yep, the desert can give you the GDS the forest can give you wood and other animals. ((make sure the desert and forest are both savage enough to get them.))
perfect. Also i should ask - what traits am i looking for in the very best dwarven soldiers, and how can i tell if someone can use a large weapon like a battle axe and a shield at the same time? i intend to separate out my dwarves into military castes, with the best getting the best training and equipment, housing etc. i need to know how to pick the ones with the very best traits, and how to encourage "doesn't really care about anything anymore" as well as buffing their traits through training. since i have the fortress defense mod as well as intending to go after dangerous targets is important to me.
B rank soldiers will be equipped moderately well and more be a last line of defense / bait for creatures i intend to capture, and otherwise everyone else will be given marksdwarf training and will occupy towers and pillboxes in the event of battle.
my current theory is making sure they are very happy with their lives, then assigning them a puppy in their training and having it butchered after they've bonded with it, and then repeating until they stop caring about anything, the kind of soldier i need.
with a squad of the largest, most powerful dwarves equipped with masterwork / artifact equipment and with creatures like giant desert scorpions assigned to them as pets which will hopefully become entangled in battle too i should have an unstoppable killing machine army to take on even the circus