Bay 12 Games Forum

And one more since my first 4-name dwarf makes an appearance.

This chapter starts right after a goblin ambush team is sighted...

CHAPTER 15 – A Winter’s Day (in a deep and dark Opal)
The few workers in the Outer Bailey are called in.  The ready melee squad of hammer dwarves is mobilized and sent to deal with the incursion.  A crossbow squad is sent to the northwest bastion overlooking the western side of the Outer Bailey, but it is expected that they probably will not arrive there in time.  The attacking goblins look to be a sword goblin leading four pike goblins.  And then the Outer Bailey gate goes up before any goblins get inside…
 
Since this stops the combat and leaves goblins lurking about the gate is ordered lowered again.  This operation obliterates two pike goblins that were standing in the right place at the wrong time.
 
An order snafu causes the crossbow squad to go back to barracks and a training squad to assemble by the Main Gate.  As the three remaining goblin cautiously enter the Outer Bailey the correct melee squad forms up at the eastern end of the Outer Bailey.  Shortly afterwards, battle is joined.
 
(PICTURE OF GOBLINS AND DWARVES STARTING FIGHT ON OPEN GROUND CROSSED BY A ROAD)
The skirmish begins.  The rabbit in the lower right is not from Caerbannog – it’s retreating.  The dwarves are not holding good formation, but have numbers and better armor.

(PICTURE OF GOBLIN NUMBERS SUDDENLY DOUBLING)
And right at contact the goblins spring a surprise!  Another ambush team!
 
A mace goblin armed with a morningstar and four lashers suddenly appear.

A back-up melee squad of spear dwarves is immediately sent for, but will not arrive for a while.  The initial round of strikes incapacitates a pike goblin while a dwarf receives a minor leg wound .  A single lasher avoids the melee and heads towards the gate.  Soon afterwards a second lasher breaks off and heads that way as well.  The militia captain takes a hit from a morningstar in the leg and goes down.  A lasher piles on and inflicts additional injuries.
 
(PICTURE OF GOBLINS AND DWARVES IN COMBAT)
The swirl of combat (roughly the end of Round 2).  Note lasher headed east, probably chasing livestock.

A second dwarf gets knocked unconscious by the morningstar wielding goblin.  Not seriously injured – yet.  The lasher headed east finds a weapon trap and gets mangled, but continues towards the gate.  And then gets caught by a cage trap.

The two wounded dwarves are finished off by the goblins.  The mace goblin is wounded and disarmed in the exchange however.  And a lone crossbow dwarf to the south starts taking potshots.

At this point the melee breaks up.  Three goblins are chasing a hammer dwarf to the north.  The lashers are scattered about, and two dwarves are chasing individual goblins.  The hammer dwarf dodges off the Outer Bailey hill and lies stunned next to the creek.  The wounded mace goblin is then chased eastward, right into the arriving spear squad.

The goblins rally at the west side of the Outer Bailey and the dwarves at the eastern side.  The goblins have the sword goblin leader, a pike goblin, and three lashers.  None are seriously wounded, but they have lost a leader and two other goblins (plus the two the gate smashed).  The dwarves have lost a hammer squad captain and another hammer dwarf, plus a dwarf out of the combat area (who will possibly be up on cowardice charges.)  One of the remaining hammer dwarves is in a martial trance as well.

The second combat exchange ends much quicker.  The sword and pike goblins are bashed down and then the fight degenerates into a chase of the three remaining lashers.  This ends when two are chased into the main gate area traps and cornered.  Another dwarf is killed in the exchange from whip damage to the throat .  Upon investigation it turns out this fatality was a trainee spear dwarf who was under-armored and not assigned to be there at all.  This appears to be the requisite idiot death that seems to occur with every goblin encounter.

The gate is opened for the trade caravan to depart while the Outer Bailey is cleaned up and the bodies brought in for burial.  Overall, not a satisfactory encounter and the militia are obviously in need of more work.  Even when the fight turned into five on eight the superior equipment and presumably training should have performed better.  The squad in question was disbanded; there were sufficient squads available and it was quietly decided to split the remaining members up by assigning them elsewhere.

