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[Joben]

Maybe this has been discussed, I couldn't figure out a way to search for it...

Basically what are the advantages and disadvantages in mixing weapon types in a squad?

Lets say you have 10 hammerdwarves, 10 axedwarves and 10 speardwarves and 10 swordsdwarves.

Do you keep them as descrete units with one weapon, or do you mix them up?

I'd be temped to make 5 squads of 8 with two of each weapon, but I don't know if tha'ts worth it.

Are there weapons combos that are especially good? Like would Mace/Spear mitigate thew weaknesses of either?

What about archers? Would having a designated marksman or two in a squad help or just be really inefficient?

[Friendstrange]

The problem with mixed weapon squads is that the dwarves will teach different weapon proficiencies very slowly to each other, which  doesnt help for raising the skills higer.

Its best to have small squads, each dedicated to a single weapon. That way you can send your spears to help the axelords with the forgotten beast while sending in your hammerlords after the undead, buying time for the marksdwarves to reach their stations/refill ammo and finish them off.

The more squads you have the more flexible the military becomes in operations, granted you keep them small.

[TomiTapio]

I usually have three squads:
A) medium skilled
B) low or no skills (fish cleaner troops)
C) archers/hunters who came as migrants.
And always good to have a few weapon traps and cage traps. Wood and stone weapons in the traps, to conserve good metals.

[King DZA]

I was half expecting this thread to be about a creature that suffered from a weird mutation and was born with both its arms fused together.

Anyway, I've never dedicated a squad to using only a single weapon. Partly because I feel the squad would be better off in the long run having a little variety, and partly because I can be a lazy bastard.

[WealthyRadish]

Each melee weapon type is rather situational, so aside from sprinkling marksdwarves in I think you'd be better off keeping them separate. I find that having speardwarves is nice for cavern nasties, hammerdwarves seem to be worthwhile for undead, and axedwarves for gobbos/elves/humans. I find that whenever I'm forced into a situation where speardwarves need to fight a siege or something, they do much more poorly than axedwarves or swordsdwarves would. Mixing them in would be nice if you have a small military, but even then it's possible to just order each squad separately.

Swordsdwarves are a good mix between speardwarves' pokiness and axedwarves' dismembermentness, making them useful all purpose troops. I actually think miners are better than swords though, as they have rather insane penetration and decent slicing. 

[Loud Whispers]

Melee Dwarves are put together in squads with the same skill set if possible, but I won't complain if hammerdwarf spars with speardwarf. Knowing that, it still rarely happens. Crossbow Dwarves are only ever put in unique crossbow squads, until they become elite. From there they get moved onto elite crossbow squads, get a melee Dwarf sentry to fight off fliers that make it over the walls or get branched off to provide support for the melee squads. The latter rarely happens.

[brainfreez]

my legendary miner killed 7 pike gobos and 4 mace goblins he also injured 2 mace goblins , they had severed motor nerves , so they won't fight for a while . he did all this with a copper pick , so keeping miners in squads is a good idea , because they will only fight back when cornered.

[Loud Whispers]

my legendary miner killed 7 pike gobos and 4 mace goblins he also injured 2 mace goblins , they had severed motor nerves , so they won't fight for a while . he did all this with a copper pick , so keeping miners in squads is a good idea , because they will only fight back when cornered.

Miners kill everything regardless, you don't need to worry about them fighting or not fighting back

[brainfreez]

i mean , armoring them so they would become dwarven tanks with ultra overpowered weapon .
because your miners are still vulnerable to archers.

[Frontestro]

When starting off have small groups train weapons of their choice squads of 2 or 3. This will allow them to level up a lot faster. Do not cross train unless you want your marks dwarfs to learn how to crossbow bash as well as shoot. (Or if you want to be uber dwarfy and have a "master of arm" who is legendary in all combat). Once you think that your tiny squads have reached sufficent level. Either combine like squads to form companies of 10 Axe, 10 Hammer, 10 Spear. etc. or If you think that they are well trained enough/you don't have the numbers. Form 5&5 squads such as Hammer&Mace and Axe&Sword squads. This will keep them focused for easy use even if training is a bit off. The reasoning behind this is to keep Each squad with its own purpose. Bashing, Slashing, Stabbing, Shooting. These should be the 4 main pillars of each army.

On aside note: Miners are stupidly OP, I recruited one in adventure mode and it became a legendary hero before I did. Getting 3 Bandit kills, 5 werebeast kills, and a cyclops kill. As such whenever I play adventure mode from now on I search everywhere to find picks as they are awesome.

[thegoatgod_pan]

They will spar just fine, they will not train random weapon skills, they will be good against armored goblins, fleshy beasts and things with limbs and things best smashed to death. Combined arms are better if your fort is in the caverns as well as surfac, but a hammer squad may be better if you are fighting the undead hordes.

[VerdantSF]

I stick with 2-man and 3-man squads of the same weapon, but since I station and move them all around together, they might as well be a mixed weapon squad.  It's great seeing the different weapon types working in tandem. An old fort of mine featured a macedwarf and a speardwarf who fought a roc together while the rest of the militia assembled.  The macedwarf quickly broke a few bones, causing the bird to fall.  The speardwarf had a clear shot and stabbed it in the head.

[Wellincolin]

I was half expecting this thread to be about a creature that suffered from a weird mutation and was born with both its arms fused together.

I laughed and you know why. These were my EXACT thoughts even in proportion.

Fuck it. Bay 12 life.

[celem]

I always use mixed squads.  for starters its probably several years before you can spare and armor even 4x5 dwarf squads, add to that the fact that most of the first 2 migrant waves (non-historical) probably dont contain much military goodness means i start mine slow.  Mix anyone worthwhile into a squad and let em pick themselves.  Once theyve decided i usually do a quick check to make sure im not completely imbalanced. 

A couple of blunts are a must have, they are your best chance vs an inorganic monster (minerals, metals) and also vs anything very heavily armored (steel/iron, though i dont beleieve any vanilla mobs use steel).  New undead demand blunt attention too.

Axe is the ultimate limb remover, goblins only armor the torso and head usually so axes take care of the rest.

Spear is vital, you always need a spear.  For a soft target that is too large for an axe to remove a limb (MB/FB/Titan) then a spear is your friend, organ shots can bleed it out while axes hack at fat layers.

Sword as mentioned is a crossover, weak axe and weak spear joined.  good default weapon for majority of troopers, covers 2 roles.

You could probably get away using only swords with a squad of blunt somewhere to put down the specific targets that require them.  In reality i send mixed units, there are some occasions where they mixes cooperate well, perhaps a troll is too fat and the axeguy cant remove his leg, np, spearguy sticks him in the gut, causes a passout and the axeguy takes the head instead.

Wrestlers are also theoretically strong mixed with other troops.  The idea is that through use of holds they immobilise enemies for their squadmates to kill.  In reality you need a good wrestler for this, and most dont survive their first engagement, let alone progress to gain serious skill.

Edit: Also, nothing wrong with crossbows in your melee units.  just be sure to give them a second weapon so that they dont crossbow bash.  since they train hammerdwarf anyway give them a hammer and they will swing that instead of xbow when they find themselves in melee, and even be rather good at it.

[Hyndis]

I allow my melee guys to choose what kind of melee weapon they use. They can grab any melee weapon from the armory they want.

This gives a nice variety with my military squads.

For weapons I make swords, spears, and axes. I much prefer edged weapons over blunt weapons, as edged weapons can kill even huge things by a thousand papercuts.