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[Cheddarius]

They're using homing Patriot Bolts (see Robin Hood: Men In Tights). Bonecarvers, working with the dead as they do, naturally develop an affinity with necromancy. A decent bonecarver can infuse their bolts with the souls of their masters, which causes the bolts to seek weak points and dodge shielding; this is why masterwork bolts are so much better than no-quality ones.
That movie also explains their huge speed; along with the rack of xbows, they likely use bolts that are held together with glue but separate on firing such as these:

[Shrike]

Why?

Because it's so amusing to hear stories of the last recruit, pressganged into defending the fortress, making the critical shot that saves all the battle-hardened veterans... then going crazy because the cats have filled the dining room with miasma.


I wouldn't mind there being specific repeating crossbow siege engines, possibly rocket powered, that match up to the high rate of fire we currently have. It keeps you from having mobile turrets and lets the siege engineers have more to do, making the specialized ammo for it.

But... have the point of fire be one back from the front of the engine, so you can't have it right next to fortifications without losing a lot of your shots.

With that kind of engine, we could safely reduce the crossbow rate of fire and increase the expense of setting up bolt-strewn killing fields.

Alternatively, make Detritus's Piecemaker part of the dwarven arsenal.


And hey, if invading armies brought this stuff, it'd be awesome.

[Cheddarius]

You could always have three fortifications, so that even if the shots didn't fly true they'd go through the fortifications on either side.
Or you could have a setup like this:
   F
   S
WSW
WDW
F being fortifications, W being walls, S being the siege engine, and D being the dwarf operator. The dwarf would be protected from fire while the siege engine would just destroy everything.

[Shrike]

I was thinking more...

Code: [Select]

.........
...SSS...
...SXS...<--Where the shot is considered to start
...SSS...
.........
So it'd be a bit more:
...FFF...
...SSS... <---Not adjacent to fortifications.
..WSXSW..
..WSSSW..
.........
So it should be possible to actually risk the engine getting hit (give it organs?) or the operator. Give it a long loading time, too...Like, one ammo bundle has twenty shots.

[Cheddarius]

What about doing this?

Code: [Select]

..FFFFF
..FSSSF.. <---Not adjacent to fortifications.
..WSXSW..
..WSSSW..
.........


[nenjin]

Shields, in real life, do not stop crossbow bolts. Not unless they are 4 inches thick, and by that time you can't life your shield.

A longbow can put a clothyard shaft through a plate breast plate, easily. A crossbow will do that, and pulp your insides as a bonus.

So it would be realistic for shields to have a chance to deflect...but not straight up stop a bolt.

[darkrider2]

They're using homing Patriot Bolts (see Robin Hood: Men In Tights). Bonecarvers, working with the dead as they do, naturally develop an affinity with necromancy. A decent bonecarver can infuse their bolts with the souls of their masters, which causes the bolts to seek weak points and dodge shielding; this is why masterwork bolts are so much better than no-quality ones.
That movie also explains their huge speed; along with the rack of xbows, they likely use bolts that are held together with glue but separate on firing such as these:

Lol that movies awesome!

[Cheddarius]

Yeah, I know.

Nenjin, I think the game's more fun if you can block bolts with shields. Plus, it seems more realistic - it really isn't, but it seems more so. And that's really what matters, I think.

[Shrike]

It's the bolts that pin the shield to the dwarf's arm! That's how a female champion can hold a baby, a shield, and a barrel of booze while sparring.

[o_O[WTFace]]

I always figured the dorf was holding the baby and the baby was holding the shield, training like a spartan from day 0. 

Also, shields do block bolts, I think.  Its the armor that fails because bolts seem to be able to ignore it sometimes. 

[Radivnal]

I have to agree with one of the original posters on the subject of crossbows IG (since that's what the topic's all about, ahem ahem!) Their effectiveness isn't completely bourne out of the damage they do, it's the rate of fire they can sustain. By the time a melee dwarf has run the distance of the battlefield and swung once, a marksdwarf has gotten off roughly 5-6 equivalent shots. That number only grows as you equate an Axelord with an Elite Marksdwarf, per se.

From what I've seen in my tests with squads of melee champions against squads of marksdwarf champions...the only difference is (obviously) that MDs can hit at a distance and continue firing from that distance...melee dwarves are just as effective when in close range.

[CobaltKobold]

Except there're things the enemy can do to your axelord (grab weapon, etc) that they cannot do to the machinegun nest crossbowdwarf.

[Cheddarius]

I'm not sure that that's a huge factor though. I think the main thing is the marksdwarves get some crazy number of free hits before clashing. I mean a dwarf can shoot out your lungs, heart, seven toes, all your fingers, hit you several times in every limb, pierce both your eyes and ears, and shoot you in the brain as well before you even get a chance to attack.

[random51]

Rate of fire doesn't matter at all when the enemy can't close to melee range. That said, a marksdwarf who happens to be legendary in armor, shield, and hammer and dressed in masterwork plate is pretty nasty even when he runs out of ammo. :p

I was clearing out HFS once and had all of my bolts forbidden for some reason and didn't notice. The enemy made it through my marksdwarf killzone unscathed only to be obliterated by crossbows wielded as hammers.

[Cheddarius]

Well, the thing is, rate of fire helps the enemy not close to melee range by killing them very fast. Rate of fire and range combine to CREATE AN ELDRITCH ABOMINATION keep the enemies from closing in. You could have rate of fire low, and incredible range, or a range of a few squares, but have millions of bolts spewing from a single crossbow in that time. Either way, the range plus the rate of fire equals dead gobbos.