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[megahelmet]

I like axes or swords for dealing with living targets. Which I have depends on if any immigrants arrive with skills in either. I always have 4 spear dwarves for helping out with tough FB's. A squad of xbows for annoying flyers or if their are lashers. A squad of hammer lords for dealing with zombies. As a plus, hammer lords can support the axes/swords against the living. Also, the hammer lords are the Captain of Guard squad. If there's a tantrum happening, I want all offenders dead. Damage to the fortress must be minimized. I can always get more dwarves. If a tantruming dwarf busts the pipes to the obsidian farm...well, that's a lot harder to recover from.

[Oaktree]

Any tips for training marksdwarves and then setting up a tower/base for them somewhere? I tried to train them before but it seems as though there's no easy way to do it.

1. Armed, ammo assigned to squad, archery ranges (note plural) assigned to squad, barracks assigned to squad and generally on a mixed on/off duty schedule.

2. Cage traps.  Catch stuff, put in pit, send squad to edge of pit.  (Some care required - do not pit stuff that can fly, or fire back in some way.)

I just had two full squads armed with wooden bolts work over a captured goblin spearmaster.  Took 12 pages of combat report for them to kill him.  He blocked or dodged stuff for just over two pages before getting shot in the lower leg.  A page or so later a hit broke his hand and he dropped his shield, and a bit later he lost his spear.  The last seven pages before he eventually bled out was mainly wooden bolts being deflected by his chain mail.  Pretty good experience for the marksdwarves since they got to fire off a lot of bolts at a live target.

[doublestrafe]

Any tips for training marksdwarves and then setting up a tower/base for them somewhere? I tried to train them before but it seems as though there's no easy way to do it.

There isn't, best thing you can do is arm them with crossbows and send them to kill capybaras and such. Or give them hunting instead.

Trying to make them train is like playing Dwarf Fortress inside Dwarf Fortress 

There are two ways I know of to make insanely awesome marksdwarves: the Zombie Pit and the Bronze Colossus Pit. The colossus is great because they can't kill him, especially if you keep them on bone bolts; in a reanimating biome, or with a properly imprisoned necromancer, the zombies will also last forever. The zombie pit works its absolute best when built on a border between biomes; that way, you can open a door and the zombies move into the non-reanimating biome, where you can kill them in order to clean out the spent bolts. Afterwards, chuck 'em right back in!

I've also had some success carving fortifications in a column of rock that passes through an underground lake in the caverns and stationing soldiers there to shoot at forgotten beasts, who won't path through water and just wander aimlessly.

[Blue_Dwarf]

What if the unit of archers is stationed on the other side of the map?

Why would you do that?

Because the circumstances demand it? Or they were off duty?

What if a squad of archers gets ambushed without any melee support?

See above. Failing that, it's a good idea to train your marksdwarves to use a melee weapon other than the crossbow. All of my marksdwarves carry a weapon of their choice or else a battle axe.

Do they actually use a second weapon, or will they just start to smack the enemy with crossbows? I suspect it'll be crossbows.

Any tips for training marksdwarves and then setting up a tower/base for them somewhere? I tried to train them before but it seems as though there's no easy way to do it.

There isn't, best thing you can do is arm them with crossbows and send them to kill capybaras and such. Or give them hunting instead.

Trying to make them train is like playing Dwarf Fortress inside Dwarf Fortress 

Mine train just fine ^_^

Failing that, find something for them to kill. Zombies are a good source.

Define "fine".

If you have found a way to make them reliably shoot at archery targets without breaking the routine, like melee dwarves do, by all means post a detailed step-by-step guide.

[Numeroid]

If you have found a way to make them reliably shoot at archery targets without breaking the routine, like melee dwarves do, by all means post a detailed step-by-step guide.

This. I hate training marksdwarves.

[fourpotatoes]

If I could control the proportions in which they show up to e.g. a Defend Burrows order, I'd mix melee and ranged troops into the same squads, but since I can't, doing it with my patrol schedules is just asking for all the marksmen to show up while the melee guys are all partying or vice versa. I only mix the two in special-purpose squads.

On routine patrol or high-risk missions, I deploy regular melee squads in places where they're covered by marksdwarves or where the enemy had to first pass through a marksdwarf killing zone. For low-risk or extraordinary missions where melee or marksdwarf squads can't provide mutual support, I try to position reserves or squads on other missions to minimize response time if things go bad. In case they get stuck without melee support or run afoul of better bowmen, my ranged soldiers usually have metal body armor, a helm and breastplate at minimum.

