finished my "archer training in 0.40" exploration. I used a simple seven-dwarf squad, with a barracks, ten archery targets and a "train, minimum 10" order, on constant active duty. Works just fine, as usual.
- when given enough targets and ammo, marksdwarfs self-organise for archery training very reliably; usually over half the squad shoots at the target, the rest does demonstrations, almost no indivudal drills.
- if a dwarf with a crossbow and shield does individual drill (i.e. no secondary weapon equipped, no free hand), _all_ training experience will go to dodging and discipline. Nothing else will be learnt by drills, ever.
- demonstrations can go to any combat skill _that the dwarf has experience with_. Such experience can be "dabbling", but actual experience points must be present. This applies to weapon skills, but also to the major defensive skills dodging, armour use and shield use.
Point in fact: i switched two of the squad to hammerdwarf by adding a hammer to their equipment. They started gaining hammer skill from drills, started sparring after a while and eventually became legendary in the weapon. The rest of the squad gained no hammer skill - drills never produced hammer skill and no demonstrations were offered to them, since they had _no skill points_ in hammer; being equipped with a crossbow (uses hammer skill in melee combat) didn't matter. The pure marksdwarfs gained no shield user or armour user skill, either - they had no previous experience and gained none through drills, thus never were given lessons.
In another squad, i have three dwarfs who switched weapons during their career. They only have their latest weapon equipped, but they get the sporadic "refresher" demonstration in their secondary weapon skills (once again, they no longer have weapons of those types equipped) - the mace-dwarf has points in spear and sword, so he occasionally receives demos from the speardwarf (she's the squad leader, and a legendary teacher) or one of the two swordmasters. Both skills have slowly risen from "competent" to "proficient" while he never touched such a weapon.
- in order to lead a demonstration, a dwarf needs to have "novice" or better skill, i.e. at least a full level. Furthermore, dwarfs appear not to give demonstrations for skills that have become "rusty", they need to receive a demonstration or gain skill through drills/sparring to remove the rust before they can teach it again.
- exceptions apply to unarmed combat: my archerdwarfs have received demonstrations from nothing in wrestling and striking. Although they never gained experience from drills, they got to "competent" (level three) in those skills, just through demonstrations. I've also seen two or three demonstrations in those skills led by a "dabbling" skill-user, but those seem to be flukes with no real teaching potential; actual skill gains in the marksdwarf contingent only materialised when the meleeers became capable and gave sustained lectures.
- demonstrations only aim at getting skills even between squad members. I docked all ammo use and marksdwarf skill rose a bit through lessons, but eventually levelled out around "talented" (level six; "legendary" is level fifteen). New lessons were apparently only given to remove skill rust, not for actual skill improvement. I kept the arrangement for years, and while the hammerdwarfs sparred (sporadically) and became legendary, the five marksdwarfs almost never did anything but individual drills; four made it to legendary dodger, but only one got to "adept" (level seven) marksdwarf, the rest stayed at "talented" for over two years.
- i don't know what exactly the requirements for sparring are, but dwarfs with a hammer as primary and crossbow as secondary "weapon in hand" will spar once their hammer skill is in the novice/adequate range, using both weapons for sparring. Dwarfs with a crossbow and shield and no hammer skill but a few levels of wrestling and striking will _not_ spar.
Other goings-on: i made all civs baby snatchers, in hopes of kicking off more altercations in history, but it seems that having your kids stolen isn't a real grievance when you can just go and steal the kid back (or steal a replacement somewhere else). History reports are full of "a few years ago, various children were kidnapped" events, but we're at peace with the thieving humans and elves. Everytime a caravan leaves the site we get a slew of "a kidnapper has made off with the <water buffalo/turkey gobbler/hamster/etc.>!" warnings, that's the only directly observable effect. We haven't been attacked by anything but werebeasts.
I built a few minecart transport tracks, but am a bit underwhelmed by them. Mainly because we produce little but food and clothes, so there's simply not much to move around, and it's usually easier done by hand. Stone and bars for the forge are somewhat useful to move by cart, but primarily because it allows quantum-stocking. I went and moved yarn and silk cloth to a dedicated specialist clothier's shop, but there was no real need to do this by minecart. Especially since minecart routes don't play nice with goods in containers: once the cloth bins had been trackstop-dumped into the pile, the haulers went and dragged them back to the route's source pile. AFAIK being moved by cart _doesn't unassign bins and barrels from their original stockpile_, so by the hauling logic the containers _belong_ back into their old pile.
Anyway, i've mainly made a few simple tracks where the main challenges are keeping cart speed reasonable while changing levels and keeping dwarfs out of dangerous areas. For the latter purpose, statues work spectacularly well - carts can bypass them, dwarfs can't.
There was also a lockup on one stockpile/hauling stop link. I don't know what triggered it, but no items were moved to the cart after some point. I might have messed up some stockpile setting, but could find no error - types, materials and qualities agreed perfectly on both pile and stop. I eventually just erased and re-built the stockpile with the exact same settings and it worked again.
The only dwarf who got alarmingly harmed was a woodcutter who was hit by a falling log. It bruised her heart, which first showed as "mangled beyond recognition", but soon "recovered" to a cyan (no longer functional) wound colour and eventually to yellow and <no wound>. She simply walked it off, didn't even bother going to the hospital.
Our duchess loves millstones, so she has four of them in her bedroom. They're also all powered - by wind power. Her bedroom is 38 levels underground. Only the windmills themselves are vulnerable to building destroyers, power is transmitted through unbroken floor.
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Topic: What's going on in your fort? (Read 6224770 times)