A couple new worlds were generated, but this old spot still has potential. The previous 2 attempts, I just used the standard 1504 embark points. But I had set the limit to 10,000 in the world gen settings, so it's time to take advantage of those possibilities.
Reclaim attempt 2: 6 dwarves with adequate discipline, mace skill, and a mix of armor user and shield user, with 90% steel, 10% bronze gear (I thought 10,000 would be enough for full steel gear, but it isn't):
Checking the units list right off, no hostile critters have wandered onto the map so far, that's a good start. Some digging was designated, then the game was un-paused. A water buffalo skeleton immediately ambushed and killed 6, followed by a rotten horse corpse killing the 7th. Despite the Dwarves being immediately assigned a squad and to equip the armor brought with the embark, they did not even get a chance to put a single piece on before the slaughter.
104-05-25: "Your settlement has crumbled to its end."
Reclaim attempt 3: Prepare for immediate unarmed combat I suppose... All 7 dwarves proficient dodgers, the rest of their skills mixed as fighters, a kicker, wrestlers, biter, striker, etc. No points spent on armor. Instead 10,000 points were spent on 280 war dogs, 2 picks, 2 axes, an anvil, some liquor and seeds:
11 FPS, 3 dwarves die almost immediately to the muscular water buffalo skeleton, "Lekadas Kastaz Thazor". All were assigned mining, but none grabbed a pick to dig to safety - preferring to fight instead.
The mass of dogs quickly became faint and overexerted, leaving the remaining dwarves not much of a chance. Especially once the 3 giant raven corpses joined in the fray.
104-06-17: "Your settlement has crumbled to its end."
Reclaim attempt 4: All 7 proficient in discipline, skilled dodgers and novice miners. 1 anvil, 7 picks, 10 plump helmets, and 87 water buffalo bulls. Let's Get Some!
The water buffalo bulls proved to be an excellent distraction for the undead on the surface. Their heads not exploding from 1 kick like the war dogs. Still, 2 dwarves fell as the rest managed to start digging underground. Once the light aquifer was breached and stone was found, 1 of the 5 were put on hauling duty to get some supplies. 2 plump helmet spawn, 1 cave wheat seed, 1 rock nut, 1 sweet pod seed, 1 pigtail seed and 2 anvils were recovered before the heroic hauler was dragged into the brook and killed by a river otter corpse. Hopes for at least 1 log were abandoned, and the surface was walled off for now.
The 3 seeds in season were planted in the slightly overkill farm area.
So far just the 3 ghosts of the current embark party are haunting the fort, but extra slabs are being produced just in case.
Gonna have to safely acquire a log at some point. Hopefully the lack of beds won't be that big of a deal for the 4 remaining dwarves.
