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[Rayc]

I just bred hundreds of war tigers and placed them in the only path to my fort.  My first ambush was ate within seconds.

[Darkweave]

From another thread:

I don't understand the notion that normal training is too slow.

Make a barracks with food stockpiles and beds
Make squads of 3-6 with matching weapons, water-skins and backpacks allowed to carry the maximum supplies
Set the barracks to allow sleep and training
Schedule the squad to train 3-6 minimum all year round
Set the squad to active

Doing the above I consistently get axe-lords with legendary fighting and 8-10 in dodging/shields and 3-6 in other skills in 1-1.5 years. Throw in a handful of war dogs to soak up some of the damage and by the time you get the first ambush you should lose at most one to two military dwarves. By the time you get your first siege you should have thirty or so guys in decent armour with 3+ skills at legendary.

If you can't get 5 guys training by the end of the first year and at least 12-18 within the first few seasons of the second year with at least bronze, preferably iron and ideally steel armour and weapons then do something dwarfy like a drowning chamber, death pit, magma cannon or cave-in trap.

If you can be bothered with the micro-managing assigning each bed in the barracks as the bedroom for a military dwarf and placing some statues around tends to keep them ecstatic even when they've become enraged by a long patrol duty.

I've still got more testing to do with regards to squad size but smaller squads typically seem to be better. I don't think it's because of sparring though, I think it's because of how demonstrations are organised.

[Nil Eyeglazed]

Don't use peasants or skilled dwarves.  Use peasants AND skilled dwarves.  The peasants will skill up much more rapidly with a skilled dwarf leading the squad.  Forget civilian skills; do you really need *table*s instead of +table+s?

With the proper defensive a structures, a single squad of novice marksdwarves can ensure that every gobbo meets your melee dwarves with at least one broken limb.

With the proper defensive structures, your melee dwarves will stay roughly where they're stationed, rather than running off after anything and everything.

Get good materials fast.  There is no comparing superior bronze to masterwork adamantite.

Bring teacher/defensive skill dwarves and start training by spring.  I brought 3 my last game.  I could have brought more.  (I could have gotten away with bringing fewer, too.)

If micromanaging squad size isn't your thing, don't bother.  It's not necessary.  Managing squad composition is more important: your most skilled dwarves should be squad leaders.  They will teach better than dabblers, even without teacher skill, and they will learn to teach.  When you get a good teacher, protect him or her.

Train on local wildlife with defend burrows orders.

[stormtemplar]

I did not know this. I was told by the wiki that recruits will not train when ordered to. Is this true?

[Nil Eyeglazed]

I did not know this. I was told by the wiki that recruits will not train when ordered to. Is this true?

Huh?  Recruits train.  Elsewise, how would they ever stop being recruits?  (Combat, I suppose-- but I've got some axelords who've never seen combat.)

If you can, point me to the wiki section you're looking at, and I'll either explain it or fix it.

[stormtemplar]

It said that the only way to get them to train was to order them to inactive and disable all labors.

[Nil Eyeglazed]

That's the way to get them to train consistently in their off-time, and it helps.  Another way to get them to train is to schedule them to train.  You can't rely on off-time training.

Neither method is specific to recruits, btw.  This is how champions train too.