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[Noobazzah]

I just breached the caverns in my latest fort. I imediately set up some defences, war animals and such, but most dwarves are still busy attending the lootfest caused by a massive goblin siege. I'm eager to explore the caverns, and I'm currently browsing through my citizens in order to find suitable candidates. I only found 1-3 useless citizens, others have useful skills, including the military (all my smiths are speardwarves ). How should I arm the expedition? My quess is axes or swords, in case of a organless FB appears or something. Also, if I give them plenty of supplies, should they be able to surive long enough to reveal the whole area? I might try writing a story about the exploration too, if it turns out interesting.

[Iosyn]

Draft the three cheesemakers if they've got nothing better to do. Make sure your defences are water tight, get out there and strike some earth. Wall it all off.

As for arming them... Axedwarves and speardwarves, I think. Those olm-men towercap spears can hurt.

[Loud Whispers]

Eh, don't you be worrying about them FB's. They won't appear for a while.

Also if you don't have a military by the time you breach the caverns and want to explore them, just recruit some Dwarves - you don't even need to bother with weapons. Just give them a helmet and something to stab stuff with and call it a day, that'd keep them safe from small critters and anything larger would just kill them regardless (unless you had a fully fledged military).
Alternatively release about 2-3 breeding pairs of rabbits into the caverns.

[AutomataKittay]

They won't need much supplies to wander around and check things out. However, if you want to set up an outpost to keep eye on things, for RP purpose or to isolate problem dwarves, then you can drop supplies from somewhere safe from time to time and seal the hatch. You'll want to at least set up beds and maybe a few chairs and table to eat on, to keep them happy.

As for arming and armoring, give them crossbows if you don't mind dealing with dropping bolts sometimes, and anything sharp and useful, such as sword, pick and axe. Any metal armors should do, since they tend to have habit of turning up dead as soon as FB hardy enough to hurt them badly shows up, either through syndromes or sheer toughness.

Seal them out with walls or bridges, FB can break through doors well enough!

[Noobazzah]

Yeah, FBs are actually quite probable, since this fort's military has already killed about 20 titans. I'm experienced with anything regarding surface operations, but caverns have creeped me out too much or killed the FPS of my bigger forts, so this is all new and exiting. I have no idea why the FPS didn't drop this time, maybe because I cremate most of my refuse nowadays.  The idea about sending "troublemakers" to live down there is highly inrtiguing. All my cheese makers were killed during the Operation Save The Woodcutters From Ambush By Sending Forth a Wave of Rabble. Howerver, a miller, a dyer and a novice cook "volunteered". Off to training now!

[Mr S]

To the pumpstacks!!!

Give the little beardies some kind of chance, lol.

[Eldestish]

Not all FBs are going to murder you're entire fort hard to kill..
I once had a giant duck/goose/some waterfowl with eternal ribs show up,I was in the process of boarding up the caverns when my milita commander stepped out and hacked it apart once it landed....

[Noobazzah]

Yeah, but I've read of stone flies that spray suffocating dust as well. But that's why the team will consist of loiterers. They'll either gain great glory in their adventures, or die in immense agony, deep where light has never shined, and never will.

[oven_baked]

My recent fort has really boring caverns, I've got proper defence after a FB appeared and I decided that my "locked door directly into central staircase" might not be the best...
But other than one FB and a giant toad that hasn't moved an inch i've got nothing dangerous, it's rather useless really as I've got a massive above-ground courtyard if I wanted wood or grazing ground.

[GenJeFT]

I have no reason to fear caverns. I have killed every single FB that has come to me, some more challenging then others. One flew up the well and ended up in the hospital once, that was fun.

[Noobazzah]

It's the diseases I've been worried about. I also have a lot of FB's in my world, since it's created with advanced parameters and I made sure that there's loads of Megabeasts around.

[Noobazzah]

Report on Cavern Exploration to His Excellence the Duke of Fountainscale
Atir Glazework, Expeditioner  9th of Hematite, 258.

