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[Laserhead]

My image of a dwarf military (from things like LotR or Dragon Age) is the solid rock upon which a large army breaks. Sieges certainly provide the large army, but I can’t ever seem to get my dorfs to hold a particular line. They see the first troll, rush forward, then see the second, etc, as by the end of the battle they’re practically at the map edge. The best I can manage is using bridges to break line of sight and fight the enemy in chunks.

Has anyone had better success? Is there some trick for a “hold this line” order?

[steel jackal]

perhaps you could try burrows to force your soldiers to stay within a certain area.

ive had success with using burrows to get military units to retreat, so maybe they could be used to hold formation

[Sanctume]

LotR Ironfoot were on battle mounts, and mounted dwarfs aren't in DF (yet).

I also get the impression those Ironfoots are all legendary soldiers, at least skilled in Armor User so that full steel plate will not encumber them. 

With a squad size 10, it would be more advantageous for dwarfs to attach in narrower battle field, to maybe 5 wide stone hallways. 

What would the reason for dwarf militia to engage invaders out in the open when dwarfs have home field advantage and pick of battle settings?

DF Dwarf has no friendly fire, so marksdwarfs with defend burrow behind fortifications overlooking the battlefield is a good advantage.  With around 20 tile line of sight, a 90 degree bend can negate some of enemy range units advantage. 

Also, DF dwarfs with kill have some advantage in using steel and candy weapons and armor that mere trolls and goblins have no access to. 

I've seen humans with steel, that probably obtained them via trade with other dwarf civs.

So really, with high skills and candy gear, DF dwarfs can do serious damage to a horde, but numbers and lucky hits can down even the greatest of champions.

[Laserhead]

perhaps you could try burrows to force your soldiers to stay within a certain area.

ive had success with using burrows to get military units to retreat, so maybe they could be used to hold formation

I’ve tried using defend burrows order, but melee units still leave their positions if they see an enemy. Are you using burrows in some other way?

[h27kim]

I've seen humans with steel, that probably obtained them via trade with other dwarf civs.

Wow, that I have never seen before.  Was that before the changes with artifacts and stuff (which I always wondered allows for exchanges of non-artifact goods in worldgen), or after?  Toady did mention that he'd eventually introduce possibility of sending arms and other items to allies, and that'd be one step closer in that direction....

[Jazz Cat]

If I had to guess I'd say that humans probably didn't get their armor trading with dwarves, because dwarven armor won't fit freakishly large creatures like humans.