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[squidgen]

I recently started a new fortress. It was in some untrained untamed wilds, so I had a fairly large early military to fend off the giant bagers. Unfortunately, there weren't enough weapons to go around, so I gave a pick that used to belong to an unfortunate miner. I instructed said dwarf to kill some thirps men. Moments later he had bisected one of them, but not before severing both his arms. I am now sorely tempted to give all of my military dwarves picks.

[wierd]

Pick is deadly. Anyone who has dealt with a tantruming miner knows this.

[VerdantSF]

Picks are amazing.  Honestly, the only reason I don't use them more is because I rely on Dwarf Therapist to organize my army.  I like being able to see all the various military skills and how each soldier compares at a glance.  Mining is on the labors tab, separate from the rest of the weapons on the military tab.  Just a minor quibble and I did have a legendary pick fighter for a while during the plague of dwarven dwarfism .

[Drazinononda]

Completely off topic, but I'm beginning to be able to recognize Verdant's posts without seeing his name or avatar (I.e. on my phone) by the prolific use of inline links to other threads or posts.

[Abraxis]

Picks are amazing.  Honestly, the only reason I don't use them more is because I rely on Dwarf Therapist to organize my army.  I like being able to see all the various military skills and how each soldier compares at a glance.  Mining is on the labors tab, separate from the rest of the weapons on the military tab.  Just a minor quibble and I did have a legendary pick fighter for a while during the plague of dwarven dwarfism .

Hit the "Windows" tab at the top of the Dwarf Therapist screen and select "grid views".  Right click and select "edit" on "Military", left click on "Weapons in the left side of the screen, then right click in an empty space on the right and find the mining skill, add it, you're good to go.

[VerdantSF]

Well there!  That's good to know, thank you!

[Deepblade]

Might also want to have the mining brigade train up to 10, or was it 11, in wrestling so they become champions and don't complain about long patrol duties anymore.

[Melzer]

I usually use miners as an early military, especially when in a savage/evil biome

[SRD]

Picks are basically strong whips with alot of sharp force being focused on a tiny impact area, (imagine a battleaxe except instead of a blade, it's a spear in a T shape).

[wierd]

Would this be a good reason to specify a metal type for picks?  Normally, there is no imperative to make the pick out of any specific material-- an aluminum pick cuts rocks just as good as a steel one.

but, if pick as a weapon is type blunt, then you want one that is as dense as possible, right?

The raws say it is weapon of type edge, but with an edge value that is rather low compared to its penetration.

[ITEM_WEAPON:ITEM_WEAPON_PICK]
[NAME:pick:picks]
[SIZE:500]
[SKILL:MINING]
[TWO_HANDED:47500]
[MINIMUM_SIZE:42500]
[MATERIAL_SIZE:4]
[ATTACK:EDGE:100:4000:strike:strikes:NO_SUB:2000]


*The format is ATTACK:EDGE/BLUNT:contact area:penetration size:verb2nd:verb3rd:noun:velocity multiplier
Penetration size currently only matters for edged attacks.

This means you want the pick made of the lightest possible material so it can be swung really fast, as I understand it.  Candycane pick should be brutal?

[Drazinononda]

Would this be a good reason to specify a metal type for picks?  Normally, there is no imperative to make the pick out of any specific material-- an aluminum pick cuts rocks just as good as a steel one.

but, if pick as a weapon is type blunt, then you want one that is as dense as possible, right?

The raws say it is weapon of type edge, but with an edge value that is rather low compared to its penetration.

[ITEM_WEAPON:ITEM_WEAPON_PICK]
[NAME:pick:picks]
[SIZE:500]
[SKILL:MINING]
[TWO_HANDED:47500]
[MINIMUM_SIZE:42500]
[MATERIAL_SIZE:4]
[ATTACK:EDGE:100:4000:strike:strikes:NO_SUB:2000]


*The format is ATTACK:EDGE/BLUNT:contact area:penetration size:verb2nd:verb3rd:noun:velocity multiplier
Penetration size currently only matters for edged attacks.

This means you want the pick made of the lightest possible material so it can be swung really fast, as I understand it.  Candycane pick should be brutal?

You want the sharpest material, so yes, candy. The only thing that affects swing speed is the velocity multiplier -- in this case, 2000 (at the end of the ATTACK tag).

[squidgen]

A plain old copper pick is brutal enough already. I can't imagine a candy one. It would probably be worse, considering all of the rotting goblin parts causing said pick-wielding dwarf to tantrum.

[Sutremaine]

The raws say it is weapon of type edge, but with an edge value that is rather low compared to its penetration.

I haven't done any testing on this, but I suspect that the relatively small amount of extra contact compared to a shortsword stab crosses an important size threshold and allows a much wider variety of (dwarf-size) limbs to be cut off in one strike.

There's also the minor perk of picks not having a blunt attack. It's rare that dwarves will waste a turn hitting an enemy with the blunt end of an adamantine sword or axe, but it's rather annoying when it does happen.