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[Warlord255]

I'm a fanatic for low-dwarf fortresses. I'm not sure why, but I just can't find enough for my poor buggers to DO without making the game too easy, megaprojects nonwithstanding. As such I have eternally sought means by which to get the benefits (read: sieges) of a high population without the hassle of having so many.

I may have just found it.

By some strange accident, I chortled to find one of my unwanted recruits caught in a tin cage, and laughed harder when I found I could sell him to nobles. But then I wondered... if caged creatures never starve, and don't contribute to framerate lag...

A quick test of releasing him showed that caged dwarves do not diminish the fortress' population; as such, I am considering the following...

Cage all future immigrants until I get to 80 pop for sieges, and release them all to be utterly slaughtered upon the arrival of the first siege, bringing my fortress' population down to something reasonable that I can manage to my content.

Is there some crucial flaw in my plan? Will dwarves, unlike other creatures, starve in a non-justice cage?

[forsaken1111]

As far as I know, they shouldn't starve. Even if they start to, you could always have one of them released and set to bring food/water to them.

Personally I would just cage them and drop em in lava.

[AlienChickenPie]

This could work for soldiers, too. Put them in cages, put the cages near your lines of defense and remotely release them as necessary.

[sneakey pete]

You won't get a second siege though...

[forsaken1111]

You won't get a second siege though...

Does your fortress 'downgrade' if you drop below 80? I was under the impression that once you had a level 2 fortress it remained that way.

[RavingManiac]

I think that once the first siege comes, you always be sieged regardless of your population or wealth.

[Doppel]

Its the same as with moods i guess, the can only occur when your fortress has or once had 20 dwarves, which kinda messed with my plan to hold back on having moody dwarves by killing of immigrants. (seeing that mostly the first wave is enough to top 20 dwarves in total, which sucks)

[Krash]

I think that once the first siege comes, you always be sieged regardless of your population or wealth.

This is correct

[Bromor Neckbeard]

Does that apply to any siege, or just goblin sieges?  Because (I guess due to a goblin ambush killing an entire human caravan) in the third year of my current fort, while my population was still in the 25-30 range, I had the humans lay siege to my fortress.  I couldn't beat them through military strength at that point, so I just sealed the doors and waited them out.  They left after awhile, but were then replaced by an even bigger siege of human cavalry.  Strangely enough, on the civilizations screen, it showed the human civ as being at peace with us.

After those guys left, I started getting human caravans again.  Do I get human sieges intermittently from now on regardless of my dealings with the humans?  (If so, awesome!)

[Warlord255]

So my plan will work?

Time for mass cage traps with dust bombs!

[Pilsu]

Well, people complained about dwarves starving in cage traps so I wouldn't hold my breath

[John Johnston]

I've had dwarfs starve in cages.  Couldn't swear that it happens in all instances, though, there may be exceptions - dwarfs arriving with siege forces I believe are immune to starvation.