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[meto30]

I believe most people have not noticed my postings in the 'megaproject' thread I've been updating lately, so here's the short version. I have sealed my fortress off to concentrate on digging a big pit down around 200 z-levels from the mountaintop to the bottom of the bedrock. This has caused some interesting things to happen in the outside world. For instance, now there are apprently 60+ bodies of elf traders shot down by goblin raiders strewn around the site, along with 100+ bodies of dead dwarves from various caravans and migration waves.

And I've been getting continuous notifications of 'thief has stolen a [insert random outside-originated item here]'.


The result of that is...



Now I'm getting continuing ambushes composed of 10+ kobolds armed with steel weaponry. Shooting silver bolts.




Sooner or later I have to breach that seal and start building a scaffolding upwards stretching for like 40 z-levels. I fear I may have to reclaim simply to do that. With military dwarves.

[Quietust]

That's normal - once the kobolds manage to steal enough stuff from you, they get bold enough to send in their military.

[meto30]

That's normal - once the kobolds manage to steal enough stuff from you, they get bold enough to send in their military.

However, their wearing steel and bronze items indicates I shouldn't have sealed off the entrance and simply let hostiles mingle with traders... because right now there is not a single dwarf with a single skill level in any of the metalworking labors inside the mountain. I also haven't found flux yet. I am literally swimming in cassiterite, but I doubt bronze armor with no quality marks will fare well against steel-equipped masses of kobolds. And there will be goblins. Lots of goblins.

It's not that the situation is too difficult to cope with; rather it is quite easily dispatched. The beef here is that all this stems from a single misdecision to block off all entry points on the first spring, and it is very, very regretful.

[Impending Doom]

So... according to the OP, kobold raiding parties arrive wearing/wielding items that were stolen earlier by kobold thieves. Has this been documented before?

[Quietust]

Kobolds aren't actually permitted to smelt any metals (they have no permitted reactions, not even tanning hides), so I guess it's assumed that they get access to all of their metals via theft. Metal weapons and shields could be explained via theft as well, but kobold-sized metal armor doesn't really make sense (since they technically aren't capable of metalworking either, and their entity definitions only include tunics and loincloths, not actual armor)...

[Brandstone]

This sounds like a job for Dwarven engineering. I recommend building an underground corridor one tile wide with a 10 z-level drop on either side. Fill the corridor with weapon traps(quality does not matter). The invaders will either take damage from the trap, or dodge to an adjacent square. Six of those adjacent squares will land them in your pit. Read the thread on glass traps for more information. I have an idea for tunneling upwards without compromising security, but it is untested. Basically you use upward ramps in a square large enough so archers can't reach the center, but you have to start the ramps more than one z-level below the surface so that when the ramps are dug they don't leave behind an actual ramp.

[meto30]

Kobolds aren't actually permitted to smelt any metals (they have no permitted reactions, not even tanning hides), so I guess it's assumed that they get access to all of their metals via theft. Metal weapons and shields could be explained via theft as well, but kobold-sized metal armor doesn't really make sense (since they technically aren't capable of metalworking either, and their entity definitions only include tunics and loincloths, not actual armor)...

OK, my computer is incapable of running Photoshop CS5 together with DF so I don't have an uploadable screenshot yet, but I've just confirmed by looking at a kobold on site right now that they have steel weaponry.

Wait, is that a steel bow I'm seeing? and steel arrows?


However, I see no evidence of metal armor, just like you said. Maybe I mistook someone for someone else, or my memory simply failed me. I'll edit the first post. But my problem hasn't got any smaller, because I just found out my only anvil is out in the field next to where the wagon(now dismantled) used to be.

[Cockyy]

The PrntScrn button doesn't require photoshop. Paste that sucker into Paint.

[Quietust]

Realistically, kobolds should only be able to use weapon/metal combinations from civilizations actually capable of making them - thus, steel short swords and spears would be good (since Dwarves make them), but steel daggers, bows, and arrows should be impossible because dwarves can't make them (and they're the only civ that can make steel) - those should only be copper/bronze/iron/silver (i.e. stolen from goblins or humans).

I'm not quite sure if that's a bug, but it probably should be.

[RemusShepherd]

It could be that the kobolds are aquiring wealth by stealing items, and the game assigns their raiding parties suitable equipment of that approximate value.  That would simulate the kobolds trading the items they steal for items they need. 

[Urist Imiknorris]

It's not so much a bug as it is an imperfect model. Similar to whips being assumed to be rigid, the game assumes that kobolds can acquire any material weapon.

[darkflagrance]

Realistically, kobolds should only be able to use weapon/metal combinations from civilizations actually capable of making them - thus, steel short swords and spears would be good (since Dwarves make them), but steel daggers, bows, and arrows should be impossible because dwarves can't make them (and they're the only civ that can make steel) - those should only be copper/bronze/iron/silver (i.e. stolen from goblins or humans).

I'm not quite sure if that's a bug, but it probably should be.

In my Fortress Defense Mod, I attempted to restrict weapon types for civs; due to how the game keeps track of materials now, material restrictions don't really work in the latest versions.

[JabberWockey]

That's weird - Kobolds shouldn't be able to smelt. 

My guess is they stole the items from you (doubtful) or from nearby dwarves/humans (likely).

I've never had a kobold siege before... any different than a goblin siege?

Also, what version are you?

[BigJake]

Ah, one of my favorite kinds of game.  Lock the doors and watch the world burn!
Never seen a kobold war party, though, that's awesome.

Are controlled cave-ins out of the question?  I'd think that would be the easiest to mop up at least a few of them, get your hands on some of that steel.
Speaking of, wouldn't the anvil survive a drop as well?

[TurkeyXIII]

Kobolds aren't a huge deal.  Even though they occasionally have steel weapons and shields, they don't wear armour and die quickly to an armed dwarf.  Arming your dwarves without an anvil on the other hand... you're going to have to get creative with that one.  Wooden spears?