Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[fomori]

So I've embarked on an Evil mountain(well, save for a bit of neutral plains to the north).

I had my reasons.

I'm pretty determined here after the pathetic failure of my first attempt, the pretty-much-a-horror-movie lark that was my first reclaim and the honestly eerie adventurer's visit which followed it. I'm like, building a whole story around this stuff :p The Anguished Lancer will obtain the mineral wealth of the Insensitive Tooth of Murders, come hell or high water.

So; to the practical issues. Six of my seven managed to seal themselves inside, but the animated dead are pretty much besieging the place. Farming and brewing are operating fine, but beyond that I'm in trouble. Two more dorfs have fallen due to tantrums, and when I got a migrant wave they all got picked off on the surface. I won't have a hope unless I can somehow get them inside without the undead following them, or more likely getting in first. Just opening the doors gets everyone mauled by zombies.

Current plan for the next wave is long tunnels festooned with stone fall traps, allowing the migrants to get through whilst destroying pursuing undead. Close the door once they're through. But I suspect the migrants will scatter the second they see a zombie so I'm not sure if it will work. In terms of assets the fort has two marksdwarves and can make stone traps but little else. As you migth guess this is the first time I've gotten anywhere with evil embarks beyond 'everyone immediately dies'. How can I pull this off? Will my plan work, is there a more effective way to go about things, or is there a guide of some sort floating around?

[MrsStick]

I would recommend some sort of constructed funnel to get them inside, but I'm not sure you can do that before your military can take them out.

That being said, having a dwarven atom smasher in the main hallway to your fortress might help - open the doors, let a few inside, close the doors, and smash. Repeat. That way you can take them out hands-off. Also, you can have it set up so that there is a single tile wide way to get around the atom smasher, but have it full of traps. That way if the first few in find a way around the atom smasher, they'll hopefully be picked off before getting to your fort.

Does that make sense? (atom smasher = drawbridge)

[Methadone]

I was going to suggest making wooden trap components, before I realized you are locked in.

My approach would be to dig out several underground entrences, secured by  raised bridges or doors, to each map edge. Of course, once your miner breaches the surface you'll have to quickly pull the lever/lock the door to seal the entrance, but after that you'll be able to open a path (or a path to your main trap corrodor) closest to the migrant wave, giving them a better shot.

If you can start smelting any metal you have, it can probably be used for cages, although lack of wood to burn might negate that option. Otherwise, you could dig out an area, put a trade depot in it, open it up to the surface while sealing it off from the fortress proper. Maybe caravan guards can clear some of the dead out.

[BoredVirulence]

I suggest a series of small tunnels that lead to various map edges. Seal each off with a series of doors, and abuse building destroyer's inability to attack objects on a z-level above them. All of these tunnels should have a drawbridge at its end, and all tunnels should connect to a lobby sealed from your fortress by a drawbridge, and maybe a door.

Doors are great for their speed, they can be locked instantly as long as you control it. Abusing the glitch, you can have invulnerable doors, which make a great first line of defense. I always suggest an extra door to buy time for a drawbridge to raise in case things go awry.

Pierce the caverns for the spores at least, and set up a tree farm. All good fortresses have a tree farm. Then I recommend a few wooden traps. Just a few can deal with quite a number of undead. Of course you will still need to dispose of the bodies. I don't recommend using atom-smashers on live targets, too exploity for me. Besides, you will eventually get an undead water buffalo that is not so amused by your atom-smasher...

[MDFification]

Here's a good way to do it: dig a narrow, winding bridge across a shaft leading to an atom smasher. (I'd say magma or drowning trap and then harvest fallen materials, but these are zombies) Line the bridge with spiked wooden balls. Enjoy as the shaft and bridge get painted with blood.
This serves as a filter keeping out things that aren't your dwarves, but doesn't work on things with trapavoid or things that can fly.

Alternatively I'd build a ton of tunnels by the edges of the map that lead directly to your entrance. Don't allow entrance to the fort other than by these tunnels, and keep the entrance/tunnels closed when no migrants are around. This lets you filter migrants directly into your fort, and keeps those pesky, migrant scaring zombies away from your entrance. This system also works with caravans! If you're quick on the controls (and make a route so the caravans can escape via the caverns - they do) you can get a trade caravan in without zombie incurisons. You might loose their guards as they run off to engage the undead though.