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[janglur]

So, with the new military, my combat tactics are not very effective anymore.  My 10-man marksdwarf team no longer litters the battlefield with puncushioned goblins.  And the inexpensive shell/bone/leather/wood gear isn't cutting it.  So then I ask:

What could the goblins need to take out a pair of Expert Marksdwarves with steel everything?  (Helm, Breastplate, Mail Shirt, Greaves, Gauntlets, High Boots)  Leather Cloaks, Fiber Socks, and Steel shields?

Is this a good start for my non-training dwarves or am I going to really need to churn it up?

So far i've had four forts wiped out by goblin ambushes during their first ambush.  Those bowmen HURT.  And one by an Ettin.

[greycat]

A friend of mine likes to train up a pair of super hardcore melee dwarves (one spear and one sword), with masterwork steel armor covering every inch of their flesh (other than lips & stuff), sparring until they're legendary in all combat skills, and then have them charge into the enemy.  He claims this is quite effective.

Against a single squad of bowgoblins, my own advice would be to raise the drawbridge, station your marksdwarves along the outer wall (behind your fortifications), and let them get some shooting practice on moving targets.

Once you've killed a couple of the goblins, the rest will likely run off the map.  At that point it will be tempting to lower the drawbridge and go collect the dead ones' stuff.  This is typically a mistake -- if you get ambushed by one squad, there is probably another one somewhere that you haven't spotted yet, who would just love to poke holes in your civilian gatherers.

I'm still considering designs for how to spot ambushes (recon towers with chains puppies behind glass windows or something).  I haven't got any practical advice for that yet.

[sinister agent]

If it's specifically bowmen that are giving you trouble, I would suggest basically letting them inside and swarming them in a narrow tunnel or small room.  That way they'll only get a shot or two off before they're put out of commission, and if you throw some dogs in at the same time, they may go for the dogs first.

It depends on your fortress layout though, so may not be very helpful.

Oh, and also, shields seem to help a lot.  I'd send a macedwarf with a shield before a hammerdwarf. The more experienced regulars here will likely know whether I'm imagining this, though.

[Proteus]

Of course you could still use weapon traps at the entranceways...
but be aware that stonetraps donīt cut it anymore...
you should use giant steel (or bronze) axe blades to be able to penetrate even the better armored goblins...


for anything that gets past the traps I would recommend military clad in steel,
with steel weapons (or, if (cross-)bowdwarfes, equipped with metal arrows/bolts
(not sure which bis the best metal...silver arrows/bolts seem to be very effective, however))

[Spaghetti]

Ive got my entire millitary clad in bluemetal armor and blue metal weapons.... i have yet to see them in action other than a small ambush

The goblin parts flew everwhere!

Oh ya and a macegobo hit one of my guys in the spine... hes been discharged