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[SenorOcho]

Which is practical for getting a few elite soldiers decked out within a couple of years. Not for decking out 50 mooks.

Unless you're embarking on a desert, you should have no problem equipping archer squads.  Either trees for wood, or grass to bring sheep/llamas/alpacas/whatever for bones (and even on a desert, there's always piercing the caves to get moss to grow). Heck, I didn't even bring any livestock on my current fortress, and my bone carver is always working overtime just from migrant pet breeding.  Leather tends to be pretty cheap and common from the mountainhome, making leather armor/quivers/backpacks easy even if you go the wood route.

[Hyndis]

Leather armor and wooden shields should be mass producible even in a fortress with absolutely no metal whatsoever.

You can then trade for better armor from the traders or metal bars to make your own armor.

Its okay if they don't have much good gear to start with. They will get better gear over time. Also dwarves can wear both elven and goblin armor, meaning you can give them rope reed armor from the elves. Its better than nothing. You can also equip them with gear from slain goblins.

As you produce higher quality armor they will head over to the armory and upgrade the armor on their own. Don't specify what material you want the armor made out of. Just make a uniform of 3 chainmail shirts, 1 breastplate, 1 helm, 1 pair of high boots, 1 pair of gauntlets, 1 greaves, 1 shield, 1 crossbow. They'll pick the best item they can find.

[EBannion]

To all those recommending various archer strategies I say BAH!

And perhaps, if warranted, an additional HUMBUG!

It's not Dwarfly to shoot your enemies when they are so far away you can hardly see them in through the smoke of the !!Trees!! and the !!Grass!! left behind by your defensive precautions!

It is fitting and proper to equip the military with axes and hammers! Let your dismembered, crushed, and broken enemies know that, even as they lay dying at your feet, they were lucky you chose to use any weapon at all, rather than biting out their eyes and throats with your sturdy Dwarven teeth!

[Ahrimahn]

These are Dwarves we are talking about they prefer to insult their enemies from behind fifty feet of stone why not kill them while they're at it.

[krenshala]

Just thought I'd add an update from my post (back on page 1).  With my current (.25) fortress I was able to train seven noobsrecruits from zero to 4 in speardwarf in six months of continuous training with them using nothing but wooden shields and training spears.  I literally took the entire first wave of immigrants, drafted them as they were walking across the front lawn to get to the meeting hall, and set them to training. 

The specific numbers for them are after six months of non-danger-room training are:

Code: [Select]

Dodok Limardodok)   4 spear,          4 dodge, 6 fighter, 3 striker,          2 shield
Inod Zessazir)      4 spear,          4 dodge, 5 fighter, 3 striker,          1 shield
Melbil Asteshtomem) 4 spear, 2 biter, 5 dodge, 5 fighter, 3 striker, 2 armor, 0.67 sheild (338 of 500 exp)
Oddom Kulinendok)   4 spear, 1 biter, 6 dodge, 5 fighter, 3 striker, 5 armor, 1 shield
Rovod Kollimul)     5 spear,          5 dodge, 6 fighter, 3 striker, 2 armor, 1 shield
Sigun Atisalil)     4 spear,          5 dodge, 6 fighter, 3 striker,          1 shield
Zulban Zimkelkib)   5 spear,          4 dodge, 5 fighter, 3 striker,          2 shieldAll seven of these showed up with exactly zero in all of the skills listed above.

It is now spring, they have just upgraded from training spears to steel and iron (no flux, but I was able to melt down three steel anvils the mountainhome supplied) and I am expecting the first elven caravan to show up soon ... I just wish I could remember if I was already at war with them on this fort or not.  The civs screen won't show that until they show up for the first time.