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[darthbrumbledore]

I've followed the basic military guides on the wiki and youtube, but they all seem to end at setting up the military on a training schedule and equipping them, which is what i've done in the few fortresses i've had so far. i know how to activate them to fight when needed, but beyond that what should I be doing with them? I catch comments about military members doing their regular jobs when not training, but I swear I've never seen a recruit do anything but train and drink/eat/sleep. I see all the other orders, for patrols and stations and such, which are obviously there for good reasons, but I'm not sure how to best utilize them.

I also know about the training fun! which is something I'm working my way toward, but there has to be more to do with them than barracks training and fun!

Any help would be appreciated.

[Grimwulf]

but beyond that what should I be doing with them?

Do what you want basically. Some players keep professional military on year-round training, others mix and match. You can always create more squads, send some/all of your military outside to raid etc.

I swear I've never seen a recruit do anything but train and drink/eat/sleep

That's because your training schedule is probably set to default (12 months a year a minimum of 10 soldiers in each squad should be training). You can reduce the number of soldiers on duty for each month in the schedule screen. You can also cancel all orders for each specific month to give them free time. However, if your goal is to make the military socialize in tavern, this doesn't really work in my experience - even during free time they will come back to the barracks and do individual combat drills. If you want to stop all training activity but keep the military armed and armored just in case, the best way is to 'f'ree the barracks. Not just unassign training in the 'q' menu of the barracks (it won't work), but free the room (as in, unassign the barracks itself). This way the squad will have nowhere to train and should start socializing.

[darthbrumbledore]

Thanks Grimmwulf. I did make sure to set my training schedule to a minimum of 2 people, but i'm training every month. So, and this may answer one of my big questions, if a squad is assigned to training for a month, is that basically their entire month's duties?

[Grimwulf]

if a squad is assigned to training for a month, is that basically their entire month's duties?

Yes, they will do nothing but train, sleep, eat, and drink. If you make some backpacks and waterskins/flasks for them, they will carry food and drink, so eating and drinking is barely a distraction.

Do note however that if you assign a minimum of 2 people, training will be rather ineffective. You want them to spar and make demonstrations - they will learn faster this way. Also note that those who are supposed to have free time will not usually bother with satisfying their needs (praying, reading, socializing). They will do labors if you assign them, but as soon as there is no job to be done - they would prefer individual combat drills, a highly ineffective way of training.

The way you do it is how it's supposed to work (I think), but in DF's current state I find it much better to make Seasonal training sessions. E.g., full training for the entire squad during Winter; completely unassigned barracks during other Seasons. That said, if your military guys don't really contribute to the fortress in any meaningful way, you might as well set year-round training. A lot of dwarves will be happy to live a military life - the joy of training will outmatch any other unsatisfied needs.