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Author Topic: Boredom at the circus  (Read 2487 times)

Icefire2314

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Boredom at the circus
« on: October 22, 2013, 09:11:08 pm »

Well, I got bored and decided to go visit the circus. I quicksaved with DFhack and then we broke into the circus. With 15 dorfs, most of whom were recruits. Needless to say it was a bloodbath

Regardless, it was just an experiment but got me thinking, what are some good strategies for dealing with clowns? I'd like to try some more legitimate strategies, rather than cheaper ones.
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itg

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Re: Boredom at the circus
« Reply #1 on: October 22, 2013, 09:25:48 pm »

Spike traps on repeat, cave-ins, and obsidian casting all work very well, and they are fully risk-free strategies if you don't seriously screw up (e.g. by leaving a path into your fort). The easiest way to kill the clowns with military would probably be to trap them behind fortifications, thin the herd with marksdwarves, then mop up with a large, well-trained contingent of axedwarves. Once I beat the HFS with a handful of goblin corpses and a necromancer. I wouldn't recommend that one, to be honest. Took forever.

The real question is, what would you consider legitimate?

Matoro

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Re: Boredom at the circus
« Reply #2 on: October 23, 2013, 12:24:12 am »

If it is complex and stupid and sort of "why in the Armok's sake anyone would do this", it's legitimate for dwarves.

I usually go with large amounts of military (preferably legendaries with steel/candy) and see who wins. If I really want to make sure that I win, I'll build a long corridor of upright spikes set on repeat.
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Maw

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Re: Boredom at the circus
« Reply #3 on: October 23, 2013, 03:58:13 am »

If it is complex and stupid and sort of "why in the Armok's sake anyone would do this", it's legitimate for dwarves.

You forgot to mention the unexpected spectacular failure...
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Zaroua

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Re: Boredom at the circus
« Reply #4 on: October 23, 2013, 10:04:27 am »

Word of warning: clowns can spawn with webs or with deadly dust. Melee dwarves become mostly useless against these two types of demons; check which kind of clowns there are on your map before committing to any type of strategy that involves massive amounts of fighters. I may or may not be speaking from experience. Twice.
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imperium3

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Re: Boredom at the circus
« Reply #5 on: October 23, 2013, 03:10:39 pm »

Word of warning: clowns can spawn with webs or with deadly dust. Melee dwarves become mostly useless against these two types of demons; check which kind of clowns there are on your map before committing to any type of strategy that involves massive amounts of fighters. I may or may not be speaking from experience. Twice.

Clowns that breathe fire, or are made of flame, aren't much of a picnic either.

It's called !!FUN!! for a reason... ;)
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Icefire2314

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Re: Boredom at the circus
« Reply #6 on: October 23, 2013, 03:20:10 pm »

Word of warning: clowns can spawn with webs or with deadly dust. Melee dwarves become mostly useless against these two types of demons; check which kind of clowns there are on your map before committing to any type of strategy that involves massive amounts of fighters. I may or may not be speaking from experience. Twice.

When I visited the circus after I quicksaved, I had around 4 or five webspinning clowns. Fortunately they spawn randomly each time.
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Desgeretjin

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Re: Boredom at the circus
« Reply #7 on: October 24, 2013, 04:53:26 am »

Perpetual minecart Grinder.
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Bihlbo

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Re: Boredom at the circus
« Reply #8 on: October 24, 2013, 05:29:34 pm »

Perpetual minecart Grinder.
That's a neat idea I've never considered!
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EvilBob22

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Re: Boredom at the circus
« Reply #9 on: October 24, 2013, 05:35:23 pm »

I've used that as a front entrance before, it works wonders against all kinds of sieges.  Never tried it against clowns, though I imagine it would be on par with repeating spikes.
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I will run the experiment to completion anyway, however. Even if the only reason why there is a punctured equilibrium in the fortress is because I have been brutally butchering babies
EDIT: I just remembered that dwarves can't equip halberds. That might explain why the squads that use them always die.

werechicken

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Re: Boredom at the circus
« Reply #10 on: October 24, 2013, 05:40:33 pm »

I once tried to set up a dwavern rail shotgun pointed at the clown tent entrance. It had six shots and was truly mighty (lead bars and steel swords), then a farting clown showed up with a siege and made confetti out of my dwarfs, as my defence was almost entirely weapon traps and cages.

I still wonder if that rail shotgun would have been any good
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