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[synyster31]

Can anyone tell me what i'm doing wrong here as my marksdwarves won't shoot through the fortifications towards the rat in the pit?

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

For clarity- the corridoor between the fortifications is where the marksdwarves should stand when shooting into the pit or to the left to the main entrance corridoor.

[Robsoie]

Are you certain your marksdwarves have bolts to use for their crossbows ?

It sounds obvious, but a few years ago i ran into a similar problem, and only found that the marksdwarves had no bolts despite i had several hundred of them in my ammo stockpile.
The dwarves were just not picking any of those bolts.

The source of the problem was that i had bins used by that ammo stockpile, and the ammo were logically stocked inside those bins to keep things clean and easy.

Unfortunately there's a bug with bins since at least df2010 and is still present in df2014 in which most of the time (for me it was every time) ammo stocked inside bins will be ignored by the dwarves.

[Molly Renata]

Unfortunately there's a bug with bins since at least df2010 and is still present in df2014 in which most of the time (for me it was every time) ammo stocked inside bins will be ignored by the dwarves.

...I was wondering why I couldn't get anyone to use bolts or arrows...

[Loud Whispers]

And also make sure your Dwarves are assigned ammunition in the (f) ammunition menu in the military screen

[synyster31]

Hmm it may be the bins. I removed the fortifications to rule those out and they all melee charged head long into the magma  Stupid dwarves.

I'll remove the bins when I get a chance to play again. Quantum stockpile time then, I don't like using them but if it's a bug then I guess its an only workaround.

Edit:
Yes they have just 'Bolts' assigned, combat and training enabled, 3000 of them.

[Skullsploder]

Yes they have just 'Bolts' assigned, combat and training enabled, 3000 of them.

This could be your problem. That reserves 3000 bolts for each squad. However, each dwarf can only carry 25, so the maximum amount of ammo that can be assigned to a squad is 250. Essentially, if you have more than one squad, and less than 3000 bolts, the second squad will get no ammo. It's possible that this may work on a dwarf-by-dwarf basis too, although I haven't checked (that is, each dwarf in a 10-dwarf squad may get 300 bolts reserved for them, with the first dwarf having the highest priority).

[synyster31]

Yes they have just 'Bolts' assigned, combat and training enabled, 3000 of them.

This could be your problem. That reserves 3000 bolts for each squad. However, each dwarf can only carry 25, so the maximum amount of ammo that can be assigned to a squad is 250. Essentially, if you have more than one squad, and less than 3000 bolts, the second squad will get no ammo. It's possible that this may work on a dwarf-by-dwarf basis too, although I haven't checked (that is, each dwarf in a 10-dwarf squad may get 300 bolts reserved for them, with the first dwarf having the highest priority).

Hmm I didn't get to test that out, i deleted the squad as 4 of them dived into magma 

I deleted the squad and remade it and they train fine now, taking ammo out of bins fine. I'll check what bolts are assigned when I get a chance.

[ajar]

Quivers! Quivers! Only one ammunition in hand? Better than nothing.

[Saiko Kila]

Yes they have just 'Bolts' assigned, combat and training enabled, 3000 of them.

This could be your problem. That reserves 3000 bolts for each squad. However, each dwarf can only carry 25, so the maximum amount of ammo that can be assigned to a squad is 250.

Nay. Dwarves can carry more than 25 bolts. For example my one dwarf has currently two stacks in his quiver: 21 and 18 bolts. Plus gobbos often bring stacks of 40 bolts, and dwarves can use them all-right. Better max would be something like 400 - 500 bolts bor a 10-dwarf squad. Just make a surplus of bolts, like one order of magnitude more than you are using at any time, and they should be good. (I reserve about 150 bone bolts with training/combat enabled, 300 metal bolts with combat only, keep stock of 8000-10000 bolts and have no problem).

I keep spare bolts in a quantum stockpile, because currently it's the only sane solution.

[synyster31]

Ugh, i got them training and then they stopped again! I'm getting semi-regular crashes now though so i'll probably start a new fort. I might upload a save if I hit the same problem again to see if someone can see what's going wrong.

[Witty]

Are you constructing something on a tree branch?

[synyster31]

Nope no outside or cavern buildings.