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[madmenyo]

Hi,

I have some trouble controlling my military. I have put them on a chedule for stationing at my entrance, yet they go outside to pickjup equipment. Whats up with the minimum? i tried put it on 10, amount of squad members and 1 but with each setup they leave my fort and happily get ambushed outside. I even believe they are picking up forbidden items, since i marked every item outside forbidden, not sure though since they say "picking up equipment" and not the exact item.

The thing is, i just want them stationed at a save place in order the drawbridge trick fails, but now i can't be sure they will and am affraid they wonder off alone when i lower my bridge. I can just put them on inactive so they stay in the save burrows but i'm sure there must be some way to give them strict orders to stay put.

I'm also clueless on how to keep them happy, even if i cross train them they get angry when i inactivte them but when i just let them do stuff like training and patrolling for too long those same guys will get angry as well. I have read a lot about this but how do you guys keep them happy? Scheduling them one month on, 1 month off? Having less max participents and how much for a squad of 10?

Now how do i properly engage a battle? Should i move them in so they pick targets themselfs? Or focus on targets to quickly strike them down? And what to focus, leaders, archers? Do you guys have squads that rush there archers while other squads focus on the front? Just some basic tips are welcome.

And how do you keep track of things when it gets messy? Can i pull out individuals when they are still able to walk? I guess i can just put them out of the squad so they get to the burrows, is this smart or should i let them fight to the bitter end?

[Loud Whispers]

1) If you have put them on active/training alert, they need a place to train/put their equipment. Likewise, if you're using a station order, they need a burrow/point to be stationed at. Otherwise they'll linger around wherever.
As for the squad size, you should split that squad down into squads of around 3 Dwarfs, with the schedule being set to one less than the squad number to allow them to have off duty breaks (vital if you want them to not die of starvation/berserk).

2) Have their schedule one less than the squad size. Let them do their civvy jobs, or go full military - all year sparring, either keeps them happy. Killing things also helps. If you want a permanent military, one month on, off would actually make things worse.

3) Just keep your Dwarfs behind fortifications until the archers have run out of bolts (presuming you have sufficient distractions.)

Otherwise, let them come to you. Engage in close quarter combat, which your Dwarfs will do better in (unless you have a crap ton of marksdwarfs).
Leave the micro/target priorities until you have  firm grasp of the mechanics ^0^

[madmenyo]

Wow thanks, so just squads of 3, but what about training them? Isn't it much more efficient to have 5 axe dwarfs trained at a time by a master?

What about barracks? Is it wise to put multiple squads in one barracks? I have one beneath my tower and one near the entrance i guess i can just put all the marks dwarfs near the tower and the rest at the entrance.

Yeah i have a (N)ote at my entrance and set the schedule to it, but still they are wondering off getting equipment outside my fort.

Another weird thing, i just ordered a move command but they all straight passed it and went on attacking the goblins, i first wanted to group but this as well didn't seem to work.

[Garath]

They get unhappy fast if they both have no civilian skill and no militairy skill. they'll get unhappy thoughts from going off duty and going on duty. Giving them a valuable barracks balances it a bit, letting them practice on captured goblins makes them very happy.

Military will almost always go to pick up equipment. You can forbid death items and fired bolts and dead bodies in (o), (F) so the items that end up outside are automatically forbidden, but they'll pick unforbidden things up. While it's annoying to have a melee soldier run off suddenly to get a better boot, it's vital that marksdwarfs get new bolts on their own initiative.

As soon as your military spots enemies, they'll charge. That is why they are usually kept behind a raised bridge or around a corner to break line of sight untill it is time to fight.

Sparring is one of the most effective training methods. Your dorfs seem to spar more often when the group is smaller, so smaller squads for training seems adviceable.

Since your marksdwarfs are most likely deployed on the tower, you might as well give them a barracks there. There is however no real downside on having multiple squads in one barracks that I know of.