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[Multiplicity]

What area(s) do people define their burrow(s) during a siege to get their pin cushion dwarves out of the way and into safety? I ask this because I just lost a fort (well, in the process of losing, but their fate is sealed) due to, perhaps, not defining my burrow narrowly enough. Apparently, dwarves will try to grab stuff strewn about created by the battles like their lives depend on it, even if those items are outside the burrow. They'll just keep running into the border of the burrow, moving back a bit, and try again, no matter how many "cancel action" messages appear on the screen. Anyway, even though I locked my fort down, all my dwarves got stuck in my courtyard and a band of goblins decided to hang out 1 z-level above my entrance. So all my dwarves are too scared to dash to the entrance, even though the goblins can't do anything. So... the result? All my dwarves are stuck in the courtyard, thirsty and hungry and will eventually die of such. I tried digging another path into my fort, but my miners scream more in horror than they do problem solving. And I got my military off the ground a little late, to boot.

[Elone]

There are actually two ways to assign people to burrows, one is a rubber band, and the other is quite strict. The rubber band one is when you assign names from the burrow menu. Those dwarves only accept jobs from those areas, but will move around across non burrow tiles just fine. But if you go to your military screen and assign a civilian alert that restricts them to a burrow, they will all scurry there and will not go on their lemming runs until you clear their restriction from the alerts menu again. I think that it's fine if you stuff them into a small storage room with food and drinks and somehow bar the entrance, but you will still need military on the outside to clear the foes. otherwise the foes might sit around and wait til your supplies run out.

Is this what you wished answered?

[Jurph]

What area(s) do people define their burrow(s) during a siege to get their pin cushion dwarves out of the way and into safety?

I have two burrows that overlap for sieges.  The first is called "indoors" and consists of everything underground that isn't a cavern.  When all my doors are sealed, this area is impervious to enemy assault.  The second is called "panic" and is a dining hall stocked with masterful meals, booze, nice beds, and a mist generator.  The idea of the inner room is that if something has gone terribly awry (what are the odds?) then I'm probably looking at only a few survivors.  I want these dwarves to be in the nicest place possible to mitigate their terror.  Think of it as a PTSD recovery room. 

[Multiplicity]

There are actually two ways to assign people to burrows, one is a rubber band, and the other is quite strict. The rubber band one is when you assign names from the burrow menu. Those dwarves only accept jobs from those areas, but will move around across non burrow tiles just fine. But if you go to your military screen and assign a civilian alert that restricts them to a burrow, they will all scurry there and will not go on their lemming runs until you clear their restriction from the alerts menu again. I think that it's fine if you stuff them into a small storage room with food and drinks and somehow bar the entrance, but you will still need military on the outside to clear the foes. otherwise the foes might sit around and wait til your supplies run out.

Is this what you wished answered?

It does, a little bit. I did set them to civilian alert, but part of my burrows did encompass part of the outside courtyard. However, the stoopid dwarves still tried to "Store Item in Bin" with stuff that was outside the defined burrow (basically outside my walls) and still tried to complete those jobs even with the gates closed. So, I suppose I'll have to stuff them into a more narrow space, but I do kind of want them going on about their daily routines, if possible (minus the outdoorsy jobs).

I have two burrows that overlap for sieges.  The first is called "indoors" and consists of everything underground that isn't a cavern.  When all my doors are sealed, this area is impervious to enemy assault.  The second is called "panic" and is a dining hall stocked with masterful meals, booze, nice beds, and a mist generator.  The idea of the inner room is that if something has gone terribly awry (what are the odds?) then I'm probably looking at only a few survivors.  I want these dwarves to be in the nicest place possible to mitigate their terror.  Think of it as a PTSD recovery room. 

That sounds like a good idea. I'll try to implement that in my next fortress.

[Garath]

they usually don't even walk to the edge of the burrow with me. However, I usually make sure the burrows are out of line of sight for any invader so that even if some dwarf walks up to the edge of the burrow, he'll realize his job has to be canceled before he can get pincushioned.
I have also set it in orders to forbid gathering anything from a dead person. Not the body, not the items, nothing. I rather claim it manually when it is safe than risk more dwarfs or, worse, get spammed with job cancelations.