If I were willing to expend the effort, I'd start melee dwarves out in single-weapon training squads and then move them up to mixed-weapon combat squads, but what actually happens is I tell them to find a weapon of their choice and wish them luck. Because of the way I manage weapon production and melting, this usually leaves regular militia squads a mix of axes (~50%), goblinite whips or local hammers (~40%), and swords or spears (10%). The lashers cripple foes while axedwarves chop off limbs and heads, and the sword- and speardwarves do whatever sword-or-speardwarves do.

Marksdwarves seem to be more likely to spend time on the range if they don't have a barracks they can train at. With no barracks, plenty of training ammo and a schedule telling them to train, my dwarves do get range time in, but I still like to use live fire to get green recruits up to Novice. Most of their learning happens on the job behind fortifications: many of my best ranged troops, blowgunners in a modded game, started with no relevant skills and trained up to become elite by standing on the battlements and taking potshots at whatever wandered by. Get your marksdwarves behind fortifications that overlook somewhere the enemy must pass, force them up against the fortifications with burrows or walls, and keep them there unless an elite crossbowman shows up.

[itg]

Honestly, all axedwarves is a fine choice for your melee squads. Axes are probably the best overall weapons, and in any case, skill and equipment quality matter a whole lot more than weapon type. The only exception I can think of is that blunt weapons don't do so well against megabeasts because they're immune to pain. On the other hand, copper/silver blunt weapons are more useful than their edged counterparts.

Whatever melee weapons you pick, you should have at least one marksdwarf squad, as well. Melee and ranged squads really compliment each other. Marksdwarves cripple the enemies, setting up lots of easy kills, while the melee dwarves keep the enemies off the marksdwarves' backs.

For the record, my military is composed of a squad of ten mixed melee soldiers (favoring axedwarves) and a squad of ten marksdwarves. The axedwarves have the lead in kill count, although that's partly due to the fact that my militia commander/champion is such a beast. Speardwarves are lagging in kill count, but to be fair, the living one only has one arm (the other died of old age).

[Starver]

Any tips for training marksdwarves and then setting up a tower/base for them somewhere? I tried to train them before but it seems as though there's no easy way to do it.

I have had no problems (despite others impressions that they are broken) training Marksdwarves.

Central to my marksdwarf training is a "low-loss archery range" design, more or less as follows:

Code: (Butts design) [Select]

####################
#                  #
+>+++++++++++++++X #
#                  #
+>+++++++++++++++X #
#                  #
    ...etc...
...except long enough to get maximum-length ranges.
The down-stairs lead to the level below, upon which all but target-hitting bolts will fall, undamaged, into a bolt stockpile for easy re-grabbing and re-using.  The above can either be dug out of rock or built out of constructions (or both, where it crosses the top end of cavern-space), and can feature as many target ranges side-by-side (also, I've done back-to-back, with the entrances in the centre and firing both directions outwards) as one wants, to allow each and every marksdwarf to fire.

Once marksdwarves are consistently hitting the target and destroying their training bolts instead of recycling them, they're more than ready, although any threats that wander along before that often get used as live-fire practice in the field (from ramparts) as well, for additional practice and use.


I don't tend to station marksdwarves anywhere in particular (I have guard-animals doing that job for alerting me against sneaking invaders), but might (if they're not a part-military/part-civvie lot that have other jobs to do as well) assign them to a normal barracks within which they practice their non-archery skills, but are still at my beck and call for when I need them on the walls to fire down on the enemy.

And it all seems to work quite nicely.  So much so, I often feel sorry for the hand-to-hand military units who do very little other than train.

[Starver]

If you have found a way to make them reliably shoot at archery targets without breaking the routine, like melee dwarves do, by all means post a detailed step-by-step guide.

This. I hate training marksdwarves.

I dont know what I do, but this doesn't happen to me (noticeably).  Maybe they take breaks, but they still train up ''just fine' (to quote that other person who sparked off this particular line of enquiry).

[Loud Whispers]

What if the unit of archers is stationed on the other side of the map?

Why would you do that?

Because the circumstances demand it? Or they were off duty?

