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Author Topic: Your most climactic battle in dwarf fortress?  (Read 19847 times)

StreetPizza

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Re: Your most climactic battle in dwarf fortress?
« Reply #15 on: May 31, 2011, 06:40:04 pm »

Way back when in the days of 31.18 (or something like that), I made a fort, trained a weaponsmith up to legendary with a metric shit-ton of serrated iron, silver, and copper disks and a few iron warhammers here and there, got him to make a few masterwork adamantine spears, and abandoned it so I could explore (and more importantly, plunder) it as an adventurer. Before I could get one of the spears, I ended up face to hideous face with one of the nearby cavern's forbidden beasts. Turns out the grates I installed in the water source about 20 z-levels down to keep unwanted guests out had broken down and this thing, an ankylosaurid if I recall correctly, which is like a dinosaur but worse 'cause it's got armor, had gotten in.

I still had an iron spear at this point and maybe about three companions to ward off boogeymen.

For the most part during the fight, I was the only one doing any real damage because my character had superhuman strength owing to his demigod stat points heritage and even then, I could barely do anything other than the occasional boo-boo.

Then I fractured one of its bones. And then another. And then I tore its guts. It passed out pretty quickly, but we were barely any closer to killing it. None of us, me included, could pierce its skull, so we had to settle with making the damn thing bleed out or something. And so we did. And so we came out afterwards covered in sweat, blood, and vomit. I got a bitchin' adamantine spear (which I modded to do slashy attacks afterwards) to show for it, though.

Also, apparently, if you abandon a fort while an ambush party is still hidden somewhere on the map, the ambushers are considered to have conquered the fort and will be found inside afterwards. Makes sense that they would be able to conquer an empty fort, I guess.
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bsherard

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Re: Your most climactic battle in dwarf fortress?
« Reply #16 on: June 01, 2011, 02:34:50 am »

By far my most nail biting fight has been a challenge for myself to defeat and pave over the clown circus with nothing but military. No spiked halls of doom, no icicle/obsidian traps, just bodies against bodies. My entire fort is designed for this single mad quest. I've shut down everything else and sealed off our existence from the topside. Only the third cavern connects to this suicide mission. The battle has been going for nearly 7 game years now. My strategy so far is successful enough that dwarven losses are replenished by breeding while the clowns slowly dwindle.

 It is a war of attrition where brief excursions of blue clad legends make quick cuts into the softer parts of the circus, followed by archers to stay any poisonous or particularly igneous clowns. I keep special care to avoid being drawn too far from safety as my dwarves often forget anything but the desire for slaughter and risk compromising their position to foes that could kill them all. While this tactical dance moves back and forth across the slade, I have the braver masons and haulers build and fortify outward ever so slowly. They are as much trouble to manage as my soldiers. When they flee, they take particular care to not flee to shelter, but to an edge of the clown tent, stirring up any idle clown near by. I've stopped arming them in cotton candy since the moment they get attacked they run into the worst of the carnies anyhow.

Nearly half of the circus is now a parking lot but I'm about out of clown bones for bolts. I've adjusted my logistics to provide more animals to fill the gap, but I can't wait too long; right now the clowns are particularly vulnerable because the most dangerous ranged and gaseous group are currently separated from the more physically inclined. If I can take them down with my archers first, the rest of the fight will be a complete rout. When they are mingled, it is impossible to micromanage my bladed fighters to avoid the right ones. Plus every moment I wait increases their numbers as other clowns wander into the circus. I'm out of all useful metal and nearly out of wood so I'm still working out a plan get them while they are exposed. It might involve walling them.

So far I've killed over 120 clowns and lost 10 or so dwarves, mostly to the terrified stupidity of poorly executed cowardice. My heroes are a plethora of clown diseases and ailments. Most have no fat left, having long since had it melted away in some minor exposure to clown fire. Limbs are missing here and there, but not too many amputees. By far the worst is the dizziness, rot, head to toe bruising, and broken innards. These warriors are more than a little cybornetic too, with the occasional cotton candy stitching I couldn't forbid in time. Not a one of them hasn't named their blade from the years of fighting. The military operation by mountainhome thoughtworks, pledged to the cause of the ramparts of acting is by far the most epic battle I've tried.

