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[a rhesus macaque]

Sorry, some more newb questions.  How do I get my soldiers to equip themselves with the weapons and armor I assign them in the military screen?  I've made the items, and I made a weapon and armor rack, but they're still running around unarmed.

Also, why wouldn't I want to always equip my soldiers with plate mail and the best weapons available?  Do they need to build up their strength and skill level first?

Finally, does it make a difference what material things are made out of, other than for just the value?  Will a wooden crossbow be less effective than a steel one?  

Thanks!

[Skanky]

1. Military menu 'm'

2. Raw recruits + best weapon available = injuries

3. Did you look at the wiki? This information is there.

[ December 12, 2007: Message edited by: Skanky ]

[a rhesus macaque]

Well, I said I did assign them the weapons, they just aren't equipping themselves with them.  Are there other steps involved, not mentioned in the wiki?  

There's a LOT not mentioned in the wiki, probably because there's SO MUCH to know about this game that people who've played the game for a while start to take things for granted.  I built my first fort out of sand, because I didn't realize I had to go down several levels before I reached rock.  And I almost missed my opportunity to trade because I overlooked the part where I had to request a trader.  (I was confused by that--I thought there already was a trader at the depot, i.e. the dwarf caravan.)    

[a rhesus macaque]

Why would the raw recruits be seriously injured by weapons if I'm also able to equip them with the best armor in the game at the outset?  Or do they not get the benefit of that armor until they skill up in armor, or something?  Thanks!

[Torak]

quote:Originally posted by a rhesus macaque:
<STRONG>Why would the raw recruits be seriously injured by weapons if I'm also able to equip them with the best armor in the game at the outset?  Or do they not get the benefit of that armor until they skill up in armor, or something?  Thanks!</STRONG>

Recruits are just that, recruits, meaning, they don't know what they're doing when it comes to fighting, making accidents in sparring happen ALOT unless they're at least mildly skilled in wrestling/shield using, so, before going off and giving Joe Schmoe a spear, I suggest that you get him and his new buddy some wrestling skill and shield, that way they have a MUCH lower chance of maiming each other. And on armor..

Armor still gives a bonus, but as far as Im concerned, armor is far too underpowered in this game if it's anything below adamantine or masterful steel, while shields give a huge bonus to any kind of battle situation.

[Skanky]

http://www.dwarffortresswiki.net/index.php/Armor  http://www.dwarffortresswiki.net/index.php/Weapon
This explains much of what you are asking here.

I'm not sure why your soldiers aren't equipping weapons - I haven't given weapons to my soldiers yet. They grabbed armor just fine, though. Perhaps the weapons are built but haven't been moved to a weapons stockpile yet?

I do agree that the game is quite difficult to get initially. I *did* miss out on trading with the first few caravans due to not requesting my trader go there. I also didn't cut down trees during the first season as I didn't realise they were in a different z-level. I will confess that armor was one of the first subjects I looked at once I got a handle on the basics of the game.  

[Scorpios]

I'm going to preface this by pointing you to the Gameplay Questions forum, for future use. However, the question has been asked, so I'll go ahead.

Basically, all that has been said so far is true. Two things noticeably left unmentioned though:
1.) The weapon and armor racks do nothing - they're just for show. They're more-or-less statues, as far as the game is concerned.
2.) Yes, materials do matter. In fact, it may be a good idea to have weak weapons made from all that useless copper you have lying around for the dwarves to spar with. Quality matters in weapons and armor, but also bolts.

[BurnedToast]

Weapon and armor racks don't do anything right now because they were buggy, eventually they will be fixed to hold weapons and armor.

If soldiers have access to the weapons and armor you assign, they should run and grab them. Sometimes it takes a while because they are busy doing something else, but if it's been more then a month or so there might be a problem. Did you accidentally lock a door between them and the weapons or something? If not, check the items and see if they have TSK next to them, that means there is a task that wants to use that item - for weapons or armor it would probably be hauling it to a stockpile. They won't pick it up to use it if a task wants it, so you will have to wait till someone gets around to putting it in the stockpile first.

The only reason not to give your dwarves the best armor available is because plate mail is kind of heavy. Armor user skill lets a dwarf ignore part of the weight of his armor, and strength lets him carry more before he gets slowed down. I usually just suck it up and give recruits steel plate anyway but alot of people like to give them something lighter to train them in first - it's up to you.

As for weapons, like others have said there is a risk of the dwarves getting maimed if you give them nice weapons right at the start. When sparring, there will always be accidents sometimes - highly skilled dwarves (or very tough ones) can either block the blows or dodge them, or if they get hurt recover from them. Raw recruits, however, will likely get their spines broken or arms lopped off or something equally terrible if you just set them all up with masterworked steel weapons. Instead, either give them a shield but no weapon or give them weak weapons to train with till they get good shield and wrestling skill.

Material matters, yes. Silver does 50% of the damage of iron, copper does 66%, bronze does 75%, Iron does 100% (of course), steel does 133% and adamantine does 500%(!). Armor has the same values. Also, the quality of the weapon or armor effects it too - 'no modifier' is 100%, masterwork is 200%, and the others are in between. So you might want to give your dwarves no modifier silver weapons to train with (just don't forget to give them real weapons when the goblins come!).

The exception to this is crossbows. The quality modifier works when they fire bolts, but the material does not matter - a masterwork wood crossbow works just as well as a masterwork adamantine crossbow. When dwarves run out of ammo, however, they will usually just charge the enemy and beat them on the heads with the crossbow, and material DOES effect the damage done from that so giving them steel crossbows is not a bad idea.