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[Glyndŵr]

By the way. By examining the wiki I can guess that maces are more effective different than war hammers. They have greater size and greater contact area. The size would give them mass, which would increase their blunt damage but the contact area is also raised in a linear fashion. So the ratio of weight:contact area stays the same.

Which, now that I think about it, would give the same effect. Unless I am missing something here.

Is it not true though that hammers and longswords must be held in two hands, otherwise a penalty is incurred? Or is the penalty largely insignificant

And also, hammerdwarves and axedwarves DO kill unconscious enemies with a blow to the head. But my Axe Lord does that without them being hurt in any way. I have seen many combat reports going "The Axe Lord hacks the goblin lasher in the head... blabla tearing the brain etc..." in the first (and the last) line. I am not sure if hammerdwarves aim for the head in that situation though.

So what I'm trying to get at is, axedwarves make short work of most creatures. Make a squad that has at least some of them. (I just tried to see how my axe lord would do against large creatures. He murdered 3 elephants with extreme ease.)

So together, mixed squads of hammerdwarfs and axedwarfs would cancel out the problem of axedwarfs going for the head all the time, even if the head is heavily armoured?

I suppose training all the soldiers as wrestlers means that occasionally they will use unorthodox methods in combat, but I don't know how beneficial it is. Maybe they could grip their enemies and stop them from running away while they lobotomize them. I remember that if I made dwarfs in the arena with grand-master in all combat skills, and sometimes bit my enemies to get ahold of them or scratched them, the dwarf would occasionally bite or scratch the enemy on top of their primary weapon attacks.

[WealthyRadish]

Keep in mind that if you draft miners, you'll need to disable their mining labor to avoid conflicting civilian and military uniforms. There's no benefit to drafting woodcutters, as far as I can tell. Mining is the combat skill used, whereas axedwarves have their own.

[Yovatsap]

Is it not true though that hammers and longswords must be held in two hands, otherwise a penalty is incurred? Or is the penalty largely insignificant

Only mauls are multigrasp, the other blunt weapons are one-handed. Longswords are also one-handed. Here's a list:http://dwarffortresswiki.org/index.php/Weapons

P.S. I modified the reply about hammers and maces. Added this:

But if we follow that logic, morningstars would be the MOST effective blunt weapon in the game. So if you ever come across a silver or steel morningstar, don't think twice. Sell your war lion and buy the weapon. (Blunt weapon memo: Never make one out of adamantine! All six non-adamantine metals perform nearly identically. Steel has a slightly higher rate of critical wounds, while silver is slightly more likely to penetrate armor.)

[Yovatsap]

So together, mixed squads of hammerdwarfs and axedwarfs would cancel out the problem of axedwarfs going for the head all the time, even if the head is heavily armoured?

Probably. Can't guarantee though.

In my opinion axes' "hack" attack should really "hack" armor. But that would probably mean lots of changes to the weapon, armor and combat systems. Would also mean that armor would/could break. Which doesn't actually sound like a bad idea if you ask me...

[Glyndŵr]

Is it not true though that hammers and longswords must be held in two hands, otherwise a penalty is incurred? Or is the penalty largely insignificant

Only mauls are multigrasp, the other blunt weapons are one-handed. Longswords are also one-handed. Here's a list:http://dwarffortresswiki.org/index.php/Weapons

P.S. I modified the reply about hammers and maces. Added this:

But if we follow that logic, morningstars would be the MOST effective blunt weapon in the game. So if you ever come across a silver or steel morningstar, don't think twice. Sell your war lion and buy the weapon. (Blunt weapon memo: Never make one out of adamantine! All six non-adamantine metals perform nearly identically. Steel has a slightly higher rate of critical wounds, while silver is slightly more likely to penetrate armor.)

Ah, so therein lies the rub. That is where hammerdwarfs and macedwarfs diverge. Fascinating. But that seems to mean that macedwarfs are only really useful when you find a morningstar, which is unfortunate.

I also agree that the axes should be able to break armour to bits, but I suppose right now they are filling the role of blood-and-guts, damage dealers.

