Bay 12 Games Forum

So I have a nice candy warhammer for my Hammerer. I want him to start using it. I assign him to a squad, assign him the candy hammer as a weapon. Next time he gets a criminal, what does he do? He drops the candy hammer, grabs a silver warhammer from the barracks, and smashes the poor guy's head in. I finally get him to pick up the hammer by locking him in so it's the only one he can get to, but then he drops the thing after one hammering and goes for the silver again.

*sigh*

I need a good way to assign weapons, clothing, and armor to specific dwarves. The Fortress Guard can be done on the military screen (though whether they pick up their items is anybody's guess). But the Hammerer? Civilian dwarves? What if I want my civilians to wear, say, a copper chain shirt, just in case? Or assign armor to my woodcutters, so they don't get bisected by the next badger?

Let 'em live. Are the other two dorfs opposite gender? See if you can get them to pair off, and then their kids can pair off when they become adults.

I've had long-running forts, and it's always cool when the first baby born in your fort becomes an adult. I like to cheat with Dwarf Therapist to assign Hauling labor to all children. Yes, it's cheating, but it's not unrealistic. A kid can carry a sock or push a wheelbarrow from Point A to Point B just fine; not like it takes skill.

And, with any luck, the kids will have had a craftsdwarf mood before they come of age.

Well, recently I sent a herd of 365 cave crocodiles to be horribly killed by a swarm of clowns. Does that count?

Tried assigning wardogs to your woodcutters?

Nicely done. Since they have been sending big armies like this, expect them to continue, probably even bigger numbers in the future. You might benefit from setting up a corridor in which your military can fight them a few at a time, with doors or corners blocking line of sight so that your military stays together. Sooner or later the military will be out in the open, but if you can get them to fight enemies at a chokepoint you'll reduce dwarven casualties because it's harder for the enemy to mob them from all sides. Directing the enemy at your military from just one direction will force them to come a few at a time.

Be careful that your dwarves are not fighting on top of trap fields. You don't want a bunch of dwarves pulverized, minced, or caged because they fell unconscious on top of a trap.

Do you have cage traps or chained animals across your entrances? You really should; they're great for catching ambushes before they get to the chewy dwarven center of your fort.

Don't they dump their clothes when they transform? If so, it would result in an extremely unhappy population thereafter.

Natural selection has long ago weeded out any dwarves who cannot stand near magma without cooking.

Why is it impossible to request any adamantine from a caravan, even if you have previously had a fort in the same world that exported tons of the stuff?

To see a dwarf's inventory, use "v" and then pick the "i" option.

The equipment can be changed in the military screen. Make up your uniforms and assign them to squads or to individual dwarves. it may take them a while to follow your orders, though.