The reason I post this DF battle in an adventure mode thread is because next I plan to try to reach this fort, surrounded by goblins, still opened to the circus and in the middle of evil lands as a peasant. It will make everything I wrote above sound like a friendly argument.
« Last Edit: June 01, 2011, 03:03:12 am by bsherard »
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Yoink

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Re: Your most climactic battle in dwarf fortress?
« Reply #17 on: June 01, 2011, 03:18:57 am »

Pretty awesome, Bsherard! Keep us posted! :)
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Montague

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Re: Your most climactic battle in dwarf fortress?
« Reply #18 on: June 01, 2011, 10:55:56 pm »

I dunno, but I love barging into some night-creatures lair with about 10 soldiers and dog-piling the resident in advent mode.

Just nothing but this evil thing ultimately winding up writhing on the ground having pikes and spears twisted in them, being beaten and hacked to death. Its satisfying.
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Tlc2011

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Re: Your most climactic battle in dwarf fortress?
« Reply #19 on: June 16, 2011, 11:25:23 pm »

Mmmm, I remember two. First one was when I was climbing a volcano as a Kobold adventurer and became the first to reach it's summit. Then I had the bright idea of fighting a Griffon right next to the volcano's mouth. It tackled me and we both fell and ended up fighting 'till we hit the magma sea...and continued to duke it out until we both burned.

The second one is picking a fight in a town full of hunters/crossbowmen...while they are all around/surrounding me. I lasted quite a long time despite:


Couldn't block all of them, eventually lost most motor functions. Would have given them the finger if I could still move my hands...the bloodloss didn't help. Tried pulling an bolt out but DF couldn't take all the shooting and stabbing going at the same time & it crashes. So I ended up with Schroedinger's Pincushion...is my adventurer dead or did he survive?

There are more...but I can't rememberer most of the details accurately...
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nogoodnames

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Re: Your most climactic battle in dwarf fortress?
« Reply #20 on: June 17, 2011, 12:24:53 am »

One of my most climactic battles was with my first "successful" adventurer (successful here meaning not dying to bogeymen in the first night). He fought scores of goblins and monsters with his copper warhammer but the crowning point of his career was when he took down a mountain titan. After traveling for days his companions had all succumbed to ambushes and he was left to fight the beast alone. Shortly into the battle the titan had bitten off the warrior's hammer arm and things looked bleak, but by some miracle the dwarf was able to blind the monster. With his remaining arm he took his hammer and brought it down hard against the creature's chest, sending splintering its ribs and tearing its lungs. The beast could finally take no more and suffocated.

That adventurer went on to kill many more bandits and a hydra before finally being slain by bogemen in the plain of heroes.
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UltraTobs

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Re: Your most climactic battle in dwarf fortress?
« Reply #21 on: August 18, 2015, 02:07:30 am »

Well, it isn't the best, but one day I was wondering aimlessly, and I came across a small village. I am a necromancer + vampire, btw. The village had one well. And for some reason, there were some soldiers there. I think they might of been hunting me, because all of a sudden they became hostile, but did not attack me! One was standing right near the well, so I punched him and sent him down the well. I don't even know what happened to him. Literally, no announcements were made about him... I guess he's stuck down there forever. I killed three more soldiers, then the rest ran away.

I also killed 6 night creatures the night before that. Chopped most of their heads off.
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Max™

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Re: Your most climactic battle in dwarf fortress?
« Reply #22 on: August 18, 2015, 03:31:44 am »

Whoa, you weren't kidding about being a necromancer. :D

I tracked down a vampire in some of the tunnels under a church, she was in a room that was 4 squares wide with a two square column down by the very end of the room.

She was standing next to it when I attacked her and she kept blocking and parrying me, I managed to get her in the foot when she hacked me in the chest with her great axe, screwing up my lung, and while I was trying to recover from that she smashed my leg.

So we're both unable to stand, she's chasing me and I'm swinging when she gets close and dodging away around this column until the room is SOAKED with blood, the walls, the pillar, the floor, her's mine, just mingled everywhere and then I got the idea to drink some of her blood from the puddle I was laying in, a couple more swing/dodges later I transformed and was able to take her head off finally.

I butchered her body and took her heart with me, it's only fitting since she so literally took my breath away.

I think it's the closest one of my adventurers has ever come to falling in love during a battle.
« Last Edit: August 18, 2015, 03:34:02 am by Max™ »
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peasant cretin

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Re: Your most climactic battle in dwarf fortress?
« Reply #23 on: August 18, 2015, 07:33:05 am »

Whoa, you weren't kidding about being a necromancer. :D

I tracked down a vampire in some of the tunnels under a church, she was in a room that was 4 squares wide with a two square column down by the very end of the room.

