Bay 12 Games Forum

Bone bolts will go through iron armour. I don't know whether the crossbow quality, the bolt quality, or the skill level of the dwarf are most important, but it does happen significantly often when all three of those are high.

Oh, really? I didn't know that. Bone's even better than I thought!

Quote from: nightwhips on October 10, 2011, 02:25:04 pm

Conventional wisdom here is that silver, the heaviest metal you can use for bolts, is best. Xbows use only the density of bolts to calculate damage, or at least weight that heavily (according to other posters here), and silver is the heaviest you can use.

Same is true for warhammers, maces, and other blunt attacks (I know, bolts aren't blunt...).

I suspect that conventional wisdom is wrong, since the raws for bolts includes:
[ATTACK:EDGE:100:2000:stab:stabs:NO_SUB:1000]

They're a stabbity edge attack, not a blunt attack. So they're more like spears than hammers (as they should be).

That is how it SHOULD work. However, either edges in ranged attacks aren't working right, or bolts don't go through armor well, or something, because that's not how it works.
Also bear in mind that in DF, steel edged weapons don't get a +2 to damage or anything so...gamey. It's far more complex than that.

OP: Stop kidding yourself, you want to kill dwarves. Just lock the useless migrants and perhaps useless citizens into a room (help using burrows may be needed) for several months until they either die of thirst or go tantruming from the deaths and miasma of those now-friends of theirs that starved or dehydrated earlier. Later, work on a deathtrap, ideally involving magma and/or a chance of flooding the fortress if something goes wrong.

I like the Trial By Whatever Small Tasty-Looking Creature Wanders Onto the Map First--you know, the TBWSTLCWOMF (tib-wis-tulc-womph, with somewhat arbitrary vowel sounds added).

There are games you can win with spam of "the best unit".  This is not one of them.

Pretty much, although a zerg rush is better than nothing, a zerg rush backing up some elite units is even better, spamming cage traps can deal with most threats, most others can be defeated with a corridor of repeating upright spikes, and, of course, almost anything will die if you use a large enough amount of...
(Necro, this is your cue.)

A. We have limonite, and if that's not enough our accidental prospecting revealed veins of hematite annd limonite (as well as lignite and coal), so no worries about that.

That "star-shaped building" has an interesting history. It came with a "termitefolk colony" mod I found, and was originally used to make wood edible. I added a reaction to that workshop to also "grow" wood, which I gave to the dwarves in this mod so they could build massive wood walls and stuff. Stuff I forgot to mention. That's why all the walls are a nice even yellow where the blood of two enemies (and counting) has not stained it.

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The universe grinds to a halt as the gods turn their focus to another world.

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At a time where I thought no one was reading this, I agreed to join and pierce the aquifer of Unitedbolt. This means I won't be updating Dawnstone for...a few days at least.

Hematite 24, 31

...Fuck. That's what we wanted to AVOID.
We failed.
The plans for our dormitory will need to be...changed.

On the bright side, we know where not to dig. I have Yelledconstruct dig a staircase down next to the offending one and prepare orders to vlock off the hole.
Yelledconstruct is legendary (by her accounts, at least; regardless, she's quite skilled) at mining, so she swiftly begins excavations. Limonite is struck in the dorm.

Jobs are being given to the migrants. Pulleysmiths is being drafted as a speardwarf.
An order for training spears and another for bone armor are drawn up and given top priority.Orders for leather armor and waterskins are also...ordered.

Hematite 25, 31
A giant badger gets angry at the very existance of one of the jabberers.

Hematite 27, 31
A giant badger gets angry at the very existance of Planksearch.

Malachite 1, 31
The caverns are sealed! What a shame that the spores entered...

Malachite 4, 31
I was checking the corridors for plants to have plucked, when what did I see but a giant fucking badger waltzing down our west corridor?
Plenty. I didn't see a giant badger waltzing, in fact; that would be horrifying. But I did see a giant badger, friends on her heels...

...coming straight towards to fortress.

And then leaving, friends still on heels. Thank Armok.

Malachite 9, 31
A giant badger got angry at the very existance of a dog.

Malachite 14, 31
After a long wait, I finally get an office. It has a nice view.

Malachite 16, 31
A giant badger gets angry at the very existance of a platypus man.
Wait, that's a normal badger!

Malachite 17, 31
Different badger, different platy, same story. Angry at the very existance.
I choose a spot for a well.

Malachite 20, 31
A badger gets angry at the very existance of Bridgeinches.
I wish I had more news to report that badgers getting angry at the very existance of stuff.

Malachite 22, 31
I complete the well.

Malachite 25, 31
A badger gets angry at the very existance of a jabberer.

Galena 1, 31
A badger gets angry at the very existance of Walledeast.

Galena 15, 31
An area for training siege operation has been completed right next to the well.

Clay lumps are shot to the east, strike the wall above the passage, and fall into a neat little pile where they can be reused. Nice and compact.

Galena 19, 31
Aside from a wild shot and the fact that dolomite was grabbed rather than the clay, the catapault worked perfectly.

Galena 22, 31
With the southeast-quadrent entry gate completed, basic defenses...still need the lever to pull to actually close the gates.

Galena 28, 31
A dog gave birth to puppies. Two of them, a male and a female.

Limestone 9, 31
A giant cave spider gave birth to giant cave spiderlings. Two of them, a male and a female.
As the elves say, deja voodoo. Something like that.

Limestone 12, 31
I have decided to expand the catapault training range to two part-time trainees.

