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[guydude64]

I'm currently under an undead siege, (Though necromancers seem to have left) However, they leave quite the sizable horde behind, and me, with only 18 military dwarves to my name, am a bit anxious in sending them out to face such a horde. of my 18 military dwarves, about half of them are "Lords" in their respective areas, with two elite marksdwarves included there. the rest, are at about Master level. This, would be a screenshot of what I'm to deal with. http://prntscr.com/dmh7fu Funnily enough, right after the siege started, I got ambushed by elves, though the undead swarmed them as soon as they came, and I suspect they're now among the dead.

[Pirate Santa]

If possible breaking them up into smaller groups or softening them up with bolts or traps will help.

Make sure everyone has armour.

Never faced undead so I can't give much more advice than that.

[guydude64]

If possible breaking them up into smaller groups or softening them up with bolts or traps will help.

Make sure everyone has armour.

Never faced undead so I can't give much more advice than that.

You cannot "Soften up" undead with bolts, as they will fight just as efficently, no matter what injuries you give to them, unless you sever their head, or a lucky bolt destroys their brain. as for splitting them up into groups, probably not going to happen as they'll all swarm the closest target they find.

[Thisfox]

Cage traps are your friend.

Deposit the cages in the magma later, or atom smash them.

If there's a necromancer, he might keep reanimating what he's got, and what you loose. Remember some undead body parts, if they are reanimated, are to all intents and purposes unkillable (head hair, for example, but even undead heads themselves). Swords will increase the number of undead body parts you have to fight. Maces/hammers/bludgeoning weapons are great for pulping and thus making undead body parts incapable of continuing. Puncturing weapons are less effective, as unless you get a very lucky hit, they do nothing.

[guydude64]

avoiding swords would cut my military strength in half, so not going to avoid that, simply going to hope they go for the neck slice. as for cage traps, I'm not nearly lucky enough to be able to lure that horde into a minefield of cagetraps, without my dwarves getting caught in it. The way I see it right now, I either A: Wall off my fort in its entirety, and watch as caravans get eaten alive when they arrive. B: Attempt the luring strategy into cage traps, which may or may not work. C. Send my dorfs out to face them head on. Necros seem to have fled the area entirely, they don't show up on in the U menu at all, though they could just be hanging around just out of sight. If all else fails: Ballista with about 100 metallic arrows stocked up, aimed right down the long hall that is the entrance to my fort, let my legendary Siege Operator go to work.

[Roofless]

You can try luring them into a tight chamber with live bait, then close the entrance so necromancers loose line of sight (if still present on the map).
If successful, there so many ways you can use or dispatch them.

[GhostDwemer]

If possible breaking them up into smaller groups or softening them up with bolts or traps will help.

Make sure everyone has armour.

Never faced undead so I can't give much more advice than that.

as for splitting them up into groups, probably not going to happen as they'll all swarm the closest target they find.

Splitting up enemies into manageable groups is as easy as opening and closing bridges. Use two for extra insurance. Start with both open and if too many get past the first bridge, close the second one as well.

[PatrikLundell]

Reanimation has changed a bit lately. Only parts with a head or grasping ability can be reanimated. Since the necros have fled (they tend to do that early), the main problem with chopping the undead up into bits is the increased hauling afterwards.
I personally (ab)use cage traps against invaders, but if I had a militia and wanted to use it I'd use a bridge airlock as suggested by GhostDwemer, so they'd fight a reasonable number of undead at a time. Dwarves tire, and a legendary fighter who's unconscious due to fatigue is going to have significant difficulties...

The enemies caught in cages are atom smashed in my atom smashers (build cage, hook to lever, release, smash, repeat) after I've stripped them of useful items. The problem with destroying the cages (apart from the risk of running out), is that you're going to end up with masterworks cages, and their makers don't like to have their creations destroyed.

Unfortunately, mass pitting doesn't work well, as I suffer mass escapes when I try: either I can pit all of those designated, or they all break lose (even if they're actually hauled individually at different times, so it's not a matter of one breaking lose and causing the others to get free as well).

It can also be mentioned that caravans don't enter the map when you're under siege (they have more brains than visitors do, in this respect).

