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[McDoomhammer]

Does the wiki article on fortress and royal guards strike anyone else as somewhat lacking in objectivity?  Or am I the only one who takes guards seriously and actually ensures able fighters serve?  Extremely able now, since they spar so often.

[Eagle of Fire]

Not really no... You do have some other use for fortress guards?

I never even appoint them in any of my fortress... They are completely useless.

[Tyrving]

Personally, I don't find guards all that useful. I usually just recruit peasants and give them iron armor and silver weapons, and all they ever do is spar. Now, if you could maybe station them at places inside your fort, say, right inside the entrance to take care of snatchers, I wouldn't dislike them so much.

Maybe they'll get an upgrade in usefulness with the army arc?

[ January 23, 2008: Message edited by: Tyrving ]

[Cajoes]

I find them useful as a ever present defence force, in particular if equipped with crossbows. Ideal for smaller localised threats like thieves, snatchers, berzerking dwarves and thieving monkeys. Which can pop up almost anywhere.

For bigger hazards like sieges or megabeasts a dedicated military force is preferrable however.

Royal guards are entirely superfluos since royals, as a whole, are not worth defending. Seeing as actual administration is handled by people further down on the social ladder.

[Eagle of Fire]

I use normal guards for entry way and trade depot defense. I usually keep them in place betweeen 2 seasons and a year and cycle them with others when they're done...

This is why I think fortress and royal guards are useless. Just like military heroes... If you can't order them around and they never do what you want them to, what good do they make to the community?

[Wiles]

My soldiers who are wounded in battle and can never recover get a cushy job in the fortress guard    

But yeah, for a wiki article it isn't very objective.

[ January 23, 2008: Message edited by: Wiles ]

[Eagle of Fire]

I'm sure the guards are simply a place holder for something better. I'd love to have "normal" dwarves have a new thought pattern, "Dwarfy McDwarf considered himself in security lately" by seing those guards... And like it been mentioned, they probably will have their use once the army arc is coded.

However, until that's done... Nobody can argue against the fact that they're completely useless versus any other kind of guards available from the very start of the game. Why would an article be considered unobjective if it's simply displaying the plain truth? Crude maybe... But unobjective?

[Capntastic]

If you have a problem with it, edit it.   That's what wikis are for.

[mwoody450]

There really is no reason to have guards, ever.  They do nothing you can't accomplish with regular military, and there are problems if you need to remove them from it for any reason or if they hit hero/champion while in the guard.

[McDoomhammer]

I don't know, I like not having to scramble the military from wherever the crud they are whenever there's a disturbance, and having dwarves who will try not to use lethal force on angry children.

[Artheon]

I keep 25-30% of my dwarves in the army and about 5% as guards.  Guards with crossbow = muchos practical, and actually saved me from losing more than I did in a recent cockup.  As an automatic backup army-force thinger I'm very happy with them, and as someone mentioned, retiring wounded soldiers there makes sense.  As an actual guardforce I'm not so sure though; I had a fort go totally out of hand with tantrums, and they couldn't keep people in check because I hadn't recruited enough guards.  If I had tho, I doubt it would've happened because they're just as liable to snap as anyone else.

Maybe guards should be resistant to moods on some level, by virtue of "duty first"?  Not to a point where it'd be abusable, but it'd be nice if they could, should shit hit the fan, keep cool and sort things out, given enough jailcells.

[McDoomhammer]

quote: Maybe guards should be resistant to moods on some level, by virtue of "duty first"? Not to a point where it'd be abusable, but it'd be nice if they could, should shit hit the fan, keep cool and sort things out, given enough jailcells.

Now there's an idea.

[Lord Licorice]

Mine always tend to hang out in the legendary dining room during parties (though of course they're not attending a party, they just happen to be there when one occurs), which is great when goblins snatch the birthday boy in the middle of five or six guys with crossbows.  Aside from that, I've never really found a use for them, and their "this hero need not work" description on the labor screen rubs me the wrong way.

[martinuzz]

I think guards are handy as sparring partners for my real military.
As mentioned before, they also train real fast, so I tend to put my future military on guard duty first and switch them to normal military before they hit legendary skill. Takes a bit of micromanagement but I think it pays off.
Also, if you lack royal guards, the Baron/ Count will get unhappy thoughts. Not that that matters with all the legendary diningroom happiness and all.

And I don't know if maybe you are required to have a complete fortress- and royal guard for the king to arrive.
Never had the king, what ARE the darn requirements anyway. The non-adamantium requirements I mean.

[McDoomhammer]

Well, you need a duke/duchess, I know that.  Possibly a certain population, too, mine was around 160.  Then "The Incoming King" shows up on your Nobles screen, and it tells you the requirements under that.  Of course, your mileage may vary.