Limestone 21, 31
A badger man got angry at the very existance of Planksearch. He decided to take out said anger on Bridgeinches...and Walledeast (who shortly thereafter fell asleep)...then he ran away, doing no damage.
No, wait, now he's angry at MY existance and wants to take it out on Blizzardgate...fuck this, send in the militia! They've got (wood) spears, they've got (leather) armor, they've got a (somewhat) inferior foe, they should be fine.

They were. In fact, Boatblizzards managed to punch the badger man into the well! Remarkably, though, the beast continued to breathe just fine despite unconsciousness and, well, being in a river deep enough to kill most dwarves. The badger man then regained consciousness, having lost it after hitting the riverbed due to wounds received, swam maybe ten or fifteen feet, then collapsed in pain again.

Limestone 23, 31
A cat gave birth to kittens. Two, a male and a female.
As the elves say, daily vu. Or something like that.

Limestone 24, 31
A badger man was seen wandring inside fortress walls. I decide to send our two kind diplomats who met the last of his kind to arrive unnanounced...
The badger man flees to jejoin his fellows. Seeing as how neither has grabbed a wood spear yet, I guess that it'll be a fairly fair fight.

Maybe not. Neither dwarf has a scratch. Also, the first badger man drowned. Sadly Boatblizzards was only credited with the kill of the badger man whose skull he staved in, due to union regulations.

Limestone 25, 31
I start a wall designed to give us freer access to the other side of the river (West quadrents, to be exact) even when under siege. Because they WILL come...

Limestone 26, 31
Another badger person, this one a lady-badger, was sent. Perhaps they thought that her beauty would blind us to the fact that she was on our land?
One thing they didn't count on is that our militia is all-female.
[A fact I didn't notice until just now.]
Boatblizzards makes Dawnstone proud again by defeating the badger woman single- and bare-handedly, although in doing so also mars the nice surface of our perimeter wall. Although some would argue that a good fortress needs the bloodstains of a thousand foes spattered on its walls to truly be a Fortress, so maybe we're just 0.1% of the way to Fortresshood. In any case, I have chosen to apply what my...advisor...terms the “Creon in Antigone” policy on slain intelligent foes: Their corpses will be left outside to rot. (If inside, they will be brought to a special pile inside our walls as a “reward” for having gotten in so far.) However, in what he terms the “Saving Haemon” policy, all such foes will also get a stone slab.
[Mainly to take them off of the list of creatures I can engrave a slab for. Also, a cookie to whoever gets the reference.]

Sandstone 1, 31
This is absolutely unacceptable!

From this day forth, I declare war on the badger man race for intruding on our home once too often, and much too far! Also the badger race, but mostly because they're tasty.
Now we are angry at YOUR very existances, badger-morons!
...Well, not what I expected. Oddly enough, the militia (now with wooden spears in hand) went after the female badger woman on the surface and not the badger man in the tunnel. Oh well, war has officially been declared, eventually the news will get to them, and anyways a jabberer tore the tunnel-invader to several messy bits, thereby making us 0.2% of the way towards being a Fortress.

Sandstone 4, 31
A group of some more badger people entered, and what's more their one “emissary” has attempted a pre-emptive strike on me to decapitate our leadership. Time for another battle.

On a side note, here's the names and such we have so far for our military history:
The Battle of the Well: Limestone 21, 31. 1 unnamed badger man (killed) vs. 2 speardwarves (no losses). Result: Victory for Dawnstone, slightly tainted wellwater.
The First Battle of the Bridge: Limestone 24, 31. 1 unnamed badger man (killed) vs. 2 speardwarves (no losses). Result: Victory for Dawnstone.
The Second Battle of the Bridge: Limestone 26, 31. 1 unnamed badger woman (killed) vs. 2 speardwarves (no losses). Result: Victory for Dawnstone, 0.1% of the way to Fortresshood.
The Invasion of the Tunnel: Sandstone 1, 31. 2 unnamed badger people (all killed) vs. 2 speardwarves, 1 jabberer (no losses). Result: Official declaration of war. Victory for Dawnstone, 0.2% of the way to Fortresshood.

So far, this battle is not--one soldier is asleep, the other refuses to budge.

Sandstone 5, 31
Apparently Pulleysmiths didn't feel secure without Boatblizzards with her. Oh well.
Aand Pulleysmiths went to sleep in the tunnel.

The Battle of the West Bank: Sandstone 5-9. 7 badger people (7 losses) vs. 2 speardwarves (no losses).
Pulleysmiths awoke just at the end, despite sleeping through a kitten scaring off another badger man, but the kitten did not participate in the battle and was so not included. Pulleysmiths got her first kill, so she was.

Sandstone 9, 31
Some badgers were sighted, but as they didn't stand on two legs or babble, they were left alone for now so as to give our soldiers a break.

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The Battle of the West Bank seems like a good place to stop.

But it I add [ITEMS_HARD] to clay, it would be fireable?

You're a noob? Okay, let's see:

-Nonsavage, ideally good embark to cut down on dangerous wild animals. In a good, benign environment, all you need to fear are unicorns and the occasional lucky badger.
-Lots of trees and other plants.
-Clay is helpful to me, but can be skipped varying on your playstyle.
-NO AQUIFER.
-A river is a good idea.
-Depending on your playstyle, either flat to allow easy harvesting of surface plants, or cliffy to allow you to dig into a cliff face.
-Small to save on FPS. 3x3 works well for me, sometimes 2x2. The default 4x4 might work on your computer.
-Reverse any of these except the last to give yourself a challenge. Ideally pick the one you have least idea how to deal with.