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Author Topic: Understanding Military  (Read 774 times)

ragincajun

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Understanding Military
« on: August 15, 2014, 05:32:44 pm »
OK, so I'm pretty much a pacifist...lol. 

Anyway, I'm just into my new "city" and I've gotten my first wave of migrants.  I have yet to appoint anyone to the military.  I just got my first "Stop the kobold thief" warning.  Found two kobolds on the map.

I went to the Wiki, saw how to assign dwarfs to the militia.  Sent them after the kobolds (and did select no food and no water for quick response) but the kobolds were up two levels from my entrance and already away from the camp before my warning popped up so they easily escaped off-map before my militia could arrive and wreak havok.

So, any tips on what a poor pacifist is to do to stop these marauding kobolds in the early going?  Is there a way to get warnings quicker?  I left the game paused while I read up on the wiki so there was no enemy movement until I sent my merry marauders on their way.  All to no avail however.
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BlackFlyme

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Re: Understanding Military
« Reply #1 on: August 15, 2014, 05:45:16 pm »
Kobolds are slightly faster than dwarves, so catching them on-foot can be somewhat difficult, depending on the circumstances.

Pasturing animals near the entrance to the fort can help in spotting them before they enter. Traps can also be used to capture or kill invaders.
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greycat

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Re: Understanding Military
« Reply #2 on: August 15, 2014, 05:46:37 pm »
It's extremely rare that you'll be able to outrun a kobold thief who's already been spotted.  Once they start fleeing, you're only going to stop them if you've got a dwarf with high agility and lack of encumbrance, or you happen to have a ranged attack dwarf nearby and the dwarf manages to hit the kobold with the first 1 or 2 shots, doing enough damage to slow the kobold down.

The most common early game approach to thieves is simply to pasture or restrain some animals near the entrance.  The animals spot the thief, who then runs away.  If the animals are aggressive (war trained) and unchained, they may chase the thief, but they are not likely to catch him.

Quote from: BlackFlyme on August 15, 2014, 05:45:16 pm
Traps can also be used to capture or kill invaders.

Traps don't work on kobolds, though.
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BlackFlyme

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Re: Understanding Military
« Reply #3 on: August 15, 2014, 05:51:58 pm »
Right, forgot about that.

Though with the new gaits system, there are more animals that can actually keep pace or outrun kobolds now.

Before, it was almost always a guarantee that the little bugger would get away, since they wore little gear and were more likely than other creatures to have high agility.
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Deboche

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Re: Understanding Military
« Reply #4 on: August 15, 2014, 05:59:39 pm »
The kobolds you're talking about are usually not a problem, they just go in to steal a few things so if you have all valuable stuff stockpiled somewhere safe, it won't matter.

They just run away as soon as they're spotted though if they're near whomever found them, they will sometimes attack once before fleeing.
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