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[DouViction]

I have a 204d fortress (cap 250d), growing economy, mountainhomes status (no queen present, though listed in civ) and almost no militia (the frotress utilizes full underground autonomy, no surface jobs, trading is optional).
I want to try sending up to 20 dwarves down in the caves and wall out the exit, to start my own little cave colony. That's not that I need that in any way, I just want to do it.
Because I have almost no decent militia, I'm not sending any combat-worthy dwarves down there, only fishers and a couple of miner-masons and woodworkers. Any chance that this will work, or will my colony end up swallowed by cave beasts of all sorts?

[VerdantSF]

I'm not too familiar with earlier versions of DF, but you should be able to build walls right at the edge of the map in the caverns.  You can secure a cavern completely that way.  Just make sure to station military dwarves near the construction sites.  Beasts will spawn at the top of the wall until it's closed off to the ceiling.

[DouViction]

I'm not too familiar with earlier versions of DF, but you should be able to build walls right at the edge of the map in the caverns.  You can secure a cavern completely that way.  Just make sure to station military dwarves near the construction sites.  Beasts will spawn at the top of the wall until it's closed off to the ceiling.

Thanks! I guessed about walling out to the ceiling. The problem is that I have no spare military, my 20 rookies are my last resort in case I make some critical mistake.
Does the monster spawn rate depend on whether there are reachable dwarves to attack?

[VerdantSF]

Does the monster spawn rate depend on whether there are reachable dwarves to attack?

I don't think so.  You should probably wait until you have a better-trained military and/or steel equipment.  Also, for FBs, a corridor with a cave-in trap is good option.  Lure the beast into the trap, kill it, then resume construction, rinse & repeat.

[DouViction]

Does the monster spawn rate depend on whether there are reachable dwarves to attack?

I don't think so.  You should probably wait until you have a better-trained military and/or steel equipment.  Also, for FBs, a corridor with a cave-in trap is good option.  Lure the beast into the trap, kill it, then resume construction, rinse & repeat.

Thanks again.) Though, I'm afraid, with no relevant ore and almost a constant siege I'm stuck with the steel I have at the moment.

[Mushroo]

One word: Hunters

[itg]

Yeah, hunters are plenty capable of handling most cavern wildlife. If there are no FBs (or only weak ones), you'll probably be fine with 20 armored recruits. The dangerous creatures only spawn one or two at a time, so you can just mob them. The creatures that spawn in large numbers, like crundles, generally aren't that dangerous.

Of course, it's always possible that an FB with deadly dust will spawn and make everyone choke to death on their own blisters. Make sure you've got a solid evacuation plan, or just take your chances.

[CaptainArchmage]

I have a 204d fortress (cap 250d), growing economy, mountainhomes status (no queen present, though listed in civ) and almost no militia (the frotress utilizes full underground autonomy, no surface jobs, trading is optional).
I want to try sending up to 20 dwarves down in the caves and wall out the exit, to start my own little cave colony. That's not that I need that in any way, I just want to do it.
Because I have almost no decent militia, I'm not sending any combat-worthy dwarves down there, only fishers and a couple of miner-masons and woodworkers. Any chance that this will work, or will my colony end up swallowed by cave beasts of all sorts?

You're playing DF2012, right? The version which actually has caverns (but no underground rivers).

The trouble you have there is that "204d" can be misinterpreted as "40d", which was the old version of 3D dwarf fortress. It just confuses some people, you mean 204 dwarves, right?

[wierd]

Mentioning "economy" is even more confusing in that respect.

A growing networth is not in any sense the same as "thriving economy". (Especially since if he had that, his dwarfs would be spending 60+% of their time moving small piles of coins around, and would *definately* be playing .40d )

[EvilBob22]

I remember hearing horror stories about moving coins around, so I never made them.  The economy was still annoying though, you could never make enough shops.

[Raphite1]

Two metal-armed militia dwarves can handle any of the normal animals that spawn in the caverns, except perhaps for giant cave spiders and the occasional jabberer, troll, cave dragon, etc that gets lucky.

It actually doesn't seem to be too hard to completely drive all cavern wildlife to extinction; I've done it accidentally while trying to force some preferred creature to spawn.

Forgotten beasts can be another story entirely. Three spear dwarves can handle most, but if you get one that webs, has deadly dust, or is made of metal, you're going to be in trouble.

[wierd]

Ordinary trap setups work fine for me.

Even the "larger" cave creatures (besides FBs) lack trap-avoid, with a few exceptions, so a few spike and cage trap defensive system, and you are basically golden.

That's been my experience anyway. Cavern critters are more drawn to want to get inside the fortress than surface critters, but if you just pretend they are pathetic goblins, instead of crundles and pals, and put in a mutilation station or two on the way, it works out fine.

