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[Hans Lemurson]

I've been getting this message a lot with my marksdwarves after I order them to the arena for live targets.  Once they have ended all goblin life in the arena, they then just stand there doing nothing and when I check their current job it says: "Soldier (cannot follow orders)"

I'm assuming that this not simply a dwarven attitude problem, but is instead saying that their current job is Soldier (because I gave them some orders) and that for some reason they are unable to follow.  Once they had dispatched the goblins, I canceled their "move to this position" order and then they proceeded to stand there drooling until all of a sudden half of them switched back to civilian duty and they all strolled off.

What can I do to get my marksdwarves to stop standing around like idiots?

[bowie]

I am having the same problem with my marksdwarves. 

[Hans Lemurson]

From what I've figured out, the "all of a sudden" change comes at the change of the month when they decide it's time to check their schedules to see what to do next.  So the problem won't last more than a month.

Also, something I just figured out about ammunition conservation:  If you dig a channel in front of your archer targets, then the bolts don't break and are re-usable.  I thought of this when i read that was something to do with siege-weapon training, that if a catapult fires a rock and it hits a wall that rock is only destroyed if there it is above a floor at the point of impact.  I then surmised that this MIGHT also work for archery targets and bolts, so I dug a channel in front of my targets and sure enough it's getting filled up with intact bolts.

[JimiD]

I have had this when the squads are scheduled to train, but I had forgotten to allocate a barracks to training.

As soon as one one allocated 'T' and 'Q', then they soon got busy.

[Aramco]

From what I've figured out, the "all of a sudden" change comes at the change of the month when they decide it's time to check their schedules to see what to do next.  So the problem won't last more than a month.

Also, something I just figured out about ammunition conservation:  If you dig a channel in front of your archer targets, then the bolts don't break and are re-usable.  I thought of this when i read that was something to do with siege-weapon training, that if a catapult fires a rock and it hits a wall that rock is only destroyed if there it is above a floor at the point of impact.  I then surmised that this MIGHT also work for archery targets and bolts, so I dug a channel in front of my targets and sure enough it's getting filled up with intact bolts.

But if catapults just fire rocks, wouldn't you want them to be smashed? There are too many rocks in the world already.

[ChopperDave]

Something I saw on the bug tracker but haven't been able to try is setting up archery targets and a barracks with an armor stand or chest both set to train. The theory was that after they got done shooting they wanted to do some demonstrations and couldn't at the target range.

[Hans Lemurson]

But if catapults just fire rocks, wouldn't you want them to be smashed? There are too many rocks in the world already.

If you've set up a siege-engineer training ground and don't want to have to bother with continually carting in new stone.  Loose stone I have lying about I just dump into a singularity-stockpile.  The innovation here is that you can conserve your training ammunition.

I'll set up a weapon-rack at my archery range and see if that makes a difference in their eagerness to train.  Of course half of my marksdwarves are in the hospital after a little mishap during a siege (goblin archers on a slope were at the same level as my fortifications and so were firing in relatively unimpeded), but we'll see what the rest do.

[Khift]

One of the many Soldier (Cannot follow order) bugs revolving marksdwarves has to do with them wanting to train, but not having any ammunition, and the game hasn't assigned them any new ammunition to pick up yet. The game can take a seriously long time to assign a dwarf new ammo, and the period of time while the dwarf is waiting for the equipment manager to catch up to him he spends with Soldier (Cannot follow order). There isn't anything you can do to alleviate this, just to wait.

[Hans Lemurson]

I just checked and saw that all of my bone bolts had been used-up, which is another explanation for why they weren't doing anything.

With my new ammo-conservation scheme in place, I've designated copper bolts to be my combat and training ammo.  I have a serious abundance of copper.

[ChopperDave]

After I got fed up with the marksdwarf issues I made them all hammerdwarfs. After that they didn't have any problems training but mysteriously they would do crossbow demonstrations with their war hammers equipped. They would gain skill in marksdwarfing as well so I'm not sure whats up with that. I don't think they were gaining nearly as fast as if they had been shooting but with the downtime it might have been.

[Akura]

I just had a double crossgobbo ambush(always Fun, they are) that would have gone much better had more than three of the 9 dwarves in the squad followed orders. The rest had said Soldier(Cannot follow orders).