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Unlikely, I've only genned 20 years in... though I suppose its a possibility.

Edit: Looks like 20 years is long enough for that to happen...

Some info from legends...

The most recent king died in 18, burned to death by a mountain titan's fire.  He had fought this titan three times... in 14 when he first became king, in 17, and finally in 18.  This is ironic because he actually worshipped the very same titan...  He had worshipped the titan since 9, and started worshipping a hydra in 15 (likely because the bastard titan attacked him).

The most recent liaison died in 14, killed by the same titan who would later kill the king.  The liaison's only son worships the titan who killed his dad and king.

Oh, and heres some info on the titan himself...

Arak Budraptor, the Murk of Skies (which makes sense because the Dwarven capitol is "Cloudroofs")

A great six-legged quadruped (yay contradictions!) composed of flame.  Associated with nature, mountains, minerals, metals, caverns, and animals.  28 kills in a mere 20 years.

So... what are the advantages/disadvantages of a dead civilization?  Should I continue or restart?

If they don't properly mix, it makes it too easy to remove a contaminant.  If you've got a 1x1 pond with 4 levels of water and 3 of blood, why can't the Dwarves pump away the blood and then be free to use the water?  But if you've got 6 levels of bloody water and 1 of water, that makes things a bit more difficult.

While getting ready to start up a new fortress for 31.11, I was looking through my Dwarves to choose the one with the best list of things he likes to be my expidition leader...

The guy I went with was Bembul Erarlogem... Bembul Ledpainted

Looks to me like that up-staircase might be supporting the "floating" land.  If its not that, I dunno whats causing it.

I used spear as an example because its the only Dwarf-wieldable polearm, but the same still applies.  Dodge or deflect the first strike, get within the wielder's dead zone, and a polearm is all but useless (unless in formation with several buddies watching your sides and stabbing at anything that comes close).

The reason dual wielding is underrepresented historically is because most battles were fought in formation... something absent from Dwarf Fortress.

In battle, offense is king.  Using two weapons gives you more offensive capability.  A two handed sword is more effective at close range than a polearm, but it still suffers, and unless you're in formation, it’s difficult to keep your distance.  A strong offensive fighter will charge in faster than the two handed swordwielder can backpedal and control the distance.  Unless the two handed swordwielder can cut him down quickly (and he’s only got one chance before the dual wielder is too close), the dual wielder is likely going to win.

A man with sword and shield would fare better, since both would have a similar optimal distance, but as I’ve said before, it’s difficult to defend yourself from two directions at once.  It would be a much closer fight, but the dualwielder has a strong advantage in that he only has to worry about one weapon trying to cut him down.

Finally, it’s perfectly possible to block with a sword/axe/whatever.  Arrows can’t be stopped that way, but an enemy swordsman’s attacks can be quite easily.

You cannot effectively do a double attack with two different weapons. Its a reckless sort of attack that leaves you extremely vulnerable as well as off balance.

Try it. The guy with a sword and board, or the guy who the polearm or two handed sword will easily beat you.


Shields overpowered? Not at all. That is the entire point of a shield. A good shield and a skilled shield user is nearly invincible when attacked from the front. A buckler isn't all that effect, but a nice kite shield or even tower shield? You're not getting through that very easily.

Bull.  In combat, the best thing you can do is keep a strong offense.  Strike first and the enemy is forced to defend.  Strike strong enough and all the enemy can do is defend.  It’s incredibly difficult to defend from two directions at once so a skilled warrior with two weapons is incredibly dangerous to one with a sword and shield.  After that, the best thing to do is not be where the opponent is attacking… in other words, dodge.  Only after that comes blocking.

Of course, this is only talking about 1 on 1 combat.  A man using two weapons would be torn apart by an archer since you cannot realistically deflect arrows with a sword/axe/whatever (the fact that you can in DF annoys me).  A wall of shields serves not only to protect the person holding the shield, but also the ally to his left… in larger numbers, the effectiveness of dual wielding is greatly diminished.

And on the subject of polearms, it’s the exact opposite.  A spear is a very powerful weapon in formation, no one wants to get close to a wall of guys poking and jabbing anything in front of them… but it is next to useless solo.  A spear has a very limited effective range, one on one, if you can dodge or deflect the first strike, it’s easy to close the distance and leave the spear wielder helpless… you could grab the pole itself making it all but impossible for the spear wielder to attack… you get the idea.

My fortress is being sieged by a joint force of snakemen and lizardmen... but they only brought one archer who was actually incapicitaed rather quickly so now they're just kinda hanging out outside my walls and being shot at by my marksdwarves.

Urist McArchitect is a dwarf with a mission! Building the underground roads that will connect fortresses... These are his stories!

3rd Obsidian, 1049

Urist McArchitect: Ok lads, look at the plans nice and long and start digging... right here.
Urist McMiner: Eh, you sure? Looks like the plans pass right through this lake right here...
Urist McArchitect: Don't worry about it, it'll be fine.