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[florian]

Even better: Integrate most of them into a single passage. A pit and a magma/water drowner can be easily combined. Adding a ballista and some marksdwarves is easy.

[Flashzom]

Well, I've been wanting to try this one, but haven't yet. Basically, it involves two chambers stacked on top of each other with a cistern connected to a hatch above them. The lower level is filled with magma. The layer above that has grates where you can fit them. And the cistern dumps the water into the chamber, dropping through the grates, and fills the area with steam. The surviving invaders then stand a very good chance of drowning.

XXXX|~~~~~~~|XXXXX
XXXX|~~~~~~~|XXXXX
XXXX|~~~H~~~|XXXXX
XXXX|................|XXXXX
XXXX|~~~~~~~|XXXXX

[Lav]

Well, the system I use is pretty simple. I dig a 1-tile deep trench along the edge of the entire map, splitting the border area into sections and leaving a number of "checkpoints" which function as an early emergency system but can be expanded as necessary. One of this border sections is used for caravan access (not detailed on the schematic below).

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[Lummox JR]

On another thread someone posted an idea that I'd love to try sometime in my current for or a future one. The main entrance is via a walkway 3 tiles wide, with a drawbridge or retractable bridge so wagons can get across. Once you pull the lever to close that, the only way in is via a long, perilous 1-tile raised walkway that's highly exposed to marksdwarves (and, presumably, siege engines as well).

I had a variant of this idea the other day that I'd call a "drowning tower". Make the entrance to your fort--assuming you've sealed off the main wagon entrance--a long mazey tower that enemies have to go up and down, up and down to get through. Each up/down section is separated by a retracted bridge, which you can reconnect once enough of the enemy has gathered in roughly the same place. (The idea is to get them all to bunch together.) You can then either let the bunched invaders out and fire off a ballista or something, or activate pumps that will bring water to just about every level at once. The only drainage to this tower would be through fortifications with floodgates behind them, so megabeasts couldn't simply bash their way out.

[Albedo]

Hmmm - that's an interesting ploy.  One of the big problems with most entries is that they're too long, delaying your dorfs and also caravans - that would allow a caravan to have a path in, but merely pulling a lever once they're inside could allow all manner of "shortcuts" to drop into place.

For your dwarfs, a 1-wide direct bypass would be ample for most purposes, and a pressure plate would trigger if anyone without a hall pass tried to get in, redirecting them to take the scenic route.

[Greiger]

Nothing particularly spectacular, but this works well if you rely on primarily your military to handle invaders.

Spoiler: For making it past the hall of projectile doom, Bob, show him what's behind door number 1!...and 2 and 3 and 4 and 5... (click to show/hide)

A typical hallway of marksdwarf induced doom, marksdwarves up one z level at the end of the hallway, a ballista at the end of the hallway set up to fire away.  However also with a curious series of doors on either side of the hall.  Oddly they are all locked.  However once the bulk of the enemy force gets near, the ballista stops firing and a loud click is heard.  Then every one of those doors opens at once.  Behind each one is a very angry, very close, champion melee dwarf in masterwork gear.

[piecewise]

Never tried this one, but in theory I think it could work.
Singing in the rain

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

build two towers, one on either side of your doors. Connect them with a passageway of sorts thats missing a single tile in the center of the floor. Rig pumps to pump magma up through the towers and into the passage way where it will then rain down through the open space(ideally positioned nearest to your door) and fry anything that gets near.

[Lummox JR]

I like the general idea of (almost) always giving invaders a path, but making it longer or shorter with retractable bridges. Using retractable bridges to shorten the path means that a megabeast can't take any shortcuts. Keeping enemies on a long, exposed path can make siege engines actually useful.