Interlude – The end of a quiet year
The rest of the winter passes without further military unrest.
Militia upgrades drag due to a desire to wait for better armor smith skills to develop.  And the desire to use the dwarves to carry out construction or support work as five projects are carried out simultaneously:
1.    Exploration tunnels in two places attempting to map the magma sea and also hopefully locate more adamantine veins.
2.   Completion of a cistern and tunnel to run water to the current adamantine works.  The easily accessible ore has been mined out – now water is needed to create obsidian barriers to allow access to the rest.  This project is long-term and is still in the primary tunneling phase.  The follow-up work is primarily for the engineers installing floodgates and the appropriate control levers.
3.   The masons have been busy extending walls in the Outer Bailey, completing walk-able parapets on the east and west walls for patrolling, converting a northwest pasture room into a full-fledged multi-story bastion, and completing the hillside tower.
4.    The west end of the Depot Tunnel has been heavily modified.  It now has north and south branches that will end in additional exits to the surface.  This also includes more drawbridges that can be used to control which exits are available to be used.  And a separate tunnel from the Core area is under construction to allow marksdwarves to reach firing galleries that cover the new exits.
5.   The engineers and miners have nearly completed a modernization to the upper end of the Switchback Tunnel.  This incorporates a newly designed “Goblin Grinder Mark II” system.  (See Appendix C) 

Interlude Part 2 – Just a jump to the left (and then a step to the right…)
A hushed conversation takes place in the Duke’s private quarters.  Around a table lit by a few candles sit the Duke, the Mayor, and the fortress Militia Commander.
“Explain to me again what makes you so insistent upon a private meeting and what your log book has to do with it.”

“I initially noticed that the log book had mysteriously moved to a different spot in my desk.  When I went to fill out the day’s entry I found it already filled in.  And the entries for the rest of the year had been made as well.  All in my handwriting, and the older entries had aged ink.  According to it we will have a fight in the North Forty six weeks from now with a goblin raiding force.  We will win, but it will be somewhat costly.  Three killed and some other repercussions I choose to keep quiet about at this time.”

“Well, that would be better than seeing the handwriting change with a date a few weeks with the note ‘Logem was killed by a crundle .’”

“Ha ha. It is to laugh.  Seriously, what we need to decide is how to act on this.  Assuming it’s accurate we get a chance to adjust our actions.  Change construction orders, have a different gate open, or simply make sure that we react to the raid with greater force.”

“Do you assume that the goblins will attack in the same pattern with the same troops?”

 “I will not assume that.  In fact my preference is to avoid that fight altogether.  Open the Pond or Brookside Tunnel now and see if the raiders go in there.  Don’t open the Outer Bailey gate until mid-winter when the trade caravan is actually ready to leave.”

“How about using some of the new tunnel exits?  They are about ready.”

“I think we should hold off on that until all the construction there is complete.  Use one of the existing tunnels to attempt to draw the raiders off, or at least distract them.  If we do not see them by the time the caravan leaves we will try to route them out the far side of the fortress.  Or consider making a large-scale patrol sweep.  In any case we need to get this caravan out intact simply to prove that we are a viable Mountainhome.”

“I concur.  The Brookside is probably the better option for drawing them off.  And if the Switchback gets higher priority we can open it earlier than scheduled as well.”

“Agreed.”

AND WE HAD A GAME CRASH (FOR NO APPARENT REASON.)  SO WE LOSE THREE MONTHS OF TIME AND IT IS NOW IN THE AUTUMN RIGHT AFTER THE DWARVEN CARAVAN ARRIVES.  AND CHAPTER 15 DID NOT OCCUR…
AND TIME UNWINDS IN A NEW COURSE.

Chapter 15A – Danger in the Depths
Mining work continues and things appear to be normal.  There is a minor breach in the second cavern system while getting ore, but only a naked mole dog gets in before the hole is sealed.  The creature does some minor damage before it is hunted down and killed.

In the middle of this disruption a floor hatch in the mining galleries is ruptured.  Through it flies the forgotten beast Spos Esnuststospdab – a gigantic nightjar with three-eyes and an enormous shell . This constitutes a somewhat more serious emergency than the incursion of a naked mole dog.

An immediate alert is sounded and the mining galleries ordered to be cleared while militia squads are summoned to guard the entrance, and then proceed downward once the creature is located.  On Level Z+97 the monster finds dwarves who have not cleared the area.  A miner is attacked, but drives the creature off while inflicting some injury to it.  Another miner is not so lucky.  He gets bowled over, driven into a dead-end gallery and killed.

The melee squad rushes to the area, but the creature has gone deeper.  On Level Z+91 the beast and hammer dwarf Stakud Dorenamem Rir Ron  confront each other.  The fight moves down and back in a wide gallery.  Stakud dodges the beast’s charge, but his strikes only bruise the animal.  Shortly afterwards two more hammer dwarves from the squad arrive.  Once the fight becomes three on one the fell beast is rapidly incapacitated and then pounded into oblivion.  Stakud is not credited with the kill, but his contribution is recognized in helping to corner the beast .

