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Author Topic: HFS Blues  (Read 1366 times)

sandant

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HFS Blues
« on: July 28, 2013, 10:59:08 pm »

Simple as that gang, I just got whupped in a battle I was sure I could win, 50 Dwarf military, all with Expert status or higher, all equipped with steel gear or even Adamantine. I had all the dwarfs stationed in a large room where the HFS would have to come up a single stairwell and emerge into the room, then 1 hammerlord, decided that he should charge down the stairwell, he got swarmed and died since there is no room to dodge in a stairwell. Then like lemmings my other dwarfs followed him into the stairwell and got ripped apart. I had five expert dodgers brain themselves on the stone walls by diving into them. I pulled back and walled myself in but, does anyone have any good ways to tackle these guys with military force, it is a personal goal to overcome them by Dwarven might.
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itg

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Re: HFS Blues
« Reply #1 on: July 29, 2013, 01:01:13 am »

How how much engineering are you willing to allow yourself? You could make your life a lot easier by building an airlock to allow only a few clowns in at a time.

An engineering-free idea: Draft every single civilian into marksdwarf squads and park them behind the real army.

Matoro

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Re: HFS Blues
« Reply #2 on: July 29, 2013, 01:57:48 am »

Make long corridor instead of nearby downstair to prevent mad charging.

Also, it's highly probably that your military power will die. If there is any firebreathing demons or ones with terrible powers/syndromes, your'e screwed. You might win, but then face-rotting syndrome kills everybody.

Have fun with HFS.
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KingBacon

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Re: HFS Blues
« Reply #3 on: July 29, 2013, 05:44:21 am »

I usually build a small piston chamber and crush some of the buggers. My last fort wound up with clowns getting into the third cavern layer through a magma tube, good news is that the third caver layer is extinct, (bad news is that it turned into a god forsaken wasteland of ash, grime and soot.)

I beat them by letting them fly around the cavern and engraving fortifications into the cavern walls. Crossbows can thin out the boiling buffalo hoard and then melee troops can clear up the remaining !FUN!.
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sandant

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Re: HFS Blues
« Reply #4 on: July 29, 2013, 11:24:06 am »

Yeah as with all great things  last night I thought of all the engineering things I COULD have done to help, I think a long hallway with a Dwarven pillbox of all my hunters drafted up would be my best bet. That and some hopes and prayers for no more Frozen syndrome blobs that can launch Dwarves into each other so hard that they both die. Also is Dwarves with high dodge skills braining themselves on stone walls a normal occurrence?
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KingBacon

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Re: HFS Blues
« Reply #5 on: July 29, 2013, 12:06:24 pm »

Just thought of an XTREME!!!! way to cheat your way to victory with melee dorfs. When muddling with the raws I found you could add shield types to an existing worlds (was going all classical warfare), since all civs can build shields. You could create a shield with 100% blocking and send conscripts to go fight (and most likely die of exhaustion.)
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Bytt

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Re: HFS Blues
« Reply #6 on: July 29, 2013, 12:10:51 pm »

Just out of curiosity, what manner of HFS were you facing?
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Mr Space Cat

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Re: HFS Blues
« Reply #7 on: July 29, 2013, 01:11:19 pm »

You might have had better luck with a corridor of some kind rather than a large open room. If the clowns manage to surround any of your dwarves then said dwarves are definitely gonna get ripped apart. As more dwarves die then the remaining dwarves will be more at risk of getting surrounded and basically the clowns would zerg rush your army to death.

The airlock suggestion built at the end of a long, tight corridor would probably be most effective for letting your dwarves kill clowns up close and personal in glorious melee combat. Maybe line the corridor before the airlock with upright spikes set to a repeater of some kind to possibly weaken all the clowns that travel through the corridor so your dwarves stand a better chance.
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DS

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Re: HFS Blues
« Reply #8 on: July 29, 2013, 01:13:22 pm »

Just out of curiosity, what manner of HFS were you facing?

I'd like to know this as well. The material compositions can really make some of them complete pushovers.

If you want to defeat the HFS with just your military, there are a few things I'd recommend, speaking from personal experience.

First, make the passageway leading from their point of origin to your battle staging area very long and narrow. This will draw them out into a dispersed formation, and they will arrive in the staging area in smaller groups, rather than all at once. This can also be achieved with a mechanical airlock.

Secondly - and this may seem counterintuitive - do not meet them in a large, open area. The enemies' incredible size and strength will be an advantage in any situation where they have room to maneuver, and those that possess area-effect weapons will be able to use them to the maximum effect. Instead, make your staging area a cramped tunnel, one or two squares across, where the enemies' numbers will count for nothing. As the beasts stumble over one another, your military will cut them apart with ease.
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sandant

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Re: HFS Blues
« Reply #9 on: July 29, 2013, 01:49:12 pm »

Crimson Brutes that shoot frozen extracts and have wings and turtle shells, their hobbies include refusing to die until all their body parts are broken, Snow banshees and shade spirits that were trained by Bruce Lee to deliver kicks that shatter legs and weapon arms, and steam daemons that detonate into boiling steam when they are killed.
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Bytt

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Re: HFS Blues
« Reply #10 on: July 29, 2013, 02:41:04 pm »

Crimson Brutes that shoot frozen extracts and have wings and turtle shells, their hobbies include refusing to die until all their body parts are broken, Snow banshees and shade spirits that were trained by Bruce Lee to deliver kicks that shatter legs and weapon arms, and steam daemons that detonate into boiling steam when they are killed.
Axelords and Elite Marksdwarves. More Axelords. Axes are almost too good, and the archers will get a crippling shot off pretty often. Steel armor at the very least.
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itg

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Re: HFS Blues
« Reply #11 on: July 29, 2013, 09:43:34 pm »

Crimson Brutes that shoot frozen extracts and have wings and turtle shells, their hobbies include refusing to die until all their body parts are broken, Snow banshees and shade spirits that were trained by Bruce Lee to deliver kicks that shatter legs and weapon arms, and steam daemons that detonate into boiling steam when they are killed.

Believe it or not, it sounds like you got an easy mix. Imagine getting a few species with dust that kills by instantaneous exsanguination or web shooters who will turn literally every single attack against you into a skull-crushing headshot. Against these types of demons, you pretty much have to use marksdwarves or engineered solutions.

Also is Dwarves with high dodge skills braining themselves on stone walls a normal occurrence?

If you mean they dive off ledges and kill themselves, then yes, it's a long-standing issue. They can't brain themselves on walls on the same level, though.