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[CJ1145]

On my first fortress I have the slightest idea what I'm doing, I'm off to a poor start, due to the lax nature of my dwarves not allowing me to trade with the dang merchants! But that's not the point. What worries me is, Thus far, three kobold thieves appeared in the span of two days, and one of my 13 is already bedridden due to a wolf infestation. I think they stole some of my food and such, so should I expect an ambush soon, or am I in the clear if I stop any other thieves?

[Derakon]

Kobolds will get more and more bold the more they steal. I don't know what the exact cutoff is, but it's worth moving your stuff inside behind a corridor that has a chokepoint (three-wide, to let wagons through) and then chaining an animal in that chokepoint.

[CJ1145]

Okay, will do. But about the animal thing... any idea how to chain a horse?

[Spoggerific]

I have a question that's somewhat different, but not dissimilar enough to warrant its own topic: Does it matter what kind of thing kobolds steal? For example, sometimes they'll run off and steal a bone from some animal that my marksdwarves on patrol had killed and I hadn't even noticed. Other times, kobolds will steal bolts from said patrols. These things aren't very valuable, however, and are hard to keep inside your fortress and away from kobolds.

TLDR: If they keep stealing worthless things outside of my fortress, will they eventually send ambushes?

[Magua]

Okay, will do. But about the animal thing... any idea how to chain a horse?

You need a chain, rope, or cage.  If you don't have one, it's easiest to get one from a trader, if available -- otherwise, making a wooden cage is probably easiest.  Chains require metal (forging) and ropes require cloth (weaving), both of which can be kind of complicated to grasp.  So I recommend wooden cages.

Press 'b', and then either select restraint ('v') or cage ('j') as appropriate.  Place the restraint/cage as desired -- it'll work best in some chokepoint.  I tend to put mine near my entranceway.

Once it's built, press 'q', go to the restraint/cage, and then 'a'ssign.  Choose your animal, and press enter so a + appears next to it.  Press space to leave.  A dwarf will wander the animal over, and restrain or cage it.

Now, if a kobold thief comes by, it'll become visible when it gets close to the animal, giving you more time to prepare, and it might even scare it off.

[Pilsu]

Anyone deliberately leave anvils or the like outside just for the little buggers to steal?

[Glacies]

Anyone deliberately leave anvils or the like outside just for the little buggers to steal?

The kobalds always ignore my lovely nickel crap in favour of my pretty stuff deep in the vaults.

[Earthquake Damage]

So I recommend wooden cages.

Caged animals can't see shit.  That's why everyone talks about chaining animals as spotters rather than caging them.

[CJ1145]

Okay, will do. But about the animal thing... any idea how to chain a horse?

You need a chain, rope, or cage.  If you don't have one, it's easiest to get one from a trader, if available -- otherwise, making a wooden cage is probably easiest.  Chains require metal (forging) and ropes require cloth (weaving), both of which can be kind of complicated to grasp.  So I recommend wooden cages.

Press 'b', and then either select restraint ('v') or cage ('j') as appropriate.  Place the restraint/cage as desired -- it'll work best in some chokepoint.  I tend to put mine near my entranceway.

Once it's built, press 'q', go to the restraint/cage, and then 'a'ssign.  Choose your animal, and press enter so a + appears next to it.  Press space to leave.  A dwarf will wander the animal over, and restrain or cage it.

Now, if a kobold thief comes by, it'll become visible when it gets close to the animal, giving you more time to prepare, and it might even scare it off.

...Rope? Darn it! The Elf caravan came literally five minutes before you said that! Now I have to wait until next year for their worthlessly usefull crap. Oh, well, back to tree chopping!

[theubie]

...Rope? Darn it! The Elf caravan came literally five minutes before you said that! Now I have to wait until next year for their worthlessly usefull crap. Oh, well, back to tree chopping!

Either that, or you can get adventurous and try your had at starting up a cloth industry.  Depending on what kind of bushes you have or if you maybe started with the stock setup, you can easily get rope reed or pig tail cloth going.  It just requires a couple of steps to get into a useful state.

[John Johnston]

Anyone deliberately leave anvils or the like outside just for the little buggers to steal?

They tidy up the outside world without any dwarf having to face the sunlight!

And AFAIK once they've stolen a few xgiant cave spider silk mittenxs they ramp up to sending full ambush squads.

[Magua]

So I recommend wooden cages.

Caged animals can't see shit.  That's why everyone talks about chaining animals as spotters rather than caging them.

I've got a dog cage on each side of my three tile entrance, and there's yet to be a thief, snatcher, or ambush that gets by them (this is 40d).  I'll believe that chained animals can see farther, but animals in cages can't be killed and so don't need to be replaced after each ambush.

[DI7789]

You could always set up some stone-fall traps near your valuables (Using the chokepoint idea, you could set up a few layers of traps to deter any kobold thief)

[Pilsu]

The kobalds always ignore my lovely nickel crap in favour of my pretty stuff deep in the vaults.

Maybe the stuff inside your fort is closer to the map edge and thus gets pathed to first?

Entities seem to ignore z levels when looking for materials

[nirodragon]

You could always set up some stone-fall traps near your valuables (Using the chokepoint idea, you could set up a few layers of traps to deter any kobold thief)

Kobolds aren't affected by traps.