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[Seraphim342]

Amushes at least seem more random in DF2012.  I've gotten two almost back-to-back.  They usually synch up with caravans though.  Oddly, having an ambush still present and "active" sometimes seems to block new ones from coming in.  Went a year without one on one fort when a leader gobbo got cage-trapped by a random trap in the middle of nowhere and his squad sat there waiting around, until they eventually got finished off by human caravan guards. 

[Iosyn]

This is the first thing I'd do if woodcutter uniforms didn't botch attempts to get them to wear armor.  Still, training them up as axedwarves isn't a bad idea, at least then they could fight back instead of cower and see how many limbs they can lose before they die.

Aye, I'm having some trouble getting them to wear armour full time as well. It would be just so nice if they could go out chopping trees with a steel axe and buckler.

[Telgin]

The timing is something I'd tried to get a grasp on to help predict these issues, with little success.  I'll try using that heuristic in the future, although it does seem to me that ambushes have shown up earlier than the 10th.

It's easy if they wait until the caravan arrives, because you get a nice announcement for it.  It's when you get 5 squads sneaking into your embark before the caravan shows up that really sucks.

I have started making sure that nobody goes outside the walls while a caravan is on the map though.  Since ambushes should logically be clustered around this time it has helped.

[VerdantSF]

Also, a large outer wall is nice. It's easy to build a massive wall in a season or two if you enable (or train!) a lot of masons.  A large wall with only two entrances makes it easier to catch ambushes with guard animals.

Alternatively, you can channel out a trench and remove the ramps.  Even with just two miners, this is usually faster than a whole horde of masons working on a wall and will keep out the same foes.  Just remember to floor over the stairway you create to get your miners out of the trench .

[Sutremaine]

The timing is something I'd tried to get a grasp on to help predict these issues, with little success.  I'll try using that heuristic in the future, although it does seem to me that ambushes have shown up earlier than the 10th.

Burrow everyone away from the surface as soon as you hit Late S/S/A/W, and station the guards at the fortress entrance. Depending on where the entrance is and how much of a detour ambushers have to take to get there, you can have every squad converging on the entrance at once, or have them straggle in possibly to the point of getting ambush announcements just into the next season.

Alternatively, caverns. There are usually narrow points where you can build a wall quickly (or channel out a two-wide dip and then remove the ramps on the outward side), and that keeps most of the really dangerous wildlife out while you build up to the ceiling. FBs will be a problem, especially if you wait a while before doing this, but it's pretty easy to lure them into sealable chambers where you can either leave them or drop stuff on them.

[krenshala]

Also, a large outer wall is nice. It's easy to build a massive wall in a season or two if you enable (or train!) a lot of masons.  A large wall with only two entrances makes it easier to catch ambushes with guard animals.

Alternatively, you can channel out a trench and remove the ramps.  Even with just two miners, this is usually faster than a whole horde of masons working on a wall and will keep out the same foes.  Just remember to floor over the stairway you create to get your miners out of the trench .

You can also build a wall directly adjacent to the moat at your liesure once you have the moat completed.  Dry moat + wall carved with fortifications means your marksdwarves can fire out, and non-elite ranged attackers have much higher difficulty shooting back in at them.

[Mushroo]

Hunters are a good ambush-detection system. After a few years they will be legendary marksdwarves. Once your hunters have pumped the ambushers full of bolts, issue your civilian alert to bring everyone inside the walls so they are safe from successive waves. Lift the alert early in the next season once you are sure the coast is clear. As for the woodcutters you can train them in the military now, the bug was fixed.