1. The circumstances demanded you send your crossbowdwarves alone by themselves to the map edge?
2. Give them a job. Give a station order inside your fort before putting them off duty.
This ensures that will never happen by accident.

What if a squad of archers gets ambushed without any melee support?

See above. Failing that, it's a good idea to train your marksdwarves to use a melee weapon other than the crossbow. All of my marksdwarves carry a weapon of their choice or else a battle axe.

Do they actually use a second weapon, or will they just start to smack the enemy with crossbows? I suspect it'll be crossbows.

Issue the crossbow first and the melee weapon second. They'll shoot till the enemy comes close, at which they start hacking, stabbing and smashing. As for using the secondary weapon, my Marksdwarves are rusty in hammer skill and proficient in their secondary skills. TBH I don't know how Dwarves weight attack preferences, so it could all just be anecdotal and the result of RNG or unknown factors. Take that into account as well. Also take into account this means that when sparring/fighting, my Marksdwarves only ever use their secondary weapons.

Any tips for training marksdwarves and then setting up a tower/base for them somewhere? I tried to train them before but it seems as though there's no easy way to do it.

There isn't, best thing you can do is arm them with crossbows and send them to kill capybaras and such. Or give them hunting instead.

Trying to make them train is like playing Dwarf Fortress inside Dwarf Fortress 

Mine train just fine ^_^

Failing that, find something for them to kill. Zombies are a good source.

Define "fine".

If you have found a way to make them reliably shoot at archery targets without breaking the routine, like melee dwarves do, by all means post a detailed step-by-step guide.

1. Acquire Marksdwarves.
2. Assign training ammunition.
3. Give training orders.
4. Designate valid archery target. Archery target is valid if the Dwarf can path to it in a straight line from the directions designated.
5. Put on active/training
6. Done. Alternatively, add inexperienced soldiers to the squad. The marksdwarves will often give crossbow demonstrations before the new recruit feels confident enough to go the range.
7. Make lots of targets. I've not needed more than 4 targets at a time with 20 or so marksdwarves, but there are around 20+ ranges anyways. It's a good idea to make the ranges long corridors with 1zlvl drops either end, to help increase bolt reclaim efficiency.

[Oaktree]

I opted to forego bolt reclaimation since it's a lot of hauling jobs just to recover single bolts.  And given that most trainees are shooting bone and wooden bolts I will just make more!  Especially since moods give me legendary bone and wood crafters who otherwise don't get to use their skill a lot.

[Burnup]

My last 12 forts have been a mix of me figuring out
A) An elaborate military system
B) How much idle time to alocate to citazens
and
C) How to make a effective filtration system for a free flow water system.

( [too much idle time = everyone is now related.] [Having one person die = tantrum spiral] )
( [Not enough idle time = NO quick work force. Unacceptible.] )
( [Filtration + free flow sewer should not be a first project of a new fort..] )

But my military system has revamped into somthing wonderful ^^
skeleton crew of 7 dwarves have all industries between them. EVERYONE ELSE in the military, on duty 2\3rds of the year (1\3rd train, 1\3rd patrol\sentry, 1\3rd citazen work. [I did space out which month would have which work force free from military duty so as to know what months should have what industries going.]) then with every scheduled order, require only half the squad to be present.

draw back = lots of adjustments to any tribulations. (changes in which squad is in what alert. as well as death in a squad means adjustments to their schedule.) And when you mass produce a new clothes group it will take the skeleton crew awhile to clean the old clothes off the floors. Also make all clothes out of leather because the hospital needs all cloth.

And if someone bitches about "too long patrol duty" I give them double patrol\train for a month, then switch them back to their old schedule resulting in them being "happy". (relieved)

currently 240 dwarves, 12 deaths, it's been 8 years everyone is "quite content" to "ecstatic"
And people live in slums until they have their first combat experience.
Leather everything for everyone
and iron weapons all around due to lack of FLUX
I make extra of every clothes group / armor group in leather and let them choose their own wear.
I make extra weapon (in iron) of each kind and let them choose there own.


update:
In my last siege, I decided to fight head on. No traps, no balista, no towers/walls.
Just open hillside 5 cave dragons, 10 troll, 20 archer gobbo, 40 spear gobbo, with various leaders.
against my 233 dwarven army..
10 dwarves dead 7 wounded.
all trolls dead, all archers dead, all enemy leaders dead, only 5 speargoblin escaped. Cave dragons were the first to die.

