its why i tried smashing spiked balls this time. Unfortunately, those have the drawback that the creatures that die at them often get stuck in them. I forgot if ir was possible to pit such items, one of my forts is cluttering with severed body parts too
be informed that trolls and ogres are fairly unhindered by spinning discs, sometimes even iron ones, and if you have steel, you could outfit a good militia
my idea, though i could be wrong, is to go for a 50/50 in serrated discs and spiked balls. Even if the discs are deflected (happens often with both silver and copper against trolls wearing spider silk!, iron goes a bit better), the balls will often break or fracture or even shatter bones, if not just hurt
i now tend to a spacious area to let enemies in, a pressure plate to close the gate and several tpes of traps to kill or capture
first i put some serrated discs, they cut up unarmored and unskilled enemies and rarely get stuck
then people run into spiked ball traps. even a relatively weak trap will crush a brain (copper/silver) or at least incapacitate an enemy
when enemies ran this far, i usually open the gate again, allowing escape. most die trying to get back, some die before getting to the early traps
some are so tough they make it further. cage traps. this is a guy i want my marksdwarfs to train on
If anyone makes it past that (i dont open the shortcuts only for cleanup) they get to the spikes, that fire based on how many people walk in and out of the dining hall
After that i have a small area now for a small cave-in