Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[jesternario]

This WAS originally a post on what tasks players set each migrant wave to, but it seems to have quickly become a topic on murdering said migrant waves as they come in. Comment on either. They're both interesting.

-original topic opener-
Hey, just curious one what other players ideas are with each new migration wave, from initial skeleton crew to the tenth (after that, it really doesn't matter unless some severe fun has happened).

In depth plans are not what I'm looking for, I'm just looking for your initial plans with waves as they come and your personal reasons for each goal.

[Iosyn]

Waves 1+2: Militia, haulers and masonry/stone detailing.

Waves 3+4: More militia, switch one to a grower, brewer or cook-- haulers, more stone detailing if the fort isn't sparkly smooth yet: expand current industry.

Waves 5+: Kill half of all new immigrants. I can't stand 20+ waves with another 8 babies, I have no use for them besides further militia drafting, a marksdwarf squad and bloody nojobbing cheesemakers drinking all my booze.

[No2religions]

I use the "squad" filter in dwarf therapist all the time. I just draft dwarves when I feel like it and set the labours on the others. A new wave? BFD. I always draft going up from bottom on the military menu.

[jesternario]

Sadly I don't have goals myself yet. I'm still learning to play (If I ever figure out how to get the military to work, It will be amazing), so My wave goals are like this:

Initial: Dig majority of fortress, including epic dining room with chicken coop, make food and wood stockpiles
2nd: Oh goody! More people to add to the food and wood stores! Begin forging
3rd: Get annoyed as to the fact that the goblins and kobolds keep attacking
4th and onward: ongoing with hopes of not getting massacred by orcs.

[Iosyn]

I never said it was a big deal lol. I just like executing idle dwarfs. Lazyness and cheesemakers are not to be tolerated.

[azach]

I don't have specific goals per migration wave, but what really bugs me is the third wave. I believe it's the third wave. You go from 20'ish dwarves to 40+. While the additional dwarf-power is quite needed by this point there's just no possible way to be prepared to support the eating and drinking habits of more than double your previous population immediately. It's a minor crisis for me every single fort.

So then they get pissed about no food or booze, and the fact that you haven't given these special little snowflakes their very own bedroom the second they get to the fort, and boohoo long patrol duty, etc etc. I think within my next few fortresses I may start to get fairly medieval on some third migration wave dwarves.

[zuglar]

I don't have specific goals per migration wave, but what really bugs me is the third wave. I believe it's the third wave. You go from 20'ish dwarves to 40+. While the additional dwarf-power is quite needed by this point there's just no possible way to be prepared to support the eating and drinking habits of more than double your previous population immediately. It's a minor crisis for me every single fort.

Man, you're lucky, only 20... My 2nd spring migration is usually 35+ and puts my population above 50, with the summer and fall ones breaking the 80 barrier and triggering my first siege in winter or spring. The biggest problem, besides the inevitable siege, is the new mayor whining about his [lack of] rooms and making mandates right when I'm trying to dedicate all resources to siege preparedness.

Back on topic, my goals are usually:

1st summer (~5 adults): 2-3 more miners, a cook/brewer, appoint a manager/bookkeeper, and more haulers
1st fall (~5 adults): another mason, fill in other gaps based on skills. Get metal industry going.
2nd spring (~25 adults): Haulers and military. Enable mechanics, masonry, and architecture on all haulers to build bridges, install traps and levers, etc. in anticipation of the looming winter siege (I've never figured out how to train the military up quickly enough to be useful by the fort's second winter). Use workshop profiles to keep the riffraff from making stuff (where quality actually matters).
2nd summer (~10 adults): Time to get serious about clothing and armor. More haulers and military.
2nd fall (~10 adults): Anything that helps get ready for the imminent siege. Usually mechanics and masonry.
3rd spring: doesn't matter any more, I've got 150+ dwarves by now

P.S. I know you're supposed to keep fortress value down to avoid growing too quickly, but I've given up on that because most of my value is tied up in weapons/armor and artifacts. How a mudstone amulet encrusted with cabuchons of mudstone can increase fortress value by 50% or more, I'll never understand.

