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[MDFification]

Looking into some modding research by Meph, a possibility struck me. I had long assumed that anything that was NOT_LIVING (clowns and zombies come to mind) would not be targeted by both the undead and the clowncar, which both have their hostility ensured by OPPOSED_TO_LIFE. However, it was suggested that OPPOSED_TO_LIFE will still target NOT_LIVING: it actually just marks any NO_AGING tagged creatures as friendly.

If this were the case, a method of clown disposal becomes possible; weaponizing the self-renewing resource, zombies. Simply capture a group of necromancers, give them a line of sight to some dangerous corpses, devise a means of shutting down/activating the reanimation trap (bridges and fortifications, simple enough) and send in the clowns. Clowns won't path into the necromancers unless the fortifications are underwater/magma.

Potential problems:
-Demons with ranged attacks can shoot through the fortifications to kill the necromancers within. Possible solutions: layer fortifications to make it more difficult for the shot to connect (needs testing to see how far away a necromancer needs to be to reanimate) or have multiple necromancers (if reanimated necromancers can themselves raise the dead, which isn't certain. I know ghost necromancers can.)
-Zombie Clowns. These could be better or worse than regular clowns; zombies have a hitpoint system rather than the regular bodypart system, but it's unknown if hitpoints vary between creatures or if they do what causes higher/lower values.

I can't currently test due to business, but I may in future. If anyone wants to try it before I do, go ahead. Your exploits will be told whenever dwarves compare beards.

[itg]

I've done this before, and it does work, although it's not terribly effective. I kept the necromancers safe by putting a layer of windows behind the fortifications. Unfortunately, the necromancers can't raise clowns from the dead, so you'll either need a lot of corpses to start or a lot of patience. I didn't use enough corpses, so it ended up being "death by 1000 cuts" for the clowns. By the time the clowns were dead, I had a few zombie body parts that were immune to all attacks, presumably because all the tissues were totally destroyed. I had to build cage traps to get them out of my way.

[MDFification]

I've done this before, and it does work, although it's not terribly effective. I kept the necromancers safe by putting a layer of windows behind the fortifications. Unfortunately, the necromancers can't raise clowns from the dead, so you'll either need a lot of corpses to start or a lot of patience. I didn't use enough corpses, so it ended up being "death by 1000 cuts" for the clowns. By the time the clowns were dead, I had a few zombie body parts that were immune to all attacks, presumably because all the tissues were totally destroyed. I had to build cage traps to get them out of my way.

It's possible that we could go full-deathgate and use captured gobbo's as the initial corpse source. Let the clowns kill them first, and then hopefully the zombies raised should still be in their armor. That way, if you use enough, you'll end up with a steady stream of reanimating, and possible some more durable zombies as well.
Haven't done a lot of testing into unkillable zombies. I'd have thought the hitpoint system mean that getting a solid hit on them, regardless of actual damage done to the tissues. If the common bugfix was applied, you could just melt the zombies (they don't die in magma in vanilla, even when their bodyparts should otherwise burn up) I suppose. Or just seal them off for eternity/noble execution, because a chamber full of dwarf-made unkillable horrors is something most players can only dream about.

[itg]

Reanimated corpses don't keep their armor, unfortunately. Goblins are still a good source of corpses, though.

The unkillable zombie parts were immune to attacks because all attacks would just pass through them. If anything could ever land a hit, they would collapse, just like any zombie.

[Scruffy]

Didn't someone try this with husk/thrall zombies when dust clouds were introduced? I think that it ended up with husks slaughtering the clowns.

[4maskwolf]

I'm not surprised. Husks are nigh unkillable, but if you have recently armor trained soldiers and a captured husk then you can use it for combat training. I've seen some really amusing cases of merchant guards beating on a husk until legendary and finally beheading it with a lucky strike. With a spear. Versus a horse.

[misko27]

Didn't someone try this with husk/thrall zombies when dust clouds were introduced? I think that it ended up with husks slaughtering the clowns.

http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=101438.75

A clown composed of fire set the world aflame and wiped out probably 40% of the smaller husks. Guess we figured out the primary weapon for them. The giant dingo Husks didn't give a fuck. The clowns are putting up a good fight, but now that there's no more trees to burn, and the fact that theres more or less constant reinforcements for the Husks...... as of right now the only surviving clowns are 5 flying, webshooting pterosaurs, and the aforementioned "Clown of tears" composed of fire. His currently fighting 3 Giant Dingo husks who have a full screen of scars and wounds, and are missing every bit of fat on their bodies.Oh and Blizzard Spirit in the shape of an aphid. It only has one leg left.

Yeah they are. Looking at its EXTENSIVE list of injuries it appears to be no more than a giant charred and flaming skeleton. I think the clowns may win this, if only because of the stupid clown composed of flames. Hes yet to take an injury. All the other clowns are horribly mutilated, kept alive only because they're in a sea of webs that the Husks have to claw through to get at.

They "technically" won, but tie is a better word. Also, that thread has spoilers for anyone still trying to be unspoiled.

[ShadowHammer]

I'm not surprised. Husks are nigh unkillable, but if you have recently armor trained soldiers and a captured husk then you can use it for combat training. I've seen some really amusing cases of merchant guards beating on a husk until legendary and finally beheading it with a lucky strike. With a spear. Versus a horse.

Nice. Beheading a horse with a spear.

On topic, I think that husks are a better way to go than zombies, because you can equip husks with actual weapons. However, the husks don't constantly renew their own numbers, like zombies and necromancers do. If you're wanting to kill the clowns with zombies just for the !!fun!! of it, then it would work, as long as the necromancers were properly protected and you had a proper disposal system. Perhaps you could simply ensure that the battle took place on a retracting bridge, so once it was over you could just pull a lever and drop all the zombies into an atomsmasher.

One problem I can see with the zombies is if the clowns managed to incinerate the dead things before the necromancers could raise them, but that would require a) very bad luck or b) very few zombies originally.

[MDFification]

Husks would likely be more difficult to manage. Firstly, because unless you're lucky enough for some gobbo's to reanimate, they'll all be trapavoid and thus difficult to catch. Secondly... don't mess around with husks.

Random question: Has a husked wagon ever been observed?

[4maskwolf]

IIRC from mirehold, they either don't or scuttle immediately.

[ShadowHammer]

IIRC from mirehold, they either don't or scuttle immediately.

Yeah they don't husk. Sadly.