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[Jacko13]

Exciting new discovery: sent my military squad with basic copper armour and some training and skills to attack (an admittedly horrifying) undead creature. All but one charged, reversed course, ran away and let the, now solitary, brave dwarf die alone. Adds a whole new level of complication in designing a military.

Short of denying them a path to retreat anybody got ideas (verified by science or not) for rooting out or retraining cowardly dwarves?

[greycat]

The new "Discipline" skill seems to be relevant here, though I don't have much information beyond that.  See if you can get them to train that up.  (Individual weapon drills seem to work, at least a tiny bit.)

[Loci]

Untested thought: If being scared trains discipline, you can install hostile creatures in glass-windowed "observation posts" and order your military to patrol towards them.

[Jacko13]

I have vague memories of somebody asking about discipline in a future of the fortress reply so that sounds sensible. Training the skill by exposure also sounds sensible but ... experimentation required... :-)

[locustgate]

What about the old method of dropping living animals right in front of them. I mean after seeing 200 kittens fall to their death and explode they have to go either crazy or brave.

[PDF urist master]

that actually works. witnessing death trains discipline. It also lowers happiness though so it's a double edged sword.

I like that this is a psuedo fix to danger rooms in that danger rooms (as far as I know) do not train discipline, meaning the next time your danger room trained juggernauts face a squad they're gonna run away with their tail behind their backs.

[Panando]

The old mainstay of squad-of-2 (or small squad) sparring still works very well in this regard. Discipline is a skill which trains very quickly.

[locustgate]

that actually works. witnessing death trains discipline. It also lowers happiness though so it's a double edged sword.

I like that this is a psuedo fix to danger rooms in that danger rooms (as far as I know) do not train discipline, meaning the next time your danger room trained juggernauts face a squad they're gonna run away with their tail behind their backs.

LOL! Love the image a squad of 10 master everything axedwarves see a single zombie and turn around and run away screaming like little elves girls.

[Sergarr]

that actually works. witnessing death trains discipline. It also lowers happiness though so it's a double edged sword.

I like that this is a psuedo fix to danger rooms in that danger rooms (as far as I know) do not train discipline, meaning the next time your danger room trained juggernauts face a squad they're gonna run away with their tail behind their backs.

LOL! Love the image a squad of 10 master everything axedwarves see a single zombie and turn around and run away screaming like little elves girls.

It even makes sense, because you don't get scared from a training machine!

[FrankMcFuzz]

that actually works. witnessing death trains discipline. It also lowers happiness though so it's a double edged sword.

I like that this is a psuedo fix to danger rooms in that danger rooms (as far as I know) do not train discipline, meaning the next time your danger room trained juggernauts face a squad they're gonna run away with their tail behind their backs.

LOL! Love the image a squad of 10 master everything axedwarves see a single zombie and turn around and run away screaming like little elves girls.

It even makes sense, because you don't get scared from a training machine!

What's this?! Toady making it less viable to use danger rooms without outright breaking them!? You beautiful genius, Toady :O

[Jacko13]

Aha but consider a danger room with regular kitten injections! :-)

[Wimopy]

I can confirm that discipline has dire effects on actions in combat. I pitted grandmaster axedwarves versus a single dragon (which they COULD defeat with morale turned off).
With grandmaster discipline, one ran off while fighting, but soon came back, they overpowered the dragon.
With proficient discipline, the dwarves lost, at least one ran away and then stayed back.
With no discipline, they just panicked and ran, not a single soldier stood to fight. Two were picked off, the dragon went swimming in lava (he's immune, don't forget), three survived.

I don't know about training discipline. I'd say danger room with a giant creature locked on the other side of a glass next to it. Giant creatures are relatively common and scary, so that's your best bet, besides throwing them at something very slow and hoping they don't die.

I admit though, dropping stuff on them sounds nice, so long as they aren't crushed by the bodies (pulped head by kitten corpse!). Far more dwarven.

[PanH]

Aha but consider a danger room with regular kitten injections! :-)

I dunno, this just means that married women make good soldiers. Babies or kittens are the same.

[Wimopy]

Aha but consider a danger room with regular kitten injections! :-)

I dunno, this just means that married women make good soldiers. Babies or kittens are the same.

Except the chance that the mother commits suicide or becomes too horrified to actually do something useful.

[PanH]

Aha but consider a danger room with regular kitten injections! :-)

I dunno, this just means that married women make good soldiers. Babies or kittens are the same.

Except the chance that the mother commits suicide or becomes too horrified to actually do something useful.

That's even better, it'll harden the other members of the squad if they suicide. It also resolve the overpopulation issue I often have.