As You instructed, me and me fellow explorer Feb Helmswheeled equipped ourselves with arms, armor, booze and roast, and made our way to the recently uncovered caverns. Neither me or me fellow Feb have ever touched a weapon, let alone used one, but as you pointed out this is a far more better alternative than joining the Naked Gladiators in your Eminence's arena. Feb seems exited about this trip, but I find myself nervous, even though You in all your grace, wisdom etc etc granted me this fine steel axe from your armory.
We have discovered numerous veins of valuable gems, but no metal ores yet. Spider webs are also common, and the size of them points towards Giant Cave Spiders. Lets hope we don't run into one.
Today we have mapped and catalogued almost all of the uppest caves, and we will soon move to the northeastern corner. Alarming noices have begun to echo from the pitch dark walls surrounding us, and so I told Feb to ready his axe.
As we near the corner, so do the voices near us. I haven't much time, so I send the messenger kea back to the surface now. Hopefully this letter reaches You soon. If we're not heard from within a week, You can safely assume that we are both dead.

[GreatWyrmGold]

If you want to set up a cavern base, give them some plump helmet seeds or something. Or have them gather it themselves.

[Azure]

Like others said, it's not the beasts that get you its the disease.

You'll want:

• A large, stocked, tunnel complex as your cavern entrance
• Multiple raising drawbridge covered ditches
• cage traps just inside the outermost shutoff bridge to catch useless crap like curious crocs and trogs
• Inset the bridge by 5 or 6 tiles so any spooked dwarf only has inwards to run.
• past the cage trap field you'll want weapon traps and/or spike traps to deal with non-cagable threats.
• You'll need the access tunnel to take an L bend and then drop down ~7 z-levels. Build an artificial cave-in platform above the tunnel to deal with necrotic dust spreading adamantium Beetles. Use raising bridges to access and supports to keep the platform up
• at the fort end of this you want raising bridges controlling access to the cavern sewer spillway. Drain any liquids when necessary. Make it a 20+ z-drop if you're worried about crocs infesting your sewers.Use raising bridges and ditches to keep access tunnels to the cave-in sewer and over areas safe. You'll likely have to service and cleanse it many times over the life of your fort.
• Have ramp lead up from there to the quarantine platform. dig out the rock to match vertically.This way your marksdwarf in the firing gallery can reach the bottom. Inset the fortifications 1 tile and build a raising bridge. Raise it when dust/fire will be an issue.

   ^  ^  To water and magma flooding reservoirs.
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_| || |___ Fit marksdwarf firing galleries in the ceiling. Recess 1 tile and add raising bridge for dust/fire prot. Don't forget a raised bridge for 
_| || |___         service access. You may have to replace a bridge or 3 later.
_| || |___
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_             |_______________________________________
 \            | |                   |x________________________>Cavern
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   \          | |_                _|x
    \         |__|              |__x
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_________________________| |________________________
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|                                   _______                                  |
<_____________________|          |_____________________>(Drainage off map via map-edge fortifications.)

• Build a mini-hospital complete with staff sleeping quarters, dining room, food storage, and a drop shaft to drop in more food.Burrow staff inside.
• Build a decontamination shower to repeatedly douse your dwarves and wash the contaminants through open floor hatches. This will need a sewer with access tunnels as well.
• Now that your troops are at the quarantine platform after killing say... a dust spreading fb. Keep the bridge leading to the main fort raised:
  • Check for any incoming mobs.
  • Lower decon bridge. Get them cleaned
  • Lower hospital bridge
  • Get any wounded dwarves treated.
  • Keep watching for ANY infectious outbreak.
  • If so... release the magma and may Armok have mercy on their infected souls for we shall not!
  • Don't use your valuable anything. Cavern related dwarves had better be expendable cause they wont all make it home. Yes, this means doctors too... They'll just have to deal with Urist Mc.Novice Surgeon infected the fuck out of them.
• If it isn't obvious, build in reservoirs to flood the quarantine structures to remove infected blood. Build everything out of magma-proof metal that you can.
• Build the quarantine > fort section with some spike traps and multiple raising bridge/ditch combos. add in cats on rope etc. to draw attention and buy time if god forbid something got that far w/o notice.
• If you want more in-cavern support, link firing galleries in the cavern to the quarantine platform marksdwarf barracks. Don't forget to recess 1 tile and add raising bridges!
• Your master cheesemakers and fishery workers make great marksdwarf explorers although the ammo issue will get them killed. Just remember the golden rule is nobody valuable goes ANYWHERE NEAR here. Running a cavern Op.? You best have gotten everyone past the fort-cav bridges and raised them before heading out to the cavern. Your cavern team is just gonna have to haul and butcher that infection FB itself.

A bit rambly, unclear, and I probably missed a couple things but you should be able to fill in the gaps.

[Noobazzah]

Wow, that's quite a thought-out plan. Once I understand it fully, I'll propably implement it .