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[jamesadelong]

Well, I just managed to collect a pair of polar bears and, due to some rather simple modding and a nice little program called "NoExotics" (found on the modding utility page, check it out!), have the capacity to turn them into war bears.

Now I understand that a breeding pair is a wonderful thing to have. But I do have a few questions.

1) Are they worth the effort?
2) How good are war bears in combat?
3) Should I create some sort of bear pit with a retractable bridge top and glass walls, centered in my dining room so I can drop victims invaders and allow my dworfs dinner and a show?
4) What secondary defense systems do you tend to use?

[Diamond]

1) They are better then dogs.
2) Not as good as you may think. Big cats are better.
3) Just drop your enemies into meeting hall. No bears or glass walls needed.
4) Magma

[melphel]

1. Bears are great war animals, I'd say the third best option after giant animals and crocodiles.  Adult polar bears can reach a size of 400,000.  That's twice that of a grizzly, and thirteen times that of a dog.

2. They will make short work of anything that can bleed to death.  They work best when the enemy is outnumbered.

3. Dropping enemies in view of your dorfs will freak them out, even if they are behind a barrier (in which case, I don't think they can see through a wall, even if it is made of glass).

4. I tend to pasture my war animals inside the main walls.  That way, I don't even need to bother locking a gate or bridge, ambushes and thieves walk right into a courtyard full of teeth and claws.

[thegoatgod_pan]

I pasture animals near high traffic zones and after breeding is in full swing assign the stronger animals to important dwarves--this is crucial in arresting berserk dwarves before they kill.

Remember--df has basic animal genetics--eat the skinny, weak ones and the strong, fat bears with be the only kind around.

[Tevish Szat]

Bears, like all war animals, make great meat shields for marksdwarf squads and woodcutters.

Your glass bear pit idea is a great project, but one for your own amusement as the best it can do is feed invaders to bears, and at worst might scare tour dwarves.  Still, a worthy effort.

[jamesadelong]

Well, during my first month I sliced off a decent chunk of an outcropping so I've ended up with an Alcatraz styled island. On it's own, unable to be attacked by conventional sieges. The bears have gone brilliantly. The two I got were a combination of massive and strong so there hasn't been a single problem with that. The display pit has undergone slight modification and has been implemented to use the nice river system; creature falls in, fights the challenger, mess is cleaned by passing through an automated sluice pipe. Simple.

[Loud Whispers]

Actually, once your dwarves are used to death, they stop being bothered by it.


Though they will initially get enough unhappy thoughts to probably go depressed-insane crazy, and then some.

[robdesjardin]

Polar bears are wonderful killers; keep them, breed them, unleash them.

[jamesadelong]

I shall make polar bear based research my trademark methinks.