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[Loud Whispers]

The following is a declassified instructional manual from the Silentthunders ministry of Dwarf on the concern of the Dowding Defence or:

Dwarven 
Orthopter
Warning 
Device   
In       
Nubilous
Gage     

DEFENCE.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Shown East is the Rachidian Amasthenic Dwarven Abatjour Rectalgia, or RADAR for short, a key element in the Dowding Defence.
Shown South West are Unidentified Flying Orthopters, or UFOs.

It works as so; a Dwarf or a group of Dwarves pull levers/operate pumps (pumps may block line of sight though, be careful) or some other repetitive task within the Radar dome.
When a group of hostile UFOs appear within seeing distance of a Dwarf manning the Radar

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

The Dwarves within raise the alarm.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Using advanced overseer annoying techniques, like job cancellation spam.

From there it is only a matter of stationing Marksdwarves within the tower, on Fortified walls or on an intercepting path - an easy feat if extensive use of tunnels and infrastructure are used.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Each section of the Radar observatory tower split by zlvl.
-3, -2 and -1 are tunnel access points to the main Fort. The doors are a paranoia measure induced by constant threat of death and rampant ianumania. The ridged pathways allow for easy traffic as well as lower pathfinding  costs, and can be fought in effectively by small forces against larger ones. Perfect for an isolated squad of military Dwarves in the event of the Fortress falling.
0 is the ground level, where treacherous goblins and zombie weasels dwell. Its perimeter is 1 tile wider than the diameter of the observatory to ensure elite marksmen and marksgoblins are kept away from any Marksdwarves above. The surroundings are paved over with stone block roads to ensure no encroaching trees ruin the tower's purpose by blocking line of sight.
+1 is the Marksdwarf's roost, with doors behind each fortification to provide great protection to resupplying Marksdwarves and civilians, ensuring the tower is only used in conditions favourable to the defenders. Also protects against most fires, fear of death, cave-ins, deadly dusts and non/explosive projectiles.
+2 is an empty room, which can be used for anything. Storage, comfortable seating, civilian/military housing (putting training barracks in places of need is a very good Fortress planning design which ensures on duty military Dwarves are present where needed all year).
+3 holds the watch posts, four levers. This design also can accommodate 8 levers for ultimate spam or 4 screw pumps for cross training, but were not included for fear that they may block line of sight in some places and create blind spots.
+4, +5 and +6 are the dome, constructed from marble gemstones polished to further transparency, arrayed to magnify distant images. The use of gem windows as opposed to fortifications ensures 360* view in all three dimensions whilst affording total protection to everyone inside, although I suspect anything atop the direct center may be out of view. This means Marksdwarves are less equipped to deal with threats directly above them; however seeing as I have other towers and a giant Fortress to deal with those this is not an issue for me, but may be for anyone wishing to emulate this design in some form to deal with fliers but with limited work in mind. Do note that building a Fortification dome is currently impossible due to support issues/fortifications restricting line of sight.

On the topic of construction, if you're going for a dome you have to construct from top down if you wish to use windows. This is a very time consuming progress so plan conservatively, and don't try building one of these without a plan to begin with, lest your dome look very ugly and/or not work.
Building walls 1zlvl below the level you're placing the windows on, building the windows and when done deconstructing the walls and beginning the process anew is the easiest method to building these domes. This requires a moderate to OCDverseer grasp of the game mechanics and masonry techniques, as it is very easy to cause cave ins or accidentally drop scaffolding into construction sites or onto Dwarves, with fatal consequences that could undo the laborious efforts of your workers.

[1] Build your base tower/fortifications.

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[2] Build your scaffolding.

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[3] Build your windows.

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[4] Deconstruct the top layers of scaffolding carefully, using extra caution if use of controlled cave-ins are employed.

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[5] Continue step [3] - [4] until the dome is completed.

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...░....
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.░░░░░..
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I recommend building the scaffolding out of blocks, so that you have a store of blocks nearby to pave over any arable land nearby when you deconstruct it. I also recommend building multiple scaffolding towers around the construction site to ease deconstruction.



For smaller areas with lower sky limits, simpler designs could be of worth.


One last note is that this could be perfect for prisoner Dwarves, vampires especially and maybe necromancer Dwarves. Those with immortality to spare or crimes to spend penance for, this menial work is both vital and taxing.

_{*If using Necromancer Dwarves, please ensure you install a method to cut off line of sight to the outside world, lest you unleash perpetual evil upon your lands. If you do not care for the overworld, disregard this statement.}

[XXSockXX]

While this is some really awesome research that surely will make PETA happy as there is no more use for guard animals...
Don't dwarfs cancel their jobs for everything including ravens and other completely non-dangerous animals? I've had so many job cancellations due to small animals, I think this kind of watchtower might result in perma-spam in some biomes...

[Sutremaine]

Why not just have the marksdwarves up there permanently? You could make archery targets for them, or a barracks for melee training and whatever ranged training they get from taking potshots at things.

[Loud Whispers]

While this is some really awesome research that surely will make PETA happy as there is no more use for guard animals...
Don't dwarfs cancel their jobs for everything including ravens and other completely non-dangerous animals? I've had so many job cancellations due to small animals, I think this kind of watchtower might result in perma-spam in some biomes...

The S. Ministry of Dwarf would like to officially state that all animals are dangerous, and should be reported as such. As a consequence Marksdwarves should be stationed by the tower to deal with all dangerous animals. Alternatively, consider using interior/exterior guard animals to scare away less-dangerous lethal animals like wild fowl. Sorry PETA. Dogs are the hilt of the Dwarven Battle Axe.

[XXSockXX]

The S. Ministry of Dwarf would like to officially state that all animals are dangerous, and should be reported as such.

Understood and duly noted.   

[ChuckWeiss]

+1 for utility, +1000000000 for presentation.