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[Angry Bob]

So I was starting the fortress of Machinemeets after Digging Too Deep at Craftsfrills, my first 'real' fort, when I was pleasantly suprised to find that iron ores, lignite, and bituminous coal were in great supply, and the ledge was made of dolomite. Naturally, I started building a steel industry. Midsummer migrants, about four of them, show up, one of which is a talented weaponsmith. "Sweet", I think, and set him to cranking out some steel weapons. I trade one of them to the autumn caravan and order food and fuel, since I've been chasing veins instead of excavating farms. Then, a winter group (if you call two guys a group) of migrants shows up.

One of them is a legendary weaponsmith.

After changing my pants and scraping my jaw off the floor, I wonder. Is this a bug, an improbable but not unintended event, or a gift from Armok himself that can only be repaid by spilling goblin (and maybe some elf) blood in previously unheard-of amounts?

Secondarily, I've heard and read that steel weapons and armor against goblins, especially the earlier ambushes, is like bringing the death star to a knife fight, even with relatively unskilled dwarves. Is this true?

[Xenoc]

Improbable, but not impossible.  Happens from time to time - I was lucky enough to have a legendary armoursmith turn up in my last one.

Better than all those bloody legendary millers and dyers I usually end up with.  Or 'junior haulers' as I like to call them.

[darkrider2]

It's not Impossible, just very very improbable.

[slink]

On the secondary question, the answer depends on the version you are playing.  In 40d goblins were fairly easily killed.  I have heard that in 0.31.x that goblins are no longer the wimps in such battles.  Since my 0.31.x trained axedwarves could not kill a small mammal who had invaded the fortress, I have turned off invasions for the time being.  You might read a little more of the latest reports on this before deciding that your untrained military can handle goblins.  However, good steel weapons and armor are never a bad thing. 

[Josephus]

Secondarily, I've heard and read that steel weapons and armor against goblins, especially the earlier ambushes, is like bringing the death star to a knife fight, even with relatively unskilled dwarves. Is this true?

Yes, except when the goblins are the death star and all you have is the fancy steel knives.

Goblins can be ridiculously badass nowadays, but steel should do the trick. Just... never send wrestlers, unless you like the sight of dwarven limbs separate from dwarven bodies.

[SpacemanSpiff]

Steel armor is a major advantage, but it doesn't result in invulnerable dwarves.  Blunt weapons can do bludgeoning damage right through armor, and even edged weapons that don't penetrate can break bones and wear your dwarves down.   It's best to think of armor as a last-ditch-defense: it's often life-saving when your dwarves are outnumbered, stunned, fallen, or injured, but it's not something you can rely on for 100% protection.   Instead you want to train your militia up (trivially easy with individual combat training and barracks), and only send skilled fighters into combat.  A skilled fighter without armor will typically do major damage, dodge or parry lots of blows, and then fall to a lucky strike.  A skilled fighter with armor (especially steel or bronze) will cut a swathe through goblin hordes, and need several lucky strikes to take down.  In my experience the only way a dwarf like that dies is when they end up fighting several goblins alone.

Edit: and an unskilled fighter in steel armor against goblins is relying on a lucky strike against every opponent they face - if they don't get it, they'll soon succumb to a hail of blows that they can't dodge or parry.

[Shogger]

I had a legendary cook show up before. Then he got too close to a mining accident. Total paralysis, became a vegetable for the rest of his life.

[Angry Bob]

Yeah, I noticed that armored dwarves can still buy it to a lucky attack, but I've yet to get used to the medical system (0.31.08), so even a broken arm or something tends to leave a guy crippled for the rest of the fort's life. I guess what I want to know is how much better steel is for weapons and armor than what goblins usually carry.

[Hyndis]

Steel beats iron, but it does not make your dwarves invincible.

You will still need doctors to tend to injured dwarves after a battle. Steel just means the dwarf is tended to in a hospital bed rather than put into a coffin.

[Josephus]

Steel beats iron, but it does not make your dwarves invincible.

Actually, bronze beats iron too, so if you're flux-less, it's not exactly a bad alternative.

[Miggy]

I think one of the major advantages of steel is actually the steel weaponry. With high quality bronze weapons you can do some pretty nasty damage, but it doesn't event compare to steel. With steel axes, every attack you do results in something falling off. If that something is the head or the lower body, whatever you were attacking instantly dies. If it was not the head or lower body, then whatever you cut off was still vital in either keeping the goblin standing or holding the goblin's equipment. If you just hit the goblin once, he's toast.

Although I do agree nigh-invulnerability is great, being able to literally blend goblins as they approach is immensely satisfying. I've yet to see hammers knock goblins around in 2010 (I haven't used them), but I have seen plenty of decapitated limbs fly fairly long distances in many directions. I think my 2 records is a 5-tile arm loss, and a blizzard man whose head somehow managed to fly up and land on top of the wall he was fighting next to.

[Mysteriousbluepuppet]

Frankly, a good amount of well trained and steel equipped dwarves can decimate pretty much any ambush with ease.

Right now i use a 8 dwarf squad of fully plated dwarf with teel axes, and goblin get slaughtered in a glorious way. just make sure that none of them get separated from the other and they should do just fine.

By the same token, theyre not invincible, as a recent bronze collosus made me aware

[ghosteh]

I had a legendary cook show up before. Then he got too close to a mining accident. Total paralysis, became a vegetable for the rest of his life.

this pun made my eyes bleed

[Heavenfall]

Oh dear... I've taken to a custom embark with weapon, armor, black- and metalsmithing in four different dwarves just because I've had such terribly bad luck with my moods lately. Besides, those humans do love traps for some reason.