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[Yaotzin]

If you are still not at war with the human civilization, even after defeating those humans (thought it sounds like you may not have won, alas this has no fairytale ending, does it?) then that would help confirm that you faced 'pinkskins' among the 'greenskins'

Well it said they were sieging me, but they just chilled out at the corner of the map. I was wondering if I should risk attacking them with my squad when the 3 goblin groups hit me. The dorfs fought well, but 10 vs 30 odd is rough odds.

I think I shall design myself an evil water trap to drown infinity future goblins.

What creatures can attack me that water won't kill?

[Tiruin]

What creatures can attack me that water won't kill?

Everything that can survive at 6/7 water.

And those that can swim. Goblins have mounts that can swim but apparently, goblins drown. Titans, FBs, many cavern creatures...the dreaded clown, bringer of FUN and JOY.

Also, dwarves work well outnumbered-- they have been outnumbered all their lives to speak from lore. Martial trances occur, enhancing their battle capabilities for a few crucial seconds. Check the armor of your invaders and their weaponry, position your dwarves at a chokepoint to lessen their advantage of numbers and if you think you can handle it (their stalling means they are trying to find a path to your fort, exploit this if you will) go and charge.

Or rely on traps so soften the invaders up.

[Imp]

Well it said they were sieging me,

Hrm.  you can check with (c)ivilizations screen, I believe, look for exports and imports perhaps.  If they don't seem to be violent things, then all is well with the real humans.

How many Vile Forces of Darkness messages did you get?  Typically you'll see one per sieging civilization.

I think I shall design myself an evil water trap to drown infinity future goblins.

What creatures can attack me that water won't kill?

Goblins tend to bring mounts, some of which might be aquatic.  The gobbos themselves will drown of course.  If you're playing standard DF you are unlikely to find any surface races that cannot be drowned.  That said, there's various sorts of Titans above, and different types of Forgotten Beasts and other hazards below.  Each one is a unique combination of traits and types, some of these can swim, some can fly, some but not all might even make you cry.  Then too there are the beasts below the beasts below; if you dig too deep, a drowning trap might not help at all to turn back the foes that seek.

[Yaotzin]

Also, dwarves work well outnumbered-- they have been outnumbered all their lives to speak from lore. Martial trances occur, enhancing their battle capabilities for a few crucial seconds. Check the armor of your invaders and their weaponry, position your dwarves at a chokepoint to lessen their advantage of numbers and if you think you can handle it (their stalling means they are trying to find a path to your fort, exploit this if you will) go and charge.

Or rely on traps so soften the invaders up.

Traps got the trolls, dwarves were fighting well while in the chokepoint, then they pushed out into the open and got wrecked.

Is there any way to tell them to back off/run away? I tried to order a move back inside but they kept fighting. Maybe I could've held if I had small engagements in the choke.

[Tiruin]

Is there any way to tell them to back off/run away? I tried to order a move back inside but they kept fighting. Maybe I could've held if I had small engagements in the choke.

They will keep on fighting as long as they see the enemy and: one side is dead OR you deactivate the squad, meaning shifting them back to civilianship.

That may be a bad idea if you are fighting a lot of enemies as when they do shift back, they drop their weaponry and flee in whatever cardinal direction seems fit. This does not usually mean the fortress entrance.

Good thing we have burrows and their use in the military, however I've never seen any of my Military>Burrow alerts make them retreat.

[Yaotzin]

Bloodthirsty fellows eh.

I guess I'll design a floodgate or whatever with a lever, and pull it when I decide to engage, to force choke only fighting.

[nickbii]

I have the problem with traders refusing equal or higher goods sometimes. Not elves specifically. They say something like "With your goods as they are, I can't see you getting all those items." Usually I am trading clothing I looted from sieges, which is actually worth a decent amount combined.

Sometimes I can work around it, but there's no clear guide as to what bothers the trader. I might try upping the total value I offer them over what their items are worth, but I'm not entirely sure that will work.

In my experience offering 50% profit always works. Broker skill could mean you get a better deal, but even the most useless dwarf can get the most stubborn Elf to accept 50% profit. I haven't done much experimenting on how much lower then 50% you can go, but the times I have done it generally the trader wanted more then 50% on his next trade. Frequently by exactly the amount he was below 50% before.

The trader AI seems like it was designed so that at 50% profit it's ecstatic, and at less then 50% it's unhappy. Even if you just traded 14,999 for 10,000.

Nick

[Bobbias]

How can I get my dwarfs to use more bins in my stockpiles. I've got some stockpiles full of random things that could be in bins (particularly my block stockpiles).

Also, this is my first time getting to 70+ dwarfs in a fort and I'm a bit overwhelmed with trying to designate labors. I've got 4 miners (I'm pretty sure I should increase this number a bit), 4-6 Woodworkers, Stoneworkers, Rangers (but only 1 hunter...), Metalsmiths and Jewelers, 10 Craftsdwarves, 6 Nobles/Admins (no idea why there's that many), 1 Peasant, 5 Fishery workers, 14! Farmers, 1 Engineer, 1 Axedwarf, Macedwarf, Speardwarf and Marksdwarf...

