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[Nas92]

So, I pretty much know how to use military, but it's damn annoying. I had a squad of five Axe Lords(Danger Room FTW) and another one with semi-skilled ones. When a human siege arrived I thought this would be their acid test. Preparing some more cage traps, I lowered the bridges and the humans started to move. Well, in a few seconds most of the human army was a bloody mess. There I was proud of my military, designating the humans' stuff for melting. One of my Axe Lords decided to chill away by the brook, when an ambush came composed of one human crossbowman. The crossbowman killed the Axe Lord in one shot and another quite skilled military dwarf.
So, yeah, it seems ranged weapons are actually extremely effective, even against steel-clad killing machines. Then the horrible thought came to me: "What if I get a siege composed of only marksmen?" So, now I'm here thinking on what the hell to do. Of course, I should put together a marksdwarf squad, but even now I have trouble finding useless enough dwarves to put in my squads. So, how to manage the military, so that I can train a sufficient number of skilled soldiers, whilst having them doing their old jobs, as well? Migrants would be good, because there are lots of useless dwarves in migration waves(my second squad is all migrant), but migration waves are too damn rare. I even want to explore the caverns, because I have a cavern like 7 levels underground and I desperately want to find magma, because charcoal->coke from bituminous coal just doesn't seem to work out.

[Gearheart]

Arrows have really small impact area, which means they pierce armour and inflict internal damage very efficiently.

[Nas92]

Arrows have really small impact area, which means they pierce armour and inflict internal damage very efficiently.

So, is there an actual way of defending yourself from them? I guess marksmen vs marksmen is pretty much a game of chance, then. But, my main question is how do I make good soldiers out of my dwarves while they still do their original job? Also, how can I make my marksdwarves be actually effective and have the first strike on the enemy marksmen?

[Arekis]

Legendary shield skills should keep your dwarves safe from arrows and fortifications will protect you from all arrows except those fired by elite bowmen.  If you're using the danger room, your shield skill should be pretty high already assuming shields are part of the uniform.  Dodging will also help outmaneuver arrows and bolts.

In bowman vs bowman scenarios, to guarantee the first strike you either hide behind fortifications, or use a sacrificial target like a chained animal.  If the enemy archers see (and can hit) the animal first, they'll try to kill it while you kill the archers.  If you're in an open field...  then it's mostly a matter of luck and marksman skill as far as I know.