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Author Topic: How do you keep your soldiers happy?  (Read 2801 times)

Buttery_Mess

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How do you keep your soldiers happy?
« on: September 07, 2011, 07:50:06 am »

So yeah, as the title.

Fully armed and armoured dwarves shouldn't be the first to tantrum. I don't pander to them especially, I wonder how other players keep their military happy?
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But .... It's so small!
It's not the size of the pick that counts... it's the size of the man with the pick.
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Sandrew

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Re: How do you keep your soldiers happy?
« Reply #1 on: September 07, 2011, 07:54:04 am »

Have them kill lots of enemies. Gives them the "doesn't really care about anything anymore" perk which seriously lessens the impact that dying friends have on them. Other than that you should probably give them awesome rooms and a nice barracks. Good food and booze also helps.
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Locke

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Re: How do you keep your soldiers happy?
« Reply #2 on: September 07, 2011, 08:07:27 am »

Massive rooms with masterworked furniture, my military (even the recruits, bless their perferated souls) have rooms that rival the nobels. Only without that lever that may or may not tend to incinerate anyone inside at the time. Also, caging ambushers and other things to kill boosts the spirits in the arena. Pets are killed one way or another, better to get that out of the way during the training years. The military only eats masterworked roasts and booze aged to perfection. Also, it helps if they're not women that have babby shields.

Barracks outside with valuable statues and racks and fun things, plenty of goblins to kill, and no friends. Friends are the devil, my military are friendless hermits damnit!
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Tiruin

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Re: How do you keep your soldiers happy?
« Reply #3 on: September 07, 2011, 08:12:31 am »

Never let them carry food in the supplies screen. You should have an epicly engraved and decorated dining room, they will eat there.

Eating in a legendary dining room will be like eating in the halls of Valhalla. They won't care at all if their friends, family, lovers, pets and annoying acquaintances die. "Hey Urist! I regret to inform you that your family and your best friend died. I'm so-" "Never mind that! Look at that table and those chairs, I feel like I died and ate at the land of booze and honey!"
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Buttery_Mess

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Re: How do you keep your soldiers happy?
« Reply #4 on: September 07, 2011, 09:27:29 am »

Yeah I'm renovating my bedrooms now. I don't know what to do with all my old crappy beds. I'm making a dormitory atm.
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But .... It's so small!
It's not the size of the pick that counts... it's the size of the man with the pick.
Quote from: Toady One
Naturally, we'd like to make life miserable for everybody, randomly, but that'll take some doing.

Icee77

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Re: How do you keep your soldiers happy?
« Reply #5 on: September 07, 2011, 09:30:50 am »

Well, you shouldnt have recruits eat at the dining room first. Then they'll make friends. And Dorfs with friends are bad bad people. First have the recruits kill lots of animals to get them to "Doesn't really care about anything anymore" and have them go to the dining room.
Or you can make a dining room Just for soldiers.
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Buttery_Mess

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Re: How do you keep your soldiers happy?
« Reply #6 on: September 07, 2011, 10:27:22 am »

Yeah but then they'll be friendly with soldiers, which is the worst. A waterfall in the barracks would be the best.
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But .... It's so small!
It's not the size of the pick that counts... it's the size of the man with the pick.
Quote from: Toady One
Naturally, we'd like to make life miserable for everybody, randomly, but that'll take some doing.

qoou

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Re: How do you keep your soldiers happy?
« Reply #7 on: September 07, 2011, 12:09:43 pm »

If you use cage-traps, move all your prisoners to a room a few z-levels above your barracks, and set up a water blood and guts fall. It gets them to the "Doesn't really care about anything anymore" pretty quickly if you have a decent amount of cage-traps and hostiles.
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Varnifane

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Re: How do you keep your soldiers happy?
« Reply #8 on: September 07, 2011, 12:40:25 pm »

My latest embark has a grunch-ton of gold. With a legendary mason (not hard to get) I have made all of my furniture out of gold ore.

Each of my barracks has an armor stand, 5 cabinets, 5 coffers and 5 statues all made out of gold. Right next to a dining room with 10 golden tables and 10 designated golden chairs.

I recently had a dwarven sock cascade where one of my Legendary Axelord's children was killed by an ambush. The child's mother ran out to get her kid's socks and got killed by the same ambushers. The Axedwarf is down from ecstatic to...content.

The Axelord has another child who is currently unhappy from losing his mother and brother, but he'll be ok once he notices all the incredible works of craftsdwarfship around him.

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Ross Vernal

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Re: How do you keep your soldiers happy?
« Reply #9 on: September 07, 2011, 02:06:41 pm »

Two months off a year, artifact built in their room, masterwork Danger Closet, and random death.
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Quietust

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Re: How do you keep your soldiers happy?
« Reply #10 on: September 07, 2011, 03:09:22 pm »

Never let them carry food in the supplies screen. You should have an epicly engraved and decorated dining room, they will eat there.

Do soldiers even eat at dining rooms when they're on duty? I remember that back in 40d they'd eat directly off the floor of your food stockpiles even if they weren't assigned to carry rations, though I've never tested it in 0.31.xx since all of my soldiers carry food and booze by default.
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MonsteR

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Re: How do you keep your soldiers happy?
« Reply #11 on: September 07, 2011, 04:48:15 pm »

I typically go all out on their barracks, encrusted furniture, statues, engravings, the works.

But the best is when they are all depressed about being on patrol for so long, and then you take them off and they get a bad thought from being relieved from duty.
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SenorOcho

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Re: How do you keep your soldiers happy?
« Reply #12 on: September 07, 2011, 05:13:38 pm »

Do soldiers even eat at dining rooms when they're on duty? I remember that back in 40d they'd eat directly off the floor of your food stockpiles even if they weren't assigned to carry rations, though I've never tested it in 0.31.xx since all of my soldiers carry food and booze by default.

Heck, even when they're carrying food I've had them just lug the entire barrel of booze into the barracks and drink it there. And then carry it back to the stockpile again.   ::)

But yeah, I've never had any problems with my active-duty military being unhappy due to long patrols, they get all the good modifiers after a couple of ambushes/sieges anyway (in addition to "took joy in slaughter recently", etc).  Just engravings and beds in my barracks, nothing too fancy.
The crossbow militia on the other hand... had a recent tantrum spiral after losing half of them.  Captain of the guard was up to 30 kills-- all dwarves, and ecstatic about it.
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Frogwarrior

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Re: How do you keep your soldiers happy?
« Reply #13 on: September 07, 2011, 05:28:36 pm »

Actually, they're drinking at the stockpile, then they decide to go to training. When they show up at the barracks they suddenly realize they're carrying a barrel and then they lug it all the way back.

Always have them carry drinks with them to avoid wasting time like this. They won't be any less happy as far as I know, since nobody drinks in dining rooms anyway.
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http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=91789.0
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http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=104354.0

Psieye

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Re: How do you keep your soldiers happy?
« Reply #14 on: September 07, 2011, 06:22:29 pm »

Masterwork hatches inflated with decorations installed everywhere there is space in the barracks room. I've yet to make a new fort to actually try this out ever since I thought it up, but it should work.
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