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[em1LL]

Hi all!

What criteria do you use when choose dwarves for the military? Only male dwarves with relevant combat skills? What about their physical attributes from the description screen (for example, whether dwarf is strong or not)? Is it really important?

Thanks in advance.

[Sirbug]

Anyone with no good skills, if there's enough workers in every industry already. And every one with weapon skill of cause.

[Thisfox]

Any that aren't useful for other jobs. This includes, dwarves who have already mooded and didn't get a skill I need from their mood.

[Loyal]

Dwarves with decent preexisting attributes. Don't care about their military skills (though I may make note of it if I need an emergency militia). I do prefer if they have at least novice in a civilian skill. The unhappiness penalty from drafting is a minor nuisance and easily solved, but the penalty from a skill-less dwarf going off duty is harder to solve with the way I do schedules. 

[Numeroid]

I usually just use males, only because women have a tendency to carry babies into battle, and that can end poorly. 'Course, you don't have to exclude women entirely. You can have them on a training squad endlessly and then just use them to train other soldiers.

[Thisfox]

Actually, I have no problem drafting ladydorfs, especially married ones, as their babies often inadvertantly act as protective shields, and the constant morale boost every time they give birth is excellent for getting around all of the morale drops you get in military situations.

[callisto8413]

My criteria is only that they have some skill in weapons.  In my 2012 DF game, I have male and female soldiers, scarred and even missing a few limbs.  But they have proven to all be very good at fighting and have become very hardened.  In fact, seeing some of their fellow-soldiers get killed in battle, many related to them by blood, seems to help increase the process of toughening them up.

As for mothers - I take a Hands Off Approach to Dwarf Child Care.  To me, all the digging out holes, stockpiling food, tossing in the baby with the dog is a wast of time.  Children learn to run away from danger or fight it.  If they survive they learn to deal with the pain.

Babies and children who are sometimes on the battlefield with their mothers end up either dead or emotional wrecks - in other words the survivors will make perfect subjects for the King - tough, hardened, scarred.  If they die there is a chance their parents and relatives, having witnessed their deaths, will become better warriors.  Or go crazy. 

Either way, I end up with elite warriors and guards who will cut down an enemy or a murderous Dwarf on command without a second thought.  What else do you need to keep the Fortress under control? 

[C27]

Anyone who's not too skill-valuable to put at risk, and not unusually weak/clumsy/flimsy is a good bet. Dwarves with good agility are useful in crossbow squads even if their other stats are abominable, though, so they can find application there.

[Kraegan]

Fisherdwarves.  One and all.  I don't care what their skills/stats are.  If they fish they will be drafted.

[Bartok]

I avoid anyone who's fearful in the face of imminent danger.

Typically I look at each migrant, and see if they are useful, if not I check to see if they are fearful.  Cowards are nicknamed "Coward", and dwarfs who'll be drafted are marked "R" for recruit.  I'll add a letter for the weapon they prefer, or already have skill in, so that it is easier to identify them when I do go to the military screen to draft.

[Niddhoger]

Meh, drafting based on weapon skills is entirely overrated.  I prefer to have homogeneous squads and would rather recruit based on attributes and lack of any other useful skills.  Master smith that likes warhammers and platinum? Right this way to your personal diamond encrusted forge, fleet of spacious rooms, and your own elven slaves! Legendary cheesmonger that is neither "slow to heal" nor "extraordinary weak?" Drafted.  Miners and furnace operators tend to get "retired" into the military as well.  Those jobs build up strength and endurance, so when they start getting to legendary I'll phase one out and pick a replacement for "training." 

I detest using pump-stack "gyms" though.  They are just uselessly toiling away and not generating anything for the fort... the idea of it just feels gamey and wrong.  However, if I decide to mine out a large area and flood it into an underground pasture/tree farm/herb garden, then I get something useful in the process.  Same with smelting away on that coal or "recycling" low goods crafts to also train up that armorsmith/fishing for all mastework gear.

[vjmdhzgr]

I detest using pump-stack "gyms" though.  They are just uselessly toiling away and not generating anything for the fort...

I'm pretty sure pump-stack gyms were removed quite a while ago. Pump stacks weren't, just physical attributes are no longer trained by skills that aren't military. Which while it fixed carps being unbeatable warriors, it made it so your legendary metalsmith is likely to end up without a bit of muscle on them when metalmithing is directly affected by strength so you have to go and send them into the military to see if maybe the attributes increase and of course after a whole year somehoq they still haven't and you just get upset and take them out of the military and be disappointed. Pump stack gyms also make perfect sense and I don't see why they'd be too "gamey'. If you move a pump up and down all day for a year you're probably going to get stronger.

[utunnels]

I only check if they have combat skills.
But actually I don't really care, after years of training anyone can become legendary.

[Larix]

If at all possible, i draft dwarfs who have military skills - starting skills mean sparring starts up earlier, and sparring takes care of attributes all by itself. I pay little if any attention to civilian skills (an armoursmith _may_ be spared from the draft if i don't have a proper one yet, but if there's already a legendary armourer in the fort, a proficient armourer with competent axe skill gets drafted without hesitation) and no attention at all to sex, marital status and starting attributes (sometimes with hilarious results). I also take care to make mixed-weapon squads, preferably with strictly prescribed weapon choices.

[Witty]

It's a bonus if they come with military skills, but really the only requirements are A. not being crippled and B. not being a married straight women (no baby shields). Training is pretty solid enough to turn any peasant into a demi-god after a year or so, being picky isn't necessary.