The fractured hatch is replaced with a solid floor and the galleries are re-opened.  In the dining hall it is declared that cooked Forgotten Beast  “tastes like chicken”.

I've been writing fortress histories for a friend who doesn't play DF (so there are asides and footnotes explaining how things work)

This is a chapter from my 2nd fort - which essentially was my "learning fort" - Ok Okbod "The Fingers of Doom"

CHAPTER 13 – Goblin Redux ("Blood in the Snow")
Before the winter of 263 ends another goblin siege army arrives.  This brings construction and item recovery in the Depot Tunnel to a stop.  The other tunnels are also currently closed as well for repairs or expansion work.

Over the cliff to the south come two squads of goblin infantry; a sword squad led by an elite crossbow goblin and an axe squad led by a hammer lord.  From the northwest by the ponds come two more infantry squads; a mace squad led by a hammer lord and an archer squad led by a mace lord.  The force is rounded out by an assault group of trolls entering from the east.

After some quick preparations the Depot Tunnel outer drawbridge is lowered to see if the goblins will enter this way and face the gauntlet of traps set up in the tunnel.  While this is going on it is discovered that recent parapet and wall construction near the eastern pasture has accidently created a crossable spot across the wall tops.  And the trolls have discovered it.  One is at a hilltop position pounding on a locked hatch that will let him into the rest of the eastern Outer Works (mainly pastures).  The on-call melee squad is sent to this area to await developments.  And a work order is dispatched to remove a section of wall and close off this hole in the defenses.
The attempt for a quick fix fails since whenever a workman approaches the spot a troll appears nearby and scares him off.  The one troll already inside continues to attack the hatch while the other seven mill about on the hillside.  In a chamber just below the hatch a defense squad assembles.
Meanwhile, all four goblin squads are marching to the Depot Tunnel.  The leading northwest (archers) and southern (swords) goblin squads reach the Depot Tunnel entrance at the same time and troop in.  The southern axe goblins are close behind while the mace goblins are lagging to the north.
 
(PICTURE SHOWING STRETCH OF TUNNEL WITH LOTS OF GOBLINS IN IT)
Goblin infantry advance into the Depot Tunnel (32 are actually in this shot)

The pit and nearby weapon traps promptly eat most of the archer squad and part of the axe squad.  The Hammer Lord leader continues on while the next squad starts to file onto the reset bridge.

The troll on the hillside breaks through the hatch…
…and is immediately engaged by two hammer dwarves.  They dispatch the first troll quickly, but more are coming down the stairs.  The trolls crowd in on the two dwarf warriors.  They are forced back when one gets stunned, but the other hammer dwarf has already slain three trolls.  Eventually the dwarves are backed into a dead end and the battle becomes truly one of deadly earnest.   Stakud Dorenamem earns the nickname “Rir Ron” (The Ear of Rages) as he slays his fifth troll of this combat.  The other hammer dwarf has slain two and the last troll tardily arrives to face two enraged killing machines.  Stakud gets his sixth kill and the eastern threat is eliminated.

The advancing Hammer Lord in the Depot Tunnel dodges some traps and heads further in until he encounters a cage trap.  At the same time a dwarven militia captain comes into the tunnel, avoids combats, and then dodges into a shallow pit from which he cannot climb out.   Most of the archer goblins are already dead, though a crossbow armed goblin leader is nearby and advancing with the squad he leads.  This could be an easy kill once they cross the bridge and find the dwarf trapped in the pit. 

A well-timed lever pull opens the pit  and sends thirteen more goblins to their doom; including two leaders and the last missile weapon armed goblin in the siege.  Axe and mace goblins mill about the tunnel entrance area since there are currently no traceable paths into the fortress .  Then the mostly intact axe goblin squad leaves over the south cliff with the only surviving leader.  The squad escapes lightly having only lost three casualties.  The remaining four sword goblins and the intact, but leaderless, mace squad lurk in the Depot Tunnel to the west of the still open pit and keep the siege going.

A conundrum is apparent.  To rescue the militia captain in the pit a miner is needed.  However, a miner will not come close enough due to the goblin soldiers on the far side of the pit.  So a marksdwarf squadron is summoned to fire on the goblins in order to either kill them or at least drive them back.  A barrage of bolts later (including bolts made from goblin bone, oh the irony…) four more goblins are dead from bolts or dodging into the open pit, and a few more wounded who crawl off the map.

