Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[FZE]

So I've been training a squad of the only dwarves with any combat prowess to respond to any breaches in security in my fortress (by default the fortress is sealed off by a drawbridge flanked on either side by fortified towers to shoot unwitting invaders from, but you can never be sure you didn't miss one little ramp that's technically diagonal with a section of wall).

Today I gave them an emergency response drill, telling them to move to the refuse yard.

The first two showed up alone, one completely unarmed and unarmored, the other wearing a leather shirt and hefting an axe in either hand. A few seconds later the remaining force arrived, most of them barehanded and clad in pigtail clothes.

I look down in my stockroom to find five iron breastplates and a dozen weapons laying on the ground, just as they were before these ingrates were drafted into the Oakland the Stupid-Dance Guard.

In my Military screen, I have the uniform Metal Armor assigned to all members of this particular squad, featuring "metal breastplate/mail shirt/armor pieces", "shield", "buckler", and "individual choice melee weapon".

Now, I have this squad set to actively train all-year-round, but typically I'll look in the barracks and see one guy from my far superior bowdwarf fireteams at the archery range and one of this squad doing an Individual Combat Drill.

How can I ensure these dwarves arm and armor themselves on the way to a station? There are two weapon racks and armor stands in the barracks, if that's relevant, but I'm not sure how to utilize those if such a thing is even possible.

[HammerDave]

Do you have an arsenal dwarf set in the noble screen?  If that position is empty there is nobody to assign gear to the military and they won't go get it on their own.  If the position doesn't show up then your population isn't high enough to need it yet -- in which case don't know...

[FZE]

Well, I assigned a dwarf the Arsenal Dwarf position, but the squad still leaves all the equipment in the stockpile. Do I need to put the equipment in a certain place for the Arsenal Dwarf to assign it to them or for them to pick it up?

[Dewar]

It can take a little while for the arsenal dwarf to get everything in order if you just assigned him. The armor parts shouldn't need to be in any specific place. Also, do you have your squad set to wear uniforms even when off duty?

[Dave Mongoose]

The whole system is quite buggy at the moment - it should be fixed soon but until then there is a lot of odd behaviour with equipment.

This post has a basic guide to creating a functioning military: http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=54178.msg1164197#msg1164197

And this post has a fix for if your military has 'gone stupid': http://www.bay12games.com/forum/index.php?topic=53973.msg1161319#msg1161319

One of the most confusing things is that soldiers actually train better when set to 'Inactive' than they do when set to 'Training'.

[FZE]

Well, some of those tips did definitely improve them. They now train more regularly and all show up armed with the weapons I individually assign them, but even those with a specific iron breastplate assigned to them will either show up naked or come wearing cow leather armor designated to the archers.

Am I going to have to start the military from the ground up to get them to act properly? I read a post about equipment-dumping and such.

Also in Oakland we go stupid intentionally, but not when it's time to throw down.

[Psieye]

I haven't tried it myself, but the thought occurs that maybe each squad needs their own container (armour stand) to store their assigned equipment?

[FZE]

Hmm, I tried assigning a room with all their armor and weapons in it to them as an armory for the squad and individuals to equip, but they consistently show up with the same equipment. Two are fully equipped, three are armed but not armored, and the captain is completely naked.

[Marconius]

Simple tips that worked for me:
1) Don't set your squad on alert status. Set them to civilian alert (Inactive), they'll go and do Individual Combat Drills that way.
2) If they're leaving stuff around (and you have an arsenal dude), try removing them from the squad, waiting a bit, then reassigning them again. That should reset them and they should go pick up all their stuff right away.
3) Ranged attacks are borked. Stick to axes.

[FZE]

Aww man, I was hoping to minimalize casualties.

[CognitiveDissonance]

...3) Ranged attacks are borked. Stick to axes.

Or spears. Steel Spears are awesome.

[FZE]

All right, I finally got them to a decent battle-ready state. All of them are wearing their breastplates, and all of them are at least armed somehow. One guy's using a copper axe instead of iron, like I specifically assigned, and the captain has an axe, a hammer, and a spear in one hand, but hey, he's the captain.

Reeeeeally hope they get this sorted out soon.

[buzz killington]

...3) Ranged attacks are borked. Stick to axes.

Or spears. Steel Spears are awesome.

Or any spear, if you are a caveswallowman