Victory!

That makes currently 246 dwarves, (due to immigrants) 22 deaths, it's been 9 years and everyone is still "quite content" to "ecstatic" leaning more towards ecstatic.

EDIT: Oh, and of course, I separate my Xbow dwarves into their own squads. And have each squad leader be a bad ass. I don't make a new squad until I assign a bad ass to be leader.

[Blue_Dwarf]

1. The circumstances demanded you send your crossbowdwarves alone by themselves to the map edge?
2. Give them a job. Give a station order inside your fort before putting them off duty.
This ensures that will never happen by accident.

Yes, sometimes you have to send squads in different places. Because you don't always have multiple sets of squads to send to different places together.

1. Acquire Marksdwarves.
2. Assign training ammunition.
3. Give training orders.
4. Designate valid archery target. Archery target is valid if the Dwarf can path to it in a straight line from the directions designated.
5. Put on active/training
6. Done. Alternatively, add inexperienced soldiers to the squad. The marksdwarves will often give crossbow demonstrations before the new recruit feels confident enough to go the range.
7. Make lots of targets. I've not needed more than 4 targets at a time with 20 or so marksdwarves, but there are around 20+ ranges anyways. It's a good idea to make the ranges long corridors with 1zlvl drops either end, to help increase bolt reclaim efficiency.

That's neither detailed nor step-by-step. Weapon/ammo assignment? Ammo stockpiles? Archery target settings? Barracks? Training schedules?

There are so many bugs associated with marksdwarves, I'm not sure you are seriously getting any results with the above steps... Right now my wannabe marksdwarf can't even pick up bolts, he's stuck in a loop of jumping into the ammo stockpile and out.

[Mimidormi]

I routinely train marksdwarves as inactive, without problems. Step by step, not meant to be patronizing in the slightest, just very accurate to avoid possible misunderstandings:

- [m]ilitary menu, press [n] to create a 'marksdwarf' uniform consisting in, for example: [A] mail shirt, [L] greaves, [H] helm, [G] gauntlets, [ B] high boots, [A] cloak, [H] hood, [ S] shield, [W] crossbow. Assign a specific [M]aterial to each part of armor, so that it reads 'steel mail shirt', 'steel greaves', and so on.

Spoiler: Explanation (click to show/hide)

It's not important the 'steel' or the 'mail shirt' per se, but the fact of specifying the metal of the armor pieces and the armor pieces themselves, since both the standard 'metal' choice among selectable materials for armor in the [M]aterial menu, and the standard 'armor' choice in [A]rmor menu in the uniform creation screen seems to be the source of so many bugged uniforms.

- Assign militia commander/captain from the nobles screen, back to the [m]ilitary menu [c]reate squad, when prompted to choose an uniform assign the marksdwarf uniform to the squad. Put in the squad as many dwarves as you want.

- In the ammunition [f] menu, scroll down to the marksdwarf squad and assign bolts both for [C]ombat and for [T]raining to them. Remove any bolts that happen to be assigned by default to any melee squad. If your fort uses hunters, you may want to save some ammo for them.

- [ b]uild [A]rchery targets, as many as you want. [q] over them, assign them the correct shooting direction, flag them for training with [t] near the correct squad name.

- Make sure you have enough quivers for the military, and for any hunter you may have.

- Your marksdwarves will pickup the equipment and practice firing at the archery targets any time training ammo is available to them. They're not considered "active/training" under the [m]ilitary-[a]lert screen, so they don't even get bad thoughts from long patrol duty.

- If they train too slowly for your tastes, consider activating them with [ s][letter of the squad][m] for some live target practice against resilient creatures in an arena you may have set up, with nearby ammo stockpiles.

[Starver]

I opted to forego bolt reclaimation since it's a lot of hauling jobs just to recover single bolts.  And given that most trainees are shooting bone and wooden bolts I will just make more!  Especially since moods give me legendary bone and wood crafters who otherwise don't get to use their skill a lot.

Well, my design (as already given) only gives a short "walk to reclaim" distance to where the bolts have fallen (especially those that were so far off the target that they hit the walls and fell down to the level below).  But YMMV, etc, etc.  It's horses for courses.  (Or whatever other animal you generally butcher and cook into roasts.)