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[AzuredreamsXT]

A dwarf went insane, then went berserk, but i had planned ahead and pastured a war dog just outside the workshop he was brooding in. He is beating on the war dog, but the war dog isnt fighting back, as far as i can tell in the combat report.

Any idea why?

[AzuredreamsXT]

If i had to guess, it's because the crazy attacking dwarf is wrestling as his combat style or whatever. I read on the wiki that wrestlers, who fight unarmed, can tie up the enemy so that it cant attack back while they grapple and beat at it.

[CapnUrist]

Often times in a combat situation, one side will gain an advantage and start constantly attacking, keeping their opponent(s) on the defensive and slowly chipping them away. This is more often seen in uneven matchups, where multiple attackers gang up on a single opponent, effectively nickel-and-dime'ing them to death without the defender being able to get an attack in edgewise.

War dogs work best in groups of at least three, and will often swarm a particular beast and if not kill it, then keep it busy while something more dangerous makes its way there (such as your military armed with axes). If the target is armed with any sort of edged weaponry, however, the dogs will not always be very effective.

[AzuredreamsXT]

My first fortress and i already freaking love this game.

So the crazed dwarf charged my war pooch back into the workshop, and i promptly locked the door behind them. My pooch was beaten to death in there, but in the meantime i pastured 6 more war doggies outside the door. Then i had the door removed. The dogs rushed in and tore the crazed dwarf to pieces.

Lmao can't think of another game quite like this

[AzuredreamsXT]

I've been relying on traps and war dogs for defense, but this crazy dwarf is the first thing to endanger my dwarves. Is a long hallway of stone fall traps and cage traps, followed by a 5x5 room with about 20 war dogs pastured, guarding a drawbridge into the fort proper, enough to handle a goblin siege? Thoughts? Predictions?

I have no military as of yet, was hoping to make this fortress run a civilian one, defended by traps and doggies. Maybe get a military down the road in preparation for these Titans i hear about.

[CapnUrist]

First off: it's better to edit than to make another new post. Just sayin'.

Toward your defense: Dogs will only go so far. As I said, anything that can hold edged weapons (swords, axes, spears) will have the upper hand, especially if they can get the first attack, as your dogs can't wear armor of any kind; invaders with ranged weapons are even more likely to cause trouble. I've brought dogs on embark, bred them up, and had over 50 trained war dogs ready before the first ambush showed up. and once they hit the front lines there's usually only about a dozen or so alive after all is said and done.
Stone fall traps won't do much to help keep things out; they certainly won't kill much. Cage traps will definitely work; the main problem is volume. If you don't have enough traps to cage the majority of the siege, they'll come right through, and remember that they probably won't hit every cage depending on their pathing and how you lay it out.

I would strongly suggest getting some sort of edged weaponry working for you, either in mechanical traps or in the hands of your dwarves. Otherwise, you could seal yourself in, but that means giving up trade.

[Azated]

Large serrated disks attack three times, and you can have up to ten in a weapon trap, so that's triple the damage for a third of the cost. Of course, they can get jammed pretty easily, but if you have enough of them that's not really a problem.

Personally, I like to rely on ballistas firing down 1 tile wide hallways with 10 z level drops on either side. If the ballista doesn't kill the gobbos, the fall certainly will.

[Togre]

I like using staggered rows of cage traps and then weapon traps.  So far I've been only using wooden weapons.  I know it's not the most efficient, but with 10 per trap and a layered defense I haven't been disappointed.  I can only imagine using glass or metal weapons will improve it.

I have heard (but as of yet not used) massed war animals are a great force multiplier.  Let them hit the enemy first and send in your dwarfs while the enemy is engaged with the dogs.  You'll lose many dogs, but when your dwarfs hit the enemy will be hampered (and maybe wounded) so you should slice through them.  But again, I'm basing this off what I've read not what I've personally done.