MW: Don't turn off the Metallurgist and Archaelogist, currently it just makes it impossible to make alloys and get the loot from ruins.
Use the Fish Pond. Use it. Do it now.
Seriously, your fishers can fish with a bucket, indoors. You can even specify you want turtles if you need shells. But don't expect the Fishing skill to work there, you need the Fish Farm skill. As a little tip for Vanilla or MW, you need a fish cleaner now to get turtle shells, it seems. Your dorfs don't just slurp the turtle out of the shell.
MW or Vanilla: Don't bring your wealth up too quickly with lots of crafts and gem encrusted furniture. Many of the baddies are generated based on your wealth. When I stopped my crafters from carving up bins full of crafts right as soon as I got a hole in the mountain, I stopped getting ambushes and titans so quickly. Gives you a little time to set up, cut down all the trees, train your militia.