Bay 12 Games Forum

Please login or register.

Login with username, password and session length
Advanced search  
Pages: [1] 2 3 4

Author Topic: Military Dwarves Guarding People  (Read 6944 times)

Dwarf Fort Player 999

  • Escaped Lunatic
    • View Profile
Military Dwarves Guarding People
« on: December 07, 2018, 07:53:55 pm »

I don't think this is possible yet but I think it would be cool if you could assign a squad to guard certain citizens such as the mayor or king. (You could have a King's Guard!) Thanks
Logged

FantasticDorf

  • Bay Watcher
    • View Profile
Re: Military Dwarves Guarding People
« Reply #1 on: December 08, 2018, 09:47:19 am »

Its not possible in the pure way you wanted right now, but you can attach a squad to a noble's raws to make them part of a military group with assignable members, but its as buggy as it sounds.

This suggestion would be nice though to set a existing squad to 'guard this thing/person/building' to attack any hostiles & intervene with a appropriate brawling/lethal reaction to anybody who assaults them or it.

  • Guards could intervene on the spot and arrest the attacker, or the person being protected has a morale failure and calls for them (which if you're a sneaky assassin adventurer, you might have done the proactive thing and killed them first while they slept by creeping into the castle)
Logged

GoblinCookie

  • Bay Watcher
    • View Profile
Re: Military Dwarves Guarding People
« Reply #2 on: December 08, 2018, 09:53:13 am »

I don't think this is possible yet but I think it would be cool if you could assign a squad to guard certain citizens such as the mayor or king. (You could have a King's Guard!) Thanks

Makes sense once assassinations are a thing, which seems to be next release.
Logged

FantasticDorf

  • Bay Watcher
    • View Profile
Re: Military Dwarves Guarding People
« Reply #3 on: December 08, 2018, 10:03:03 am »

Makes sense once assassinations are a thing, which seems to be next release.

"Fortress Guard" 'aka' civilian bruisers and antagonisers as well as any guard levies you see on-site would likely fufill this role but something more explicit for dwarf mode makes a very good point if some goblin assassins try to kill your baron (if they were annoying, let them proceed and unassign guards)

Assassins directly in fortress mode have not been confirmed, only the third hand wg. assassins mentioned in the talk which seem to be typically bandits, but lets see how that plays out.
Logged

GoblinCookie

  • Bay Watcher
    • View Profile
Re: Military Dwarves Guarding People
« Reply #4 on: December 08, 2018, 10:40:13 am »

"Fortress Guard" 'aka' civilian bruisers and antagonisers as well as any guard levies you see on-site would likely fufill this role but something more explicit for dwarf mode makes a very good point if some goblin assassins try to kill your baron (if they were annoying, let them proceed and unassign guards)

Assassins directly in fortress mode have not been confirmed, only the third hand wg. assassins mentioned in the talk which seem to be typically bandits, but lets see how that plays out.

Fortress Guard are general guards/law-enforcers for the fortress, they aren't a personal escort for the almost entirely safe rulers in a world without assassins. 
Logged

FantasticDorf

  • Bay Watcher
    • View Profile
Re: Military Dwarves Guarding People
« Reply #5 on: December 08, 2018, 10:52:54 am »

"Fortress Guard" 'aka' civilian bruisers and antagonisers as well as any guard levies you see on-site would likely fufill this role but something more explicit for dwarf mode makes a very good point if some goblin assassins try to kill your baron (if they were annoying, let them proceed and unassign guards)

Assassins directly in fortress mode have not been confirmed, only the third hand wg. assassins mentioned in the talk which seem to be typically bandits, but lets see how that plays out.

Fortress Guard are general guards/law-enforcers for the fortress, they aren't a personal escort for the almost entirely safe rulers in a world without assassins.

I dont want to nit-pick but they are the most pernament members on site, since you can't send them off or away for risk of compromising your fortress's ability to conduct justice (due to bugs relating to captured squad leaders/members), squads may end up being pulled away all the time and w.g sites generate 'guards' anyway to roam and protect without tags.
Logged

catoblepas

  • Bay Watcher
  • Likes catoblepi for their haunting moos
    • View Profile
Re: Military Dwarves Guarding People
« Reply #6 on: December 08, 2018, 10:58:31 am »

I think it would be an interesting way for the existing 'mercenaries' to be implemented. Particularly with the upcoming villains arc and when the economy gets re-introduced.
Logged

GoblinCookie

  • Bay Watcher
    • View Profile
Re: Military Dwarves Guarding People
« Reply #7 on: December 08, 2018, 11:11:36 am »

I dont want to nit-pick but they are the most pernament members on site, since you can't send them off or away for risk of compromising your fortress's ability to conduct justice (due to bugs relating to captured squad leaders/members), squads may end up being pulled away all the time and w.g sites generate 'guards' anyway to roam and protect without tags.

They are from the player's POV no less expendable than any other dwarf.  The only risk is that you spam legends with 'how X was promoted' and this ends up being engraved all over your fortress. 

Generally you want to concentrate force, it is a basic principle of warfare.  Having squads following individuals who are in no particular danger of dying is the opposite of military sense because why they are doing that your forces are divided.  Until assassins exist which seems to tie in very well to presently developed mechanics about conspiracies, adding in bodyguards is basically just added a new way for the players to play badly. 

