I have deceived myself, after a dozen fortresses, that I've got the basics of dwarven life support, defenses, and haberdashery down pretty well (to the point where the basic layout of my fortresses is starting to look somewhat the same each time). I've so far been sticking to the advice in the wiki quickstart guide (avoiding aquifers and savage/evil biomes, seeking out multiple shallow metals, soil, flux stone, and lots of trees, taking an occasional foray into volcanos), which generally pushes off the "crap, I wasn't ready for that" to the first goblin ambush that takes out a bunch of fisher-dwarves and woodcutters.
So...I'm trying not to fall into a rut, because I know the game has a lot more to offer than what I've seen so far. What is the most entertaining (not necessarily most challenging or difficult, I'm not ready for a terrifying glacier just yet) embark or set of conditions that you, the collected Overseers, have genned up for yourselves?
Some obvious things I have yet to try:
- Beach-front property
- Aquifers (fresh or salt)
- Mineral poor (relying on wood/bone/copper for example)
- Mountain/Desert/Badlands/Tundra (very limited wood and water supply)
- Detailed preparation for embark (I always go for the "Play Now" option)
- "Good" or mildly "Evil" biomes (I'm probably not ready for reanimating just yet)
- Necromancer tower in range
- Isolationism (island embark, or few/no enemy civs in range)
Any thoughts on what to try first?