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[Getdat40]

I've been playing the new release for a while and have yet to have a single goblin ambush or siege. I've generated multiple worlds, made sure goblin civilizations are alive and well, embarked both near and far away from them, increased my wealth, and tried all sorts of things to get them to invade. Is anyone else having a problem with them?

[arbarbonif]

What is your population?  I don't believe sieges start before a population of 80.  I had a little siege in my last fort, right after I hit 80 population.  Before the undead horde showed up and murderified everyone.

[krenshala]

My recollection is you need both 80+ dwarves and a certain minimum wealth to get goblin invasions.

Its possible they are currently busy fighting a war with someone else right now.  I've had that happen before.  Assuming you've gotten goblin snatchers, check your [c]ivilization screen and when you highlight the goblin(s) if they are at war with a civ you know about it will update the letter on the right (e.g., in my current fort the elves and humans I trade with are at war with each other, as shown by a "W" next to one name when the other is highlighted).

[Getdat40]

I've waited until my population was 100+ a few times and haven't seen a single goblin ambush. I have, however, seen some megabeasts and kobolds.

[Shonai_Dweller]

Just had a bunch of Goblins attack my fortress of about 25 Dwarves, less than 2 years in too. So 80 seems a bit high.
Was kind of expecting them as we were already at war when I started the Fort and Legends says they already attacked several nearby locations from my Civ in the past year.
 

[Aseaheru]

They send sieges at 80, and ambushes at less. Ofcourse, with am ambush at 10 gobbos...

[orbcontrolled]

In previous versions, siege armies were magically generated at the edge of the map under appropriate conditions. Nowadays the goblin civ has to expend resources to build an army, and the army has to physically travel across the world to reach your fortress. Sieges are therefore subject to a lot of hidden variables that aren't fully understood.

The whole thing is slightly controversial, with many mixed experiences. Some people are getting sieges in their first year without doing anything special, but others are embarking directly next to dark fortresses and still not getting sieges for a good 8-10 years or ever. Some people are declaring the whole thing a major bug, some say things are better than ever, and others are reporting and opining everything in between. The common thread is that there are things you can do to increase or decrease your odds, but we just don't understand the new system well enough to know how to game it yet, or even really diagnose what it is doing.

[omega_dwarf]

In previous versions, siege armies were magically generated at the edge of the map under appropriate conditions. Nowadays the goblin civ has to expend resources to build an army, and the army has to physically travel across the world to reach your fortress. Sieges are therefore subject to a lot of hidden variables that aren't fully understood.

The whole thing is slightly controversial, with many mixed experiences. Some people are getting sieges in their first year without doing anything special, but others are embarking directly next to dark fortresses and still not getting sieges for a good 8-10 years or ever. Some people are declaring the whole thing a major bug, some say things are better than ever, and others are reporting and opining everything in between. The common thread is that there are things you can do to increase or decrease your odds, but we just don't understand the new system well enough to know how to game it yet, or even really diagnose what it is doing.

Has anyone ever posted a FotF reply asking Toady what he thinks of the new siege rates? And/or a guide to help increase frequency/diagnose what's wrong?

I've heard that being at war with the goblins (not just permanently hostile, which every dwarf civ is) has an impact.

[Eldin00]

It certainly feels like they attack sooner/more often if you're at war with them in my experience. But that could just be random luck since the sieges are a lot more variable than they used to be. Until the last few versions of .40.xx I almost never saw a goblin ambush, but I've had ambushes at several fortresses in the last month, so that seems to be working better now. I still have never seen a babysnatcher in any .40.xx version, and I haven't seen anyone on the forums claiming to have seen one either. So they may well be completely broken. But if I check legends before embarking to find a thriving goblin civilization, pick a civilization they're at war with (assuming they're actively at war with anyone), and embark within a few tiles of one of their sites, I usually get at least an ambush within the first couple years, on .40.24.

[utunnels]

Before: NOOOOOO!!! Goblins attacked me!!
Now: Goblins please attack me!


To be honest, in 40.24 I do get goblin sieges normally. But when they arrive my squads are all legendary so I don't even bother to use draw bridges and traps. In my newest fort, all my soldiers are leather clad and yet no goblins have managed to touch them.

[Glanzor]

I have been having a similar experience.

I think the core problem is, that in older versions, the goblin would only be at war with you, specifically, while being at peace with the rest of your dwarven civ and leaving them alone.
Now, however, the goblin are always at war with you entire civilization when they start becoming hostile to you, so they have to spend a lot of their resources and manpower fighting against other dwarven sites and armies that they can no longer send to you.

[Skullsploder]

The trick is in my experience to be the most attractive target for several years running. I realised his when I remembered that the liason stopped bringing me news of conquered settlements in year 3 and I was attacked in year 5.

[Sadrice]

Does anyone have any advice for genning worlds with the goblins at war with you?  I was trying to gen one last night, and eventually settled for elves at war.

Would longer history help, since it give more time for war to be declared?  More civs gives more options for dwarves and also more goblins to be at war with, but if Skullsploder is right about being the best target for several years, having lots of alternate targets would be counterproductive.  For this reason, I might try reducing sites too.

[utunnels]

I have been having a similar experience.

I think the core problem is, that in older versions, the goblin would only be at war with you, specifically, while being at peace with the rest of your dwarven civ and leaving them alone.
Now, however, the goblin are always at war with you entire civilization when they start becoming hostile to you, so they have to spend a lot of their resources and manpower fighting against other dwarven sites and armies that they can no longer send to you.

Maybe if you create a world with no other civilizations they will attack you first?

[krenshala]

Does anyone have any advice for genning worlds with the goblins at war with you?  I was trying to gen one last night, and eventually settled for elves at war.

Would longer history help, since it give more time for war to be declared?  More civs gives more options for dwarves and also more goblins to be at war with, but if Skullsploder is right about being the best target for several years, having lots of alternate targets would be counterproductive.  For this reason, I might try reducing sites too.

The most likely way for it to happen is for the dwarven civ to start near to another (elf, goblin or human).  When they inevitably start competing for space the chance of war goes up quite a bit.  Add in conflicting views that just adds to the chance.

About every fifth world gen I get a dwarf race at war with someone.  I tend to do medium sized maps with a high number of civs on a short world gen time, then interrupt it between year 60 and 100 (it stops at 125 on short).  About a quarter of the time there is an active war, its against elves.

Unfortunately (in my opinion) the game appears to try to finish off an active war before turning control over to the player when you interrupt world gen.