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[Tarqiup Inua]

and you dont over burden them too much.

Dabbling armor users in full steel set can be pretty slow. And if they are hauling a rock... There is even risk of them dehydrating before they reach the workshop/stockpile.

Well, you can't go wrong with assigning wooden shields (and perhaps leather armour)...
Give them barracks for their individual combat drills and it solves problem with idlers making friends to a degree.

[weenog]

I've tried Fort Second Amendment before.  It's not hard to arm nearly everyone in the fortress with wooden crossbows and a few bolts.  The quivers are the only real sticking point, and if you're using bone bolts from a thriving meat industry, even getting leather for those isn't a problem.

The thing you need to remember is that in the absence of skill, you're going to need to rely on quantity.  One unskilled or novice marksdwarf isn't going to be able to do much if attacked, he'll probably fire once, miss, then roll over and die.  On the other hand, if a snatcher shows up near the front gate, and the butcher, the tanner, the leatherworker, the bonecarver, and the 6-10 haulers cleaning up after those guys and two industrious woodcutters, all those dwarfs open fire, that goblin is going to have a bad day, and you're going to have a mess to clean up.

So, you need to consider your fortress layout, and where enemies are likely to be engaged, how high-traffic those areas are, before you decide whether arming everybody is worthwhile or a waste of time and resources.

[Bihlbo]

You also might want to consider how happy everyone is. A well-armed tantrum doesn't go well.

[kiwiphoenix]

Generally in favour of arming everyone as shooters. Everything helps in an emergency.
On a side note, full armament makes thieves, snatchers, and sneaky necros pretty trivial - on discovery, they get instantly riddled from eight directions. It's very satisfying.

Definitely second the happiness note, though. Once did this as goblins (which tantrum easily) and wound up with a free-for-all shootout in the halls.

[TalonisWolf]

Would it be a good idea to chain animal people outside the fortress walls to distract invaders?

Use a elf if possible.

However, animal people will do. Bonus if they are armed so they can do some damage.

Oh, by the way: those animal people are going to be the source of SO MUCH cancellation spam, and will prevent your Dwarven Civilians from leaving...great for stopping them from collecting that last !!pigtail fibre sock!!, but not-so-great for megaprojects and woodclearing. Caravan guards will probably attack them, as well.

This is assuming you can successfully catch and tie up animal men, so prepare a back up plan just in case start hauling from the canter of your fort. 

[thegoatgod_pan]

It is smart. I've had forts survive only because I could quickly rally survivors with military orders or hold a choke point while some masons desperately sealed an entrance.

Granted you can both of those things without arming your populace, but where is the fun in that?

[Aslandus]

It is smart. I've had forts survive only because I could quickly rally survivors with military orders or hold a choke point while some masons desperately sealed an entrance.

Granted you can both of those things without arming your populace, but where is the fun in that?

Playing cask of Amontillado with the invaders and arming civvies with crossbows are completely different, however, it may be a good idea to train your civilians in unarmed fighting so they can still defend themselves from snatchers and thieves when going out to chop trees or carry fruit back from a forage-palooza

[Nyxalinth]

You also might want to consider how happy everyone is. A well-armed tantrum doesn't go well can generate tons of !!Fun!!.

FTFY