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[Garrie]

I always ditch the anvil.

I go with this strategy almost exclusively.
I don't bring any metalworkers, or if I do, I make sure they will skill up quickly in something else instead (legendary mason / stonecrafter / carpenter).

[Garrie]

for something else?

The better question is "what strategies do I need to follow to make it worth bringing my anvil?"
IMO, YMMV, blah.

My fail-rate is near 0 since I stopped bringing an anvil, I use the points for a breeding heard of cows, muskoxe, dogs, and only 3 cats. (I soon have 303 cats though!)

[LegoLord]

Personally I never bother with cats.  The non-vermin hunters are easier to keep from getting out of hand, and dealing with the vermin, particularly when the vermin produce something of value, is normally much easier than dealing with the constant remains left by the exploits of cats.  You'll generally have maybe one or two types of vermin that your dwarves will come into regular contact with, versus several kinds that dwarves can dislike.  So as a result you normally only have a small handful of dwarves getting a very minor bad thought from vermin.

At some point this situation will probably change, later in the game's development, though.

[RandomNumberGenerator]

I always bring an anvil, but ditch the axes and picks. Then I bring copper ore(usually tetrahedrite) and if my civ has it, bismuthnite and casserite, and make bronze or bismuth bronze axes and picks on embark. Then I make a bunch of metal weapons and occasionally some armor or crafts. That way I can have a skilled weaponsmith available and don't have to worry about training one up later, and it's even better if he gets a mood.

I never really got the point of bringing animals on embark, with maybe the exception of two war dogs to guard the entrance. It's so easy to farm for food, and dwarven syrup produces the most valuable meals possible, which have completely replaced my stonecrafting industry in terms on income. A skilled grower can make so much food that you don't even need to worry about losses from vermin. I often find myself running out of storage for food, even as I approach 100 dwarves.

[Jamini]

I often find I have plenty of food if I ditch one pick and one axe (leaving me with a pick, an axe, and an anvil). The important part is simply ensuring that I get my farms up early is all.

[Noble Digger]

I ditch the anvil and spend the money on extra booze, seeds, turtles, cave lobsters, cave fish, a total of 5 mining picks, lots of dogs, etc. The traders always eventually bring one and if for some reason I am not getting traders the fort may not be a long-term one anyway...

[tigrex]

Metal capabilities aren't something I need at the very beginning of a fort's life cycle, unless I'm planning a special challenge.  On the other hand, 100 logs and a 30 dogs are very handy, as is enough food and drink to survive any contingency. 

[Garrie]

I never really got the point of bringing animals on embark, with maybe the exception of two war dogs to guard the entrance.

I'm quite attached to my domestic animal bone/leather industries, and captured/tamed elephants, camels and other animals are handy too.

Compared to the steps involved in manufacturing wood or metal crossbow bolts, bone ones - especially from say an elephant - are too easy.

[zwei]

It all depends on whether or not you will want to smith something in first year.

For most players, answer is no, as they will be busy setting up basic food industry and decent living conditions in preparation for immigrants who will become metalworkers much later at 20+ population size (if ever).

Then, you have players who like to embark with dwarves that are skilled in warious smithing because on non-magma maps, training smith is very expensive and hoping for immigrants, is, well, hoping. You really want anvil there as you do not want your smiths to die because of unlucky fey mood. Here, taking anvil is as important as taking cave lobster/turtle. It is expensive, but costs are offset a bit by fact that you can save considerable amount of ¤ by forging your own axes/picks.

You also have option of embarking without anything.

[Lancensis]

Usually, I take an anvil and about ten chunks of hematite, (plus flux etc.) and have a Proficient Weaponsmith to get some high-quality weapons in case of "incident". Most of my early profit comes from weapons instead of trinkets, since I've modded layer stones to be worthless unless reacted into a polished version.
This time 'round however, I embarked on a freezing terrifying wasteland with a couple of picks and an axe, and I dug in as rapidly as possible. Definately something you have to adapt to your environment.

[Spoonfeed]

Personally i ditch 1 axe, and an anvil, keeping 3 or more picks.

But this might also be because I have yet to forge steel myself, I always just steal it from the tourists.

[gtmattz]

I ditch the anvil and make sure to bring some sweet-pod seeds with all the cool swag I get with the extra 1000 dorfbucks, because 1 good dwarven syrup roast is enough to buy pretty much anything you want from that first caravan.

[GRead]

The big draw to anvil dropping (for me) is the weight limit on caravans, and the lack of a weight limit on your starting wagon. So while 333 towercap logs cost the same as an anvil, I can just buy an anvil from the caravans. procuring 333 towercap logs from the caravans would take many years.

I've never actually brought 333 towercap logs but the point remains the same; it's very easy to get an anvil from the caravans before you have 20 dwarves. Procuring everything else you can bring in lieu of an anvil is not.

Although, after reading this thread, I did try swapping out my axes and picks for bronze ore and coal. It wasn't as easy, but it was fun*, and isn't that what really matters?

*Fun as in enjoyable, as opposed to the common dwarfish meaning.

[Zalminen]

I usually bring the anvil and forge my own axes and picks (usually bring just one pick to get started).

I consider selling prepared food an exploit and my dwarves are way too busy for the first couple of years to waste time on making much trade goods so trading for the anvil is not such a good option.

[Lancensis]

Although, after reading this thread, I did try swapping out my axes and picks for bronze ore and coal.

Bronze ore?