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[DompR]

I just finished my newest fort's corrior of death (looots of weapon traps) and I was wondering if there's been any !!Science!! done regarding the jamming rates of the different trap weapons (ie. if  serrated disks jam more often than spiked balls, etc.).

Also, are there any aboveground dangers that my new pet dragon won't melt?

[GiglameshDespair]

A master bowgoblin will most likely pick off your dragon with a single arrow. Don't rely on it for deence against ranged beings. if you can, set up a military - a squad of two dwarves training nonstop quickly reach high levels in their chosen weapon skill. Give them armour and ahield of any material and you have a decent defence. 

As far as I know (which is little) blade traps are more likely to jam than spiked balls. Probably because they make more bits. But don't quote me on that.

[DompR]

Do dragons need a path to their targets to fry them? Cause I was thinking of putting a raising bridge between him and the fortifications to avoid snipergoblins, and another to close off its enclosure so it cant charge out into melee.

I have  nice enough military, but superheated lizard-spit seems dorfier

[Jase]

Maybe you can dig a room on the side of your death corridor, put your dragon in there an wall it off with a single single fortification in the wall, so it can behave like a flamethrower - burning everything away what pass

[nbp]

Do dragons need a path to their targets to fry them? Cause I was thinking of putting a raising bridge between him and the fortifications to avoid snipergoblins, and another to close off its enclosure so it cant charge out into melee.

I have  nice enough military, but superheated lizard-spit seems dorfier

Be careful how you plan this out.  I think dragon fire will melt the bridge the first time he lets loose.

The first time I met a dragon, I scrambled all of my dwarves below the surface and closed up the fort.  Just then, a wave of migrants came.  They were approaching the fort on one side of a deep canyon, the dragon was on the other side.  The dragon started heading for the migrants, and came into fire-shooting range just as she was in the middle of the bridge across the canyon.  She shot out a jet of flame, roasting 3 migrants and melting the bridge.  She then plunged about 10 z-levels to her death.

[Sutremaine]

All melee weapon traps have an equal chance to jam. It's 50% if the trap's attack kills a creature outright, and 0% otherwise (even if the creature dies before it can take another step). The science here is in how often each kind of weapon can create those potentially trap-jamming injuries, and which arrangement of traps is best for death by, say, exsanguination or suffocation. Neither of those are instadeath, but once your throat or middle spine is gone it's only a matter of time.

[Fluoman]

And what does science say, then?
Spears (lung puncture) jam less than axes (beheading)?

[Sutremaine]

And what does science say, then?
Spears (lung puncture) jam less than axes (beheading)?

Nobody's done any, as far as I know. Weapons capable of bisecting or beheading a creature might jam slightly more often than weapons capable of only brain shots on that particular creature, but given how many body parts there are to attack the difference is likely insignificant. Weapons with multiple attacks might also jam more often, as they have more than one chance to roll a killing shot.

Use what you like, really. Squad leaders will run ahead of their squads if they're advancing at a quick pace insead of milling around in your general direction, so splattering the leader with 10 steel discs might jam that particular trap but cause the rest of the squad to cut and run before they have a chance to jam any more traps. On the other hand, traps designed to draw blood and break bones might have a lower individual chance to jam, but more opportunities to as more goblins pass over the traps while the squad leader is still bleeding out.

[gchristopher]

Putting fewer weapons in a trap is a good start, as painful injuries are sufficient to cause enemies to flee. It reduces the number of strikes at once, so there's a lower chance of inflicting a fatal injury while still usually doing some damage. After suffering a couple broken bones, most goblins will drop their weapons from the pain and try to stagger away.

[paldin]

All melee weapon traps have an equal chance to jam. It's 50% if the trap's attack kills a creature outright, and 0% otherwise (even if the creature dies before it can take another step).

Can you give us a reference to where that's stated?  The wiki http://dwarffortresswiki.org/index.php/DF2012:Trap_design#Weapon_trap claims hammers seem to jam less than swords and axes, and spears seem to jam the most.  If that's because blunt weapons tend to maim rather than kill targets and spears tend to kill if they hit, then I can see where the wiki would take your claim and describe it in this manner.  But the wiki doesn't explicitly say that killing the target is a requisite for it jamming.

Also, if OP wants to completely avoid jamming, he should load those weapon traps with ranged weapons (crossbows/bows).  Just beware of small stacks being loaded for ammo, as the trap will take only one stack (even though maximum capacity is 10 rounds), unlike marksdwarves who will pick up stacks until their quiver is full.  Mass producing crossbows is a VERY handy use for excessive wood, since neither material nor quality of crossbows contribute to the accuracy nor damage of shots (they only contribute when used as melee hammers).  Just make sure both your mechanic and craftsdwarf are skilled, since mechanism quality acts as the user's skill and the bolt's quality is as it normally functions.

[Lich180]

Or if you don't want to worry about traps jamming at all, build upright spikes, link them to a lever, and set the lever to be pulled repeatedly. Its what I started using my last fort, works very nicely.

Of course, thats for the ones who didn't go straight for the quick route (through a perpetual motion mine cart loop). Being bashed by lead mine carts must hurt, judging from all the blood and gore left behind.

[Drazinononda]

Being bashed by lead mine carts must hurt, judging from all the blood and gore left behind.

It doesn't hurt for long, in most cases.

[DompR]

Or if you don't want to worry about traps jamming at all, build upright spikes, link them to a lever, and set the lever to be pulled repeatedly. Its what I started using my last fort, works very nicely.

Is there any way (other than physical separation) to keep my soldiers from charging over the spikes and making the walls all pretty-colored? Most of them have high quality steel armor, so maybe making the spikes copper could reduce the danger to them but still be deadly to gobbos?

[weenog]

Or if you don't want to worry about traps jamming at all, build upright spikes, link them to a lever, and set the lever to be pulled repeatedly. Its what I started using my last fort, works very nicely.

Is there any way (other than physical separation) to keep my soldiers from charging over the spikes and making the walls all pretty-colored? Most of them have high quality steel armor, so maybe making the spikes copper could reduce the danger to them but still be deadly to gobbos?

Don't let them see the invaders when the most obvious path to reach them crosses the spikes.  If you want them to take the fight outside for some reason, don't use a Kill order, use Station orders to move the squad step-by-step along a path to the battleground which does not include the trap corridor.

[Drazinononda]

Or if you don't want to worry about traps jamming at all, build upright spikes, link them to a lever, and set the lever to be pulled repeatedly. Its what I started using my last fort, works very nicely.

Is there any way (other than physical separation) to keep my soldiers from charging over the spikes and making the walls all pretty-colored? Most of them have high quality steel armor, so maybe making the spikes copper could reduce the danger to them but still be deadly to gobbos?

Don't let them see the invaders when the most obvious path to reach them crosses the spikes.  If you want them to take the fight outside for some reason, don't use a Kill order, use Station orders to move the squad step-by-step along a path to the battleground which does not include the trap corridor.

For keeping them from charging prematurely, switchbacks are your friends. An airlock can be used for the second suggestion.