Bay 12 Games Forum

If it's not based on skills, it's a custom name.  For example, Clerk and Trader are natural profession names because they come from skills.  Military names are also natural, it just switches what skills it looks at.  Any name that is imposed regardless of skills (such as Captain of the Guard) will override military naming and you'll get this result.

I make my best soldier the Captain of the Guard, and use him to lead my dwarves into battle.  So I vote activated.

it helps that sphr's graphics set has a cool icon for the Captain.

Remember you can still make leather armor. You can also make wooden/bone crossbows at a Bowyer's Workshop. These work just fine.

Ask liaisons for Bars/Stones of weapons ore.  They won't bring that much of any one ore per caravan but they are cheap and you don't need much for weapons.

Wrestlers and marksdwarves are fine for dealing with early snatchers and ambushes.  Ambushes virtually always occur for some time before a siege ever does. That should net you a few weapons as well as plenty of iron items for melting (if you have lots of fuel) or trading (if you ask the liaisons for weapons).

A handful of marksdwarves and wrestlers should be sufficient for the earliest siege in any case. If you are really nervous put up some traps.

As long as you survive the first siege that should net you enough shields and weapons for an effective military.

Don't forget wardogs: they can handle melee for small groups of enemies.

There's also something to be said for bringing 'survival supplies' of wood, coal, ore, leather and bauxite on your wagon when you start, it helps avoid situations like this.

Carpenter-type immigrants often bring Steel Battleaxes, and ranger-type immigrants often bring metal crossbows and a supply of metal bolts.

Finallly, worst case, you can slaughter a trade convoy and take their weapons and armor.

It would be nice for sieges to use some tactics, siege equipment et. al., but the game will never be challenging in that respect.  The game is complicated enough that players will always be able to construct a defense the AI cannot handle.  Magma filled walls were a good example. You can also do trap-filled double walls (kills the sapper), unstable ceilings in walls that are activated by lever, and so on.

The ultimate defense would be digging out deep chasms around your fort and filling them with magma or water. Impossible to tunnel through and there are numerous ways to turn any bridging AI into a doomed AI.


The point of this is that the player will either have to want to engage the enemy in open combat or the player will have to prioritize architecture over defense. You can do both of these things now of course.  Siege gear would still be an awesome addition to the game but it won't make the game harder in the long run.  It simply changes what forts are siege proof and what forts arnt.

Meh as i see it the military is under powered so it balances out the traps, besides doors/gates dont really function like they should because gobbos just sit outside which just bothers me and slows down the game i'd rather just have them turn into items then just outside my fortress watching the grass grow cause good luck getting your dwarves to respond. 
 

Underpowered? It's so easy to get champions at the moment... I believe there's a thread over in bugs or suggestions where people are getting Elite Wrestlers in 60 gamedays(!).

Ah dammit.  I knew I forgot something.

Heh.