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[Maklak]

With the method of training soldiers in squads of 3 with 2 active, you'll get a lot of these small squads, so why not hive them different weapon types. In case of an emergency , attack with all of them plus 30 reservists with crossbows.

As to mining picks, I had a lot of success with them, as described in my signature. They kill fast and often cut off limbs. Miners in the military start off as glass cannons, but that's much better than noobish cheesemakers. Just give your soldiers good sets of armour, shields and some training in defence and you're set.

[Reudh]

While I'm sure your question has been answered already, here's my two bob.


-Anything using sharp slashing implements, such as axes, swords, will remove limbs easily. They can often get lucky KOs against near anything.

-Anything using pokey stabbing implements, like pikes, spears, daggers or similar can remove limbs slightly less easily, but their best ability is piercing the crap out of things. Very good against fleshy organics that feel pain.

-Anything using wacky blunt implements, will soften up an enemy easily, and easily defeat opponents made of materials other than flesh.

-Anything using shooty ranged implements will provide support for melee. In a close combat fight, they resort to hammering opponents if they have no ammunition, but their bolts generally aren't powerful enough to take limbs off. Keep them well hidden from enemy meleers.

-Anything wrestling will die.

[WCG]

Very interesting thread, but can we look at unusual enemies, like zombies? I haven't encountered zombies yet, but I want to try an evil area in my next fort.

Will crossbow bolts kill zombies? I know you don't want to cut them up into pieces, so blunt weapons otherwise, right?

And that was very interesting about stone creatures, since I would have expected blunt weapons would be necessary there, too. How about other unusual foes?

[vertinox]

While we are on this topic...

I have a ton of unused adamantine in my depots. I have already decked out 10 soldiers with complete adamantine gear and battleaxes.

That said, I am thinking about equipping another 10, but this time with different weapons.

What besides battleaxes is the best adamantine weapon? I am thinking spears in case I get a megabeast that shows up so they can kill it.

Any suggestions?

[Glyndŵr]

Very interesting thread, but can we look at unusual enemies, like zombies? I haven't encountered zombies yet, but I want to try an evil area in my next fort.

Will crossbow bolts kill zombies? I know you don't want to cut them up into pieces, so blunt weapons otherwise, right?

And that was very interesting about stone creatures, since I would have expected blunt weapons would be necessary there, too. How about other unusual foes?

One gentleman said that blunt weapons are best against zombies because they don't create more enemies. If you lop off the zombie's arm, the arm will attack. A leg won't, luckily, but an arm or a hand, skin, heads, all sorts will.

That aside, I just tested a grand master marksdwarf in the arena against a completely unprotected zombie elf. He was able to kill the zombie with one shot to the arm. I tested it again three times and each time it was a one hit kill with a steel bolt from a steel crossbow.

[Yovatsap]

While we are on this topic...

I have a ton of unused adamantine in my depots. I have already decked out 10 soldiers with complete adamantine gear and battleaxes.

That said, I am thinking about equipping another 10, but this time with different weapons.

What besides battleaxes is the best adamantine weapon? I am thinking spears in case I get a megabeast that shows up so they can kill it.

Any suggestions?

Spears if you want to use them to pierce megabeasts, swords if you want a generally useful soldier (keep in mind they won't be particularly good at one thing, but average at all combat styles) {sort of like a stormtrooper; fast and gets the job done, although slower than the specialized soldiers}

I have never tried making adamantine picks. But if it's possible, give them to your miners and watch them destroy everything that threatens them. (Turns out, it can be made. If you have a surplus of adamantine, do this)

Never use candy for bolts though.

Edit: Also keep in mind that the "slap" attack of adamantine swords (which deals blunt damage) would be completely ineffective.

[greycat]

That aside, I just tested a grand master marksdwarf in the arena against a completely unprotected zombie elf. He was able to kill the zombie with one shot to the arm. I tested it again three times and each time it was a one hit kill with a steel bolt from a steel crossbow.

Yeah, last time I played a fortress on an evil biome, my marksdwarves were my best defense against the undead.  One-hit kills against the smaller ones, and even the undead yaks (nasty sons of bitches!) could only survive a bolt or two.  If survive is the right word.

