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[Revenant342]

So, I'm gearing up to finally take on HFS in my new good/evil embark.  Naturally, I'm looking to do it in the most epic and inefficient way possible, and the method that comes to mind is prisoner battalions.  I've got a few questions:

Having only fought Kobolds and Goblins in Fortress mode, are humans or elves stronger, soldier for soldier?  Humans are bigger so I was wondering if they'd be a better option.

Second, since captives have the [CAN_LEARN] tag, can I pit them into a danger room until they're all Legendary+5?

Thirdly, do captives pick up weapons if they lose theirs?  I remember hearing something about this but haven't tested it.  Taking their weapons and dropping some masterwork steel into the pit would increase their chances of survival if they use them.

Finally, what units should I save?  I usually keep squads of hammerdwarves, speardwarves, and swordsdwarves to meet a variety of threats, but captives use unique weaponry that might be be better.  A regiment of legendary goblin lightsabermen perhaps?

I only expect them to soften the hordes of hell up for my ballistae and marksdwarves, but if they do survive what do you think I should do with these unwilling heroes besides standard disposal? 

[NJW2000]

I can only answer the last question, which is probably the easiest.

You say you're on a good/evil embark?

Than welcome the surviving heroes to HFS II: Undead Boogaloo.

[Revenant342]

Haven't tossed a cat corpse over the purple line to see if it gets back up yet, but I'll definitely be fighting the clowns on the blue side...

[NJW2000]

There's nothing unsporting in a bit of body-dragging, is there?

[PatrikLundell]

Well, the reanimation happens only if the savagery is high enough. Otherwise you've got your answer there: Convert everything to undead, since they're stronger, tougher, and meaner than the living.
As far as I understand, captives can be trained, but I don't know if undead are still able to learn.
I believe (undead) dwarves are the best soldiers, and would think humans would be next. Elves are supposed to be pushovers, largely due to their nearly useless equipment.
If you've got living prisoners, I wouldn't be surprised if they turned out to fight each other if you mix humans, elves, and goblins.

I generally use hands off fighting, i.e. a liberal dose of menacing spike traps on repeat, with drawbridges to ensure the enemy cannot reach my poor dorfs. Otherwise, a mine cart railgun is rather dwarfy, and magma can take care of most things (if you're lucky, your HFS might contain magma resistant opponents).

[Revenant342]

I was only planning on using the one type, whichever is best, just wanted to know which race to start stockpiling. 

Do humans ever use steel armor in sieges?  They might be the best, then, if I can't equip captives.

[PatrikLundell]

As far as I understand, dwarves are the only ones with steel tech. Oddly, kobolds sometimes have steel weapons since they bypass the normal metal availability process.
If you're going for enemy conscription, I'd collect them all, and send them in in waves.
It's a bit spoilerish, but once you've eliminated the attackers (if you do), you'll have to do some building to reach the floor, and then you can release the next wave(s) there.

[Sanctume]

The fun-ones also has CAN_LEARN, so if you give them a cat-with-infinite-lives, you may just get Legendary Fun-ones!