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[katwithk]

I realize I may be asking questions that have been answered a few times, and for that I apologize. Searching the forums can be very time consuming, and I only have a very limited amount of time in which I am within range of open-access wifi.

/Apology

Anyway, so I have a few questions regarding my military and their weapons, mostly their weapons.

Does the type of ammunition used for crossbows make a significant difference?
If so, how do I ensure my marksdwarves use the apropriate kind?
Is it possible to get marksdwarves to carry... Multiple quivers??

What kind of weapons are best against goblins?
I understand spears are typically best for megbeasts and their kin, but  I've been having gobbo+troll sieges a -minimum- of once a year for the past three, which has seriously derailed my ability to get my inorganic defenses (walls, watchtowers, pillboxes, etc.) in place. I'd like to put together a military capable of best handling these sieges in 1-on-1 (by which I of course mean 3-on-1) combat, form an equipment perspective.

Do I assume correctly that a mail shirt may be worn under a breastplate, and the same for leggings with greaves? I have more than enough iron, I have no qualms about making my warriors walking tanks.

[katwithk]

Also:

Is there a way aside form squad assignment to get civilians to wear armor, and is there a cpa on the number of squads you may have?

[AutomataKittay]

Only way to armor civilians are to use the squads and leaving them inactive and unassigned. AFAIK there're no cap on how many squads you can have, however I've heard that the cap's somewhere around 14 squads, or as many dwarves assignable as a metropolian (140, which is when king will want to show up ), which I've not tried to reach before.

Pretty much any kind of metal ammo will work well, excepting bluemetal for it's lightness. Bone ammo works well in pinch or when you can't make enough of other kind of ammos. Multiple quivers aren't possible and they won't try, afaik. There're a screen to assign types of ammo and amount ( the amount's squad-wide, I prefer to set it to 300 so if they randomly decide some out of reach ammo's wantable, they won't get stuck being ammoless ).

You can't have leggings worn with greaves, they're both shaped armors. I'd stick with greaves if you can. Mail shirt will be worn under breastplate, though.

Best weapon I don't really know since I stick to picks and axes from manfacturing so many of them during early years ( I uses ore and coal starts )

[katwithk]

I've fairly consistently embarked on volcano sites, so metal costs me nothing but time to process, and a healthily-sized metalsmithing corps. Copper, silver, and iron are my only domestic ores, but in very large amounts.

I've been using bone ammo until now as I've seen no other practical use for all this damn bone I have, and it's clogging up the waste processing area.

(bone crafts being of little use, due to not only the sheer amount of other crafts i have made already and the lack of a large amount of good importables (yet) )

[kuki]

AFAIK, if you have access to as much copper or silver as you please, it's worth it to manufacture copper or silver bolts over bone, at least for shooting armored enemies.

For far too much information on the subject, consult this awesome thread. http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=116151.0

[katana]

Goblins aren't particularly well armored, large, or strong, so any weapon will work. It's really up to personal preference. Bladed weapons will need more cleanup afterwards, but blunt weapons don't have the advantage of making the enemy bleed (as much, at least) out if your soldier decides to aim for limbs.

EDIT: Just to be clear- if you're having military problems, just go with whatever your military dwarf has the highest skill in (possibly on a case by case basis). Except blowgunner.

[kuki]

Goblins aren't particularly well armored, large, or strong, so any weapon will work.

OP, I didn't notice any mention of a supply of flux stone or steel, and it is worth mentioning that many goblins do have at least some iron armor, making it unfavorable to attack them if the bulk of your soldiers are using iron-or-worse swords or axes. Many of the slashes may be deflected. Iron spears will penetrate goblinite just fine, and blunt weapons or whips are a completely safe bet.

[katwithk]

I have no flux. Any steel I acquire will be highly prized.

Side note: are whips and or scourges any good? I kinda like the idea of a dwarvish lasher squad.

[katana]

They're good to the point of being considered broken by many. Any material will cut through enemies no matter what they're wearing.

[katwithk]

Innteresting. Sounds tempting, but exploity.