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[Thormgrim]

I'm sure this has been covered, so maybe just point me to the right thread.

I recently discovered that two members of my population are werebeasts.  I stumbled over it while trying to use DFHack to solve a ghost problem I was having.  In any case, they haven't changed yet, so I decided to try a nice werebeast military.

One of them is now a militia commander.  The other is a baby... woops!

Anyway, how do folks manage your Lycanthosquads?  How do you keep them in harm's way but also sequestered away from everybody you don't want them infecting?  How do you keep 'em properly fed and drunk?

[Acthpau]

You could always build a house outside, dump food and alcohol into it, have them burrowed in and sealed by bridge which can be opened from in your fortress. If there are invaders during weretime, you can release them.

[Nixonitus]

Baby or child?
In any case, do what Acthpau said.
Only add the mother of the baby if it is too young.

[Loud Whispers]

Anyway, how do folks manage your Lycanthosquads?  How do you keep them in harm's way but also sequestered away from everybody you don't want them infecting?  How do you keep 'em properly fed and drunk?

1. I have a squad for drafted migrant peasants ready to attempt integration with an unskilled were-creature, preferably a captured non-dwarf humanoid. Then they move into the sole were-civet squad and kit up with exotic weapons like morningstars! Of 6 that entered, 3 left and 2 survive as of now. Rather easy to manage... When they listen to orders.
2. I move them around from time to time in pre-fabricated rooms full of rows upon rows of armour racks and weapon racks I don't mind losing.They are prone to eating them.
The Dwarves then train and not much else, with down time so they can be friends. Usually the only reason they move rooms is because it's just passed full moon and I think the Dwarves have earned a good roast and drink or need to pick up some new equipment. I just station them in one of the rooms a good week before full moon and that's that. The rooms don't have to be anything fancy, a good couple doors suffice (though they are capable of destroying even stone doors, so be sure to at least double layer them).
3. Every full moon the change satiates hunger and thirst. Physically an infected Dwarf will never die from starvation or thirst again; however, for a Dwarf a good deal amount of happiness can be gained from both, and Dwarves need alcohol to get through the working day.
Not necessary, but it is especially grueling to see a were-Dwarf unnecessarily die because another one hacked its head off for lack of alcohol.
Once you get to a point where your Dwarves do not care about anything anymore, you can completely forgo food and drink without major consequence. Using a constant stream of undead greatly increases the chance for attribute gains, traumatizing to the point of carelessness and skill gain, whilst also increasing the risk of unhappiness and insanity.

Admittedly since I kept my Were-civets together they never did reach the point of insanity (although one was killed in a tantrum caused by unhappiness and alcohol withdrawal), but I'd be interested in seeing if it's possible.
After all, berserk and melancholic Dwarves tend to die of starvation, so an insane were-dwarf would be rather interesting.

But I digress! The end result is that you generally won't be able to attain a large amount of effective super soldiers without great sacrifice in Dwarven lives. Oh and the full moon is always one day before and one month after the previous full moon.

Oh and don't infect un-widowed mothers. It gets messy or tedious.

[Di]

Oh and the full moon is always one day before and one month after the previous full moon.

It's 25 day cycle. O've learned that for sure when I've been having fun with my three weres.
Though I hadn't learn much else.
 One was killed by dwarves when he transformed in the fortress. The bastard went there despite station orders because he really wanted to grab a new sock from stockpile instead the one he had obtained in previous month and dropped upon transformation. 
 Other became dwarf too early when I've let goblin ambush to get to them.
 The last one got his ass ripped of by cave ogre while in were form.
So I'd say you're best to treat them as standard soldiers that have good healing capability rather than units capable of combat transformation.

[simonthedwarf]

Duration of transformation is too short for Lycan military to be effective.

[Loud Whispers]

Duration of transformation is too short for Lycan military to be effective.

Two days. You don't pay for the berserk, you pay for the instant healing and limb regrowth. The immunity to starvation and thirst is good too.

[Poldon]

I've always wondered whether it would be possible to create and maintain a fortress of pure werebeasts, but in all they time they've been around I haven't spotted a thread on it. Surely it's possible? The biggest hurdle would be infecting the populace without killing the vast majority or causing a tantrum spiral, perhaps little by little. Once achieved, initiating migrants would be a very dwarfy task of seeing who manages to survive and 'join the pack' or whatever.

Werebeasts cannot die of dehydration, but do they manage to get a little thirsty before the month ends? If so, alcohol would still be helpful to keep them up to speed. Once done, every dwarf in the fortress would fully regen every month. No more losing legendary masons or smiths because they broke or lost both arms while being harassed by wild animals.

[simonthedwarf]

Duration of transformation is too short for Lycan military to be effective.

Two days. You don't pay for the berserk, you pay for the instant healing and limb regrowth. The immunity to starvation and thirst is good too.

Good point! Though in my experience, the type of injury this would be good for that a dwarf you care about keeping gets... means he is dead.  Wouldnt you also have to have the individual werecreature members of the squad separate from each other, to stop them from killing each other during full moons?

[Di]

Wouldnt you also have to have the individual werecreature members of the squad separate from each other, to stop them from killing each other during full moons?

Same species weres don't fight each other.

[omg_scout]

I've always wondered whether it would be possible to create and maintain a fortress of pure werebeasts, but in all they time they've been around I haven't spotted a thread on it. Surely it's possible? The biggest hurdle would be infecting the populace without killing the vast majority or causing a tantrum spiral, perhaps little by little. Once achieved, initiating migrants would be a very dwarfy task of seeing who manages to survive and 'join the pack' or whatever.

Werebeasts cannot die of dehydration, but do they manage to get a little thirsty before the month ends? If so, alcohol would still be helpful to keep them up to speed. Once done, every dwarf in the fortress would fully regen every month. No more losing legendary masons or smiths because they broke or lost both arms while being harassed by wild animals.

I am not sure how the game would behave if all your dwarves transformed. Maybe it could treat it as a defeat? All in all no sane dwarf on the map.

[MattStriker]

You'd need one walled-in vampire, then.

[Psieye]

I've always wondered whether it would be possible to create and maintain a fortress of pure werebeasts, but in all they time they've been around I haven't spotted a thread on it. Surely it's possible? The biggest hurdle would be infecting the populace without killing the vast majority or causing a tantrum spiral, perhaps little by little. Once achieved, initiating migrants would be a very dwarfy task of seeing who manages to survive and 'join the pack' or whatever.

Werebeasts cannot die of dehydration, but do they manage to get a little thirsty before the month ends? If so, alcohol would still be helpful to keep them up to speed. Once done, every dwarf in the fortress would fully regen every month. No more losing legendary masons or smiths because they broke or lost both arms while being harassed by wild animals.

I am not sure how the game would behave if all your dwarves transformed. Maybe it could treat it as a defeat? All in all no sane dwarf on the map.

Toady specifically mentioned this (in a DF talk I believe) when he was adding were-beasts. If the entire population of your fort is were-beast, the game will not end when full moon comes around.

The problem is, were-beasts aren't as good as vampires on top of being harder to spread the condition: it didn't take long for us to invent the Well of Unlife (add vampire blood to a well, preferably by spike trap at the bottom of said well). If you really wanted to play a lycanthrope fort, it would be more practical to mod something in - e.g. a food that would make the eater a were-beast.