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[GoldPanda]

Multiple miners are for redundancy, in case you lose one of them early on due to carp/wild animals/you screwing up.

Although I suppose you could just bring multiple picks...

My "paranoid" build:

Leader/Woodcutter/Carpenter/Axedwarf
Miner/Wrestler
Miner/Wrestler
Bowyer/Woodcrafter/Marksdwarf
Trader/Mason/Mechanic/Building Designer
Farmer/Brewer/Cook
Farmer/Plant Gatherer/Stonecrafter

This is probably more suitable in a dangerous environment than the relatively calm wilderness I embarked on.

[Terbert]

I usually go for:

Miner/Engraver
Miner/Engraver
Grower/Thresher
Brewer/Cook
Mechanic/Architect
Woodcutter/Carpenter
Mason/Leader

Selling meals prepared from Quarry Bush leaves and Sweet Pod syrup is an easy way to buy anything I need early on. This build also means I usually don't have to change any labors until the first migration.

[Derakon]

Miners also make an excellent backup military, as they use their mining skill in combat when set to unarmed, and picks have a good critical multiplier (x2, same as crossbow bolts). This is also why I try to bring iron picks instead of copper ones if I can manage it, so they deal 70 instead of 35 damage.

Though lately, I've taken to bringing a couple of iron picks for my starting miners, and then copper picks for everyone else save the Mason; while the fort layout gets dug out by six dwarves, the mason puts up the outdoor walls and the bridges I need for defense. I've enough food to last a good couple of seasons before needing to get farming up and running, and for the first caravan, I usually end up trading them mechanisms. Fortunately they dwarves usually bring a couple of bars of metal (or metal cages) along with the anvil, so weight isn't a concern.

[anomaly]

I always put one point into armorsmithing to every dwarf I bring along to give them a chance of becoming legendary armorsmiths due to fey moods

[EverybodylovesTJ]

Peasants.

All of them.

Make it challenging, you know?

[Deadmeat1471]

Bah dunno what i was thinking, fisher/fishcleaner :/ i always have em seperate for the exact reason one of you commented, fisher is too busy :/

i do like to have mason/miner though due to my sluggish production - i tend to cease digging while i build things for it, then expand as needed.

same for woodcutter.

cook/brewer is always one i use, cooking seems to be relitivly fast so its not a problem if things need brewing and cooking.

i usually have a jewler/leader too, has varius social skills, and gem cutting/encrusting etc as its for me a rarely used skill.

i think ill mix a few of your ideas and have an engraver/architect/mechanic - seeing as i have miners already.

[Deadmeat1471]

On a similar note though, does anyone have any ideas of how to keep a hunter alive if you ARE in dangerous ground?
I've read in other posts that some people are testing an ambushing spear dwarf so they dont suck at melee.... but im scheptical of that... i wonder is it possible to 'escort' a hunter with military, or make hunters group together? i think you could make a small ish hunting zone, and basicly ambush anything that comes in there.

hmm.. on the military front, i could have a group of crossbowers, activate em, send em into the wilderness to kill things via a patrol route, and leave one deactivated so he can collect and butcher the corpses. Sound ok to anyone?

[JujuBubu]

Hmmm .. i like the military outpost embark

2x   5 Hammer / 4 Shield / 1 Ambush
2x   5 X-Bow  /  4 Shield / 1 Ambush

1x   5 Armorsmith / 4 Weaponsmith / 1 Appraiser

1x   Grower / Brewer
1x   Grower / Cook

The military dwaves get to mine and woodcutting, and everthing else I need early on,
while the smith does carpentry/masonry and mechanic ..
its a bit of a slow start, but gets me amazingly skilled militaries once the first migrants arrive

[Hishan]

I always take 3 miners, because I always have a lot of digging to do.
The rest depends almost entirely the site, but typically

grower/brewer
miner/trader/record keeper
miner/armoursmith
miner/weaponsmith
mason/carpenter
woodcutter/hunter (doubles as defence)
craftsdwarf

[Pilsu]

Miner/Mason/Stonecrafter/Building Designer
Engraver/Management skills
Woodcutter/Bowyer/Carpenter
Cook/Brewer/Herbalist
Furnace Operator/Armorsmith/Metalsmith
2 farmers/threshers

[J Lensher]

Mine goes overboard on Miners:

Miner/Leader/Architect
Miner/Mason
Miner/Woodcutter/Carpenter
Miner/Stone-crafter
Miner/Mechanic
Grower/Herbalist
Grower/Brewer/Cook

Miner/Woodcutter usually helps with the preliminary digging and then gets switched to forest duty

[MagicJuggler]

I have a relatively entertaining setup.

Administrator: Novice Judge of Intent/Novice Organizer/Novice Bookkeeper/Novice Appraiser/Competent Mechanic/Competent Building Designer
Stoneman: Proficient Miner/Proficient Mason
Glasssmith: Proficient Glassworker/Proficient Wood Burner
Naturalist: Proficient Farmer/Proficient Carpenter
Ranger: Ambusher/Proficient Woodcutter/Competent Axedwarf
Cook: Ambusher/Marksdwarf/Competent Cook/Competent Brewer
Warsmith: Proficient Weaponsmith/Proficient Leatherworker

The Warsmith makes weapons and basic armor for troops, as well as other objects such as quivers and bags. The cook ended up pulling mining duty, though he makes it a point to keep the fortress well-fed. The naturalist builds beds/chairs/etc, taking intermittent breaks to plant. The glasssmith is set for making clear glass, and the Stonemason mines stone for making stone furniture. The administrator either updates stock records, trades, or helps design buildings.

