and pits and you've got a recipe for fun. Only problem is the maintenance.