The latest fortress my dwarves have created is almost a masterpiece. They employed symmetry wherever possible and build a roughly vertical fortress. The entry point is silty loam so they built farm plots up there without need for irrigation. They have a well and all of the shops are up and running. Almost everyone has a bed and my nobles are happy. After the first year I started getting nervous. What if this fortress becomes really successful and the dwarves are set upon by more than just the idle snatcher? What if "big trouble" comes along? I know! A moat! Since the fortress is relatively vertical it doesn't spread out too much. A moat would be a prefect barrier. My dwarves are pretty handy with mechanisms so I plan to build a few drawbridges, four in all, 3x2 so that travelers can still access the depot. The way, however, was not as clear as it first appeared to be. The first Spring two of my best miners were lost in a cave in after digging over an underground pool. They survived for a few minutes, bloodied, under water, and very afraid. Sadly their precious picks were lost and the bodies couldn't even be recovered for a proper burial. In summer, with two of the drawbridges in place and trigged, I lost another miner. This one was legendary. He was mistakenly digging out a patch of rock that should have been channeled from above and the rocks took his life immediately. Just as his corpse was beginning to rot in the graveyard, the final insult was added to his injury. Winter came. The moat froze solid, all the fuckety-fucking way around. As many of my dwarves are freezing, sleeping, or starving through this hard winter, I sit realizing I need to begin training some more recruits. So much for a small squad of elite and neigh untouchable marksdwarves. We're well and truly fucked for 25% of the year. :mad: