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[Colonel Sanders Lite]

I've been doing something a bit different than my usual and it's got me thinking.  I would like to know people's general approach to a couple of things.

Do you use marksdwarves in defense?
If so, are they professionals or untrained militia, just handed a crossbow and told to man the ramparts?  Perhaps a mixture of the two?

If they're professionals do you:
Train them up with target shooting at an archery range?
Perhaps you prefer using wood bolts on fully armored goblins released from cages in controlled circumstances?
Maybe they start as untrained militia and you eventually draft some of them into full time soldiering once they're already skilled?
Just arbitrarily pick professionals and rely on goblin attacks to provide the necessary training?

Inquiring minds want to know!

Edit:
Answers so far (simplified):

Code: [Select]

Professionals:
Trained At Range:
4

Previously Skilled, no further Training:
1

Trained By Hunting
1


Untrained Militia:
2

Drafted Hunters:
2

[Urist McVoyager]

I try to stick with what my migrants already know. So if I have marksdwarves in my fortress, I build the supply chain for them, stick them in a barracks with an adjoining range, and set them up with a schedule mixing training time with walkway patrols.

[ArgonianFly]

I normally only pick marksdwarves with former practice and I place them in archer towers with fortifications so they can fire upon the enemies from safety. Do not let them roam free, as they will die very easily and will run up to bludgeon goblins with their crossbows if not assigned to burrows.

[TubaDragoness]

I always end up with at least two squads for my militia: one ranged, and the rest melee. If it's not a full squad, I'll sneak a melee dwarf into the ranged group as something of a bodyguard.

I have my squads rotate active times so they can train and get sun exposure without cutting down too much on the workforce, and I do set up a training range as well as all the tweaks to make them actually use it. Supposedly training makes them more accurate, but it more importantly increases the rate of fire. Archers function as area denial and long-range harassing in my forts.

As for actually using them in a pitched battle? I haven't had much chance to, between long periods of being too busy to play and starting over so I know what the heck is going on in the fort. They do play a part in The Lonely Road defense (a winding, trap-filled path invaders are forced to path through). Maybe if I can stay focused long enough to get regular sieges in, they will see more use.

Bonus References: My squads all have a color in their names. The archer squad is usually The Green Arrow. (Melee squads get designations like The Silver Sentries and The Red Barons.)

[anewaname]

When new migrants arrive, if there is a marksdwarf training program in use in the fort, their existing archery skills will be used if their other skills are not more important. That new armorer is not allowed to hunt. Otherwise, the existence of a marksdwarf training program in the fort depends on the biome.

If the biome is not safe for hunting, it often is evil and animating, so I will rarely have any marksdwarfs in the fort.

If there are creatures to hunt, I will have dwarfs train crossbow by hunting with wood bolts and eventually rotate them into fully equipped marksdwarf squads. Then they becomes part of the fort defenses, training in a barracks behind fortifications, with no archery targets. This way they spar and do demonstrations, and are in defensive positions if invaders are revealed).

One fort had many kea invasions; they would fly into the tower and dive down the stairs looking for shinies, causing job cancellation spam. So, I gave crossbows to the entire militia (crafters and haulers that have no training schedule and only train if they want to). These dwarfs rarely had any archery skills but they carried their crossbows everywhere.

[Skorpion]

One fort had many kea invasions; they would fly into the tower and dive down the stairs looking for shinies, causing job cancellation spam. So, I gave crossbows to the entire militia (crafters and haulers that have no training schedule and only train if they want to). These dwarfs rarely had any archery skills but they carried their crossbows everywhere.

Traps will solve that issue. I've had good results from the use of weapon traps to shred incoming birds before they cause issues.

[Insert_Gnome_Here]

I give pretty much everyone an xbow. Threats can be responded to immediately.
Civilians are put in reserve squads based on usefulness, so I can send out some cannon fodder to soften up the enemy.

[Sanctume]

Current military plans

Recruit Class
Rank 0. Recruit:  Wrestler+5, Armor User+

Sentinel Class
Rank 1. Guard: Hammer 1-5
Rank 2. Sentry: Hammer 6-10
Rank 3. Sentinel: Hammer 10+

Infantry Class
Rank 1. Trooper: Mace 1-5
Rank 2. Assault: Mace 6-10
Rank 3. Heavy: Mace 10+

All other edge or piece weapon train range weapon.
Soldier Class
Rank 1. Squaddie. Crossbow 1-5
Rank 2. Soldier. Edge or Pierce Weapon 1-5

Soldier: Sniper Class
Rank 3. Recon: Crossbow 6-10
Rank 4. Recon: Crossbow 10+

Soldier: Ranger Class
Rank 3. Marine: Axe 6-10
Rank 4. Ranger: Axe 10+

Soldier: Skirmisher Class
Rank 3. Phalanx: Spear 6-10
Rank 4. Skirmisher: Spear 10+

Soldier: Knight Class
Rank 3. Squire: Sword 6-10
Rank 4. Knight: Sword 10+

Soldier: Assassin Class
Rank 3. Rogue: Whip/Knife 6-10
Rank 4. Assassin: Whip/Knife 10+

[Sarmatian123]

I dig hole and put cages at its end with a chained dog bait for sieges. Bridges allow me free and safe access to surface, once whole siege is under ground.

I build underground entrance guarded with 2 chained dog at front, with room for depot and wall it all off from rest of my fortress with 2 rows of 3 cages to keep keas and other pest away. If this pest gets even through my 2 war dogs first, which does with kea happen from time to time. Dwarves until 0.44.05 clean only under ground, so it helps with cleaning blood pools too.

Despite all this I still create maximum military force. Militia mainly. Mostly for caves and fun. Now maybe for raids, if the bugs will be ironed out.
Militia with training schedule like 10-2-2-2-2-2-10-2-2-2-2-2 so I can use most of those Dwarves in their civilian professions.

I start my military from shields. Then I add weapons and then I allow them to train.
10 squads: 2 hammers, 1 mace, 2 swords, 1 light xbow, 1 heavy xbow, 1 pike, 2 battle axe.
Light bows using mainly (willow?) adamantine crossbows and it is formed from captain of the guards and consist of the most weakest Dwarves in my fortress.
Heavy bows using copper->silver (-> moded platinum) crossbows and it is formed from hunters. I provide 20 heavy bows for this squad use alone.
I let them train in barracks, though maybe it is a mistake to do so with Guards. They still train their archery, shields from there too.
I let them train in archery ranges providing as many bone bolts as possible. Oak bolts usually go for hunting. Reserving metal bolts for combat, but sneaky hunters steal those for hunting too. Grr...

The only down side is, that legendary military Dwarves start blinking in u-menu, even when turned into civilians. Most people using Dwarf Therapist for those things, so maybe not so important. Not like me. Vanilla client all the way!

[Splint]

I personally hold a disdain for marksdwarves mainly due to the difficulties I personally have with the supply chain (I tend to have better luck chucking untrained peasants with spears and axes at problems than hoping against hope a marksdwarf will actually hit what he's aiming at.) Don't get me wrong, I understand they can be a devastating weapon against attackers, but they just arne't for me.

However, sometimes there is simply no other option, necessitating at least one squad on hand to thin out fish, kill certain types of FBs and demons, but rarely do i have them do so professionally, generally just training when they feel like it in their off time.

Generally I let hunters hunt for a while until I get sick of the no ammo spam, and then reassign them to other jobs, giving them a barracks and a slow trickle of bone or wood bolts to train with whenever they feel like it.

Besides, crossbow bolts don't make for very impressive kills unless it's a one-shot, and I'm a glutton for bloody spectacles in my battles.


Simplified: Mixture of hunting and non-professional training.



Although, maybe I hould try to get over my utter hatred for ranged combat in this game and try to field a professional squad sometime.

[Grim Portent]

I generally just let a bunch of dwarfs hunt and assign them to a marksdwarf squad once they get good at shooting then draft some new hunters from the civilians with lots of down time. The squad usually then just gets some archery ranges to practice at and a light suit of armour, sometimes a barracks to train other military skills in.

They aren't an important part of the military, but I like hunting to supply some leather rather than micromanage livestock, and the fat needed for my soap production, so I generally decide to put them to other use as a back up for the more practical soldiers. On the rare occasion that a barrage of iron bolts takes out a few enemies at once it's quite nice to see goblins suddenly drop dead at 30 paces.

In general though the active hunters are more helpful for taking out sudden threats if I have enough metal that I let them use metal bolts to hunt rather than just grind things down with bone. Had a few hunters take out megabeasts/semi-megabeasts and numerous other nasties over the years. Lose the odd one to a GCS of course, but that's the price you pay for what is basically a roaming sentry turret that catches food.

[Eschar]

PTW. Oh, and nice thread name.

[Colonel Sanders Lite]

If you enjoyed The Interpretation of the Marksdwarf (copy), stay tuned for the much anticipated, "The Marksdwarf: Natural or Supernatural?"

"The writing is completely serious.  Overall, the prose is not awful, but not very good either."
-The New York Times

[Colonel Sanders Lite]

More seriously, training via hunting is something I haven't considered.  What kind of skill gains do you see there over the course of a year or so?

[Orkel]

Migrants tend to contain a lot of hunters. They are well enough to be turned into 1-2 full marksdwarf squads overtime, and they also come with their own crossbows.