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[reynoldsj]

I have a bunch of zombies in cages from the last zombie siege.  Can I tie them up all around the map to fight off future invaders?  Will the tied up zombies trigger agro from my dogs?  From were beasts?  Will they hurt the dwarves trying to tie them up?  Thanks!

[Snafu]

Speaking of zombies & werebeasts, will a zombified werebeast still change once the moon rises?

[Thisfox]

Speaking of zombies & werebeasts, will a zombified werebeast still change once the moon rises?

I'm pretty sure that being undead cures the werebeast issue.

[PatrikLundell]

Unless they break free while being hauled (which can happen), undead will not hurt the hauler. Once chained the worker will panic and flee as an undead is suddenly visible (no panic during the hauling, though, but visiting military types from other civs can attack the undead [merchant guards, spydiplomat entourage, etc.]).
They may only fight invaders if the invaders decide to fight the undead, since being tied up means the undead can't move far. It's also rather pointless, unless you're trying to deplete the enemy of missiles, as the enemy would likely attack in large mobs, so the undead would be unlikely to cause much injury (even Titans, contained and let out to fight goblin invasions, rarely kill more than two or three goblins before succumbing: I've done that only with organic Titans, though).

I agree with Thisfox on the were issue. The were curse is on the soul of the individual, and the soul is no longer attached to the body (which also manifests itself in that re-killed bodies of undead of former sapients are treated as refuse, not corpses).

[reynoldsj]

I was thinking of the undead more as a delaying tactic.  Werebeasts in particular move so fast that I often can't get my drawbridge up in the time between when they arrive and when they reach my gates.  I was thinking that, if they stopped to fight the zombies, it would slow them down.  I suppose though, that tying up any animal might accomplish that, without the headache of an undead. 

I've seen werebeasts run across the map to kill my cats.  I'm assuming they would stop a moment to kill a boar tied up right outside the gate, no?

Speaking of undead in restraints, is there a good way to take their gear other than just killing them and picking up stuff off the ground?

[anewaname]

Speaking of undead in restraints, is there a good way to take their gear other than just killing them and picking up stuff off the ground?

Scroll down on this wiki pages to find Other Uses and Confiscating prisoner items. Usually I just remove their weapons, then mass-pit them into a barracks room where troops are training. You disarm them while they are in the cage.

I suspect you will find it safer to use a few chained poults than undead, for the purpose of bringing the were-creatures out of sneaky-mode and into a fight. There are also "turkey-poult watchtower" designs out there and funner fancier magma-crab watch towers.

You can find other uses for the armed and armored undead, like mass-pitting them into a room adjacent to both your trade depot and your external-vistors-are-allowed tavern, and linking that room's doors to a lever your dwarfs can reach. Then, when that time comes that multiple tavern visitors change into were-creatures and the depot or inn is gory mess of wounded and infected beings, raise your civ-alert, seal your fort's gate to block access to the depot and tavern, release the undead to finish off the infected unfotunates. This will reduce the odds of your dwarfs being infected and a were-explosion happening within your fort later on. This is also useful for xenophobic dwarf forts where your civ turns out to be tolerant of and infected with, breeding goblins. Some will suggest that filling the adjacent room with magma instead is even more efficient and dwarfy, but that is not a creative use of the undead.

[PatrikLundell]

Watch animals are better than undead for were detection, because weres are only brought out of stealth versus you by being detected by your creatures (I don't know about visitors, though). Thus, I've been notified that a guard cat (what other uses do these adopting monsters have?) detects a were, and have later found dead wildlife that most likely were butchered by that were without lifting their stealth veil.
The further out you detect weres the more time you have to catch them (and I cheat: when a were is detected entering one of my fairly long entrance tunnels I order the pulling of the lever to close the outer gate (behind the were), and I monitor its progress through the tunnel. Shortly before it reaches the inner end I lock a sacrificial door and order the pulling of the lever for the inner drawbridge. Usually the were turns back before it's managed to destroy the door). Once the were has turned back I open the outer drawbridge to let it get caught by a cage trap.

[reynoldsj]

Thanks for all the awesome suggestions!  I have plenty of poults and will definitely try that.  Zombies will become target practice.  Not sure I'm versed enough in DF yet to take on the zombies next to visitors' tavern project.

Cute idea for how to cage the weres, delaying it until it changes.  Good thinking.

[Killgoth]

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