I'm kinda lost as to where I should have my guys allocated. No idea why I have 14 farmers, but I assume lots of jobs fall in that category so it's probably a bit inflated, I only have 2 actual fieldworkers.

I assume now it would be a good time to get a real military going...

Basically, I haven't died, so how do I manage this many people? How much farm land will support this many people, how much do I need to run the stills, should I have some dedicated haulers by this point?

[greycat]

Dwarves only put one empty bin in a stockpile at a time.  What typically happens is you see a stockpile (say 5x5) with 1 bin full of goods, and 24 tiles with 1 bare good apiece.  This makes you realize you're out of bins, so you make more -- let's say you make 10.  The dwarves will take 1 bin and put it on tile 2 of the stockpile, right underneath one of the bare goods.  Then the presence of an empty bin in the stockpile will trigger 10 (or more?) "put item in bin" jobs.  10 dwarves will converge on the stockpile and each will put 1 good into the bin.  This frees up 9 more tiles in the stockpile (assuming one of the goods that went into the bin was the one on the bin's tile).  So now you get 9 "store item in stockpile" jobs and, since there is no empty bin in the stockpile any more, 1 "put bin in stockpile" jobs.  Then you'll have 2 full bins, 1 empty bin (plus a good on the same tile), and 22 tiles with 1 bare good apiece.  This repeats until you reach equilibrium.

[Yaotzin]

How can I get my dwarfs to use more bins in my stockpiles. I've got some stockpiles full of random things that could be in bins (particularly my block stockpiles).

Make sure you haven't changed the max bins stat on the stockpile, and that you have free bins. If you're not sure if you do, then you don't. Those things get used up like candy.

If anything binnable isn't in a bin for a while - you need more bins. Or you set max bins too low.

Also, this is my first time getting to 70+ dwarfs in a fort and I'm a bit overwhelmed with trying to designate labors. I've got 4 miners (I'm pretty sure I should increase this number a bit), 4-6 Woodworkers, Stoneworkers, Rangers (but only 1 hunter...), Metalsmiths and Jewelers, 10 Craftsdwarves, 6 Nobles/Admins (no idea why there's that many), 1 Peasant, 5 Fishery workers, 14! Farmers, 1 Engineer, 1 Axedwarf, Macedwarf, Speardwarf and Marksdwarf...

It depends what your goal for the game is, really. Are you going for a peaceful megaproject? An all-round approach where you can do something of everything? Regardless, either you need a very tight trap based defence, or you need far more military than that. If you're not sure, just make more soldiers - or more miners/metalworkers to make more gear for them. Send them on a suicide mission the next siege, if you don't like them :p

For what you need to do the basics, you probably only need 1-2 of each job, if they're at a high level. A legendary craftsdwarf can churn out enough stuff to buy every caravan ever. A legendary grower can feed pretty much the entire fortress, and so on.

I assume now it would be a good time to get a real military going...

Much earlier actually, but no matter! Just make lots of traps while you get it going. If you got attacked right now you'd die without a solid trap defence.

Basically, I haven't died, so how do I manage this many people? How much farm land will support this many people, how much do I need to run the stills, should I have some dedicated haulers by this point?

1 or 2 legendary growers, and 1 legendary brewer. That could feed...maybe even a 200 man fortress. They produce food *fast*. However that would only produce at most 4 types of food - one per season. Variety is good for happy thoughts. It stops the "lack of variety" bad thought, and if you produce the thing that dwarf likes, she'll get a happy thought. Good for when her husband gets killed by goblins.

A well rounded food industry could supply a big fortress with: a couple growers, a brewer, a hunter, a butcher, a couple fishermen, a fishcleaner, and a thresher. Quarry leaves + syrup produces bonkers amounts of meals - the rest of the stuff provides some variety. Remember you need twice as many drinks as food, so you should bias the numbers towards that.

Then you add on industries as you want/need them. Metal industry, leather industry, glass, pottery...whatever you want. You'll at least need the metal one unless you want to use only traps to survive. Well, you could do fortifications and marksmen with only bone probably...

It's a sandbox game, do as you please

[Yaotzin]

Where can I find some condensed info on what the new version will have? Specifically in fortress mode, haven't touched adventurer yet.

[Bobbias]

How can I get my dwarfs to use more bins in my stockpiles. I've got some stockpiles full of random things that could be in bins (particularly my block stockpiles).

Make sure you haven't changed the max bins stat on the stockpile, and that you have free bins. If you're not sure if you do, then you don't. Those things get used up like candy.

If anything binnable isn't in a bin for a while - you need more bins. Or you set max bins too low.

