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[Red Llama]

So my new fortress just encountered it's first forgotten beast. It was completely made of snow and I had three highly trained squads, I sent them down there expecting a short fight.
Webs.
Everywhere.
It just killed 30 dwarves and it's just sitting around in the caves now.
Wat do.

[Mimodo]

First: HOLY CRAP!!!

Second: Archers

Honestly, I'm more scared of the ones with poisonous blood and all that kind of stuff. The last forgotten beast I had was a flying web shooting creature, which got easily taken down by a small squad of well trained archers

[Red Llama]

First: HOLY CRAP!!!

Second: Archers

Honestly, I'm more scared of the ones with poisonous blood and all that kind of stuff. The last forgotten beast I had was a flying web shooting creature, which got easily taken down by a small squad of well trained archers

I have some crossbowdwarves but they came in pairs of 2 because apparently hauling some socks or whatever the heck they were doing is more important.
I just drafted some migrants into a squad and they killed the FB in a few seconds while it was distracted. It also killed my pet giant lion which kinda sucks

[Loud Whispers]

For any military that relies heavily on CC dwarves, it's a good thing for FB's to have. It could be vapours though. Or fire. I remember having an FB that spat solid globs of frozen extract at my Dwarves. That was a fun one.

[Broken]

Trap the thing between drawbridges, then direct it to a silkfarm for free magma-safe clothes.

[Loud Whispers]

Trap the thing between drawbridges, then direct it to a silkfarm for free magma-safe clothes.

Not all FB silk is magma safe. Clown silk is the 100% magma safe silk.

You know what you must do.

[Oaktree]

First: HOLY CRAP!!!

Second: Archers

Honestly, I'm more scared of the ones with poisonous blood and all that kind of stuff. The last forgotten beast I had was a flying web shooting creature, which got easily taken down by a small squad of well trained archers

I have some crossbowdwarves but they came in pairs of 2 because apparently hauling some socks or whatever the heck they were doing is more important.
I just drafted some migrants into a squad and they killed the FB in a few seconds while it was distracted. It also killed my pet giant lion which kinda sucks

Don't send squads directly into action from a long distance away.  The faster one gets out front and the group separates.  Use "Move To" squad orders in order to first consolidate the squad in a safe spot (where you can check that they have proper equipment and hold them there while they go grab the stuff they forgot), and then move them to the combat location in short rushes so that they stay together.  Luckily you can make them engage as a group and they are much more effective that way.

[Sutremaine]

Not that that'll help with a webber unless a dwarf can sneak up on it.

You could try something like this:

Code: [Select]

++++T++++
+++++++++
+++++++++
++++F++++
++D#+#D++
++D#+#D++
+++#+#+++
+++#+#+++

The space between the end of the tunnel and the sacrificial target needs to be much longer to account for webbing range, but the idea here is to have the FB rush out of the tunnel and start webbing the target, at which point the dwarves get LOS on it and rush it from behind while it's busy firing in the other direction.

Engaging webbers in melee is always risky though -- get a bunch of fast or expendable dwarves, give them crossbows and good metal bolts, and set them up somewhere that allows them to all fire at once. If the FB isn't killed outright, it should be slowed down enough to take another volley of bolts, and if it's down to webbing and pushing start attacking it from all angles.

Or you could trap it in a box without letting it ever see a dwarf and either make it the heart of your silk industry or drop a cavein on its head.

[GoombaGeek]

I think gas is pretty scary too. Or dust. Because they go through fortifications

[Urist_McArathos]

Webs are awesome; once lured into a trap, they make AWESOME silk farms, and can even be used to help catch otherwise trap-immune enemies, depending on your setup.

I think gas is pretty scary too. Or dust. Because they go through fortifications

Dust is definitely the worst; it's impossible to fight them in melee, it goes through fortifications, and is a huge nightmare to handle.  The effort required to kill them is immense: either a magma/cave-in trap (which takes time to build, prepare, and lure them into), or a very complex ranged setup.

[Sutremaine]

The effort required to kill them is immense: either a magma/cave-in trap (which takes time to build, prepare, and lure them into), or a very complex ranged setup.

Cave-in traps can be made quite simply. You need two raising bridges, a door, and a constructed floor on top of a support above the ceiling between the two raising bridges. The bridge-bridge-door part of the trap is the only way into the fortress, so the FB will make a dash for what it thinks is a free dwarven dinner. The moment it gets between the bridges, you lock the doors and order the lever pulled. Knocking down the door (or doors. They appear to split their efforts between all available doors, so the more of them you can fit in smashing range the more time you have) holds the FB in place long enough to knock out the support. You can fit the whole thing, door and all, into a 4x3x3 area, though access will take up some more space.

For extra insult, you could make the dropzone a link-only refuse pile and then link it to a nearby butcher's shop, although I never quite got that part working automatically.

[misko27]

I feel so cool right now, considering I just dispatched a dust FB without having a problem.

[Urist Da Vinci]

The problem in fighting web-spraying creatures is that they spam the cone-shaped web spray, so all melee attackers "in front" of them are rendered helpless. This also allows them free attacks to the head. In the case of a Giant Cave Spider, a steel helmet is sufficient protection, but a FB will crush the brain through any helmet.

Solutions:
a) Shoot ranged weapons from 10+ tiles away, and keep the archers spread out.
b) Attack from multiple directions all at once, so some of the melee soldiers can get up "behind" the webbing FB and attack.
c) Cave-in traps etc.