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[ajg1g12]

My fortress was going so well.

Pity I forgot about the outdoor refuse pile.
About a year in, the dead walk, my scratch militia took down the first wave, and the second wave, before the re-re-reanimated corpses started bringing down my axemen, which would rise up and fight there soon-to-die brethren.

I couldn't find the Necromancer in all the chaos, and my once exceptional fort was reduced to rubble.

Bravo Mr. Necromancer, bravo.

Any advice on how to survive these?

Many thanks,

AJG.

[MattStriker]

Atom smasher corridors work wonders, as necro sieges almost never contain anything big enough to break them. So does magma, but it's a bit trickier to handle. Regular trap corridors are probably a bad idea as cutting traps only multiply the problem and blunt traps won't make much of a dent in a truly determined horde.

Being able to emergency-seal your refuse stockpile also helps a lot. Knowing that a tower was within potential siege distance I walled mine in and added a drawbridge door. The moment I see 'the dead walk', the lever gets pulled and whatever unspeakable mess happens stays in there.

[ajg1g12]

On a separate note, it was amazing fun to watch my lone survivor play the most epic game of british bulldog with 178 re-animated bits.

[Tomcost]

My suggestion: extra large maze of spiked balls.
Pros:
-Kills undead without making more
-Kills every kind of undead
-A maze would reduce the vision of the necromancer
-Almost never jams

Cons:
-The necromancer probably won't survive (it's a con if you want him alive for training purposes)
-Doesn't get rid of the corpses (the only option are atom smashers and magma for that)

Also, the worst part of a necromacer siege is cleaning (imagine what would happen when a goblin siege, a kobold ambush and a necro collide)

[Noobazzah]

When I'm forced to fight necromancer sieges head-to-head, I firts burrow all my civilians inside. Then I rally the militia near my entrance, where they easily bash the first waves to bits. Since necros run from the soldiers, I try to move my militia around, buying time for my civs to start a cleanup operation. In other cases, archer towers and cage trap corridors.

[Laserhead]

Keep your refuse indoors. Ideally, drop it in magma.

Use crossbows to kill the zombies and necromancers, they can do it from safety, tend to create fewer severed zombie hands, and don't get that "attacked by the dead" thought.

[MattStriker]

Keep your refuse indoors.

That causes miasma and bad thoughts in your refuse haulers and anybody who wanders nearby (and dorfs are dumb enough to wander into the dump and then complain about the smell). A minor issue, but it's why most forts tend to have their first refuse pile above ground.
 

Ideally, drop it in magma.

That kinda requires access to magma, which can range from tricky to !!Fun!! .

[Blue_Dwarf]

Also, the worst part of a necromacer siege is cleaning (imagine what would happen when a goblin siege, a kobold ambush and a necro collide)

The only thing worse than that is when it happens on an undead biome 

[Sanctume]

I make this indoor refuse pile.  Miasma happens but do not leak out diagonally.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(= is natural wall) (. is floor) (h is channel)
z+1:
==.
=h=
===

(g is bridge / atom smasher) (W dwarfmade wall)
z+0:
==W
=g=
=g=
===

(n is zone Garbage Dump)
z+1:
=nn
=nn
===

Bonus, added atom smasher on z+0 level.
More Bonus, put a hatch in z+0 to drop down to z-1 to a more secured room.

[MattStriker]

...managed to respond to the wrong thread somehow...

[Loud Whispers]

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

That's how I make my refuse stockpiles. Multiple doors to ensure miasma never escapes, warning traps along the route and a Giant Desert Scorpion out front to ward off any sneaky invaders that try to get through. Ignore the Necromancer in the center, it's in a cage. It is useful to be able to create an undead army out of the pull of a lever though. Underground, secure.

Stone traps are a wonderful bounty for any Fort to have. Just sayin'

[Wannazzaki]

You can do refuse piles a few ways. By far the best is to have a shit-chute into the magma sea or an atomsmasher (if they even still work). Though i'm still a long running advocate of weaponising mussel shells to fend off sieges in swarms of gribbly menace.

You can also have a garbage pit and a small refuse pile if you don't mind going back and forth to empty one. Bonus points if you can remotely open the zombie pit on sieges.

Or a series of airlocks...

[Lielac]

or an atomsmasher (if they even still work)

They work. Unless Toady updated... no, no he didn't. They certainly work for silently vanishing my dwarves' irritatingly unbutcherable pet yaks. (Which also works for preventing them from getting slaughtered by a necrolordmancer's horde, giving my dwarves a bad thought and then another bad thought when their dearest pet attacks them...)