At this point civilians are let into the tunnel since the remaining goblins are sealed off from the main part of the tunnel.  The militia captain is rescued and time is taken to reset traps and remove metal items left by the goblins.

The final event of the winter before events move on to 264 is the entrance of a minotaur on the east side of the map.  He circles the fortress to the south and enters the Depot Tunnel.  And the mace goblins pound him to a pulp.

END BOOK 4 OF THE ANNALS OF OK OKBOD

i figured it out (in time thank god).

the stocks screen reported that i had a large amount of cave spider silk threads. upon shifting modes, i saw that these threads were not threads, but uncollected webs. i collected one, spun some silk, and got a friggin millstone. awesome. at least i didn't have to deal with a legendary militia commander with a named sword beserking.

Even if you don't need it for grinding you can install that millstone in some room where your dwarves can get estatic at seeing the craftsdwarfship of it.

Becoming the Mountainhome does still generate an additional to a migrant wave which includes the King (or Queen).   And if they're dead you still get the set of guards.  The two times I've become the Mountainhome this meant I got four legendary weapon masters (mix of axe, hammer, sword, spear) who are a definite positive addition to your militia.  (In my case they helped train squads up while the squads trained them in fighter.)

Otherwise, it pretty much generates visits from diplomats and more mandates to meet.

My fort is essentially two parts - an inner core and then outworks.

The inner core is essentially 7x7 or 8x8 blocks around a central 2x2 stair shaft with additional 2x2 stairs on the corners.  Some auxilary rooms like archery ranges, magma reservoirs, poultry rooms, storage, can extend out further, but that is the general design. 

Outworks are either the shaft (or two) going down to access magma and caverns, or my surface works.  The surface works generally turn into a set of roofed areas forming a keep that hold some pasture, barracks, and workshops that benefit from light exposure (like a butcher).  The Trade Depot is gated off from the main area and then connected to areas outside the Keep via access tunnels.  Access to the mining galleries also has a gate built at some point for emergencies - though it is rarely used since I'm careful about breaching the caverns without having additional security already in place.

The access tunnels are generally 3-wide and extend in multiple directions from the Trade Depot location.  They have inner gates, middle gates to force attackers into side tunnel "grinders", and an outer gate near the exit to allow maintenance or trap attackers inside.  These tunnels also tend to accumulate additional traps as the fort matures, or features such as fortifications for the marksdwarves to shoot through.  I also tend to run the tunnels on a stone level to avoid having to pave them at a later time.

And "gate" in this usage is a drawbridge over a dry ditch that raises inward to block off the tunnel.  The levers are centralized in a room or area near the main dining hall.

An access tunnel with a set of gates can go up fairly quickly - less than a year to get one fully dug out and operational.  Installing the traps and especially a fully-functional grinder takes longer since it is pretty labor intensive on your mechanics and you also need to have the weapons and trap components available to install.

The main reason I like the tunnels is *control*.  You get migrants or a caravan into a tunnel ASAP so that they are less likely to go fleeing all over the map if goblins appear.  You get goblins or other attackers into a tunnel where you know what their paths are, can trap them inside, or trap them outside, etc.  And often you can trap a bunch of goblins in one tunnel and let the caravan depart via another tunnel.

If the goal is simply an outpost to build some weapons and then make a vault I'd say to just start development, let the first 2-3 migrant waves in, and then simply wall your fort off from the outside world (and add a roof if you insist on some outdoor exposure) and ignore the goblins, migrants, and traders after that point.

Then let your isolated outpost carry out its stated goal from there.

"Cloth... thread..." just means cloth. However, he might want a specific kind of cloth, one of plant, silk, or yarn. "Tree... life..." means wood. I'm pretty sure the standard embark cloth is pig tail, which is plant-based, so if he's not taking that, he might be seeking silk or animal wool cloth, which unfortunately can be tricky to get ahold of on short notice. He also might want more than stack of leather or bone if he's already gathered one of those.

I've come across a dwarf wanting *candy* cloth as well.

I've been playing a fort recently after a long hiatus and my entryway is protected by a long switch-back corridor lined with cage traps. In previous versions this would stop all ambushing goblins but I've noticed that now the squad leaders are immune to cage traps. I had to add a draw bridge that I raise to keep the leaders out until enough grunts are caged for the leader morale to break and cause them to run off the map. So that's changed, at least.

I've seen squad leaders dodging weapon traps fairly effectively, but not dodging cage traps.  In fact, if they clear the grinders in the tunnel they tend to end up in a cage trap.