Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[Iapetus]

A while back, I built a really awsome fortress (aesthetically my favourite ever), trained up a large and powerful military, and then lost my entier fortress (80+ dwarves) to one goblin ambush, because *something* was wrong with my military setup, which meant that when I  activated the "Emergency" alert, all my military went off duty and refused to fight (even when they were being stabbed in the face by gobbos).

Since then I've mainly just played .40d, but earlier this week I installed v0.31.25 and had another go.

And I'm glad to say, my military has just passed its baptism of fire.

I had a minimally impregnable fort (i.e. one perimiter wall and drawbridge), and two 10-dwarf squads of minimally trained soldiers (who were training at an armor stand just outside the entrance).

I was slightly nervous though, as my population had shot up very quickly (hit 83 in my second summer), and my military was still in basic training (and I hadn't got around to rereading the military instructions), and I was worried an ambush or siege was due.


The Desert Titan Duto Edristren has come!
A great capybara composed of ice.  It has a twisting, jointed trunk and it has a regal bearing.  Beware its webs!

 

I quickly saved (and quit for the night, as it was late and I was getting tired, and I needed a fresh mind to work out how to defend against it).

So the next day, I loaded up DF, had a thorough study of the Wiki military articles, established a "Home" burrow deep within the fort encompasing all the food and booze supplies, and an "Entrance" burrow just incide the entrance (duh), and assigned my civilians to the former and my military to the later.

(Meanwhile, the Ice Capybara had chased after a massive flock of badgers, but neither wanted to fight).

So when my military were in position, I lowered the drawbridge, and the Capybara of Doom sprinted in through the gate.

Whereupon absolutely nothing happened.  It didn't attack my dwarves, and they didn't attack it.

I was just starting to thing that it must be harmless, when it wandered down my entrance ramp, and suddenly all hell broke loose.

30 Seconds later, Duto Edristren Nesimecen (as it was now called) was dead, at the cost of a mere 5 dead recruits, plus 2 injured.


All in all, quite a successful first combat, I'd say.

[Necro910]

Dwarf Fortress:
Where 9% of your town is casualties, is good.

[Icee77]

Another strategy would be to establish a barracks just outside of the Fortress and have a permanent squad of always training soldiers. It doesn't matter if you set the kill order or not, the soldiers will always attack on sight. Me? I have 5 permanent squads.

[wlerin]

Dwarf Fortress:
Where 9% of your town is casualties, is good.

Fantastic, actually.

[Sarda]

Dwarf Fortress:
Where 9% of your town is casualties, is good.

Sigged.

[Halnoth]

Now you should get the hang of everything else the system has to offer.

Customizable uniforms.
Different alerts with specific schedules attached to each.
and of course different civilian safe burrow levels for times when your outer defense is breached.

[Psieye]

For future reference, the squad menu gives you some commands for more immediate orders like "kill this now".

[thegoatgod_pan]

And the (s)quad (m)ove command gets them where you want them to go with a guarantee they will kill anything hostile they encounter along the way/

[GreatWyrmGold]

...And no one notices that a desert titan is made out of ice. No, ice capybara in the desert? Normal. Someone kinda figured out the military? Amazing!

[wlerin]

...And no one notices that a desert titan is made out of ice. No, ice capybara in the desert? Normal. Someone kinda figured out the military? Amazing!

Aaand sigged.

[GreatWyrmGold]

...And no one notices that a desert titan is made out of ice. No, ice capybara in the desert? Normal. Someone kinda figured out the military? Amazing!

Aaand sigged.

Cool.

[Aramco]

Dwarf Fortress:
Where 90% of your town is casualties, is good.

Fixed that for you.

[Agent_86]

...And no one notices that a desert titan is made out of ice. No, ice capybara in the desert? Normal. Someone kinda figured out the military? Amazing!

It could be a snow desert...  It's so cold, it never rains.

[smokingwreckage]

Remember that Larson cartoon where aliens that look like cacti descend from their flying saucer, and the stunned Eskimo gasps to his friend in horror: "My GOD, Nathu! They're like NOTHING I'VE EVER SEEN!"

Yes: capybara made of ice. It's unnatural! It's uncanny! It's not of this world! It's..... kinda silly. But so is Lovecraft when you think about it.

[HiEv]

(Meanwhile, the Ice Capybara had chased after a massive flock of badgers, but neither wanted to fight).

FYI, the collective name for a group of badgers is a "cete of badgers", not a "flock".