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Author Topic: Couple quick questions (military, thieves)  (Read 471 times)

xeo

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Couple quick questions (military, thieves)
« on: October 22, 2010, 09:08:12 pm »

Hola

So I have like 5 war dogs chained up by my front doors, but it still seems like thieves steal stuff from me on occasion. I thought dogs were good at keeping them out? Or are those tricksy master thieves good enough to get past dogs?

As for the military, I'm trying to get it figured out.. I *think* I equipped all my guys with battle axes, then told the weaponsmith to make a bunch for them to use. Will they grab them and equip them automatically when they're finished? Same for armor.. will they automatically put on metal armor as it becomes available? (I picked metal armor in the uniforms screen thingy)

They're iron battle axes.. since my guys are all noob military, do they need training battle axes or something first?

[edit] Oh, and I'm starting to see cave plants sprouting up, tower caps & such. I've harvested a few and then processed plants and made drinks and such thinking maybe I'd get some seeds for an indoor garden, but it keeps telling me "no seeds available". Do I just need to keep at it or is there a trick to it?


« Last Edit: October 22, 2010, 09:20:09 pm by xeo »
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Double A

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Re: Couple quick questions (military, thieves)
« Reply #1 on: October 22, 2010, 09:36:10 pm »

Ho boy. I can tell this is gonna take awhile.

Right. First off, thieves. They can bypass locked doors. So if you have multiple entrances, you should either chain dogs up by them or (the much, MUCH better solution) seal them up with constructions. More entrances means more places for goblins to come in and more places you need to defend with traps. Dogs also have to be able to be next to each tile in the hall, such as if your main hall is 3 wide, you need 1 dog chained to each side, preferably with no slope to the tiles (put them on the same axis and parallel on the other). If your hall is 2 or 1 wide, you only need 1 dog, but 1-wide isn't good for well-traveled places (as multiple things on 1 tile have to lie down, save one).

Now... military... yeah, they will, as long as when you go to the "e"quip section in the military screen you can see "battle axe" on each dorf's list. Also, designate a training room with armor/weapon racks (close it off with walls & doors to prevent civilians accidentally getting hit). Then, press T in the room's designation menu so they'll train there. However, if you kinda like having your dorfs with multiple limbs, you should build some training axes at your carpenter's workshop and have them equip them.

And finally... well, I'm not going to do this one unless I'm absolutely sure I know what you're talking about. Do you have any sort of underground farm which is producing crops? And if no, how the heck did you manage to figure out metalcrafting and the military system but not that? Seriously, it's not like it's easy, but those other systems are WAY more complicated!
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xeo

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Re: Couple quick questions (military, thieves)
« Reply #2 on: October 22, 2010, 09:58:31 pm »

Haha thx for responding :D

For the dogs/thieves, my 2 entry halls are only 2 tiles wide.. I have 2 dogs chained in each doorway, but I staggered the chains, so they're diagonal from each other. Their patrol areas overlap though.

Thx for advice on training, I knew I had to do that somehow but wasn't exactly sure how. I'll get on that. I'm about to breach the huge underground cavern, and while I'm pretty safe from external threats via walls & such, anything coming up from the deep will have a clear path if I space out or don't get doors locked in time.

Yeah, the farming thing.. I started out with some indoor plant seeds & sprouts, but I screwed up on food for the first year or so and I think my guys ate it all or something (they spent a couple months hunting vermin before I got farms on a paying basis). By the time I got around to actually building an indoor farm, it said "no seeds available". No biggie, I have lots of outdoor farming area so I'm not hurting for brewstock. But, now that I see the indoor stuff sprouting on its own I'd like to grow some. I set up a farm plot in a room and it's ready to go, but no seeds until I can harvest some of the stuff growing naturally.. or so I'm guessing. :(

In the future I will set up indoor farms first. heh


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Double A

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Re: Couple quick questions (military, thieves)
« Reply #3 on: October 22, 2010, 10:18:58 pm »

Yeah, I had the same problem as you at first.

You just need to flood your underground farms with nearby ponds, or even better, use a dual floodgate system and a nearby river, stream, or brook, and flood your farms with that. Alternatively, you can go 1z under the earth and then dig your farm as a channel, then designate the new pit as a pond, which your dorfs will then fill with water to make it muddy. Make sure you have enough buckets, though.
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DPunch4

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Re: Couple quick questions (military, thieves)
« Reply #4 on: October 23, 2010, 12:28:11 am »

wait.... so am i suposed to give my dwarfs who are training, training weapons? cuz i've got rookies training with a pro and they all have steel warhammers.......

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Rowanas

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Re: Couple quick questions (military, thieves)
« Reply #5 on: October 23, 2010, 07:28:28 am »

Training weapons are never necessary. In the old system, dwarves would routinely decapitate each other with proper weapons, but nowadays they just tap each other lightly when they score a hit.
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I agree with Urist. Steampunk is like Darth Vader winning Holland's Next Top Model. It would be awesome but not something I'd like in this game.
Unfortunately dying involves the amputation of the entire body from the dwarf.