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Author Topic: My first siege (that hasn't ended in tragedy and tantrums)  (Read 1424 times)

Splint

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Re: My first siege (that hasn't ended in tragedy and tantrums)
« Reply #15 on: June 30, 2012, 01:34:47 pm »

If the mayor is still functional, barricade in the dining hall with a pickaxe and a shield. Barricade mayor's room and keep link open.

Mohawk_Bravo

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Re: My first siege (that hasn't ended in tragedy and tantrums)
« Reply #16 on: June 30, 2012, 01:36:31 pm »

It's too late. I don't think it would have mattered since everyone refused to build the bridge, leaving a huge gaping hole in my defenses. There was a beserk wood burner who I had missed in the miasma, and he chased down the last few dwarves and hacked them to pieces. Sleep well Beachedmetal.
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Splint

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Re: My first siege (that hasn't ended in tragedy and tantrums)
« Reply #17 on: June 30, 2012, 01:38:36 pm »

I really hope my humans don't go down like that....

Panando

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Re: My first siege (that hasn't ended in tragedy and tantrums)
« Reply #18 on: June 30, 2012, 05:09:53 pm »

I'm inclined to suggest recruiting everyone into marksdwarf squads. The only exception being miners (and technically woodcutters and hunters, but I have my miners do double-duty as woodcutters, and I hunt manually with marksdwarf squads). You should have perhaps half a dozen well-equipped melee dwarves. They should have full body armour coverage, preferably steel. You can get full body coverage with helmet + mail shirt + gauntlets + high boots. If you don't care about weight, also give them a breastplate and greaves. If you want to keep their mobility up, also give them leather armour and trousers (once they are legendary skill, their attributes are so high that they can bear a lot of weight with ease, but before then, it's a good idea to keep weight down a bit).
And then you should have about 40-50 marksdwarves, but more doesn't hurt. Initially these should just be equipped with a crossbow and shield. Later on, you can give them a "replace clothing" uniform, I would suggest full leather except metal gauntlets, high boots and helmet, and a wood or leather shield. Note that since they wear their uniform all the time, and have to haul, you want to keep the weight down.

The melee dwarves should train full time. Ideally they should be in squads of 2 for maximum skill gain from sparring. That's not absolutely critical though but it'll speed things up a lot.
The marksdwarves should be kept permanently inactive, they should not be assigned a barracks or archery range. To train them, order them to shoot at wildlife, or captured invaders. They will skill up very quickly this way.

In battle, try to have the marksdwarves engage first to soften the siege up. Only send the melee dwarves in once the marksdwarves have started firing (think about a medieval battle where the archerhumans fire hails of arrows on the advancing enemies, and the swordhumans only engage when the enemy get close). The idea is that the marksdwarves wound and cripple the enemy, and the melee dwarves go around executing the wounded enemy. You don't want the melee dwarves fighting multiple fresh un-injured invaders as would happen if you sent the melee dwarves in first. The only way to actually control melee dwarves is by preventing them seeing the enemy. So keep them stationed out of sight of the enemy, until it's time for them to move in, then station them within sight of the enemy, and they'll charge in like the bloodthirsty little pyschos they are.
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