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[malroth]

narrow bridge over shallow pit before reaching my fortifications,  in pit live all my cats and cat lover migrants.  Elite marksgobs solve my catsplosion problem for me by exausting their ammo into kittens before reaching the actual battle.

[Fnear]

narrow bridge over shallow pit before reaching my fortifications,  in pit live all my cats and cat lover migrants.  Elite marksgobs solve my catsplosion problem for me by exausting their ammo into kittens before reaching the actual battle.

It might even make sense to put the cats behind fortifications so that they don't get killed by the noobs and continue to lure the elites.  Or more cats... more cats works too.

[MonkeyHead]

Dont go overboard, doctors need training too.

[Psieye]

Am I the only one who considered using haulers as living fortifications? You know, all those expendable dwarves who shouldn't have any friends if you've kept up a very tight work schedule with no party venues? There is no friendly fire with arrows/bolts. Any newbie crossbowdwarf can shoot through your 'living fortifications'. No elite bow/crossbow goblin/elf can shoot through your 'living fortifications' provided their dodge skill is crap (a guarantee I'm sure). You would still need elevated archer platforms so your 'living fortifications' don't decide to charge into the enemy and also so your marksdwarves can patrol-reload ammo.

Though well, it's 0.34 now and due to historical migrants, your haulers come pre-packaged with tantrum fuses (existing families). May need to replace them with animals instead? Nah...

[Spish]

Station some peasants at the fortification to soak up all their ammunition, THEN send out your shooters.

[Hyndis]

Am I the only one who considered using haulers as living fortifications? You know, all those expendable dwarves who shouldn't have any friends if you've kept up a very tight work schedule with no party venues? There is no friendly fire with arrows/bolts. Any newbie crossbowdwarf can shoot through your 'living fortifications'. No elite bow/crossbow goblin/elf can shoot through your 'living fortifications' provided their dodge skill is crap (a guarantee I'm sure). You would still need elevated archer platforms so your 'living fortifications' don't decide to charge into the enemy and also so your marksdwarves can patrol-reload ammo.

Though well, it's 0.34 now and due to historical migrants, your haulers come pre-packaged with tantrum fuses (existing families). May need to replace them with animals instead? Nah...

I do this with my blob of marksdwarves. There is no friendly fire, but incoming bolts will hit the first valid target they come across, so wounded marksdwarves will fall behind, laying on the ground until rescued while the others charge forward, soaking up incoming fire. Occasionally a headshot will kill a dwarf outright, but most of the time they get hit in the leg or arm, which is easily survivable and can be taken care of quickly and easily in the hospital. I don't use any fortifications and just rely on shields and armor to protect my army. Every battle I take around 4-5 casualties, but they're in and out of the hospital in no time at all, mostly with just very minor wounds like a stubbed toe.

[Excedion]

I find that fortifications work very well if you use them inversely to the direction of enemy travel. Usually I use :
z=0

D#####        <=====
X#####        <=====
D#####        <=====

z=1
........FAX
........FAX
........FAX


X=Wall
F=Fortification
A=Archer
D=Door
#=Floor
.=Open space

The archers shoot down onto the gobbos who are more concerned about walking to the door than anything else. Element of surpise I suppose, has worked pretty well for me.

[GoldenShadow]

I just learned the power of legendary sworddwarfs. 15+5 in swords, fighting and shields. 2 of them all alone defeated an entire siege with several elites. Sum over over 30 hostiles. My legendary swordfighters didn't even take one scratch. I checked the units screen to verify, all invaders dead. Turned off alert and my haulers can dump all these corpses in the magma chute. Don't underestimate the value of having a strong melee background for your ranged units. They will block Everything that comes at them. The combat reports says arrows and attacks are being blocked, not dodged.

[AWdeV]

I tend to use a multi-storey outer wall with the lower level made of wall and the second fortification so that if there's a high-level shooter amongst the foe they can't just shoot willy-nilly into my fortress. The actual marksdwarves tend to have some basic training, a breastplate and a shield so they're not sitting ducks either.

[slink]

... or deplete their arrow supply with livestock.

Did anyone else envision the cow-catapulting scene from Monty Python's Quest For the Holy Grail?

[Hyndis]

Even recruits with solid armor can hold up pretty well against ranged fire. Just make sure you give them the best armor you can make, and layer the armor as much as you can. While they'll take arrows, almost none of the hits should be lethal. They just fall down and get carted off to have the arrow pulled, and they'll be back on the firing line in a week. That gives your doctors some practice, and over time the marksdwarves will skill up to be fearsome fighters even in melee.

If you want to speed up the training process make a danger room, and station the marksdwarves in there. I like using marksdwarves on flat, open ground so that gives them the opportunity to mix it up a little in melee, including clubbing the survivors to death so they can get a little time up close and personal with goblins.