Dwarf Fortress Wiki - User contributions [en]

v0.31:Scheduling

2010-05-22T11:44:57Z

TheDarkEnigma: /* Training */

{{AV}}
{{Quality|Exceptional}}

No matter how much you micromanage your '''{{l|military}}''', your '''{{l|squads}}''' won't be able to get stronger or protect you from ambushes without proper scheduling practices. With practice, you'll be able to set your '''{{l|soldier}}s''' to follow a complicated annual training regimen, patrol major trade routes, defend important areas, or any combination of these... all with the flick of a few keys.

For quick reference: from the main menu the '''military''' screen is accessible through the {{k|m}} key, the '''points/routes/notes''' screen is accessible through the {{k|N}} key, the '''burrows''' screen is accessible through the {{k|w}} key, and the '''squads''' screen is accessible through the {{k|s}} key. The military screen and all its tabs are mouse-compatible, and can be navigated through mouse clicks rather than strictly keys (when in windowed mode).

=Passive Defense=

The new '''alert level''' and '''scheduling''' system is a new feature that is both incredibly versatile... and, initially, completely impenetrable. Once you learn the system, though, you will find that you barely need to manage your military at all. Effectively, a schedule is programming for a squad to follow within an alert, broken up by month, and alerts can be quickly and easily swapped in order to apply different schedules of your choosing to different squads of your choosing.

It is now possible to give your squads different monthly schedules, create different alert levels which will cause squads to follow out new user-programmed instructions depending on circumstance, give direct orders to attack one or more specific targets or move to a specific location, or follow patrol routes and stations with greater accuracy. The entire system (including alert names) is completely configurable, and in time you will find yourself using complicated scheduling to rotate squads between training and defending/patrolling specified areas over the course of a year without any user input, or to start defending the fort entrance or trader route with a few easy key presses.

There is now a clear discrepancy between ''active'' orders and ''passiv''e orders-- the latter is programming that a dwarf will follow to the letter and acts more as a defense method, and the former is used for taking the fight to the enemy. The ''squads'' menu is predominantly used for active commands, and the ''alert'' and ''scheduling'' menus are used for passive commands. This article will focus on the '''passive''' commands you can leave your squads to follow.

For more information on '''active''' commands, see '''{{l|Squads}}'''.

==Alert Levels==

The '''alert level''' is a new and fundamental concept of passive military management. In each alert level, you can program instructions for your military and/or civilian dwarves to follow. The game contains two alert levels by default - 'Inactive' and 'Active/Train'. In 'Inactive', all squads are assigned no orders. In 'Active/Train', all squads are supposed to be assigned to train the entire year, however due to a bug they will idle or work as civilians instead. By default, your squads will all be set to 'Inactive', which actually works the way 'Active/Train' was supposed to, causing your Dwarves to train if you have a barracks set up for it.{{version|0.31.01}} You will need to make more alerts if you want them to do anything more complicated than this.

Your entire fortress is always set to exactly one ''civilian alert level''. This restricts where civilians, any non-military dwarf in the entire fort, may go. To define the restriction area, you must first create a {{l|burrow}} encompassing the area you want to restrict your civilians to. Then, go to the alert screen ({{k|a}} in the {{k|m}}ilitary screen), {{k|c}}reate a new alert level (you can {{k|N}}ame it something like 'Danger'), highlight it in the left pane, then press enter on the correct burrow in the rightmost pane. Multiple burrows may be selected. Note that burrow restriction replaces the 'Dwarves may/may not go outside' order that was in the older versions. If you intend on having your Dwarves stay inside at any time, for any reason, you will need to create a burrow.

Individual squads can be set to a certain alert by highlighting the appropriate alert level, then selecting the correct squad in the central pane and pressing {{k|enter}}. You can also select a squad's alert level by pressing {{k|s}} to open the squads menu, {{k|a}} to select a squad, and {{k|t}} to scroll through alerts. You can change the currently active civilian alert level by pressing {{k|enter}} while the correct alert level is highlighted. Squads and civilians can only be set to one alert level at a time, so selecting one alert level for a group removes them from the former alert.

The main reason you want to use civilian alerts is to enforce {{l|burrow}} restrictions... ie making sure that your civilian Dwarves do not wander outside in the middle of a siege. It can also be used to switch the areas where Dwarves live and work around on a monthly basis, if you are so inclined.

==Schedules==

Each squad can be given multiple '''schedules''' to follow for an entire year, broken up by month. Each squad has a separate schedule for each alert level; it can be swapped between these schedules with the procedure outlined in the previous section. Without scheduling, alert levels would do nothing; without alert levels scheduling would be horribly inefficient; the two functions co-exist and rely on each other. The scheduling screen can be accessed by pressing {{k|s}} in the military screen.

