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[Minarin]

I'm trying a kind of harvest dwarf fortress and was wondering if there's a way to get your dwarfs to equip armour and weapons without being in military?

Thanks in advance.

[weenog]

I think the usual method is to put everyone in the military, assign them simple uniforms, order those uniforms to be worn even while inactive, then just never activate the squads.

[Minarin]

Thanks.

[WealthyRadish]

If you do put everyone (except miners, hunters, and woodcutters, as they have a uniform conflict) into squads, I'd recommend crossbows for all civilians. They'll fire them while off duty, instead of just running around like idiots every time a rabbit is enraged, and they're cheap to produce in large quantities.

[weenog]

If you do put everyone (except miners, hunters, and woodcutters, as they have a uniform conflict) into squads, I'd recommend crossbows for all civilians. They'll fire them while off duty, instead of just running around like idiots every time a rabbit is enraged, and they're cheap to produce in large quantities.

Been thinking about using that one myself, but I've never tried it.  Can they work with a uniform that includes only a crossbow, assuming there are enough quivers and bolts to go around?

[WealthyRadish]

I usually micro it to the point where they're all wearing the same uniform of clothing and armor, but yeah, just crossbows would work fine.

[Xvareon]

"Let no child be without a sword. We must all fight, for if we do not, we will surely die." ~ Unknown

This sounds to me like the Second Amendment taken to an extreme. It's certainly a great way to ensure even your non-military Dwarves won't be completely helpless in a fight... typically I end up with tons and tons of leather armor or cheap metal pieces I'm never gonna use, since my real fighters are always armed with at least iron. Since it's so easy to mass-produce bars of metal now, you may be able to churn out stack after stack of copper/bronze bolts to arm your Dwarves. Interesting idea...

[weenog]

I think bone bolts are probably more appropriate for civilians.  They're cheap, and the stack size is smaller, which (just a hunch) seems likely to discourage the civilian from standing around for too long if he manages to slow something down with a leg shot or whatever.

[Fredd]

Then the potential exists for a tantruming civvy  to go berserk equipped with a weapon

[weenog]

So don't give your civilians reason to tantrum.  Not having friends dead of wildlife or wimpy invaders because they were denied the right to bear arms is a step in the right direction.

[Sutremaine]

Even five bolts take a while to fire. The smaller stack size does make the number-crunching easier (5 bolts per stack + 25-bolt fill limit on quivers = 29 bone bolts to a quiver, maximum), but given how few shots a lone civilian will get I'd rather make them count.

Metal bolts will also make it less likely that the fortress grinds to a halt for a lone kobold thief not because everyone runs around for one round of panicking while the thief escapes, but because everyone who gets within firing range stands there and keeps on shooting because the bone bolts mostly just keep the thief unconscious.

[knutor]

All ambushers, that would load all the dwarfs up with leather armor, quivers, and a leather shield, I think.  As long as ya had the gear, or started with the skill at embark.  Ya wouldn't need any beds with all ambushers, since hunters sleep elsewhere, well until a made a noble was assigned.  Crossbows and bolts would need made.  Ambushers no longer start with those. 

That would equip all your guys without a militia.  Kinda stinks we cannot modify the hunter's, miner's, and woodcutter's uniforms.  But I guess its meant to be that way for a reason.  I agree, the military menus are tough to learn, until played around with, a couple dozen times.  Knutor

[Panando]

Then the potential exists for a tantruming civvy  to go berserk equipped with a weapon

All the more fun.

One of the most epic moments in one of my fortresses, was in a fully militarized fortress. All the haulers were armed with crossbows. One of my clothiers went moody and wanted some random kind of boring generic grey rock to make his artefact. It just happened I didn't have that particular shade of boring generic grey rock.
The clothier went berserk, and was instantly shot and killed by a passing lye maker, one bolt, right between the eyes. Cool as.

Basically the whole 'zerking thing doesn't work so well when everyone is armed to the teeth. It's really horrible being a kobold or goblin thief in one of those fortresses. They're sighted, and instantly grow 20 bolts and collapse in a bleeding pile of pain.

[Caprealis]

I usually leave my civilians with the default archer uniform.

Leather armor seems to build up in the stockpiles more then anything

Its better to assign them to squads early in the fort though, Putting a few hundred dwarfs in the millitary gets annoying,