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[HraTaika]

.. aight, so I've got 167 goblins with various normal- and flying mounts outside my fortress, with a warmaster nonetheless.

.. needless to say, my military can't cope with that so I've dug myself in (pun intended).


The problem however is that they've been camping there around two seasons now, and I'm running quite low on supplies. Any knowledge on how long they will actually camp outside?

[Seikatsukan]

No idea how long sieges last, but exactly what supplies are you running low on? you can get all you need underground afaik.

[Tirion]

.. aight, so I've got 167 goblins with various normal- and flying mounts outside my fortress, with a warmaster nonetheless.

.. needless to say, my military can't cope with that so I've dug myself in (pun intended).


The problem however is that they've been camping there around two seasons now, and I'm running quite low on supplies. Any knowledge on how long they will actually camp outside?

Not much longer, but they might troll you (pun intended) by retreating, then after a few minutes returning to keep siegeing you, or steamroll your dwarves if they got out of the fortress. But I don't really see how you can be running out of supplies, plump helmets will keep your population fed and drunk indefinitely, if you have a soil layer. Pig tails will give you unlimited plant cloth, the other two cloths are only needed for moods really. If you dig out a soil layer and breach (then wall off) a cavern, you'll have a secured underground tree farm.

But, if you already have the above, nothing really stops you from making a siege-killing goblinite harvesting trap. For example, a long underground corridor with your fort on one end.
^BWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCSSDB your fort
B=lever-operated raising bridge, as many tiles as you want.
W=weapon trap. If it's not a spear or a menacing spike, throw it in.
S=upright spear or spike, all linked to one lever, that's placed where it can be pulled /R quickly (dining room).
C=cage trap
D=door, not linked up. Close it to turn goblins around, their weapon masters are Matrix agents who run across trap corridors without injury, but ideally, the number of cages is sufficient to get them all.
^=up ramp breaching to the surface. Miner should be disposable, or quick  If the tunnel has turns in it, he can even survive bowgobbos.

[Seikatsukan]

^BWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCSSDB your fort

That's not a diagram, it's an onomatopoeia of the other solution.
BWWWWWWWWWWW is the sound of a ballista releasing a bolt.
SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS is said bolt speeding through the air.
CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC is the sound of the bolt crashing through the goblins.
SSDB is the bolt sinking into the ground.

[ResMar]

^BWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCSSDB your fort

That's not a diagram, it's an onomatopoeia of the other solution.
BWWWWWWWWWWW is the sound of a ballista releasing a bolt.
SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS is said bolt speeding through the air.
CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC is the sound of the bolt crashing through the goblins.
SSDB is the bolt sinking into the ground.

Well played.

[wuphonsreach]

Big sieges is why I make large goblinite harvesting machines.  What else do you have to do with your time while they're camped outside?

Huge complicated corridors with raising spikes, 5Z to 50Z deep pits, windy passages that all look alike, drowning chambers, burning chambers, etc.  I've even figured out some Venus Flytrap designs which make sure not to kill the invaders right away, at least not until you've sucked the entire squad into the kill zone.

[Triaxx2]

He may be having trouble with wounded, or have been relying on wood for fuel.

If it's wood you need, dig down until you find caverns.

The other issue I suspect, is certain trade goods. If he was using those to supplement his own fortress he could be out of some things.

I find that I favor an overhead sprinkler system for dealing with goblins. Basically, three or four boxes are the only way into my fort, all connected by long passages. Once the gobbo's enter and start to move through, the lead gobbo trips a pressure pad in the hall, which does three things. First it closes several floodgates, then it activates a gear, which is connected to a pump, which begins filling the room with water. When all the gobbos are dead, another lever drops a bridge behind a fortification, which allows the water to drain back through pipes, to be pumped into the Primary reservoir.

All that's left is to deal with the Amphibious mounts, which are often less dangerous in their relatively small numbers than the gobbos.

[Argelle]

^BWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCSSDB your fort

Why the B at the end? Are the initial and last bridges both connected to the same lever?
You open both -> Gobelins in -> raise back = Gobelins trapped inbetween the bridges?

[Tirion]

^BWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCSSDB your fort

Why the B at the end? Are the initial and last bridges both connected to the same lever?
You open both -> Gobelins in -> raise back = Gobelins trapped inbetween the bridges?

Separate levers. You lure in some goblins, raise both, then optionally lower the one connecting to your fort, letting your soldiers in to play with the injured gobbos. Especially lever-linked menacing spikes provide a lot of passed out goblins, who might come to their senses later but they dropped their weapons anyway. And unlike weapon traps, they won't skewer your dwarves just because they pass out on them. Of course, stop the lever-puller before sending your military in 

[Demetrious]

Sieges can and will last a long time, just like a real siege. Which is exactly why people are suggesting tricks like "tunnel to them, then supertrap the tunnel" and such, and others are mentioning their massive automated goblin processors.

If that feels too "gamey" to you, then I'd humbly suggest tunneling to a cliff face on the same z-level as the gobbos and setting up a siege engine - ballista is best, but catapult is far cheaper for the cost/hit ratio if you've no good siege engineers/operators. Then bombard them from afar until they decide to vacate the premises.

[orius]

With all these solutions, it makes one wonder why the goblins bother to invade in the first place.

[Seikatsukan]

With all these solutions, it makes one wonder why the goblins bother to invade in the first place.

Either children are really really tasty, or goblins are super super masochistic.

[Tirion]

With all these solutions, it makes one wonder why the goblins bother to invade in the first place.

They are biologically immortal adrenaline-crazed thrill seekers. Plus, judging by worldgen, your fortress overseer is a huge and unique factor in the equation, that tips the balance in favor of the dwarves. These guys have been fighting without seeing a trap for hundreds of years, they take time to realize what they are up against now.

[Panando]

With all these solutions, it makes one wonder why the goblins bother to invade in the first place.

Either children are really really tasty, or goblins are super super masochistic.

I know it seems like a big risk for little reward, but killing dwarves is so much fun. Heck, even the dwarves agree, else they wouldn't kill themselves so often.

[Garath]

I think the last threetoe story has that in it. A magical yourney or something

the main person(s) travel past a goblin army on the move. Some of them comments that they're killing themself just because the leader has a hatred for the fort. Soon, they won't be strong enough to defend their own fort.