Also, this is my first time getting to 70+ dwarfs in a fort and I'm a bit overwhelmed with trying to designate labors. I've got 4 miners (I'm pretty sure I should increase this number a bit), 4-6 Woodworkers, Stoneworkers, Rangers (but only 1 hunter...), Metalsmiths and Jewelers, 10 Craftsdwarves, 6 Nobles/Admins (no idea why there's that many), 1 Peasant, 5 Fishery workers, 14! Farmers, 1 Engineer, 1 Axedwarf, Macedwarf, Speardwarf and Marksdwarf...

It depends what your goal for the game is, really. Are you going for a peaceful megaproject? An all-round approach where you can do something of everything? Regardless, either you need a very tight trap based defence, or you need far more military than that. If you're not sure, just make more soldiers - or more miners/metalworkers to make more gear for them. Send them on a suicide mission the next siege, if you don't like them :p

For what you need to do the basics, you probably only need 1-2 of each job, if they're at a high level. A legendary craftsdwarf can churn out enough stuff to buy every caravan ever. A legendary grower can feed pretty much the entire fortress, and so on.

I assume now it would be a good time to get a real military going...

Much earlier actually, but no matter! Just make lots of traps while you get it going. If you got attacked right now you'd die without a solid trap defence.

Basically, I haven't died, so how do I manage this many people? How much farm land will support this many people, how much do I need to run the stills, should I have some dedicated haulers by this point?

1 or 2 legendary growers, and 1 legendary brewer. That could feed...maybe even a 200 man fortress. They produce food *fast*. However that would only produce at most 4 types of food - one per season. Variety is good for happy thoughts. It stops the "lack of variety" bad thought, and if you produce the thing that dwarf likes, she'll get a happy thought. Good for when her husband gets killed by goblins.

A well rounded food industry could supply a big fortress with: a couple growers, a brewer, a hunter, a butcher, a couple fishermen, a fishcleaner, and a thresher. Quarry leaves + syrup produces bonkers amounts of meals - the rest of the stuff provides some variety. Remember you need twice as many drinks as food, so you should bias the numbers towards that.

Then you add on industries as you want/need them. Metal industry, leather industry, glass, pottery...whatever you want. You'll at least need the metal one unless you want to use only traps to survive. Well, you could do fortifications and marksmen with only bone probably...

It's a sandbox game, do as you please

Thanks for the large and fast response.

I'm embarked on a calm non-evil location, so there's not much threat at the moment, haven't breached the caverns yet either lol. I think the plan is for a megaproject of some sort. Once that's done (if it ever is) I think it might be nice to train all my dwarfs as military, give them the best outfits I can manage, and walk into the circus.

It appears I just don't have enough bins, or the wood to make them either, so that's getting dealt with right now. I'm also opening up the top of where I have my farm (drained a murky pool, and haven't used the full area it muddied yet) so I'll have a section available for growing above ground crops for some more variety. I'm set for food for the time being (making lavish meals while butchering any non-pet non-paired animals my migrants brought along makes quite a bit of prepared meals). But I'm low on booze.

Right now I think I'm going to get my metal industry going and get my dwarfs outfit with some proper armor.

EDIT:

Oh and quick question, how do I set up a proper functioning hospital? I've got a water source (brook) and I'll be making a cistern in the future (as soon as I get the design figured out) and a well, but hospitals have always confused me a bit and I've heard plenty of stories of what happens when a hospital doesn't work well.

[Yaotzin]

Thanks for the large and fast response.

I'm embarked on a calm non-evil location, so there's not much threat at the moment, haven't breached the caverns yet either lol. I think the plan is for a megaproject of some sort. Once that's done (if it ever is) I think it might be nice to train all my dwarfs as military, give them the best outfits I can manage, and walk into the circus.

Ah, the location is just about the wilderness. What kind of critters will be around, how strong and aggressive they'll be, that sort of thing.

Unless you embarked on an island, you'll get goblins. And FBs, and Titans. If you're at 70 pop the fun should begin soon

Oh and quick question, how do I set up a proper functioning hospital? I've got a water source (brook) and I'll be making a cistern in the future (as soon as I get the design figured out) and a well, but hospitals have always confused me a bit and I've heard plenty of stories of what happens when a hospital doesn't work well.

You need a water source. Doesn't technically have to be in the hospital, but obviously that's way better. That's for cleaning their wounds. A cistern underneath with a well in the hospital is about as good as it gets on that.
Then you just need a designated area with: beds, tables next to them (surgery), containers, and of course the needed materials. Thread, cloth, splints, crutches, soap, plaster. The first 4 are necessary, the last 2 improve performance (healing time and/or dorfs dying or not).

Oh and workers to do the work of course. Including a chief doctor to hand out the diagnosis assignments.

[Yaotzin]

Is there no way to make a hunter carry more than 5x5 bone arrows? It's doing my head in watching my hunter knock an elephant out then run out of ammunition trying to kill it.

[i2amroy]

Is there no way to make a hunter carry more than 5x5 bone arrows? It's doing my head in watching my hunter knock an elephant out then run out of ammunition trying to kill it.

If you go to the ammunition screen in the military menu, you can change how many bolts are assigned to each of your hunters for them to carry around.