Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[Untelligent]

note that artifact mechanisms have the best response time and fling distance

I think this was proved a false rumor.

The response time, anyway. I don't think it affects fling distance, either.

[Osmosis Jones]

Simplest *Brutally* effective defense I've built required only;
one cage,
>50 wardogs (and 1 warbear, a warhippo and 2 warelephants as optional extras)
3 mechanisms
1 dorf

• Build cage, which is placed in the exact middle of a 21 long, 3 wide hallway.
• Fill with dogs.
• Build and attach lever.
• Wait for goblins
• Pull lever
• Profit!

[Axe27]

Big pumping systems and flood corridors are not 'simple defenses'.

Just have marksdwarves, a few tiles of fortifications, and a door.  Lock the door and the invaders will stand around out front getting shot until they are all dead.

Actually, the traps are really very simple in design. My water trap actually consisted of a floodgate, cistern, and a switch. Anyone who busted in would be drowned, and the water would drain into a cistern below. Lava traps are also very simple in design. A pump, a tunnel, a floodgate and a switch, and you suddenly have the cure-all. Somethings-Awful's trap was a 7/7 magma trap that followed over the water river and came spewing out entrances, was as about as complex as my water trap. If you have to raise the lava up Z-levels, it becomes more complicated of course, but it's all simple and straight forward.

[Hyndis]

Simple defenses are indeed the best ones, such as drunken angry dwarves in masterwork steel plate with large axes. 

[Neoskel]

on the topic of traps, how about a goblin auto-flinger, to ensure you fight just 1 at a time
*************+
===========^++
*************+

<----fling direction

optional choice of
pit
moat
magma moat
wall
traps
island
nothing
at the flung-to location

note that artifact mechanisms have the best response time and fling distance,
masterwork for the 2 plate triggers, artifact preferably for the bridge

Unfortunately, drawbridges fling things willy nilly instead of in a particular direction.

[LegacyCWAL]

Big pumping systems and flood corridors are not 'simple defenses'.

Just have marksdwarves, a few tiles of fortifications, and a door.  Lock the door and the invaders will stand around out front getting shot until they are all dead.

Actually, the traps are really very simple in design. My water trap actually consisted of a floodgate, cistern, and a switch. Anyone who busted in would be drowned, and the water would drain into a cistern below. Lava traps are also very simple in design. A pump, a tunnel, a floodgate and a switch, and you suddenly have the cure-all. Somethings-Awful's trap was a 7/7 magma trap that followed over the water river and came spewing out entrances, was as about as complex as my water trap. If you have to raise the lava up Z-levels, it becomes more complicated of course, but it's all simple and straight forward.

Simple and straightforward compared to "stuff it full of weapon traps", "stuff it full of drunken angry axedwarves", or "hose it down with XBow bolts"?

[GetAssista]

As for ultimate trap, I prefer long ZZZ-shaped tunnel above magma pool with floor hatches all connected to several pressure plates dispersed in the later part of the tunnel. With drainable magma pool all that is left from invaders is nice and clean iron stuff.

[Proteus]

A series of platforms connected by retractable bridges and leading to my entrance around 1-2 stories above ground (and only reachable by these bridges) works fine for me, combined with an extensive set of walls and fortifications for my marksdwarves and of course in combination with my "Goblin Ambush early warning system" (TM), that consists of a single animal chained to the place where this system of platforms and bridges reaches ground level via a set of ramps.

[MMad]

Long corridors filled with traps. Pretty easy to set up, doesn't require many precious resources and is brutally effective against almost everything.

(Of course, they are kinda boring...)

[Boatmurderer]

I usually start off with stonefall traps, then I build a line of weapon traps behind it (10 glass discs), then I randomly place weapon traps around the map. Not only is it awesome for the occasional goblin or kobold to get eviscerated before I even knew he was there, but it makes random animal kills.

Invisible glass hunter. Fun times.

[HungryHobo]

another favorite-
divide the whole map into a grid with walls and put lots of doors between all sections.
for the caravan I made a number of 3 wide ramps over the walls each with a bridge.

all doors and bridges are linked to a lever.
I wait for the gobblins to enter my maze then slam the doors shut.

by means of extra doors which can be opened seperately I can create a maze for them.

[LegacyCWAL]

Got a great screenshot of my latest one last night.

My fortress has a long natural valley leading to it.  I built two bridges over it and lined them with fortifications.  A grand total of 12 build commands: 2 floor commands and 4 fortification commands per bridge.  No traps, no siege engines, no mazes.  Just two bridges over a valley, a couple ditches here and there, and a bunch of drunken crossbow-users.

The results are rather gruesome, as this picture of the latest siege illustrates:



Final enemy losses: 54 goblins and 1 thief
Final dwarf losses: 1 cat

[Boatmurderer]

Poor little Urist Fluffymittens. You weren't meant for war.

[Nesoo]

Note that I haven't actually done it, but...


     █
═════╝
......☺
═════╗  ●
     █





     █
═════╣
....☺║
═════╣
     █




Doesn't get much simpler, and it's guaranteed to protect you from goblins, kobolds, elves, and migrants!

[LegacyCWAL]

...until something that can break down the door comes along