Keep in mind that if you draft miners, you'll need to disable their mining labor to avoid conflicting civilian and military uniforms. There's no benefit to drafting woodcutters, as far as I can tell. Mining is the combat skill used, whereas axedwarves have their own.

Of course, thank you. I'll keep that in mind. It's a shame though about the woodcutters... but I suppose that could be covered by having some kind of rotation of training periods and working periods.

[Yovatsap]

But that seems to mean that macedwarfs are only really useful when you find a morningstar, which is unfortunate.

I might just be lucky but I just got a human trade caravan which had silver morningstars in them.

But this also means that they might not be too hard to come by. If I could only see what the previous caravans had, I'd be able to give you a more reliable answer...

I also bought two of them. (They had like 4-5 of them)

Now if only just two of my ridiculously unsociable dwarves would marry. I'd get a decent population with more dwarves to spare for the army...
I can't believe this Urist hasn't made his move on Tholtig during the last 15 years.

I also checked my stocks tab and found out that I had 3 more which were forbidden. That means you can collect them off dead gobbies too...

[Glyndŵr]

But that seems to mean that macedwarfs are only really useful when you find a morningstar, which is unfortunate.

I might just be lucky but I just got a human trade caravan which had silver morningstars in them.

But this also means that they might not be too hard to come by. If I could only see what the previous caravans had, I'd be able to give you a more reliable answer...

I also bought two of them. (They had like 4-5 of them)

Now if only just two of my ridiculously unsociable dwarves would marry. I'd get a decent population with more dwarves to spare for the army...
I can't believe this Urist hasn't made his move on Tholtig during the last 15 years.

That's great, 4-5 would be enough to have a squad of super soldiers at your disposal.

Maybe they think marriage would take the spice out of their relationship, or maybe they're afraid of commitment.

[Yovatsap]

6 females, 5 males (not counting my soldiers) and only 1 couple who can't even get married. There could be something wrong with my fort...

Maybe I should just give them all morningstars and send them out to fight the giant sponge in the river.

[ResMar]

http://dwarffortresswiki.org/index.php/DF2012:Weapon

[Carp McDwarfEater]

I read somewhere that copper morningstars consistantly proved superior to those of other materials in the test arena. I don't know why, but something to keep in mind.

[iofhua]

Is it not true though that hammers and longswords must be held in two hands, otherwise a penalty is incurred? Or is the penalty largely insignificant

Whether or not a dwarf can wield a weapon in one hand depends on the size of the dwarf.

http://dwarffortresswiki.org/index.php/Weapon

Under the subheading "Size" it shows you on average, how many dwarves could wield a weapon in one hand. The size for a dwarf in-game ranges from 33750 and 93750 (with 60000 being the average) and to wield a warhammer in one hand the dwarf needs a minimum size of 37500. This means most dwarves could wield a warhammer in one hand, and two-handers would be the rare exception.

I found it interesting to find out that the very rare large dwarf can even wield a two-handed sword or even a great axe in one hand.

[Garath]

a much forgotten weapon though almost as effective as whips, are carving forks and the like. An extremely low contact area with good penetration makes them deadly as many vampire in adventure mode has found out when mobbed by the villagers

Another odd one that has been left out: two shields
Instead of a weapon, a dwarf can add another shield. They'll soak up bolts and arrows and are very effective in staying alive, softening up that first rush. Their shield bash attacks arn't very effective, but can break limbs from smaller enemies.

The last note worth noting, you absolutely need axes or something else with a good chance of severing. Some enemies can only be killed by cutting them in half or cutting off their head. Bolts kill anything, hammers can mop up the rest, but a FB made of stone will simply ignore all the fuss and punch them out one by one. It may emerge from the fight with all body parts severely damaged, but it won't die.

[Tirion]

One question: is adamantine a good or a bad material for spears?

[MonkeyHead]

The best.

[Garath]

it's the best for anything that needs to be sharp, hard and light. weapons, trap components and armor, not clothing though and nothing that does blunt damage