On the main scheduling page you will see a list of months on the left side and a list of all of the squads in your fortress along the top edge. Scheduling is done separately for each alert level; to switch between alert levels use the secondary page up/down keys (by default {{k|/}} and {{k|*}}). You can use the secondary up/down keys (by default {{k|+}} and {{k|-}}) to scroll through the squads at the top if you have more than will fit on one screen. Use the up/down arrow keys to navigate the month list, and the left/right arrow keys to navigate between squads. The orders in the currently selected cell are displayed in blue towards the bottom of the screen.

When you've highlighted a cell, press {{k|tab}} to switch focus to this '''order list'''. From here, you can press {{k|e}} to edit the standing orders or {{k|o}} to give a new one. Both will open to the Give Orders screen. Pressing {{k|o}} will scroll through and change the order type. This cycles between 'Train', 'Defend Burrow', 'Patrol Route', and 'Station'. To use any of the orders other than Train, you will first need to set up the appropriate {{L|burrow}}, station, or route. When you cycle to the order you want, highlight the burrow, station, or route you want the order to go to (in the left pane) and press {{k|enter}}. It should now be highlighted in green.

Orders have a soldier-based '''order criteria''' that lists how many soldiers in the squad will follow the order at once. Using the secondary up/down keys you can choose how many soldiers must be in a squad the order applies; by default this number is ten. You can also select specific positions within the squad in the right pane to set those positions as 'preferred' - the order will try pick these dwarves to follow the orders if there are multiple off-duty dwarves to choose from. When you are done, press {{k|shift}}+{{k|enter}} to save the order and return to the schedule screen. If desired, multiple order criteria can be set for each month.

Note that the text displayed on each cell (like 'Train') is a completely customized text; it does NOT reflect the actual orders in the cell! When you have a cell highlighted, you can press 'n' to edit the label. Don't be confused by the fact that when you edit the orders in a cell, the label does not change to reflect your changes. You need to update the cell text yourself to be consistent with the orders.

To eliminate some of the tedium in scheduling many months, you can copy-paste orders from one cell to another with the {{k|c}} and {{k|p}} keys. Press {{k|c}} in the cell you want to copy from, then go to the cells you want to paste to and press {{k|p}} in each one.

By pressing {{k|shift}}+{{k|tab}} in the scheduling screen, you can flip the display of the rows and columns in the main grid. This allows you to see more squads, but fewer months. This can be useful if you want to see all your squads at the cost of not seeing the entire year's schedule. This change is cosmetic only; the tools still work the same way.

'''Warning:''' Dwarves who are permanently on-duty with no downtime have been observed to begin to starve themselves keeping to the rigorous schedule, and thus grow unhappy. Do you really want to find out how much damage that practice spear can do? To allow some of your dwarves to go sleeping when they need, you need to lower the minimum number of dwarves of the squad that need to follow the current order at any time in the order criteria as listed above. You want the criteria to be at least one or two dwarves less than the current number of dwarves in your squad. This will change the limit for the current month only, so use the copy/paste feature to update every month.{{version|0.31.01}}

'''More Warning:''' When using a rotation schedule as describe in the warning above, military dwarves that have no civilian skills, and possibly also civilian dwarves who do not have any military skills can generate bad thoughts with disturbing frequency caused by them frequently going on and off duty from monthly rotations. To avoid this problem it may be a good idea to cross train all your militia with at least one level in a civilian skill.{{version|0.31.01}}

==Orders==

:''If you were redirected here while looking for information on moving your squads to a certain point on command, you may be looking for the {{l|Squads#Selecting_Squads.2FSoldiers|squad movement}} section on the {{l|squads}} page.

The five types of scheduling orders are listed below:

===Inactive / no order===

When dwarves have an empty spot in their schedule, dwarves with good self-discipline will visit the barracks and train themselves in their spare time - if you see a dwarf doing "Individual training" when they're free, that's what's happening. Technically this is not an order applicable in the 'Give Orders' screen - it is a ''lack'' of an order.

Currently this appears to be the ''only'' way your dwarves will properly train.

===Training===
'''Note: Due to a bug Dwarves will ''not'' train if they are set to train using this option. If you want your Dwarves to train, see the above section! This section merely explains how training works, not how the passive 'Train' command works (because it doesn't).''' {{version|0.31.01}}

For your dwarves to train a '''{{l|barracks}}''' must be designated. This can be done through using {{k|q}} to examine an appropriate building and assigning it as a barracks. Previously only beds, armor stands, and weapon racks could be designated as barracks, but many storage objects are now eligible. There is a new 'Position' option that allows you to assign specific beds/storage to specific dwarves. If dwarves aren't assigned anything in particular they'll just use whatever they feel like, as per normal.

