*Sigh* I'm really quite frustrated right now.
My military and defense system had a complete FUBAR.
Four goblin ambushes show up, at the same time as a dwarven caravan. No big.
I activate my civilian alert (though I realize I need to add to it, and then accidentally delete it, which was..... annoying. Lots of designating on multiple z-levels after that).
Some civilians are outside on various tasks (still not sure why my armorer was out there....), oh well. If they make it, great, if not... tough.
I set my military on station behind my interior drawbridge and initial set of traps, just in case. Unfortunately, some dwarves die outside. So three separate dwarves, decide that they will now go rushing outside to "Pickup Equipment." Why? I'm not sure. I checked, and at least two of them lacked a weapon. Which is odd, because I should have more than enough to go around. Maybe I accidentally assigned them a weapon being held by someone else, so they went to pick it up? Maybe the dropped weapon was better? I have no idea. Needless to say, they get themselves killed. Oh, and I even kicked them out of the military but they still wouldn't cancel going to get the Equipment....
To add insult to insult.... the goblins didn't even have the decency to fall for my corridor of death. I had put a kitten, tied up, behind an unlocked door at the end of ramping corridor. The idea was that I raise my inner drawbridge, which is the sole access to the actual body of my fort, but leave the drawbridge for the corridor open. It's lined with traps. The kitten is the bait. I know it can be pathed to because my dwarves set up the trap and during the siege a fox managed to stumble part of the way in to it...
But they didn't take the bait. After they killed the merchant caravan and my idiot dwarves they left.
Ideas? Help?
Oh, one bright lining- I caught a goblin snatcher. Now to go double check pitting to afford my dwarves some practice/revenge. Are snatchers subject to the caveats as other thieves?