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Author Topic: Starting up an army  (Read 3371 times)

ZedEh

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Re: Starting up an army
« Reply #15 on: March 24, 2008, 08:48:00 pm »

Why?  Why, Dwarf Fortress, Why?  Why don't my dwarfs obey my "STAY THE HELL INSIDE!!" order, and send 4 dwarfs, 3 of them legendary, onto the spears of a goblin raid?

Damn it.

Thanks for all the advice.

Now I need to train up a new mason.  F***.

[ March 24, 2008: Message edited by: ZedEh ]

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Derakon

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Re: Starting up an army
« Reply #16 on: March 24, 2008, 09:16:00 pm »

Because dwarves will still accept jobs that involve going outside; it's just that when they actually step outside, they say "Hey wait, didn't someone say I shouldn't be out here?" and, shortly thereafter, "Ahhh goblin go away go away!", and, because their brains are clogged with beard, they promptly forget that the closest escape is down instead of away.

This is why you build defenses outside in addition to inside your fort.

That said, any legendary dwarf should be able to tangle with at least one goblin for a little while, and legendary miners in particular are dangerous combatants. Just draft 'em so they'll fight back.

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ZedEh

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Re: Starting up an army
« Reply #17 on: March 24, 2008, 09:53:00 pm »

*loads dwarf foreman*

Oh, damn.  Looks like I lost 2 of my 3 my metal-workers.

*sigh*

Oh well.  Whatever Toady did to optimize the code for 38c, I'm grateful for (a chunk of my tax rebate is earmarked for you man).  My framerate has gone from 30-40 with 20 or so dwarves to around 100.  Now, here's hoping hunting gets fixed soon.   :)

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ZedEh

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Re: Starting up an army
« Reply #18 on: March 24, 2008, 09:57:00 pm »

No, wait, they're both still alive!!

And one has just been taken by a strange mood!

And just gave birth while collecting materials!!

Man, when it rains in this game it pours.

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Lyrax

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Re: Starting up an army
« Reply #19 on: March 25, 2008, 12:04:00 am »

quote:
Originally posted by Torak:
<STRONG>

Quarter? Unless the other 75% is farmers and weaponsmiths, I put about 95% of all immigrants into the army. Alot of my dwarves are grey.</STRONG>


Why do you need more than one weaponsmith?  I've never said "my fort is doing really, really well, but I need more weapons!  The hundreds of iron weapons brought by the goblins just aren't enough for my traps, and my poor weaponsmith can only make twenty or thirty in a day!

That being said, I would NOT like to invade your fortress with my army.

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umiman

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Re: Starting up an army
« Reply #20 on: March 25, 2008, 12:13:00 am »

I actually recommend getting your entire military in one shot if you're planning to keep them around. This is because if you gather them slowly, there's a good chance some well level out much faster than others, which is bad for several reasons:
1. If you attempt to train weapon users and wrestlers at the same time, you're going to see injuries.
2. Certain older militia will seriously overpower your newbies, probably killing them by farting in their general direction when sparring.
3. It's difficult to keep track when everyone is of vastly different levels.

To get a huge bunch of people in one go, here's what I recommend. It's a bit of metagaming, but eh...

Just limit your pop cap to whatever you feel is comfortable for a functional fortress without a military (This number for me is 20, might be different for you). Once you reach that point, start spamming the wealth generation like a 14 year old girl until you reach several million or so.

Then open up your pop cap to include the military number you want.

Torak

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Re: Starting up an army
« Reply #21 on: March 25, 2008, 12:32:00 am »

quote:
Originally posted by Lyrax:
<STRONG>Why do you need more than one weaponsmith?</STRONG>

Well generally any xsmith is put to work in the forges, I just like weaponsmiths more because weapons are very versatile in use, while I let the highest leveled one make steel for the troops, I let the novices produce tens of hundreds of bolts and spears for traps. Armorsmiths are helpful, but armor is greatly obsoleted by a well-enough shield. Metal crafters and blacksmiths just get set to stud with tin/copper/silver on repeat. It helps make worth, fast. Also I get nicely decorated socks.

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ZedEh

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Re: Starting up an army
« Reply #22 on: March 25, 2008, 02:08:00 am »

I hate gathering wood.  Eight unarmed dwarves caught outside by a force of 16 gobbos.  Oh, the blood.  My exterior defenses aren't in place yet.  *Sigh*  Goodbye Meng.  Your masterwork stone items will be missed.  -_;
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Trollvottel

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Re: Starting up an army
« Reply #23 on: March 25, 2008, 10:00:00 am »

quote:
Originally posted by umiman:
<STRONG>I actually recommend getting your entire military in one shot </STRONG>

The way I've tried to prevent losing more guys (dabbling at wearing leather armor) to sparring accidents ...
a) don't give the fortress guard weapons or they'll use them sparring
b) When you have everyone spar together, let them wrestle.
c) When you want more experienced soldiers to spar with close combat weapons, assign crossbows to everone else (or make them 'on duty').
Just standing around picking their noses while on duty is rumoured to be good for their stats, too :-)

I'm now going to reorganize but not sure which system to use:

a) Ease of use in training

Experienced marksdwarf squad
Noob marksdwarf squad
Experienced melee squad
Noob melee squad

That makes training fairly easy: Want some more axe skill on that squad of elite wrestlers? Set the noob marksdwarves to Xbows, set the other two squads 'on duty', and check whether your fortress guards are likely to survive the sparring (chain mail minimum I guess).

(The problem here: I want mixed squads in combat, so every 2-3 marksdwarves have a melee guy for protection, and every team of 2-3 melee guys has ranged backup. So with this system, sieges, traders or megabeasts mean micromanagement)

b) Economy based
Each squad with a similar composition:
Miner
Farmer
Furnace operator
woodcutter
Crafter

That way one can activate/deactivate entire squads quickly without having to worry about the economy too much ...

[ March 25, 2008: Message edited by: Trollvottel ]

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