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[VerdantSF]

I know it's buggy, but I wonder if anyone has figured out some workarounds so that they have half-decent crossbowmen.

[ungulateman]

Live-fire training. Pit a prisoner into an arena with fortifications. Marksdwarves shoot, they get experience from it.

[unit335]

Hrm. I had the same question.  Now...to figure out how to take a prisoner and trap him.....

[Leperous]

Put a cage in a room, link it to a trigger somewhere (a-j), build a wall in between, pull the trigger

[o_O[WTFace]]

How do you get marksdwarves to carry and load quivers?  Mine just liked to hit things with crossbows so I made them axedwarves instead.   

[Neyvn]

How I got Marksmen to Train at an Archery Target...

Step one. Uniform...
Make a New Uniform in the Military List, Make sure that you have Crossbows selected and that the Squad is Assigned that uniform. Also added a Rudimentary uniform that included all Leather Equipment. Also make sure you have made a few Quivers as they will not train without them. Or go into combat at range as a matter of fact...

Step Two. Ammo.
Press the Ammo Tab (f) and then press c to add ammo, choose bolts then press SHIFT+C, capital C, this will remove a Red (or Green can't remember of top of head) Letter located at the side where there is a TC, the T represents Training while C represent Combat. Clearly you can guess what this means. Ammo with a T only will be used for Training while Ammo with a C next to it will be used for Combat. Its best to rework it so that the Material is ready, also make sure you are pumping out Wood/Bone bolts and metal Bolts in proportion to your Battles, Wood is more surplus then Bones in the early stage due to Critters leaving Partial Skels now instead of plan old bones when killed in combat...

Step Three, Archery Range.
In the old edition you could make a range from One target, now days its better to make the room overlap like you most likely do with Barracks (overlapping rooms made from a Rack and a Stand (or any mixture) Include as many Targets as you want and make sure they all have the room 'T' for training for your Marksmen Squad, double check as it might be that you are selecting your Melee instead as they will appear there too...

Step Four, Waiting...
After a while they should notice that there is an Archery Range there and as long as you are pumping out a large amount of ammo (they are produced in stacks of 5 now from a single lump of wood) you should see action at your range...

This all should work.

[tieme]

You could think about trapping a megabeast across a moat or something of the sort and shoot at him if you are looking for a live target.  A colossus can take quit a few arrows compared to a goblin.

[VerdantSF]

Thanks for the tips, Nevyn.  I followed your instructions and for the first time, my marksdwarf actually says "going to Archery practice."  Unfortunately though, she isn't.  She has all her equipment, including her crossbow and her quiver, but she refuses to pick up the bone bolts that I marked for practice .

[Neyvn]

Thanks for the tips, Nevyn.  I followed your instructions and for the first time, my marksdwarf actually says "going to Archery practice."  Unfortunately though, she isn't.  She has all her equipment, including her crossbow and her quiver, but she refuses to pick up the bone bolts that I marked for practice .

If you have an Arsenal Dwarf, he is registering the Bolts... OR you might not have enough bolts to begin with, I think there needs to be a min of 20 or so Bolts ready to be practiced with for them to pick the damn things up. It was odd personally for me, I didn't know what was what when i first noticed it, as the Dwarf had fired away nearly all of them and was down to his last two when I noticed him. Also noticed that cause I had Designated an ENTIRE ROOM. He was shooting from one side to the other which was over 20 tiles... Ended up placing walls 4 or so tiles away from the Target, but never had them use a bolt again due to lack of materials...

[Hyndis]

You could think about trapping a megabeast across a moat or something of the sort and shoot at him if you are looking for a live target.  A colossus can take quit a few arrows compared to a goblin.

If you're lucky enough to get a BC and also manage to trap it without it slaughtering your entire fortress, it would be a great way to practice ranged combat. Just position them so they can see it and they will fire away.

I'm not sure if its even possible to kill a BC using entirely crossbow bolts. Even slade bolts in the arena probably won't be able to kill one.