[guydude64]

Reanimation has changed a bit lately. Only parts with a head or grasping ability can be reanimated. Since the necros have fled (they tend to do that early), the main problem with chopping the undead up into bits is the increased hauling afterwards.
I personally (ab)use cage traps against invaders, but if I had a militia and wanted to use it I'd use a bridge airlock as suggested by GhostDwemer, so they'd fight a reasonable number of undead at a time. Dwarves tire, and a legendary fighter who's unconscious due to fatigue is going to have significant difficulties...

The enemies caught in cages are atom smashed in my atom smashers (build cage, hook to lever, release, smash, repeat) after I've stripped them of useful items. The problem with destroying the cages (apart from the risk of running out), is that you're going to end up with masterworks cages, and their makers don't like to have their creations destroyed.

Unfortunately, I am actually playing on a version a bit older than the newest version, version 42.06, so the dead still do reanimate things like "Hair" "Scales" and the like, and have seen such done to a forgotten refuse pile at the beginning of the siege. As for the bridge Airlock idea, the entrance to my fort is too small to make use of such a thing, and the way I've branched out the pockets of space in the beginning make it near impossible for me to create such an airlock, unless I wish to destroy a good number of workshops in the process. What are the chances the zombies will just leave, given time?

[Fleeting Frames]

Don't think 42.06 and 43.05 have any differences in reanimation. Hair will reanimate when partly or entirely from grasping limb or head.

With necro sieges, there are no big beasts, so if you're atomsmashing anyway can use live bait, door and repeating 10-long bridge (some undead will be able to cross if you don't lock the door in their face, FYI). You don't need to put this into the entrance of your fort, a separate corner elsewhere will work as well. Unless you dug out a whole layer and covered it in workshops, there is an available path somewhere.

Alternatively, if you want to keep their gear, replace the bridge by high-weight or high-speed minecart cyclotron/grinder.

Or you can use a retracting bridge instead and drop them into safekeeping, to be directed to fight goblins at your leisure or whatnot.

Quite a lot is possible when building destroyers or size isn't a concern.


That said, when I've done army vs FB combat, I've tried to set it up so with hatches that the moment FB enters into view they're in the striking range of many or all the attacking dwarves. This has killed, amongst others, a webber and fogger with no injuries (though my dwarves were really badass at the time, I think Legendary +80 weapon/fighter among the better ones). I'd try to apply the same to army, though not sure what order would be best to prevent charging ahead - I'd guess defend burrows?

But whether your army can succeed...Well, the primary question is if their weapons can get through zombie armors. Dwarven towers are the most reliable source of steel-armored enemies in game, which would mean that the edged part of your military should use adamantine (with things that work okay as blunt like morningstars exempted).

And yeah, they'll leave in a season or year if you do nothing.

[Lozzymandias]

Unfortunately, mass pitting doesn't work well, as I suffer mass escapes when I try: either I can pit all of those designated, or they all break lose (even if they're actually hauled individually at different times, so it's not a matter of one breaking lose and causing the others to get free as well).

Simple solution patrik, mine cart shotgun! Load your cages into a minecart, accelerate it up to a decent lick with impulse ramps and then strike it against a fortification In the side of the wall. The impact knocks most beasts free of their cages into the next room and then you can redeadify at leisure (if the impact hasn't). If you design the loading room without line of sight to the fortification and have the square next to the fortification an empty space with a second track with impulse ramps below that loops the cart back to its starting position after it strikes the fortification and loses all its forwards momentum,  you can entirely automate the system, only needing dwarves to load cages and give the first push.

Since I started getting mass escapes I started using this system and have not had a single escape since. Be warned that creatures fired at high velocity can escape if  they change z level upwards underneath an overhang, magically teleport through the gap

[PatrikLundell]

Thanks, Lozzymandias,
That sounds like it would be worth a try.

[Ruhn]

If you don't want to move workshops I guess wait until they leave then build the airlocks above ground so your military can fight next time.

When a Necro goes into sneak mode are they removed from the unit list?

[guydude64]

If you don't want to move workshops I guess wait until they leave then build the airlocks above ground so your military can fight next time.

When a Necro goes into sneak mode are they removed from the unit list?

I unfortunately do not know this, if that's the case, then the four necros that showed up may still be lurking somewhere on the map if that's the case...

[Fleeting Frames]

Werebeasts are, I bet necros are too. However, once unveiled they'll not cloak again.