Players will think that assassins exist because bodyguards do. 
Logged

Dorsidwarf

  • Bay Watcher
  • [INTERSTELLAR]
    • View Profile
Re: Military Dwarves Guarding People
« Reply #8 on: December 08, 2018, 11:22:00 am »

But assassins arent the only reason someone might need protection in Dwarf Fortress. I've lost many important dwarves to caverns fauna ambushes, megabeasts arriving when they're out working, ambushes, etc. If I was able to give them bodyguards, I wouldnt have lost them.

Besides, giving the King an honour guard would be nice
Logged
Quote from: Rodney Ootkins
Everything is going to be alright

FantasticDorf

  • Bay Watcher
    • View Profile
Re: Military Dwarves Guarding People
« Reply #9 on: December 08, 2018, 01:11:48 pm »

But assassins arent the only reason someone might need protection in Dwarf Fortress. I've lost many important dwarves to caverns fauna ambushes, megabeasts arriving when they're out working, ambushes, etc. If I was able to give them bodyguards, I wouldnt have lost them.

Besides, giving the King an honour guard would be nice

Not forgetting beserk dwarf tantrums infront of your mayor.

Logged

Shonai_Dweller

  • Bay Watcher
    • View Profile
Re: Military Dwarves Guarding People
« Reply #10 on: December 08, 2018, 06:52:14 pm »

Makes sense once assassinations are a thing, which seems to be next release.
Assassins directly in fortress mode have not been confirmed, only the third hand wg. assassins mentioned in the talk which seem to be typically bandits, but lets see how that plays out.
Villainous plots:
"Assassination of position-holding dwarves and meddling adventurers"

"Dwarves" in this devnote for pre-mythgen villains update refers to Fortress-mode play (unless worldgen villains are going to purposfully avoid humans, elves and goblins, which makes no logical sense).
Logged

GoblinCookie

  • Bay Watcher
    • View Profile
Re: Military Dwarves Guarding People
« Reply #11 on: December 11, 2018, 08:01:26 am »

But assassins arent the only reason someone might need protection in Dwarf Fortress. I've lost many important dwarves to caverns fauna ambushes, megabeasts arriving when they're out working, ambushes, etc. If I was able to give them bodyguards, I wouldnt have lost them.

Besides, giving the King an honour guard would be nice

All of these things effect regular dwarves with no different probability than important dwarves.  Giving your king an honour guard takes from the military strength of the entire fortress and won't protect your king much if the fortress falls.  You are best off deploying troops from a central location to wherever the trouble is, than deploying troops to wherever the king is at the moment. 

All this changes of course once assassins are a thing naturally.
Logged

voliol

  • Bay Watcher
    • View Profile
    • Website
Re: Military Dwarves Guarding People
« Reply #12 on: December 11, 2018, 09:43:19 am »

But assassins arent the only reason someone might need protection in Dwarf Fortress. I've lost many important dwarves to caverns fauna ambushes, megabeasts arriving when they're out working, ambushes, etc. If I was able to give them bodyguards, I wouldnt have lost them.

Besides, giving the King an honour guard would be nice

All of these things effect regular dwarves with no different probability than important dwarves.  Giving your king an honour guard takes from the military strength of the entire fortress and won't protect your king much if the fortress falls.  You are best off deploying troops from a central location to wherever the trouble is, than deploying troops to wherever the king is at the moment. 

All this changes of course once assassins are a thing naturally.

Of course, but you (and your nobles) might want to protect some more than others. There are also threats such as cave animals and berserk dwarves that may be lethal to an unarmed individual but easily stopped by a single assigned soldier and thus far from fort-threatening levels.

FantasticDorf

  • Bay Watcher
    • View Profile
Re: Military Dwarves Guarding People
« Reply #13 on: December 11, 2018, 10:08:11 am »

Well this was a sudden strike of Deja-Vu, lets not send the discussion round in circles please.
Logged

Dorsidwarf

  • Bay Watcher
  • [INTERSTELLAR]
    • View Profile
Re: Military Dwarves Guarding People
« Reply #14 on: December 12, 2018, 10:53:41 am »

But assassins arent the only reason someone might need protection in Dwarf Fortress. I've lost many important dwarves to caverns fauna ambushes, megabeasts arriving when they're out working, ambushes, etc. If I was able to give them bodyguards, I wouldnt have lost them.

Besides, giving the King an honour guard would be nice

All of these things effect regular dwarves with no different probability than important dwarves.  Giving your king an honour guard takes from the military strength of the entire fortress and won't protect your king much if the fortress falls.  You are best off deploying troops from a central location to wherever the trouble is, than deploying troops to wherever the king is at the moment. 


All this changes of course once assassins are a thing naturally.

This really is an objectively wrong point. If you deploy your troops from a central location, then by the time they reach the incident your king/legendary craftsdwarf has been beaten to death in the tavern by a tantrumming dwarf who went mad from brooding over rain or whatever. Or shanked fatally by a random goblin snatcher with a knife he bumped into by mistake while standing outside. Or eaten by a cavern fauna that sneaked in behind a monster hunter or any one of a million different ways that unarmed people get killed in dwarf fortress. Whereas if you have a couple of guards following them around, they're far less likely to meet these sticky ends.
Logged
Quote from: Rodney Ootkins
Everything is going to be alright
Pages: [1] 2 3 4