[Iceflame]

So then they get pissed about no food or booze, and the fact that you haven't given these special little snowflakes their very own bedroom the second they get to the fort, and boohoo long patrol duty, etc etc. I think within my next few fortresses I may start to get fairly medieval on some third migration wave dwarves.

I tried this - but the problem here is that I can't even finish some kind of a drowning pool, before the third wave arrives.

[zuglar]

So then they get pissed about no food or booze, and the fact that you haven't given these special little snowflakes their very own bedroom the second they get to the fort, and boohoo long patrol duty, etc etc. I think within my next few fortresses I may start to get fairly medieval on some third migration wave dwarves.

I tried this - but the problem here is that I can't even finish some kind of a drowning pool, before the third wave arrives.

What if you lock them all out, draft them all into the military, and order one of them to kill another? The resulting loyalty cascade should wipe most of them out, and any survivors are likely marked enemies of your civ and will be killed on sight by your guards when they try to enter the fort.

Of course, that's only if you want to get rid of *all* of them... tho maybe some burrows could make it more fine-grained.

[VerdantSF]

So then they get pissed about no food or booze, and the fact that you haven't given these special little snowflakes their very own bedroom the second they get to the fort, and boohoo long patrol duty, etc etc. I think within my next few fortresses I may start to get fairly medieval on some third migration wave dwarves.

I tried this - but the problem here is that I can't even finish some kind of a drowning pool, before the third wave arrives.

I just lower the pop cap and only increase it when my fort is ready for more.  For me, there's always a military focus for each wave.  Any males with military skill are drafted.  My baby percentage cap is also low, so exceptional females without kids are considered for military duty, too. 

[Starver]

Generally (though details may change, depending on the nature and intention of the embark):

Wave 0:
  Two dedicated miners,
  One obvious candidate for Expedition Leader who will also be my (at least initial) trader/bookkeeper (minimal social and related skills, only),
  A grower (may double up in other beige skills, but I try to get his growing skills up first - so #7 (below) or EL (above) may be given brewer/cook sidelines when necessary, even if starting from zero-skill),
  A woodcutter (usually doubles up as stone user, e.g. stonecrafter, of some kind[1]),
  A mason (usually doubles up as a carpenter[1]),
  The seventh is a wildcard and depends on what the remaining dwarf (after assigning the others according to compatible engrained qualities) might be good at... or not if I'm desperate.  May have one or more of mechanic/architect/metalworker skills, though.

Waves 1+ (often each of 20+ new guys and gals and hanger-onerers, when I've got stonecraft generation up and running like I usually do):
  I work with what I get.
  I create an industry, if I need to, to take advantage of any sufficiently skilled dwarfs in a new skill, where I haven't already started it up.  (With possible exceptions of cheesemakers, fishers[2], hunters[2])  Or expand if the existing workers aren't themselves novices, or replace them if they were just the best I had at the time and are now outclassed.
  Anybody with any military skills at all gets themselves a drafting (separating those with family from those that don't, and giving those with reasonable civilian jobs a light military schedule but those with no civilian purpose a heavy one).
  Anybody left, I dedicate to haulage, and any low-skilled job (e.g. building walls) that comes as a higher priority than the hauling jobs they're assigned to.  (Skilled artisans and practitioners are largely removed from all hauling duties, except when there's an emergency clearance needed of useful stuff from somewhere I'm wanting to flood with magma/whatever...)


And then I wing it...  Mostly trying to find new things to assign bored dwarves to.  Because a working dwarf is a happy dwarf me!  (And when it isn't doing that, it's trying to find more dwarves who can be safely reassigned to my Ultra Important Project rather than their current full employment.  Because not enough working dwarves is a not very happy me...  But as I usually up my pop caps to 300, I've usually got a pool of otherwise useless haulers I can 'borrow' from.)

I never intentionally kill anyone.  The less skilled military (without family connections) get to be the first into battle[3] though, and the no-skilled haulers could be in dangerous places more, so when there are deaths, it usually improves my average skill-levels.

[1] The logic being that when there's stone things needed, I have a stone preparer and a prepared-stone user.  When there's wood things needs, I have a log getter and a log user, only flipped.  With all those haulers to cover any gaps in transportation of materials.

