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[abadidea]

I used to have a training setting of 10 Minimum and turn the training on/off to keep them from getting grumpy.

Now I have it on 4 Minimum and training is always on. MUCH better.

[Quietust]

I set my soldiers to train continuously (10 minumum, 12 months) and put them in small squads (2-4 soldiers) - if I start each squad with one skilled fighter (ideally a military migrant), the rest of the squad is Legendary within a few years and thus never gets grumpy.

[Marshall Burns]

Another trick:
You know when they're "organizing combat training"? That uses the Organizer skill. Have your squad leaders do some time as the manager to train up their Organizer skill, and you'll get more demonstrations in shorter amounts of time, since it won't take them so long to set it up.

[Girlinhat]

Can you confirm this baseless acusation?

[Marshall Burns]

Yep. Watch 'em. They gain XP in Organizer from organizing combat demonstrations, and they take forever to do it when they're dabbling. When they get better at it, they're faster. Meaning that the soldiers spend more time "attending combat demonstration" rather than "waiting for combat training."

The only other way to get Organizer XP is managing production orders as the manager.

EDIT: what I haven't figure out yet is whether "Make Stone Blocks: 30" gives more or less XP than "Make Stone Blocks: 1" x30.

[Girlinhat]

It stands to reason that 1 block x30 gives more, but I'm never had trouble with this.  Seems like it's time to make some macros, one for "decorate with pearl 100+ times" and another to remove those orders, since pearls don't really exist and therefore the order will never be filled, making it a "safe" order, aside from the announcement spam.

[Marshall Burns]

Oh crap, I didn't even think about orders that I didn't actually want completed. Good lookin' out.

[darkflagrance]

It stands to reason that 1 block x30 gives more, but I'm never had trouble with this.  Seems like it's time to make some macros, one for "decorate with pearl 100+ times" and another to remove those orders, since pearls don't really exist and therefore the order will never be filled, making it a "safe" order, aside from the announcement spam.

The manager gains experience for every job he approves. It doesn't matter whether that's 30 single jobs or a block of 30 jobs.

[krenshala]

Yep. Watch 'em. They gain XP in Organizer from organizing combat demonstrations, and they take forever to do it when they're dabbling. When they get better at it, they're faster. Meaning that the soldiers spend more time "attending combat demonstration" rather than "waiting for combat training."

The only other way to get Organizer XP is managing production orders as the manager.

EDIT: what I haven't figure out yet is whether "Make Stone Blocks: 30" gives more or less XP than "Make Stone Blocks: 1" x30.

Wouldn't that person that keeps generating the "Urist McPartyGoer is organizing a Party at the <insert legendary piece of furniture>" get Organizer XP as well?

Also, this would explain why the higher skilled military immigrants sometimes also have the organizer skill trained up.

[obeliab]

What I didn't realize for a long time, was that you can really pile on the armor.  I suppose it's pretty common knowledge, but the info at http://df.magmawiki.com/index.php/Armor#Size.2C_Permit.2C_and_layering_armor (scroll down a tick or two: e.g. 6x Cloaks, 6x Hoods, 3x Mail Shirts, etc.) helps my crap recruits survive until they can get some swings in.  I was just using the default Metal Armor uniform and the little guys were, at best, going one-for-one during ambushes, leaving scores dead.

I've noticed that smaller squads (I use 10 squads of 3) seem to spar a lot more, which gives them experience.  It also helps to, as you do, kill all wild animals and random peaceful cavern dwellers (I check my units list frequently for wandering Camels or Dralthas, and send a squad or two to deal with them as they pop up).  If you let the first few ambushes or a siege or two get caught in cage traps along your entrance hallway, you can strip them down and then release them in the center of your Barracks for some safe and easy kills.

Also, if you're noticing tons of demonstrations and almost no sparring, try ordering all your on-duty fellas to station somewhere, then cancel the order after they leave the Barracks.  I seem to get an improvement in sparring instances after my military has "done" something (even just moving somewhere).  I'm not sure if this is helpful, but I always, and logically, make my squad captains the highest military-skilled individual in the bunch.  I don't know if that actually does that much.

[Girlinhat]

I get my guys in steel setup, name helm, breastplate, gauntlets, greaves, and high boots.  The mail shirts, hoods, etc, I usually don't use at all, and this seems to work fine, but I may try and get a fully decked army one of these days, and just spam out some goblin leather hoods and cloaks.

[Marthnn]

I'm not sure if this is helpful, but I always, and logically, make my squad captains the highest military-skilled individual in the bunch.  I don't know if that actually does that much.

Now listen. The squad captain/commander is THE MOST IMPORTANT GUY IN THE WORLD.


My last fortress had some migrant as militia commander. Sure she had good military skills. But she was "put off by autority and tradition", "dislikes contracts and regulations", plus the damned "She is extremely cautious".

That combined to poor body shape (just "mighty", "tough", "slow to tire", nothing about agility) get her last to the move order location, regardless of her legendary statuses, professionnal armor user and expert observer.

Now suppose the caravan to protect MOVE. I have to give a NEW move order! But who tells my soldiers to adjust and station there? The freakin militia commander, who, it happens, barely sees its squad members over the horizon, much less aknowledges the new order and just walk, yes WALK, to the middle of the desert with NO CARAVAN IN SIGHT!


My current fort has another migrant as militia commander. Despite being "unassertive" and "occasionally given to procrastination", she's always first or barely second at the combat scenes, she spots ennemies and pwn them while others just return to barracks, all thanks to very nice body shape, skills and a sense of duty.


My conclusion : Give squad command to the dwarf arriving first at combat. Soldiers will follow him, and he will react faster to orders.

Your thoughts?

[Girlinhat]

I would care, except shuffling through 50+ dwarves looking for "She is quick to react" or something is tedious and boring.

[krenshala]

I would care, except shuffling through 50+ dwarves looking for "She is quick to react" or something is tedious and boring.

You don't check through them all.  Check only the ones that have (halfway) decent military skills already.  If you don't find one there, check your hunters/fishers.  Thats probably only 10, or at most 15, out of 50 dwarves.  Much easier to deal with.

My current fortress militia commander seems to back up his thinking.  Goden Rabudil (Goden Glowinglantern) is incredibly skinny, incredibly tough, incredibly quick to heal, but quite clumsy.  He can handle stress, likes the company of others, loves a good thrill, loves to defy convention, candid and sincere, and would rather intimidate others than compromise with them.  I picked him as the commander because he was the only military dwarf to have arrived (as one of the 7 members of wave 3).

How well does he do?  Well, after a mere six months with an actual weapon, almost no training (it is late in my second summer, and it took forever to get the steel for his spear made), a steel shield but no armor here was the result of his first run in with a kobold thief.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

One of my hunters was returning to the fortress and spotted the kobold while the militia (most still unarmed) was returning from a failed chase.  Unfortunately the goblin thief I spotted first got away.

[Fredd]

Someone with the ambusher skill is a good squad leader. Even originally a hunter, changing weapon will give the squad a one up on reaction time. I totally agree with having the militia commander train new replacements. The training sessions improve their basic skills far more rapidly, then can be integrated into your permanent military squads. Just make sure Shield 101 is the first lesson