One thing I wish we could do in DF is have defensive works like castles of old, pots of boiling water or acid to dump on massed invaders, or even just having civilians chuck rocks from above. Yes, there's always magma if the map supports it, but I like the idea of old-school medieval mischief. Another common technique for keeping enemies at bay was to line the entrance to a castle with slits called murder holes (i.e., just like fortifications) and have people fire arrows and such at the enemy through that. Problem is in DF that also means enemy marksmen have a clear shot as well.

[Elvin]

My personal favourite defence, which I have yet to properly try out:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

The entryway is as many tiles wide as you like. You have two drawbridges, positioned far enough apart that the enitre invading army can sit in the area between the two. The sides of this entryway are made of raised bridges, only 1 tile large if space is an issue. Once the enemy is in the area, the end bridges are raised and the side bridges are lowered, revealing fortifications crowded with Marksdwarves on both sides. Siege engines are optional at this point. 

[Untelligent]

It's not useful for defense (unconscious goblins are already wounded to the point of harmlessness

Aye, but under normal circumstances, once a goblin goes unconscious, the marksdwarf will continue to shoot him, wasting bolts and ignoring the goblin's potentially more dangerous comrades behind him.

[DI7789]

The Monty Python Defense.

To get to the other side, you must answer me these questions three:

Spoiler: One: What...is your quest? (click to show/hide)

Three paths, one leads to an artifact. One leads to your barracks. The other leads to a dead end. Each path is behind a locked door. In front of each door is a pressure plate. But each pressure plate must not be linked to the door that is behind it.

If the gobbos get lucky and choose either the path to your artifact or your dead end, then move on to the next question.

Spoiler: Two: What...is your favourite colour? (click to show/hide)

Two one-tile long bridges. One is made of adamantine, the other of gold (Substitute microcline and orpiment respectively if you lack either of these). At the end of the gold bridge, a pressure plate that drops the victims down 15 z-levels. At the end of the Adamantine bridge, the third trap defense

Spoiler: Three: What...is the airspeed velocity of an unladen swallow! (click to show/hide)

Third defense, a hallway of floor grates with a pressure plate at one end and a locked door leading in to your fortress. The pressure plate opens the floor grates. The floor grates are directly above your arena (should you not possess one, try substituting a magma flow or 10+ z-level drop). The situation should resolve itself, except for the gobbo who tripped the pressure plate. You might just want to station a small squad outside the door and open it

Note: Not designed for practical use. Just to look flashy. There are waaaay more efficient defenses in this thread

[Lymojo]

Spoiler: "Don't Trip" (click to show/hide)

Make the entrance to your fort a long bridge of down-stairs with a tall pit underneath them (doesn't quite work with constructions). Station a bunch of marksdwarves at one end. If a goblin gets shot and goes unconscious, it will fall down the "stairs" and into the pit. Bonus points if you have a refuse pile at the bottom.

Will units fall down stairs if you drop a whole cistern of water on top of them?

[Byakugan01]

My current one is extrodianarily simple. Four chains, four dragons, one lever, eight mechanisms. Siege comes towards the entrance they guard, i pull the lever, and sit back and watch the dragons have fun and get ever longer names. Last siege, they handled two orc squads simultaneously. I must say, it was hilarious watching them set some of the orcs on fire-before decapitating them, anyway,

  CD  CD
   
  CD CD         C=Chain, D=Dragon

XXX- Entrance
(VOne Z-level down)
     
     LLL(levers)

The first lever sets off the chains, the second one sets off my row of repeating spikes in an alternate entrance, and the third closes a drawbridge that locks in any invaders who come in through that entrance. All with masterpeice or exceptional quality mechanisms made by my legendary mechanic.

[Firnagzen]

How on earth did you get FOUR dragons?

[Albedo]

...Four chains, four dragons, one lever, eight mechanisms....

B - you can give a definitive answer to a question that's been kicking around (As can anyone who actually has experimented with dragon defenses) -

Does a dragon need a "path" to a target to flame them? Can it be restrained, or closed in behind fortifications?  iirc, fire imps will not flame unless they actually have a path (direct or indirect).

What's the scoop?