LoS would be a difficult hitch anyway.
You can make it easy, though, since all monsters, even the ones you don't see, spawn at the edges of the map. Here's how you do it. (Note: Ridiculously impractical).
Wall the whole damn map off, except for the approach to your Rebel Base, which consists of a long-ass road to the base. At that approach, put a watch-tower, and part of the watch-tower are some chained dogs behind glass windows. The dogs will be able to see monsters on the approach, and alert you if there's any hidden gobbers coming. No line of effect means no need to replace the dogs.
Now, along the approach, you're going to want a one-square-line by however many squares wide hole in the ground, which will be your entrance - use a ramp, and cover it with a retracting bridge.Behind that line will be a wall of fortifications. Long behind those fortifications will be another line of fortifications, and behind those will be your ballastae. Dogs warn you of the Bad Guys, you charge your lazors, and shoop da woop.
This can even be made 100% ammunition-economical if you want to go to the trouble. Line the walls with trenches (like, five or six z-levels deep to minimize the liklihood of ammo-retreval dwarves being shot by bowgobbers). Make the tower at the end of the row instead of at the side, and do a pit in front of it, too. You can also use drawbridges, which are normally left down, to channel the gobbers into the murder-zone; then pop up the drawbridge, the goblins are caught in a killing field where they can't even touch any of the walls.
And that's how you use a ballastae!
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Topic: Catapults only target stuff on the same level? (Read 4019 times)