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[higgypig]

The title says it all, I just want to know if I can have a full time militia(maxed out units, none on leave from duty) without causing them to have a hissy fit. Because I realized that my units dont get much done if a few of them are off duty.

[Callista]

They will stop complaining once they are highly skilled soldiers.

[VerdantSF]

Sure.  Just make sure the area they're training in is lavish, with high-value items throughout.  Engravings are nice, too.  Any hits to mood will be offset by the dwarven bling .

[misko27]

Well, a little break is too be expected in a military. Give them seasonal breaks, i.e. every 3 months. Works from me, and i have 60 of them.

[DavionFuxa]

The title says it all, I just want to know if I can have a full time militia(maxed out units, none on leave from duty) without causing them to have a hissy fit. Because I realized that my units dont get much done if a few of them are off duty.

Generally you shouldn't have a Dwarf in the Military 12 months of the year with no breaks. Even if it was just a dip in mood: they need to eat, they need to drink, and they need to sleep. However, you can keep them happy if you really want to do it.

[VerdantSF]

Generally you shouldn't have a Dwarf in the Military 12 months of the year with no breaks. Even if it was just a dip in mood: they need to eat, they need to drink, and they need to sleep. However, you can keep them happy if you really want to do it.

How do complete schedule breaks compare to training breaks through minimum orders?  Are they functionally equivalent for equal break proportions?  For example, a 3-man squad that is set to 2 minimum all year round vs. the same squad set to 3 minimum, but only training 8 months/two-thirds of the year?

[Maxmurder]

I set my military squads to active patrol(archers) or training(melee) year round. As long as you only require a couple dwarves per squad to be on duty it keeps them rotating nicely. Sometimes an eager beaver will be stay on duty for months and complain of long patrols, but this is usually a minor hit to mood.
 I will deactivate a squad if they suffer heavy combat losses and moral begins to drop. Usually a month or two leave will repair the soldiers mood sufficiently.

[Wrex]

So, 3 months of, 9 months on, is a good rotation?

[Askot Bokbondeler]

military is bugged. breaks don't work. the long patrol counter is never reset when the dwarves are released from duty, and although they lose the negative thought while off duty, once they're activated again it returns almost imediatelly
quietust has released a binary fix for this, i don't know how to apply it though.

[krenshala]

After the first year of training (to get to Competent in their assigned weapon) I tend to go with 1 month training/2 months patrol or station/1 month off rotation.  With four squads, you will always have one training, one off, and the other two active at any given time.

It appears you don't really gain any happiness by giving them time off because the game doesn't reset their happiness when they change from active to inactive military status at the moment (there's a bug report in Mantis on it).  This means it may be better to just put gold statues in the corners of where they train/station, and leave them active all the time to avoid the added hit of "drafted again!" every time they go active and "dismissed from service again!" when they shift to a civilian role, in addition to the normal "damn, this is a long patrol" complaint you normally get.

[edit] aaaaand ... my verbosity gets me ninja'd

[Sutremaine]

Generally you shouldn't have a Dwarf in the Military 12 months of the year with no breaks. Even if it was just a dip in mood: they need to eat, they need to drink, and they need to sleep. However, you can keep them happy if you really want to do it.

They can do those things just fine so long as they're not stationed anywhere. Training doesn't stop them from attending to their needs as civilians would, and placing the barracks furniture where you want soldiers to be is a good substitute for a station order.

I've had no problems with having military dwarves constantly active. The good thoughts from sparring offset the bad thoughts about long duty, and giving them nice things boosts their mood to the point where the -10 from enragement about long duty doesn't really matter. Sparring itself is a +10 thought.

[Eldestish]

Just keep the meals and booze coming and you should be fine, Having a copper dining room helps.....

[WJLIII3]

I never give my militia breaks, we don't play that way. Trained armies, nothing but. They tantrum now and again, but mostly don't go crazy for real.

[Yeti]

I always found my dwarves got upset when I took them off duty! They'd cry about long periods of duty, then when I gave them a break (still soldiers very much in training) they're moan about being taken off duty. So every fortress I've done for the last year or two has featured large never breaking military, and I've never had them kick off in a tantrum either. In fact, I've placed a very poorly made wooden armour stand outside, totally open to the elements, set it as the barracks and had them spar away for years. Sometimes I'll have them slaughter the wildlife, which they enjoy, and they're always on hand to deal with any goblins or thieves.

[i2amroy]

I always found my dwarves got upset when I took them off duty! They'd cry about long periods of duty, then when I gave them a break (still soldiers very much in training) they're moan about being taken off duty. So every fortress I've done for the last year or two has featured large never breaking military, and I've never had them kick off in a tantrum either. In fact, I've placed a very poorly made wooden armour stand outside, totally open to the elements, set it as the barracks and had them spar away for years. Sometimes I'll have them slaughter the wildlife, which they enjoy, and they're always on hand to deal with any goblins or thieves.

Soldiers will only complain about being taken off duty if their off-duty profession is "peasant". Just have them make a few rock bars until they are classified as "masons" or work a pump until they are "pump operators" and the bad thought from being take off of duty goes away.