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[blue emu]

Following my experiments with floating traps, I have designed a Dwarven Force Field, for protecting large outdoor areas against flying enemies (creatures or avian-mounted invaders).

Build a rectangular grid of outdoor stairways, as high as the volume that you wish to defend. Space the stairway columns no more than twenty tiles apart. At every level, build a one-by-X (eg: one-by-ten) retractible bridge, extended towards the next stairway in the chain. Using these retractible bridges as catwalks, build a stone wall completely around the perimeter of your stairway grid, adjacent to the catwalks and as high as your stairway columns minus one level... in other words, the very top of your stairway columns should allow you to walk on the top of your finished wall.

Now cover the top of the wall with traps of your choice... probably cage traps or weapon traps. When all the traps are in place, demolish the top level of the wall. The traps will remain floating unsupported in mid-air. Now (with the top level of the wall removed), cover the new top of the wall... one level lower than before... with traps. Then demolish that level of the wall. Cover the new top of the wall with traps. Repeat until you are back at ground level. Finish off by trapping the place at ground level where the wall used to stand, then retract all the bridges.

You now have a three-dimensional force-field, floating unsupported in mid-air, protecting the enclosed volume of outdoor space.

[Sheb]

What happen to caged ennemies? Do they fall on the ground?

[blue emu]

What happen to caged ennemies? Do they fall on the ground?

I believe so, yes. Haven't finished my pilot project yet. Reloading the cage traps would be a bugger, so weapon traps might be preferable.

Naturally, to complete the force-field, you would want to roof the structure over, pave the roof with traps, and then deconstruct the roof.

[Sheb]

Body parts rain! Yeeee-aaah!

[forsaken1111]

Hm... you could put a column of these in a shaft and drop animals through them so they get chopped up and land in a butcher's shop.

[blue emu]

Hm... you could put a column of these in a shaft and drop animals through them so they get chopped up and land in a butcher's shop.

Unless this functionality has recently changed, falling creatures do not exist between the start and stop points.

Actually, my own Dodge-Em Trap experiments suggest that this functionality HAS in fact recently changed...

[myrkul]

Cage traps are probably not the best choice... Unless you have flying dwarves to reload them.

But I'd love to see a weapon trap version in action.

[Sheb]

Anyway, the trap should stun them and send them flying down to the ground, where the ground-most trap will hack them into pieces.

[blue emu]

Cage traps are probably not the best choice... Unless you have flying dwarves to reload them.

Agreed. I've been trying to think of a way around that, but no luck so far.

But I'd love to see a weapon trap version in action.

Also agreed. I would suggest either Hammers or Big Spikey Balls. You want to cripple the flier so that it falls. Killing it outright (with Axes, Swords, Big Slicey Things, etc) might jam the trap.

[Sheb]

But raining body parts is so cool! I suggest thet you try different versions of your traps. Also, what will you do if any trap jam? You may need a lot of stairs on the side of your force field to allow access.

[blue emu]

But raining body parts is so cool! I suggest thet you try different versions of your traps. Also, what will you do if any trap jam? You may need a lot of stairs on the side of your force field to allow access.

The drawbridge/catwalks will only give adjacent access to all the traps. Will that be enough for un-jamming them?... or does the Dwarf actually need to enter the trap tile in order to un-jam it?

[myrkul]

The drawbridge/catwalks will only give adjacent access to all the traps. Will that be enough for un-jamming them?... or does the Dwarf actually need to enter the trap tile in order to un-jam it?

This demands !!SCIENCE!!

[blue emu]

Volunteers? My own current fort will not be ready to undertake an outdoor megaproject for several days, minimum... no Army, no Iron or Steel.