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Author Topic: Markdwarves not going where I tell them to  (Read 809 times)

Noir

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Markdwarves not going where I tell them to
« on: May 15, 2011, 03:32:14 pm »
I have half-decent marksdwarves with a half-decent position to deploy them, overseeing my serpentines of death below my fortress' entrance.

Problem: I have a squad of 10 (well, 9 now) and only 2-3 at the time fire, as the others are happily sipping ale and chatting about stone behind the wall while their brothers take bolts and arrows for them.

The layout is the following:

Normal gameview:
Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Stonesense:
Spoiler (click to show/hide)

I tried to give individual orders to each dwarf, to try to have them all in one nice line; I have then tried to assign routes, no luck (and I honestly I don't think it's useful).
I have now resolved myself to build walls back and forth, leaving only the line where I want them to stand as the only viable position in a 3-4 squares radius.

Really, having all of them to rain death on my enemies would be useful - not to mention that it will speed up their training significantly.

I have a nice goblin siege already in place waiting to be butchered, I just need to find a way to give them a proper welcome!

Also on the same topic:

-is there a reliable way to have them reload when they run out of bolts? I have bolts piled up behind the wall - not in stockpiles, just lying around.
-what is a proper "serious" amount of bolts? Currently they are set to carry 200 of each type (metal, wood, bolt). I assume this is for the whole squad. Enemies do not wear armor anyway.
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Naked dwarves remove the need to produce more clothing, which means more of your pig tails can be brewed into booze.
I think this is less a problem and more an expression of dwarven priorities.

thegoatgod_pan

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Re: Markdwarves not going where I tell them to
« Reply #1 on: May 15, 2011, 05:54:41 pm »
The floorspace (looks like 2 tiles) separating your fortification from the edge seriously blocks line of sight. Move the fortifications and try again?
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Quote from: Michaelsoftman on April 01, 2012, 05:32:21 pm
More ridiculous than reindeer?  Where you think you supercool and is you things the girls where I honestly like I is then why are humans on their as my people or what would you?

Darkmere

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Re: Markdwarves not going where I tell them to
« Reply #2 on: May 15, 2011, 06:00:16 pm »
Quote from: thegoatgod_pan on May 15, 2011, 05:54:41 pm
The floorspace (looks like 2 tiles) separating your fortification from the edge seriously blocks line of sight. Move the fortifications and try again?

That's probably why they aren't firing. As for the rest, are you giving them a move to station order to get them there?

I've had bad luck mixing ammo types, they tended to just use wood all the time. Putting a bolt stockpile that only accepts metal bolts near the fortifications, and one that only accepts wood and bone near the archery ranges is ideal.
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Quote from: Ieb on June 06, 2011, 12:42:48 pm
And then, they will be weaponized. Like everything in this game, from kittens to babies, everything is a potential device of murder.
Quote from: penguinofhonor on June 11, 2015, 06:28:02 pm
So if baseless speculation is all we have, we might as well treat it like fact.

morgoththegreat

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Re: Markdwarves not going where I tell them to
« Reply #3 on: May 15, 2011, 08:09:34 pm »
Quote from: thegoatgod_pan on May 15, 2011, 05:54:41 pm
The floorspace (looks like 2 tiles) separating your fortification from the edge seriously blocks line of sight. Move the fortifications and try again?
How could floor tiles block line of sight to an area on the same z-level?

You might try putting a burrow along the fortifications and assigning them to defend it.  At the very least, I know there's a way to do it with burrows because that's how I make 1-tile danger rooms work.  If that somehow fails you might channel the floor behind them so their only option is to stand next to the fortifications.  Putting up a wall might work as well.
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Noir

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Re: Markdwarves not going where I tell them to
« Reply #4 on: May 16, 2011, 05:14:02 am »
I am fine with line of sight, they shoot and all that - sorry if the image is a bit confusing.

By the way, I managed to solve the problem by filling the area behind them with walls. Now they really have no other option than cramming themselves between the walls and the fortifications, and they shoot quite good from there, with little damage taken.
They even shoot when more than a marksdwarf occupies the same spot. My squad of 9 (well, 8 after the last siege) is all crammed in 4 places, making pincushions of all the incoming enemies.

Problem: after they run out of bolts, they path to the enemies all the way through the fortress and risk death bludgeoning them over the head with their (useless) copper crossbows. That's how I lost that soldier. Never mind that a stockpile full of bolts is right behind the wall in the barracks.

Does anyone has the same issues, and knows a workaround?
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Naked dwarves remove the need to produce more clothing, which means more of your pig tails can be brewed into booze.
I think this is less a problem and more an expression of dwarven priorities.

imperium3

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Re: Markdwarves not going where I tell them to
« Reply #5 on: May 16, 2011, 05:22:17 am »
Lock them in with a stockpile of bolts maybe? That way it's not possible for them to path to the enemy at all?
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Quote from: Niyazov on May 12, 2012, 11:59:06 am
Socks inspire the same sort of emotions in dwarfs that Helen of Troy inspired in the Achaean Greeks. Although it is said that Helen's face launched a thousand ships, socks have surely launched a million ultimately-fatal Store Owned Item tasks.

Noir

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Re: Markdwarves not going where I tell them to
« Reply #6 on: May 16, 2011, 05:27:13 am »
This is what I will be trying next. Conveniently, the only way to access their barracks/firing range/fortifications compound is through a number of hatches, which can be locked; it remains to be seen if, upon finishing their bolts supply, they will go back to rearm themselves or just stand there taking fire.
Logged
Naked dwarves remove the need to produce more clothing, which means more of your pig tails can be brewed into booze.
I think this is less a problem and more an expression of dwarven priorities.