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[greycat]

No true dwarf would demean himself by arming himself with a wooden weapon- leave that to the elves. There's a reason that the other wooden weapons are called "training_x"- they are not intended for use in combat.

Well, no true dwarf would drink water... unless he's injured.  And no true dwarf would eat vermin... unless he's starving and there's no food because that son of an elf broker traded all the meals away.

The point isn't what a dwarf would choose to do given infinite resources.  The point is there's a freakin' goblin over there with an axe, and you'd really like to get that axe, but all you have right now is a stick, and you can't bash his head in with it because your entire race doesn't know how to use a stick as a club.

[LoSboccacc]

training axes are dull on the edge, but double as a club without problems.

just use a heavy wood now that we can choose, and let the skull crumble. better to be used with trained milita and not in traps. be sure to actually train militia, you will depend on skull hits.

leather armor will improve survivability a lot. be sure to include a leather robe too and a leather cap or something (can't remember what you can make that goes on the head)

seems minor, but makes a letal injury in a grave injury and a crippling injury in just some bleeding

(it doesn't improve survival chances that much on the single dwarf, but it enables him to stay a couple turns more in combat, which is like twice the damage output!)

[Chaos Armor]

What about stone traps? Are you willing to use those?

[dexxy]

My dwarfs made plenty of bone bolts and wood bolts. They often shoot bone bolts at invaders, and the bone bolts cause injuries such as broken bones and bleeding wounds on the invaders. So you can arm your dwarfs with wooden crossbows and bone or wooden bolts. Once the enemies have some broken bones and they are bleeding, there is a chance that they will go unconscious and become a much easier target.

Also it is fun to watch a goblin invader get shot with a goblin bone bolt.

[Chthonic]

I've been mass producing bone crossbows and bolts.  Every dwarf is a marksdwarf, and my meeting area is an open space with a killing zone cleared around my central staircase.  An ambush shows up, and 80+ marksdwarves unleash all at once (whether they're on duty or not).  Goblins (and just about everything else) die really quickly.

[LoSboccacc]

bolts are good because when you have many marksdwarves there is the chance of an eye shoot; the problem I had with bolt militia is that when they run out of bolts they tend to run toward the target to bash it instead of reloading.

I hadn't tried with everyone not on duty but with a crossbow. how does it works with miners woodcutters and such?

[Sus]

Wooden bolts are a bit on the weak side, but they will work if you fire enough of them.  Wooden spikes (either in a weapon trap, or in an upright spike/spear trap triggered by a plate/lever) are even better.

This.
You'll have to spam a lot of wooden weapons though, since their armor penetration is based solely on luck.

Also caravan. Make tons of wood/stone crafts, trade for metal bars, ores and weapons. Plus if you survive the first few invasions, you'll get some goblinite gear.

Of course, there's also the option to rig up cave-in traps or drowning chambers, unless you count those as "cheating" as well.

[NRDL]

Yeah, just strip mine half a z-level, build several craftsdwarf's workshops, set rock crafts on repeat, make a big-ass finished goods stockpile, and when the caravan comes, block the sun with your stone bracelets and crowns. 

[Noobazzah]

I think that the best way to defend an early fort with just a few citizens, is to quickly make cheap crossbows and bolts, and make sure they wear them all the time. Don't assign them training, ket them do their civilian duties freely. Civilian marksdwarves open fire at enemies, instead of instantly fleeing. This way they have a fighting chance in the event of an ambush, plus they are less likely to get injured or killed since they can attack from a distance. To actually get them to flee is sometimes tricky, but it seems that running out of bolts does the trick. So, you could allow them to use only a few bolts at a time. A single bone bolt to the knee is usually enough to make a gobbo collapse in pain, since they probably don't have any armour on their limbs. Without any training. If you're lucky.

[knutor]

Wood?  Read on..

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Burrow a 1x1 behind a 1 block of fortified stone, in a long safely walled fortress.  Don't fortify the entire wall, just that one murderhole, I put it 1 z-level above the most active spot.  Then set up my marksdwarf squad to defend THAT burrow, which I usually name murderholes.  My marksdwarf squad is custom, I don't like the leather buckler in the default uniform.  I add more marksdwarfs, as my squad increases in size and agility dwarfs.  This has a nice boon, as more and more marksdwarfs pile into that 1x1 burrow they down invaders quicker.  I put a food/drink pile right behind it, within in easy reach, and an ammo stockpile ontop of the painted burrow.  Your haulers will keep it full, during a stressful time, if your safety burrow, overlaps it.  Just make sure to remove the box option for that ammo stockpile, ya don't wanna store ammo in a box.  I think that bug where they won't get ammo out of a box, is still around, but might not possitive.. play it safe and don't box your ammo.  Maybe someone can clear that up for us.  This is an even better defense if the murderhole overlooks a goblingrinder hallway.  Then you add a pressure pad, ontop of the 1x1, to trigger automated wooden spikes in the goblingrinder, while also plinking them thru the fortification.  A sorta drumroll killing hole.  Hehe.  Pound with the footsies on the pedal(pressure plates), and let fling the bolts with the xbows.  A twofer trap.  HEH. 

  Good luck, Knutor

[ab9rf]

Bone bolts don't kill worth a damn, but they can inflict enough pain and suffering to convince attackers to leave.

I've killed plenty of gobbos with bone bolts.  The skill of the archer matters far more than the material of the bolt.

[orius]

If you have sand, you can magma up some serrated glass discs.  Those work quite well.  Unfortunately, you either have zero sand, or infinite sand -- nothing in between.  And you can't tell whether you have it before embarking (it doesn't appear on the pre-embark screens).

Not entirely, if you're embarking in a sand desert, then you'll probably have sand.

[dwarfhoplite]

You can kill first ambushes with onl wooden shields and the starting bronze axes. From that point you will use goblinite and buy stuff from caravans

[greycat]

I don't start with bronze axes on embark.  I'd rather bring some animals and raw materials (e.g. cassiterite + tetrahedrite to make my own bronze).  But your point is well taken.

[Chthonic]

I hadn't tried with everyone not on duty but with a crossbow. how does it works with miners woodcutters and such?

It doesn't really--miners and woodcutters are irritating because of the profession uniform.  But usually your haulers do a decent job protecting your woodcutters, since experienced woodcutters generate so many hauling jobs, and your miners are huddled underground.

I usually embark in savage biomes, so I don't run out of bolts.  The giant keas try to get in, are shot down almost immediately, butchered, and turned into bolts to kill more giant kea (and everything else).

It is a perpetual murder machine, and a joy to behold.