[DouViction]

Thanks for the answers!
The cave colony has proven to be almost of no use so far ("there is nothing to catch in the northern cave", for wood and pasture I have tree-farms), so I think I'm going to shut it down next time I play, but I'd make sure to rememer your advices and try them in another cave.
Besides, I got a FB contact almost instantly (for some dumb reason I was thinking it was sitting in another cave system. Silly me), which lead to a minor loss of life, thanks to my carelessness. One elite royal guard has proven to be sufficient to kill the beast on a tight stairway. Of course, that's plain luck, the next FB might be not so forgiving.
At the moment, the main fortress is protected from the colony by a raising bridge (the idea was to make the colony self-sufficient, but the lack of fish makes it harder to achieve). The colony is separated from the rest of the cave with an incomplete two-storey wall (I found it of no use walling it out to the ceiling, because the area above the lake will still allow passage of flying creatures, and bulding a huge wall-floor-grate setup seems to long and masonry-dependent, which puts many of my masons in danger). The colony is set up to support the population of 14, and produces wood, rock, some gems and plump helmets. As long as there's no fish, there's nothing down there I can't obtain with far less risk, and the colony is not self-sufficient without additional investment (like livestock or cave wheat).
"204d" is for dwarves, "growing economy" meant only that most production ovverates consumtion. No coins, 'cause I've been using cut gems as a current before the goblin siege fest started.
Oh, and some more questions - the game says there's no fish, but the fishing area I set up still shows positive numbers. I've done some channeling so the coast is a bit longer. Still, I don't see that any fish is processed in the local fisheries, though there are fisherdwarves fishing. Can it be that the numbers are positive, though there are actually nothing to catch in the lake? And, maybe, there's a way to breed fish in controlled conditions to populate the lake?
Another one - I set up a food storage and tuned it into colony's kitchen and still, with "take onle from links" on. Still, no dwarf brings the colony products thee, instead, they are carrying those upstairs, to the main storages. But they use the colony's local stockpiles for colony-dug stone, pots and furniture. Why is that so, and what can be done (aside from assigning each food stockpile in the fortress its own links) to make them fill the colony's food storage?

[MDFification]

Thanks for the answers!
The cave colony has proven to be almost of no use so far ("there is nothing to catch in the northern cave", for wood and pasture I have tree-farms), so I think I'm going to shut it down next time I play, but I'd make sure to rememer your advices and try them in another cave.
Besides, I got a FB contact almost instantly (for some dumb reason I was thinking it was sitting in another cave system. Silly me), which lead to a minor loss of life, thanks to my carelessness. One elite royal guard has proven to be sufficient to kill the beast on a tight stairway. Of course, that's plain luck, the next FB might be not so forgiving.
At the moment, the main fortress is protected from the colony by a raising bridge (the idea was to make the colony self-sufficient, but the lack of fish makes it harder to achieve). The colony is separated from the rest of the cave with an incomplete two-storey wall (I found it of no use walling it out to the ceiling, because the area above the lake will still allow passage of flying creatures, and bulding a huge wall-floor-grate setup seems to long and masonry-dependent, which puts many of my masons in danger). The colony is set up to support the population of 14, and produces wood, rock, some gems and plump helmets. As long as there's no fish, there's nothing down there I can't obtain with far less risk, and the colony is not self-sufficient without additional investment (like livestock or cave wheat).
"204d" is for dwarves, "growing economy" meant only that most production ovverates consumtion. No coins, 'cause I've been using cut gems as a current before the goblin siege fest started.
Oh, and some more questions - the game says there's no fish, but the fishing area I set up still shows positive numbers. I've done some channeling so the coast is a bit longer. Still, I don't see that any fish is processed in the local fisheries, though there are fisherdwarves fishing. Can it be that the numbers are positive, though there are actually nothing to catch in the lake? And, maybe, there's a way to breed fish in controlled conditions to populate the lake?
Another one - I set up a food storage and tuned it into colony's kitchen and still, with "take onle from links" on. Still, no dwarf brings the colony products thee, instead, they are carrying those upstairs, to the main storages. But they use the colony's local stockpiles for colony-dug stone, pots and furniture. Why is that so, and what can be done (aside from assigning each food stockpile in the fortress its own links) to make them fill the colony's food storage?

A lot of the resources of the cave are it's wildlife to begin with. If I recall correctly, it can revolutionize your military. Also the cavern's pretty necessary for a silk industry, should you want some high-quality cloth.
I personally use the caves for fishing once they're cleared. It's kind of hard to block off the water that flows off the map; you have to pump lava up to them or empty the entire pond. But before blocking it off, it's an infinite water source, which you can use to make utterly huge pools that spawn a large amount of fish. It's a fairly decent way to automate food production in your fort.

[Mushroo]

forgotten beast meat is a fantastic source of wealth.
What I do is save up the meat-stacks until I have 4, then I forbid all other cookable items and make a lavish meal. If each of the FB's dropped a stack of 100 meat (for example) the result is an ultra-valuable 400-stack roast!