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[lordcooper]

A few questions regarding this idea.

1.  If I build towers for my archers to fire from, what is the optimum height above ground?
2.  If I build a central tower between some others and fill it with targets, is there a way to make my dwarves shoot between towers?
3.  Can I make a barracks for 1 specific squad/encourage 1 squad to go there more often?

[Samus1111111]

1) 3-4 levels above the ground
2) not sure
3) if it is an archery squad, then you can assign archery targets to each member, but they may also go to other targets if you have them and they aren't assigned to specific people

[Jack_Bread]

For number 2, you would have to build a floor in between the towers. Archery targets can't be fired at from across gaps.

[Derakon]

Actually, the higher you send your archers, the worse their output will be. Because they're firing downwards at an angle, any missed shots will quickly hit the ground, instead of possibly going on to hit something behind what they were initially shooting at.

For best results, I generally recommend having the archer's nest as near to level with the enemy as possible, but to have a large horizontal gap between the archers and the enemy.

[Samus1111111]

in my experience, 3-4 levels above the ground is a good compromise between safety and acurracy.  at that hight, most if not all of the enemy missles will hit the fortifications and not hit your marksdwarves, while your marksdwarves rain a hail of death down upon the goblins. Then, if any get past your tower, you can bring out some melee dwarves to finish them off.

[Stargrasper]

in my experience, 3-4 levels above the ground is a good compromise between safety and acurracy.  at that hight, most if not all of the enemy missles will hit the fortifications and not hit your marksdwarves, while your marksdwarves rain a hail of death down upon the goblins. Then, if any get past your tower, you can bring out some melee dwarves to finish them off.

I know you can shoot down, but isn't shooting up not enabled in the game yet?  I distinctly remember reading that somewhere....

[Samus1111111]

I've had goblins shoot up at my archer post which was 2 levels above them.

[Stargrasper]

I've had goblins shoot up at my archer post which was 2 levels above them.

Good to know.  In all likelihood, I suppose what I remember was probably out of date or from a misinformed source.

[lordcooper]

Thanks for the advice guys

Building floors between towers would cut off view to the ground and kinda defeat the point of this, I'm thinking.

I had an idea on how to get permanent archers in the towers.

I have 12 marksdwarves at present, so if I build 4 towers, with 3 bedrooms and 3 targets in them and assign each dwarf a bedroom and target, then I can set their squads to sleep in their own rooms.

Make sure there's some food and booze in the tower (maybe give them a well each too) and then I can lock them in while keeping them happy.

Any flaws in this?

[Albedo]

There is also a Line of Sight rule, where a high tower has a bigger blindspot at its base.  It's about 1:1 - for every +1 z-level, your targets need to be kept 1 tile further out to ensure they can't hide "below" your crossbow's field of fire.  So they can't fire straight down, or close to.

Create a minimum-length archery range, w/ a bolt recovery trench (w/ access) behind the targets. 

Barracks are generic - locking a squad in where they can only path to 1 brx is the only way afaik.

Set the booze/food stockpiles to draw from your main ones. 

The only downside is that if they're locked in, you are also locking "resupply" out.  If you can work around that in between sieges, all good.

The well suggestion is a solid one, if doable. Happy thoughts and back-up water for long sieges.

Making multiple towers w/ tunnels between them increases the flexibility of your defense. (Effective range is - what? About 20 tiles? ~Maybe~ a bit more, less height of tower???) Tunnels only need be 1 tile wide - any traffic will be rare or one-way.

[loopoo]

I'm sorry, but having your Archer towers at 4-5 Z levels is absolutely stupid. I always, always have my firing floor ONE z level above the enemies. So, if it's from the ground, i'll have the ground floor, then the next floor will have fortifications, then the floor above will be a roof.

Usually, at the back of my base, there is the mountain, so I give those towers an extra floor. So they are firing one z level above the z level above my base :x

Having a tower 3-5 z levels high is so stupid. Putting it 1 z level above your enemy is fine, seeing as most enemy archers will miss.

[Albedo]

I'm sorry, but having your Archer towers at 4-5 Z levels is absolutely stupid.

Stupid is as stupid does.

Having it that much higher makes it even less likely your marksdwarves will get shot.  If a player wants to trade a few more bolts for a bit more safety, what's so stupid about that?

And besides, taller towers are flashier.

[loopoo]

Having 4-5 z level high towers doesn't increase your safety that much. For a starter, enemy archers are absolute shit aimers and their bolts hardly ever reach their target, and when it does, it's almost always a light grey wound, a bruise. As well as the trouble of building them so high. For me, 1 z level above the enemy works fine, and I don't suffer injuries. My Marksdwarves usually recover injuries within a few seconds of getting them anyway. I've never had a marksdwarf get a yellow or red wound from being in a tower.

[irdsm]

I actually have a fortress with a series of towers in construction. (2 of them are done). Heres the basic setup:

First, build an underground tunnel 2 tiles wide to the place where you want the tower. Make an airlock room (only 1 door going in and 1 going out) and place a door at the entrance and exit for this room. Also make 2 levers after the airlock room. Now dig out a small farm, a small barracks (enough for 4 beds), a dining room, a storage room and a room for workshops. Turn off all dump zones except one in storage room. Make all the stockpiles you need (including a good wood stockpile) and then manually select supplies for dumping (booze, some food, some seeds, wood, and a few hundred metal arrows) and they will all be quantum dumped in your storage room. Then reclaim all the stuff you dumped and when a decent number of haulers come lock the door behind them. I found they tried to bring them back to the original stockpiles if I didn't lock them in. Build your workshops (craftsdwarf workshop, carpenters workshop, butchers workshop along with a tannery, a still and a cook shop). Also build a cage and 2 chains. Assign 2 female animals to the chains (assuming you have loose males elsewhere) and this will allow you to have a meatsource. Also build 2 archery targets somewhere in there.

Now build a staircase to the surface and build your tower with no doors to the outside (don't forget to use fortifications on your shooting level) and then connect each lever to one of the doors on the airlock and remember which one hooks to which. When this is done open both doors and recruit 4 peasants and station them in the tower complex somewhere. You can use 2 peasants and 2 practiced marksdwarves if you want, but I figure they have plenty of time and seclusion to practice.

If you are having trouble getting them all in there at once then just wait for one to get in there, unrecruit him and make him pull the lever for the door on his side. Then station the other 3 in the airlock room and as they get there close the door behind them and open the door to the tower. Remember that you never want a open path to the outside world lest you lose a peasant and have to bring him back. Anyways, once you have your 2 peasants and 2 marksdwarves you should set both peasants to have ALL jobs except mining and wood cutting. They will keep the place self sufficient and the 2 archers can practice all they want.  If they run out of practice bolts make some new ones out of wood. If you need beer then brew some up. Make sure to keep your farm going, and keep an eye on seed stocks. If you have 200 of a seed then no more will be generated when the plant is eaten, prepared or brewed. This means your tower could run completely out of seeds while your fortress swims in them. If your tower ever runs out of stocks (or metal arrows) then you can dump some in the airlock room.

I built my 2 towers completely out of green glass so it took a while to complete it, but it should be faster using stone

[Albedo]

(Be a LOT faster and easier just to (l)ock them in, rather than messing with all the mechanisms and levers.  Not as pointlessly dwarfy, but faster.

And why a tunnel 2-wide if it's only going to be used rarely???)