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[blue emu]

Alrighty.
I don't know how to assign unskilled dwarves to certain jobs, how does one do that?

 u ; then down arrow and c to select the Dwarf off the list ; then p ; then l (that's a lower-case ell) to get to the Labors menu ; then + or - and enter or shift enter to turn labors on or off. Enter turns on or off a single-type labor (like Mining), while shift enter turns off a whole menu of different labors (like Hauling).

[Dampe]

Dwarf Therapist...does that come with DFHack?

[blue emu]

Dwarf Therapist...does that come with DFHack?

It's in the Lazy Noob pack, yes.

I disagree with the above claim that Brewer, Cook and Grower skills are unimportant early on, by the way. They are (in my opinion) the three most important non-defense-related skills.

All three affect the speed at which the jobs are done. Grower skill also increases the crop yields (from one plant per seed up to five plants per seed) and Cook skill makes more valuable (and therefore more happy-thought) meals.

Happy thoughts are important... many (most?) fortresses fall to tantrum spirals rather than to direct enemy action.

Happy thoughts are SO important that I would scavenge the woods for brewable plants just for the extra Happy thoughts that a varied and valuable diet of booze will give you.

[lethosor]

Dwarf Therapist...does that come with DFHack?

No, but DFHack has a (simplified) Therapist-like interface, accessible with (u)-(l). (You might need to enable it with "enable manipulator" if you're using r4+).
Edit: If you're using a starter pack, you probably already have Therapist (although it runs separately from DF, so it doesn't open automatically).

[ancistrus]

If you want to start metal industry asap, to arm your military, then bringing some charcoal with you, or making charcoal early actually makes sense.

Oh, they'll be coming armed.

May I ask now armed?

[deepfreeze78]

Dwarf Therapist...does that come with DFHack?

No, but it is included with the Lazy Newb Pack. Otherwise, it's downloaded separately, just google it, and you'll find it. Open it up and it should connect to DF, and it will let you see a LOT about your dwarves all on one screen. Change labors, see preferences, see mood, almost anything. EXTREMELY useful.

[Dampe]

If you want to start metal industry asap, to arm your military, then bringing some charcoal with you, or making charcoal early actually makes sense.

Oh, they'll be coming armed.

May I ask how armed?

Steel axe, silver hammer.
Aw yeah.

[ancistrus]

So, what is the purpose of bringing those two soldiers?

[blue emu]

Re: Axe and Hammer -

Cheaper to make them than to buy them... a LOT cheaper. You'll need to remember all the stuff you'll need, of course.

A few Iron ore (Hematite, Limonite or Magnetite). At least two flux stones. At least three fire-proof stones. Several coal, charcoal, coke or wood (one Wood plus lots of Bituminous Coal is best). Silver ore.

Re: booze and happy thoughts -

The best happy thoughts from booze come from two surface crops: Sunshine (from Sun Berries) and Whip Wine (from Whip Vines). All of the rest (including all booze made from underground crops) are inferior to those two, and about equal to each other.

[deepfreeze78]

So, what is the purpose of bringing those two soldiers?

Yeah I usually find that there's not too much reason for bringing soldiers early on, as I've never needed that until the third migrant wave when I can make a full squad.

[blue emu]

Depends on where you embark, of course... but a Noob should pick a "Calm" biome rather than "Terrifying" anyway.

[deepfreeze78]

Depends on where you embark, of course... but a Noob should pick a "Calm" biome rather than "Terrifying" anyway.

I've never embarked in a good or evil biome. I almost always go with an untamed wilds, if not that then just wilderness. Good biomes seem boring, evil scares me.

[WanderingKid]

Dampe I wouldn't sweat it too much.

Bring along some seeds for everything, some booze, some food to not worry about farming immediately.

Grab yourself a hunter for continued and easy food stocks and bones.
A miner or two to speed things along, along with some picks.
One brewer with carpentry (he won't be used often)
One cook with masonry (You'll need mason more often than cooking)
Someone with a point in Appraising to make your life a little easier for the trade caravan, probably a farmer.  You care about Grower, not Herbalist.
Throw in a lumberjack to speed up the initial wood gathering.

From there, fill in the blanks with things that look cool.

Really, establishing a fort to last longer than a year is more about initial time management than anything else.  You need water, safety, booze, food, and beds.  Typically in that order, depending on environment.  Get into the soil and setup farms quickly while the rest run around and collect local plants and trees.  Dig down and dig out a common room for dorm/dining, then build out a kitchen and still room to start up making meals and booze.  Next up is your masonry and carpentry to build up said tables, chairs, and a few beds, and a trap door to seal up the place in case of WTF.

After that, get defenses going, start up trade goods of your choice and prepare for the first caravan.

Typically if your miners ever stop digging, you've messed up time management and preparation for the first major immigration wave.

One other recommendation: Turn off stone hauling until that first major waves arrives with strong backs and their specializations as cheese makers.  They make great peons.

[Merendel]

I disagree with the above claim that Brewer, Cook and Grower skills are unimportant early on, by the way. They are (in my opinion) the three most important non-defense-related skills.

All three affect the speed at which the jobs are done. Grower skill also increases the crop yields (from one plant per seed up to five plants per seed) and Cook skill makes more valuable (and therefore more happy-thought) meals.

Happy thoughts are important... many (most?) fortresses fall to tantrum spirals rather than to direct enemy action.

Happy thoughts are SO important that I would scavenge the woods for brewable plants just for the extra Happy thoughts that a varied and valuable diet of booze will give you.

Will I agree in principle, I would only spend embark points on grower and let the other two get on the job training.  If you limit cooking/brewing to a single dwarf its realitively easy to have them skilled up and legendary sometime in your second year.  IF you really feel like gaming the system you could take all those points you'd spend on skilling up cooking and spend it on food and probably have the cook at or higher than rank 5 by the time he finishes proccessing all the stuff you brought.  Also happy thoughts are normaly not that big of a deal the first year as long as you are meeting your dwarves basic needs and your cup of fun is not overflowing on you.  Grower can sometimes take quite a while to skill up and the sooner you increase his output the better for everybody. 

[krenshala]

Lots of good advice in this thread so far.

My suggestion, if you want the challenge, is to bring the raw materials to make any tools you want to have right away.  There is the danger of getting attacked by something (like, say, that stupid alligator that ate my smith and one of my two miners after killing 3 of my 4 dogs, all on 1 Granite because the wagon stopped right next to him) before you've got real weapons, but I've done a lot of embarks in untamed wilds (giant animals, animal men) usually within range of a necromancer's lair, and I almost never need soldiers before the first caravan.

To make your own tools you have to have at least one fire safe stone (for the wood burner, smelter and forge, plus one other block), an anvil, at least one log (3 pts each, vs 10 for coke/charcoal), and the ore for the materials you want.  Myself, I use bronze since you can turn the ore directly into multiple bars with a single piece of fuel (8 bars for 1 cassiterite + 1 malachite + 1 fuel used) and its more than enough until you are facing a foe in iron or better.  It works as well as iron or steel against unarmored opponents, and you should be able to buy or mine the iron you'll need by the time you really need it.