I believe undead still use a "hit points" system, and bolts do a lot of HP.

[Corai]

While we are on this topic...

I have a ton of unused adamantine in my depots. I have already decked out 10 soldiers with complete adamantine gear and battleaxes.

That said, I am thinking about equipping another 10, but this time with different weapons.

What besides battleaxes is the best adamantine weapon? I am thinking spears in case I get a megabeast that shows up so they can kill it.

Any suggestions?

Spears if you want to use them to pierce megabeasts, swords if you want a generally useful soldier (keep in mind they won't be particularly good at one thing, but average at all combat styles) {sort of like a stormtrooper; fast and gets the job done, although slower than the specialized soldiers}

I have never tried making adamantine picks. But if it's possible, give them to your miners and watch them destroy everything that threatens them. (Turns out, it can be made. If you have a surplus of adamantine, do this)

Never use candy for bolts though.

Edit: Also keep in mind that the "slap" attack of adamantine swords (which deals blunt damage) would be completely ineffective.

Its actually very effective if used by a skilled soldier.

[caddybear]

Oh and don't put people with different weaponskills in the same squad, simply because they'll sometimes try to teach it to others. You don't want your swordsdorfs learn about hammers and archery and all that while training. I've had a novice archer in the spear squad, and they've spent the first 3 months watching demonstrations about bows. THEY DIDN'T EVEN HAVE BOWS.

[Sutremaine]

Axes start being very good against anything once they're made of adamantine. The stuff is so ridiculously sharp that the size of the edge ceases to matter.

Steel spears may benefit the least from an upgrade to adamantine if those steel spears are being held by skilled soldiers. Between steel's properties and the surface area of a spearpoint a steel spear is good enough for almost anything, but rank amateurs will get the most benefit from a weapon that any idiot could shove through even the toughest enemy.

[Nameless Archon]

Never use candy for bolts though.

There was a post some time ago about a player who managed to use admantine bolts, LOS breaking door(s), a goblin, and a pit to make a combination live-fire training exercise AND an adamantine generator (by melting the loose bolts)... but my search-fu isn't turning up the post now. Not sure if the mechanics still apply in DF2012.

[neotemplar]

Regarding the candy bolts:

Does the weight of boltsreally affect their power or only the material?  (Are these Glumprong bolts like depleted uranium or something?)  Does material even really matter?  I find that wood and bone bolts are extremely effective against pretty much everything.

Case in point I just had a hunter slay a Minotaur in two hits with giant crow bone bolts.  Shot one hit a lung and paniced it so it didn't charge him.  Several missed shots later he hit it in the brain.

(Also I fully advocate having a large herd of hunters to violently suppress any ornery wildlife prior to it assaulting you.)

[WealthyRadish]

Basically, the only significant distinction with bolts is between metals and wood/bone. Any metal does well, with copper not all that different from steel, though I haven't personally tried adamantine yet. I really don't think there's been good enough science on the subject to justify people claiming that it's only weight that matters, but any difference is honesty insignificant.

[Garath]

minotaurs don't have armor or clothing, as a (semi)megabeast, so any bolt would be extremely effective. I'm pretty sure arena testing showed metal bolts superior to non-metal, but I'm too lazy to do a search. I do remember a thread where someone tried candy bolts vs iron bolts in arena. The original test was iron vs super heavy iron, which was won by the normal iron, but iron won over candy. I asked how many times the test had been run, but got no reply, so it might just have been luck. One reasoning still stands however. All metal bolts are good and you've got better uses for iron and steel, so you might as well use copper or silver

[Yovatsap]

Oh and don't put people with different weaponskills in the same squad, simply because they'll sometimes try to teach it to others. You don't want your swordsdorfs learn about hammers and archery and all that while training. I've had a novice archer in the spear squad, and they've spent the first 3 months watching demonstrations about bows. THEY DIDN'T EVEN HAVE BOWS.

This is NOT correct. You can put different kinds of soldiers in the same squad and they'll only get exp for their own weapon. I can show you my axe lord and spearmaster as proof. In a case like this, the squad leader will probably show them striking/kicking/fighting/biting/dodging/etc. demonstrations. And they'll get exp for their own weapons by doing individual combat drills and sparring.