She was standing next to it when I attacked her and she kept blocking and parrying me, I managed to get her in the foot when she hacked me in the chest with her great axe, screwing up my lung, and while I was trying to recover from that she smashed my leg.

So we're both unable to stand, she's chasing me and I'm swinging when she gets close and dodging away around this column until the room is SOAKED with blood, the walls, the pillar, the floor, her's mine, just mingled everywhere and then I got the idea to drink some of her blood from the puddle I was laying in, a couple more swing/dodges later I transformed and was able to take her head off finally.

I butchered her body and took her heart with me, it's only fitting since she so literally took my breath away.

I think it's the closest one of my adventurers has ever come to falling in love during a battle.

That's just awesome. Start to end.
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Bumber

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Re: Your most climactic battle in dwarf fortress?
« Reply #24 on: August 18, 2015, 11:29:36 am »

The second one is picking a fight in a town full of hunters/crossbowmen...while they are all around/surrounding me. I lasted quite a long time despite:
Despite the iTunes gift card offer? Hardcore, man.

(Who in their right mind uses Imageshack anymore? It's like they're trying to drive people away.)
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wickys

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Re: Your most climactic battle in dwarf fortress?
« Reply #25 on: August 18, 2015, 12:59:56 pm »

I once went after a blip on the travel map who I thought I could easily kill, turned out it was a swordsman with a title and had like 250 kills to his name. He was godamn fast and blocked or dodged every shot I took at him.

He mangled my shield hand, forcing me to only parry and dodge. I took swings at him but all blows were deflected or only bruised his muscle. One time though, his sword hit me in the body and got stuck, so I decided to do a quick slash at his sword hand, he lost possesion of his sword so I quickly took it and threw it away. After that he beat me bloody with his one good fist, breaking my knees and ribs, still dodging my sword swings. I managed to get ahold of him and do an arm lock on his good arm. Broke it and popped it out of the joint. He began kicking me.

this motherfucker. His one hand half sliced off, his other arm broken and dislocated. Still didn't pass out and began kicking me. 'Tis only a scratch!. Anyway after this the battle was easier, I broke both his knees and cut off his hands and feet and left him to die.

After I retire my adventurer and fortress I started after I looked him up. It had been a solid 10 years since that encounter. Turns out he's still alive and roaming the wilds. Crawling and dragging himself along with his stumps. The godamn legend.

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Twinwolf

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Re: Your most climactic battle in dwarf fortress?
« Reply #26 on: August 18, 2015, 04:21:39 pm »

One that didn't really determine the fate of the fort, but was certainly awesome.

I was playing the Masterwork mod, and had a relatively normal fort running. I had just breached one of the cavern layers. Turns out I forgot to put anything over it, and 2 Balrogs got in. I sealed off the mines, but one of the miners was still inside and the other one got in. Only one miner was inside the mines, so I watched the other one fighting my military. It died... but it set fire to my wood stockpile, and most of my military burned to death. I decided to check on the other one.

When I got there, the balrog was unconscious on the floor with a broken... well, everything, and the miner had gone back to work.
« Last Edit: August 18, 2015, 06:22:25 pm by Twinwolf »
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Dunamisdeos

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Re: Your most climactic battle in dwarf fortress?
« Reply #27 on: August 18, 2015, 06:19:12 pm »

I just had a climatic battle. Blazecook was attacked by 12 undead. They were all handily dispatched, but there was one casuality: a glassmaker who died of insanity and thirst mid battle.

This makes him the first combat casualty in the fort.
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Urist McVoyager

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Re: Your most climactic battle in dwarf fortress?
« Reply #28 on: August 18, 2015, 08:48:50 pm »

I don't know that that constitutes a combat casualty. Just someone who happened to die while combat was going on.

I'd have to say I haven't had too many climactic battles. There was one where a hammerdwarf knocked all a wolverine's teeth out just before ending it with another headshot. Another hammerdwarf lost his hammer arm to an alligator only to pick his hammer up in his other arm and bludgeon it to death anyway. I love using hammers.
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swagdaddy

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Re: Your most climactic battle in dwarf fortress?
« Reply #29 on: August 19, 2015, 12:44:50 am »

Had a nice fistfight with a surprisingly skilled farmer on top of the roof of his own house. A kid kept climbing on the roof to fight me too, but I just threw him off every time.
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