I dunno how but the elves have gained my respect in Masterwork, or at least their warriors have. A speardancer and (oddly, asian nightstick-wielding but still called) a bladedancer held off a group of goblins with Blade Sergeant Kel long enough for the gate to close, and not only that, all involved besides several goblins survived, and with the exception of Kel, the elves managed to ford the river and get out of harms way while Kel (after getting shot twice) fled into the forests before picking off one of the now scattered goblins.
Seizing the initiative and taking advantage of the goblins' stupidity and their two leaders' orders to charge, the gate came up and both the lasherlord and crossbowmaster found themselves, as well as several of their subordinates, squashed to paste by the bridge. The lever was pulled by the fort's mental health consultant, meaning he just killed more goblins in one go than some of the soldiers. The closest goblins made a rush for the now-open gate, only for one to get pegged by a bulletspike from one of the rifledwarves (netting himself a broken leg) and another get shot through the rusting kettle-hat by an elf archer while the bladedancer smacked one into the stream and a nightweaver sprayed webbing every which way, resulting in several deaths and near drownings on the two nearby weapon traps.
Also, the Dragon-Raptor Deskpreist is now a lasher, as he attacked one of the less intelligent goblins, wrestled away his scourge, and proceeded to mercilessly maul its original owner with it, while a giant hunting bat tore another to shreds that passed out from trap induced injuries, earning the name of Luusotalippy, "Bonestandard" in the process. Since the goblins don't appear to be willing to back down, Col. Asmel's team has been ordered up to bring this clash to an end. So far the South Gate hold the record for "most invaders turned to house paint." I don't see that record being contested for a while after this bloodbath.