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[jaxler]

Do you just send endless waves of dwarves against goblins in hopes that a few get lucky, or do you have them train for 15 years straight and never let them see combat until they're masters? Usually I find the constant 1-4 casualties and cripplings i get every fight makes getting elite warriors difficult. I usually only have iron armor though, and my army is 40+ soldiers.

any advice?

[ResMar]

The only thing that seems to work for me is embarking in a savage biome and sending out my armored recruits to go fight the wildlife. Good for my kitchen, good for my military, but still doesn't help as much as I wish it did.

[DwarfItUp]

I typically reserve my captains and seconds in command to extensive training and let the rest battle/have fun. Usually just caging up a monster or an invader at the opposite end of the hall does the job for crossbowing but I'm not one for melee lol. I usually just make a choke point filled with traps and crossbow dwarfs as it is so hopefully someone will come along and share their wisdom of master training with us.

[VerdantSF]

Small squads.  3 dwarves, set to 2 minimum training.  This will provide 2 dwarves with ample opportunity to spar, while the 3rd takes a break.  When they do demonstrations, they don't have to wait for a ton of dwarves to start.  They finish up, then get back to sparring.  By the time ambushes started, my fledgling army was well-prepared. 

Here's a look at Legends Mode so you can see the major conflicts my fortress has been involved in (ambushes and abduction attempts aren't included here):

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

The fort is now 76 years and has never had a danger room.  Trap use has been minimal, with no weapon traps.  The cage traps are locked away behind drawbridges and are reserved for dragons.

I don't remember when my first set of soldiers became legendary teachers, but once that happens, training speeds bumps up and smaller squads are less necessary.  With a legendary teacher, demonstrations in large squads give enough xp that they're no longer a waste of time.

An underground network of trade tunnels also helped in the early years. 

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

While it was primarily a way for me to quickly get merchants to safety, it also served as a siege funnel.  Once enemies were inside, I locked the door behind them so that none could escape.  Fleeing enemies are free xp that you don't want drifting away !

[Telgin]

Small squads.  3 dwarves, set to 2 minimum training.  This will provide 2 dwarves with ample opportunity to spar, while the 3rd takes a break.  When they do demonstrations, they don't have to wait for a ton of dwarves to start.  They finish up, then get back to sparring.  By the time ambushes started, my fledgling army was well-prepared.

I really can't stress this enough.  I saw first hand in my last fort that having 3 soldiers meant they skilled up 5x as fast as 10 would because of sparring.

[Sutremaine]

Small squads, short walking distance for food / drink / sleep, doublechecking that assigned equipment is actually being worn, and picking your battles.

The last encompasses a couple of different things.

1. Don't charge archers*. Either let the marksdwarves fire from behind fortifications, or wait for the squad around a corner (add covering fire here too). Once a goblin squad makes the decision to path into the fortress, the squad leader will come towards the front and be one of the first to get a faceful of bolts or swords.
2. Don't allow dwarves free line of sight. Any individual dwarf that sees an enemy will charge heedlessly, regardless of how many enemies there are and how few other dwarves are ready. Gather your forces somewhere close to the battlefield but out of sight, and once they're all there you make the move order.
3. Use move orders instead of kill orders. A group of dwarves ordered to kill an enemy will always chase it down, but a group of dwarves ordered to stay in one place will do so once they're out of engagement range. Limiting LOS is important when enemies are withdrawing too -- if the remnants of a goblin squad are fleeing, chasing them down is a waste of energy and draws your dwarves out of their nice little murderzone. I don't use the 'protect burrow' order, so I don't know how aggressive dwarves will be about catching enemies.
4. Make every entrance to your fortress a good place for your soldiers and a bad place for your enemies. Set things up so that the only ranged combatants getting a clear shot are your marksdwarves (and the inevitable Elite enemy), and so that groups of enemies don't see your melee fighters until they're right on top of the massed force.

The bottom line is that both goblin and dwarf AI are a bit brainless, but only the dwarves have an intelligent mind guiding them. Take away the dwarves' ability to act on the more suicidal ideas their AI gives them, and they'll preserve themselves a bit better.

*Dwarves who are suitably badass can attack a squad of bowgoblins on open ground like they're not firing anything, but it's not a good idea if they're less than Legendary at dodging, parrying, and blocking. If they're not quite badass enough, you're down a moderately badass dwarf plus all the time you spent training them plus the teaching skill that they had.

[Tirion]

Small squads (2-4) on duty 24/7, live training on disarmed but armored captives whenever possible.

[Matoro]

Here's a look at Legends Mode so you can see the major conflicts my fortress has been involved in (ambushes and abduction attempts aren't included here):

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

I like how you have linked that image to probably every single topic dealing with military.

Do you people here consider using DFHack military training tweaks as a cheating? I managed to get legendaries from full 10-dwarf squads in three years with my first game with those tweaks. It felt little too fast, but it seems to be how the game is supposed to work, since it's a tweak after all.

[Tirion]

Here's a look at Legends Mode so you can see the major conflicts my fortress has been involved in (ambushes and abduction attempts aren't included here):

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

I like how you have linked that image to probably every single topic dealing with military.

Do you people here consider using DFHack military training tweaks as a cheating? I managed to get legendaries from full 10-dwarf squads in three years with my first game with those tweaks. It felt little too fast, but it seems to be how the game is supposed to work, since it's a tweak after all.

I agree. I use them too, in mods where the challenge rating is still high enough that way.

[jaxler]

So, i've moved them into squads of 3, but I don't have food near by. should I change this? Also, I have them in full iron armor, but I could make the leap to steel/adamantine though it will take years in game. (I have enough to make maybe 4+ suits of adamant right now, and I don't want to risk digging up any more.) WE have no coal though on the map, so the creation of steel is hindered greatly. Is it worth the time/effort to do this?

[Tomcost]

My two cents: get a necromancer, build a prison for him, allow LOS to raise bodies you specify, send armored dwarves. This is like actual combat, but if you use skeletal turkeys your dwarves won't get injured.

[jaxler]

I've just made a Colosseum and have like 20+ cage traps full of goblins and trolls (who didn't die from the weapon traps >.> thus most have some injuries) should I use it to train my dorfs?

[Tomcost]

I've just made a Colosseum and have like 20+ cage traps full of goblins and trolls (who didn't die from the weapon traps >.> thus most have some injuries) should I use it to train my dorfs?

Trolls:No
Goblins: they last few hits unless you don't take away their armor (But you DO have to take away their weapons).

[VerdantSF]

I like how you have linked that image to probably every single topic dealing with military.

I've used several different images actually, since I periodically update Legends mode .  However, I get what you're saying.  I'm just used to the "pics or it didn't happen" mentality.  When I first started out in DF, I was overwhelmed by the military aspect.  My dwarves were dying left and right and I was very skeptical that an effective military was possible without danger rooms.  I forgot who first told me about small squads, but once I gave it a try, things really turned around.  Many of these military threads have newer users dealing with many of the same issues and having much of the same skepticism.  Posting a screenshot from Legends Mode is an easy way to demonstrate that danger rooms aren't necessary for a military that can handle threats over the long haul, even with a few deaths here and there.   

[jaxler]

I've just made a Colosseum and have like 20+ cage traps full of goblins and trolls (who didn't die from the weapon traps >.> thus most have some injuries) should I use it to train my dorfs?

Trolls:No
Goblins: they last few hits unless you don't take away their armor (But you DO have to take away their weapons).

Hao do you remove weapons?