I recently came across the thread revival of dwarven drop pods. Someone pointed out that featherwood floors are best for dwarves drop pods, due to the low density of the floors when slammed into them. Someone else pointed out that a thin layer of kittens or goblins on the feather wood is better, as the dwarves will transfer their momentum into the animals that they land on, causing the animal, not the dwarf to be slammed against the floor.
I put two and two together and did some science.
I embarked with 6 cats, a one humped camel and a water buffalo bull.
I dug a 10z level hole in the ground, with a granite floor, and assigned it as my meeting hall.
I then created a pit/pond above the hole and dropped my water buffalo into it.
Sure enough, the water buffalo landed on a cat, shattering its bones and spine, and the cat suffocated shortly thereafter.
I then managed to land a cat on my miner, shattering his arm and keeping him stuck in place.
I then attempted to test whether cats are more or less effective than water buffalo in causing damage.
The results are as yet inconclusive. Cats have caused broken bones and damaged lungs. I did have a streak of three cats in a row which, while they did slam into the miner, did no damage. I have never had the water buffalo land on a target without at least breaking bones.
While cats are therefore potentially less damaging than say, draltha, any animal that can be bred in sufficient numbers, and dropped onto a horde of foes in a single tile wide platinum corridor should suffice to make a trap that is capable of breaking the spines of powerful foes.
The simplest method for achieving this is to simply keep a 10+ z level chute directly above your entrance which you can use to drop stray animals onto invaders.
A more automated method would be a pressure plate at the end of a small corridor which toggles floor grates in an breeding pit far above. With proper chaining, you could easily guarantee that the breeding animals remain safe from harm, while their children are used to defend your fortress like burning oil in the middle ages. Burning oil that should it survive the fall can also bite/scratch/claw and generally rip the heads off of injured invaders.
I do need help coming up with a name for this technique. Thoughts?
Further !!science!! items:
Do heavier animals deal more damage?
Do denser floors cause more damage?
Do upright spikes on the floors deal damage to the dropped animals, or the target invaders?
Author
Topic: On The Weaponization Of Cats (+ Other Animals) (Read 3579 times)