[2] I don't fish or hunt, any more.  Arable crops and home-grown meat farming (with very little dairy usage) is my general staple for food production.

[3] Ahead of the better-skilled ones and the family-connected ones as the last resort, when things are dire.  (Or absolutely certain to be a victory for me, and just a clean-up.)

[Loud Whispers]

Hey, just curious one what other players ideas are with each new migration wave, from initial skeleton crew to the tenth (after that, it really doesn't matter unless some severe fun has happened).

Wave 1: Two Dwarves set up the entire farming industry, gather plants for processing, hack down the immediate surrounding trees (for defense and infrastructure).
Two marksDwarves patrol the grounds shooting anything that doesn't keep a respectful distance away from the clearing, whilst also helping build the initial walls.
Two miners begin digging a quarry.
One Dwarf forges copper crossbows and bolts to last until the first migrant wave (Wave 2), and then helps build the walls as well.

Wave 2: Everyone joins the military, becomes a mason, woodworker and/or a farmer.
Wave 3: Everyone joins the military, becomes a mason and/or a farmer.
Wave 4: Everyone joins the military, becomes a mason and/or a farmer+craftsdwarf.
Wave 5: Everyone joins the military, becomes a mason and/or a farmer+craftsdwarf.
Wave 6: Everyone joins the military, becomes a mason and/or a farmer+craftsdwarf.
Wave 7: Everyone joins the military, becomes a mason and/or a farmer+craftsdwarf.
Wave 8: Everyone joins the military, becomes a mason and/or a farmer, or is recruited into a !!SCIENCE!! program.
Wave 9: Everyone joins the military, becomes a mason and/or a farmer+craftsdwarf.
Wave 10: Everyone joins the military, becomes a mason and/or a farmer.
Wave 11: Everyone joins the military, becomes a mason and/or a farmer, or is recruited into a !!SCIENCE!! program.
Wave 12+: Everyone joins the military, becomes a mason and/or a farmer, science conducted as necessary. It is preferable however to select migrants from wave 8 or 11 before taking from future waves.

Specialists jobs are sampled from the available skill sets and Dwarven resources available when required, across all migrant waves. By the 7th wave if the mortality rates are good, this is where children start getting born and by wave 29, the peasant child population can safely replace the migrants as a source of Dwarven labour.
It's a simple plan for a simple fort, but it lets me focus on things I want to do instead of keeping the Dwarves alive ^_^

[jesternario]

Wave 8: Everyone joins the military, becomes a mason and/or a farmer, or is recruited into a !!SCIENCE!! program.

Please define this Program of !!SCIENCE!! I am most intrigued.

I'm also ecstatic about how this topic turned into "best way to murder dwarves" for a bit.

[Iosyn]

Just a note: The first two migrant waves are hard-coded. The waves after that depend on created wealth and other factors, so if every surface and room is smoothed, engraved and filled with masterwork furniture you're gonna start getting larger waves.
Additionally, if your popcap is say, 90 and you have 89 dwarves, you can still get say, a 15 dwarve migrant wave.

I find my fortresses are perfect around the 40-60 dwarf mark, with maybe some more for the military. Hell, on embark a single stonecrafter can buy out the entire first caravan, barring useless stuff you really just don't need. Give someone bone carving and have them set to only decorate and bang, you can even buy that bloody (*<<-Billon Cat Cage->>*).

[lordcooper]

So then they get pissed about no food or booze, and the fact that you haven't given these special little snowflakes their very own bedroom the second they get to the fort, and boohoo long patrol duty, etc etc. I think within my next few fortresses I may start to get fairly medieval on some third migration wave dwarves.

I tried this - but the problem here is that I can't even finish some kind of a drowning pool, before the third wave arrives.

What if you lock them all out, draft them all into the military, and order one of them to kill another? The resulting loyalty cascade should wipe most of them out, and any survivors are likely marked enemies of your civ and will be killed on sight by your guards when they try to enter the fort.

Of course, that's only if you want to get rid of *all* of them... tho maybe some burrows could make it more fine-grained.

And then your guards would get marked as enemies...