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[cephalo]

Ok, I've been having no luck getting my marksdwarves to train. I don't really need them for defense but for aesthetic reasons I need trained marksdwarves manning the battlements. They trained for a season or so but then stopped, saying 'can't follow order'.

So far I have...

set the squad to active/training
assign 1000 bone bolts for training and 1000 steel bolts for combat.
specify an archery target for training.
specify a normal barracks also for training. (Target alone stopped working. I read this helps, but not for me.)

Is this just permanently bugged, or is there a work around?

[Girlinhat]

1) Build an archery target.
2) Assign this target as a firing range for your marksdwarf squad.
3) Double check that they all have bolts, quivers, and crossbows.
4) Wait.  They should revert to individual training when they have no civilian duties lined up, so your marksdwarves will naturally go to the range and fire.
5) Build additional ranges, only one dwarf per range will train at any given time.  Build two ranges (not just targets, you need to define a new room) to encourage multiple trainers.

[Darkmere]

I'm not certain the training/combat designation works the way it should, or at all. You might have better luck with just 1k bolts CT.

[GhostDwemer]

Ensure your targets are oriented for firing from the correct direction for your ranges. If the target is against a north wall and set to fire from top to bottom dwarves will never train there.

Also, are you sure you need multiple rooms and not just multiple targets per room? I seem to remember that working, but it was awhile ago. Recently I've been setting up long 1xwide halls with targets at the end just for aesthetics, so I use one target per room, but I did have a fort where (I think) multiple targets per room worked.

[Matazat]

From what I've gathered, marksdwarves won't drop their metal bolts in order to train with wooden/bone bolts. You're better off letting them use whatever they want and putting a wood/bone bolt stockpile close to the range and a metal bolt stockpile closer to where they'll actually be fighting.


I can confirm that archery targets still work, as I had multiple marskdwarves practice archery (in a room with multiple targets) pretty consistently in my last fort.

[cephalo]

I've set them to use any ammo for combat or training, and double checked that my archery ranges are facing in a usable direction, but I'm getting (cannot follow order) still. I had them dump the ammo that was in their quivers, and they got more, but they are still stuck. I guess I have to destroy the squad maybe.

[krenshala]

Try reducing the amount of ammunition they are carrying.  I seem to remember folks saying that if you had more than 30 they start running into trouble, but I don't know if that still applies with the later versions.

Myself, I form a squad, give them quivers and crossbows, make wood and/or bone bolts, build an archery target or 10, and they just start training when the squad is set to active/training.  I typically set their quiver limit to 20 bolts, however, I have no idea if that is helping me or not.

[Ultimarr]

It may sound weird, but try un-assigning all hunter bolts, but leaving military ammunition on. I have no idea why this worked for me, but it did.

[Darkmere]

It may sound weird, but try un-assigning all hunter bolts, but leaving military ammunition on. I have no idea why this worked for me, but it did.

The game seems to give hunters priority, if you leave those bolts assigned to hunters it will go overboard with the assignments, even if you have no hunters.

[krenshala]

It may sound weird, but try un-assigning all hunter bolts, but leaving military ammunition on. I have no idea why this worked for me, but it did.

The game seems to give hunters priority, if you leave those bolts assigned to hunters it will go overboard with the assignments, even if you have no hunters.

Maybe this is what I am vaguely remembering -- that it assigns hunters bolts first, then marksdwarves.  This would mean that if you had less than 1000 bolts in your fort the soldiers wouldn't get any because you have the first 1000 assigned to the hunters (whether they exist or not).  Since I limit hunters to 20 bolts, my (usually singular) hunters get the first 20, and everything else goes to marksdwarves, so they have ammunition to use for training and combat.

[Matazat]

The hunters thing could be true, as I don't believe the marksdwarves trained until I cranked out a bunch of bolts (I assumed they were trying to save some for combat or something). I easily had more than 1000 by the time they started training, probably closer to 2000.

[ashein]

From what I've read somewhere (in the wiki talk pages, I presume) after you set up the firing range and all the mentioned stuff, dorfs usually go for a practice just one time each, after that they get their bolt assignment messed up. What worked for me was removing the bolts assigned from the military screen and then re-assigning them. Micromanagement, but it helped me. In my case the problem could have been tied with the bolts being forbidden (I collected the the bolts that missed the target for later reuse).

It didn't matter how much bolts I assigned. Moreover, the marksdwarves, when controlled via squad moves, almost always run back for additional bolts just after they take a shot or two. It's really annoying when they are expected to cover the melee squad

[Psieye]

What do they actually have in their quivers?

[nanomage]

1. disable ammunition for "hunters" in ammunition screen and
2. set up multiple archery targets per squad, not a single one

[celem]

You have to create a range 'room' from every target.  Few people hinting at it but it should probably be spelled out.  Tends not to work like dormatory/dining hall.  If you create a range from each target with the appropriate firing direction then you regularly get multiple dwarfs. 

I permenantly have between 4 and 6 dwarves at my main range. (all 1 physical room, 10 targets, 10 range 'rooms' created).  Two smaller 2xtarget ranges are always full (physically seperate from main).  I do have a lot of marksdwarves to fill all that out since a lot are also in barracks doing drills, but you get the idea.

Im also a believer in unassigning hunter bolts since my snipers met a seige with wood because all the copper was assigned to hunters, of which I have none.