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[Lawlcat]

http://i.imgur.com/GKMziaP.jpg


This is my current entrance. I'm quite pleased with the design and it has served me well so far... well, at least the traps.  Every time I send someone to man the ballista they sprint away at the first sign of a goblin. This thing is not decoration!

Is there a way I can resolve this given the current layout? I know I could drop the ballista way further back but that would require dropping it into my dining hall. I considered moving it back another 3 to where that column is, not sure if that would help.

[UberFuber]

Siege operator are civilians, who will run if there's a hostile within about 20 tiles of them.
You'll need to find a way to ensure that enemies don't get within 20 tiles to the siege engine.
Warning, ballista bolts have friendly fire and will happily murder any dwarfs it happens to hit, so you might want to wall up the flight path.
So either relocate your dining hall. OR extend the main entrance out enough your siege operators can get a few shots in before they have to run.

[VerdantSF]

Uber's right.  Perhaps you can move your dining hall to a new location to free up some more space.  I know you'd prefer to keep close to your current layout, but I think you'll benefit a lot from a more extensive redesign.  This will also give you the opportunity to fit 2 more ballistas to cover the 3-tile pathway.  Here's my ballista battery.

[Girlinhat]

Ballistae are blind fire all the time.  Don't worry that your shooters can't see anyone.

[EvilBob22]

I like the engravings down the center of the hallways, you get extra style points for that.  I understand the cool factor in wanting to make ballistae useful, but I personally usually avoid them.

There is one other defense related thing I see there though -- the fortifications should have a channel in front of them to keep the goblins a step back.  I've learned the hard way is that with fortifications like in your screenshot, the goblins will happily step up to them and shoot your dwarfs inside, taking advantage of your own cover.

Try altering your entrance to be more like this:

Code: [Select]

▒▒▒▒▒▒▒+++▒▒▒▒▒▒▒
▒++++<▒^^^▒<++++▒
▒++++▒▒+++▒▒++++▒
▒++++#_+++_#++++▒
▒++++#_^^^_#++++▒
▒++++#_^^^_#++++▒
▒++++#_^^^_#++++▒
▒++++#_+++_#++++▒
▒#####_BBB_#####▒
_______BBB_▒____▒
++++++++++▒DDDDD▒
++++++++++BDDDDD▒
++++++++++BDDDDD▒
++++++++++BDDDDD▒
++++++++++▒DDDDD▒
++++++++++▒▒▒▒▒▒▒

▒ = wall
< = stairs
+ = floor/dirt/road
^ = trap
# = fortification
_ = channel
B = bridge
D = depot
(road not shown)

That should minimize the alterations needed while improving defense.

[JerBear]

i have some experience with spamming ballista:

1. move ballista 20-22 tiles away from where the goblins can walk
2. put open space and fortification between your battery and goblin ( ballista arrow can shoot through fortification )
3. channel out the tile infront of the wall (where the ballista will hit) on the sides and down range of the ballista so you can reuse those masterwork iron ballista
4. stagger placement of more ballista like in the wiki.. i like to place them out in V formation.
5. remember to use walls and fortification to block off those wild shots so u can reuse those arrows.

[laularukyrumo]

If you can get your hands on a method to blind dwarves, do that, and make them the only siege operators. Failing that, I'd stick the ballistae on its own z-level and have the tunnel extend out an absurd distance. Then put fortifications at about 24 tiles away, since ballistae go through them, and then have the path turn upwards (or downwards) and back to the main tunnel.

[Xob Ludosmbax]

I haven't had the good fortune to be able to blind my dwarves, but otherwise I spent a good deal of time attempting to make ballistae useful.  With sighted dwarves, you need a fairly long corridor to keep them from getting spooked.  Even with the gobs trapped, and three ballistae firing down a 3-wide corridor, they are pretty ineffective.  They seem to miss most of the time, and when they do hit, the damage heals "too quickly" much of the time.  IIRC, at about 45 tiles from triple ballistae, the gobs had a half-life of about 4 months of constant firing.  (Bridges on both ends, trapping them in the corridor.)

BTW, if the arrow drops a z-level, it doesn't get consumed.  I dug a pit around my entry hall, with a wall behind it.  You need to get the sides too, because the arrows don't go completely straight.  Just make sure that nobody is down there retrieving arrows while you are firing. 

I could be way off on my numbers, this is going by memory.  I just remember that I found ballistae to be ineffective, and despite my best efforts, I still had a dwarf path in front of the siege engine. 

[slothen]

Moving the ballista 20 tiles back won't work because then the arrow will just fly 15 tiles forward and hit a side wall.

induce blindness in siege operators.

deconstruct ballista

[Ruhn]

I've never tried using these things quite yet, but couldn't the operators be drafted to keep them from running?

[slothen]

I've never tried using these things quite yet, but couldn't the operators be drafted to keep them from running?

its a civillian job, so no.

[Ruhn]

I've never tried using these things quite yet, but couldn't the operators be drafted to keep them from running?

its a civillian job, so no.

Meaning anyone who is in military with that labor enabled will refuse to do so?  Junk...

[JerBear]

my experience with ballista has lead me to this design

outer channel around the wall for ballista arrows to drop down 1 z level for pickup
inner channel makes an island so nobody gets out (i made it 3 tiles wide)
up and down stair on either end ( i made them 5 tile wide )