[Narmio]

Miner/Architect
Miner/Engraver
Mason/Mechanic (Not advisable for those who build lots of traps, but I tend to go trap-lean)
Woodcutter/Carpenter (Not advisable for those who churn through wood very fast, but for beds/bins/barrels to start with it's easily managed)
Grower/Cook (This combination works really well with just a little juggling of cooking tasks with planting season - I always turn off All Dwarves Harvest to ensure the XP and stat boosts all go to the one guy)
Brewer/Judge of Intent (1)/Appraiser (2)/Organiser (2) (There's just something to be said for your Mayor being the guy who makes all the booze.  Record-keeping trains way too fast to bother spending points on at first.)

?/? (Last guy changes a lot, stonecrafting, weaving, clothesmaking, threshing, milling, furnace operator, glassmaker...  Whatever works for the map or fits my plans.)

[Agent_Irons]

Builds are tricky, because masons, carpenters, farmers and miners are full time jobs (how I run a fortress, anyway).

So:
Miner
Mason/Mechanic/Engraver
Craftsdwarf (stone, wood, gems, bone, crossbows, the lot)/ Sometimes mechanic
Carpenter/Woodcutter
Farmer
Brewer/Cook/Processor/Butcher/Tanner/ Fish Cleaner (oddjobs!)
And that leaves one. I usually have hauling switched off on the dwarves I want to be awesome, like the farmer and miner, and sometimes craftsdwarf. So the peasant takes up the slack. If there's a pond nearby, he sometimes ends up fishing. The brewer is v. busy, as is the Mason.

[MickEfinn]

Miner/Engraver <-- between digging and smoothing, these two
Miner/Engraver <-- can get a lot done pretty quick.
Mason/Mechanic <-- suspend Masoning for any engineer jobs
WeaponSmith/ArmorSmith <-- Does odd jobs until excess of wood/sweet magma
StoneCrafter/(GlassMaker || Architecture) <-- if there's sand, I get one, else the other
MetalSmith/Metalcrafter <--Metal!!! also I tend to forget which skill does which jobs
Farmer/Weaver <--High quality Pigtail cloth socks FTW!

The two diggers get busy and with engraving on whenever there's a lull in my expanding, they're off smoothing everything. I've also yet to not get agility bonuses this way.

The Mason/Mechanic makes blocks, mechanisms, tables, anything staying in the fortress really. Also allows for fast set up and take down of things.

While having the Weapon and Armor in one fella is a bit risky, especially due to a skeletal camel, as long as you make sure none of his "temp" jobs pass his primary two, he shouldn't mood into something useless. And having even *copper* or +bronze+ early on is wonderful, and if there's iron hoo boy...

StoneCrafter/GlassMaker is good early on, making money for the caravans, and even if he's a legendary StoneCrafter I typically get a couple more from moody peasants, so he can be free to make glass full time. With no sand though, Having Archi SEEMS to be a poor choice due to being busy with rock, but suspend him and the mason and roads, walls, and bridges sprout up hella fast.

The Two Metal Jobs here, like Weapon and Armor boy, is risky when the Giant Leopards are hungry and he's cutting wood. But this means I can devote a whole forge to him and be certain no crappy metal bits will be made by him. Plus he and The W/A can take care of odd jobs.

Farming and Weaving. Depending on the quality of the stone nearby as well as the level of hostilies I may need walls up in a hurry, and socks with dyed thread, died cloth, and an image of a dwarf laboring with dwarves can bring in quite a bounty. Since woven cloth has a rating on top of the dying, weaving, AND imaging, well, imagine this:

A human brandishes an axe. It's Iron, studded with bone and leather spikes, and all in all is quite fearsome in an Italian gothic'y sorta way. The dwarf nods approvingly, digs into a bin, and brandishes a Red and Blue Sock with a picture of a Melting elf stitched into it. They exchange goods, and shake hands.

While I can't make dye without glass or spare metal(not sure about the metal), I can use the oodles that gets traded to me, and dyers and cheesemakers(well one each of them) get steady jobs if possible.

My first useless Potash Maker or Lye-Guy gets to be bookkeeper, then a manager, and often in the first wave, a bookkeeper and sheriff as well.

Teams get formed in the (m)ilitary screen, the miners and engravers get one batch, the mason the next(complete with rank dependant jobs no wasting the good workers with blocks), and all valuable fey skills get set to haul jobs to not lose them.
Peasants get military, be it Guards, Royal Guards, or plain useful soldiers. The Sheriff/CotG makes the guards actually work, so thieves are cut down and baby snatchers seldom get far. This minimizes the amount of "useless" dwarves running about.

While having a starting Brewer/cook is nice, I've found having a good dining room makes up for plain biscuits, and great beds can be forgone for plain ones + decent apartments.

But that's just me y'know.