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[Shamanifest]

Hello all. So my most recent fortress project has been to build a defensive "courtyard" as an extra layer of defense against any nasty surprises approaching from the main entry of my fort. I have built walls two high around this new perimeter with a one high floor running along the inside of the walls for my marksdwarves to patrol. The problem though is that my dwarves won't use the stairs I have constructed for access to the floor meant for the marksdwarves to shoot from. Any idea what I may have done wrong?

[PatrikLundell]

Are the stairs properly built, i.e. with an Up stair at the ground level  and a Down (or Up/Down) stair at the floor level?
I had that logical problem initially in that I saw stairs as ladders, but they're more akin to elevators that need a platform at each level it should reach. A ramp can allow access one level up, though.

Do you intend to patrol the inside of the courtyard with the aim to attack those entering? If so, it might sort of work, i.e. the marksdorfs ought to fire at the invaders until they run out of bolts, and then make a suicide charge while swinging the xbow like a club.
If you intend to fire outwards you need to have a fortification the dorfs can fire (and see) through.
Also, invaders can climb walls, so if you intend to keep them out with the wall that will only work partially at best.

[Shamanifest]

That may be my problem, I have no down stair on the floor level. And yes, that's the idea I have a drawbridge as the only entry, so when attacked I'll raise the bridge and station the marksdwarves on the walls. They will have no way to actually charge the enemy, so I hope. The idea is to have an ammo stokpile nearby so they can shoot at them as long as my ammo stores hold up. Also going to see bout making a moat. How can I prevent baddies from climbing my walls?

[Albedo]

If the stairs only go "up" (that is, they are the base for a column of stairs above them, and ONLY above them), you don't need a down part, a dirt/stone floor is fine. But if there are stairs below that, then, yes, you need the stair above to go "down" and the stair below to go "up".


If you can carve walls from natural stone, and "smooth" them (via [d]esignations and the Engraving labor), they are un-climbable. But that's not always convenient.

Short of that, construct something to overhang beyond the wall where you expect the climbers to come from. Fortifications are common, but a Wall or Floor could work as well - anything that creates this sort of obstacle:

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baddies -> ______|  dwarfs
Note that putting something like this on the outer corner of a wall takes an extra 2 steps, 1) to build a floor to access that tile and then 2) later removing that floor to replace it with a Fortification/Wall.

[PatrikLundell]

Well, you have several problems with your design:
- Marksdwarves will charge the enemy when out of bolts if at all possible, regardless of access to new bolts.
- When out of bolts and prevented from committing suicide by charge they will conclude they cannot attack the enemy and sneak off to train (and picking up bolts to do so) of ordered to attack. Stationing might work better.
- Marksdwarfs can climb walls to commit suicide charges against enemies (or just to get into range).
- Building on Albedo's comment, a floor jutting out over a wall at least two tiles high will block climbers, while a wall jutting out won't (it would have to jut out two tiles). Since a floor in the middle of nowhere looks silly, I'd recommend jutting out two tiles with first a floor and then a wall, where the wall is then carved into a fortification (a built fortification will work as well, but won't be safe from above).
- To prevent the dorfs from climbing and then jumping down, you should roof over the walkway. If you built the fortification you ought to build a floor on top of those as well, because built fortifications are open upwards and provides diagonal downwards access by flyers.
- I would recommend decking over the whole courtyard to block flyers from entering. I've heard of goblin siegers using mounts (including flying ones), but have never seen one, but I've definitely encountered flying Titans. The most common problem with flyers is flying pests such as Keas that steal stuff, cause unhappy thoughts, and interrupt work, though.

[Montieth]

Covered walkways on walls, covered bastions/decks for crossbowmen and covered battlements work great for keeping your dwarves from climbing over the walls to close for hand to hand. They also keep them under cover when they're patrolling the walls and helps keep em out of the rain. Eventually, enclosing all of the above ground bastions helps prevent flying megabeasts from getting inside.