When being viewed, barracks can now be {{k|n}}amed, used for {{k|s}}leeping, {{k|t}}raining, or {{k|i}}ndiv eq. and {{k|s}}quad eq. You can choose if a squad trains in one place and sleeps in another, or in multiple, and so on. Multiple squads can overlap with one barracks. It is assumed that indiv. eq and squad eq refer to individual and squad equipment respectively, meaning that the Dwarves will store their equipment in this barracks if given the option. Likely, the indiv. eq option will make Dwarves store their personal belongings in the selected barracks, while the squad eq option will store equipment designated for that squad when it's not in use. {{verify}}

To get marksdwarves to train in any way other then bashing each other with their crossbows, they must have quivers and an archery range. Archers will no longer fire bolts without a quiver to store them in (ie. they will not hold a single stack in their hand). The archery range that is set up for the squad via building an archery target and listing it as a {{k|t}}raining area for that squad.

When dwarves are being ordered to train, squad leaders will set up training classes for particular skills, or they will have dwarves spar. Any dwarves in the squad that don't qualify for these will default to individual training. In the current release, training classes are bugged where if a squad leader sets up a training class, he will wait forever (Or until you change his orders) for students, even if nobody shows up. Likewise, if students decide to request a class and the squad leader is doing individual training, they will wait for him to finish, even if they start starving. Thus, at the moment it's best to alternate your forced training schedules with downtime so the longest a dwarf will be stuck waiting is a game month (Which isn't long enough to die), or just leave them off duty all the time and have them do individual training only, at least until this issue is fixed.

===Defend Burrows===

After a {{l|burrow}} has been created in the {{k|w}} menu, you can order your dwarves to defend it. If an enemy enters the burrow (and is not hiding) the assigned squads will be alerted and attack it. It is unknown if a soldier defending a burrow is limited to his line-of-sight or is simply aware that an enemy is present. 

===Stations===

Stations are set in the {{k|N}}otes menu. Simply {{k|p}}lace a point where you want a squad to stand, give it a {{k|n}}ame if you want to be able to find it quickly, then open the scheduling menu and set your chosen squad to be Stationed and select the station you want.

===Routes===

Routes are made by combining stations. Once you have stations set along your desired route (at least two stations are necessary), hit {{k|r}}outes while in the {{k|N}}otes menu. {{k|a}}dd a route, {{k|n}}ame it something appropriate, then {{k|e}}dit its waypoints. You need to {{k|a}}dd the points in the same order you want the dwarves to follow. They'll loop back to the initial point when they reach the last one. Waypoints can no longer be made on the fly; only stations can be selected as waypoints.

==Instructors and Demonstrations==

The leader of the squad, either a milita commander, or captain, will lead the group during a {{l|sparring|training}} session. This can be in the form of a demonstration.

=Frequently Asked Questions=

''Full article: {{l|Military_F.A.Q.|Military F.A.Q.}}''

{{Military v0.31}}

v0.31:Scheduling

2010-05-22T11:34:05Z

TheDarkEnigma: /* Alert Levels */

{{AV}}
{{Quality|Exceptional}}

No matter how much you micromanage your '''{{l|military}}''', your '''{{l|squads}}''' won't be able to get stronger or protect you from ambushes without proper scheduling practices. With practice, you'll be able to set your '''{{l|soldier}}s''' to follow a complicated annual training regimen, patrol major trade routes, defend important areas, or any combination of these... all with the flick of a few keys.

For quick reference: from the main menu the '''military''' screen is accessible through the {{k|m}} key, the '''points/routes/notes''' screen is accessible through the {{k|N}} key, the '''burrows''' screen is accessible through the {{k|w}} key, and the '''squads''' screen is accessible through the {{k|s}} key. The military screen and all its tabs are mouse-compatible, and can be navigated through mouse clicks rather than strictly keys (when in windowed mode).

=Passive Defense=

The new '''alert level''' and '''scheduling''' system is a new feature that is both incredibly versatile... and, initially, completely impenetrable. Once you learn the system, though, you will find that you barely need to manage your military at all. Effectively, a schedule is programming for a squad to follow within an alert, broken up by month, and alerts can be quickly and easily swapped in order to apply different schedules of your choosing to different squads of your choosing.

It is now possible to give your squads different monthly schedules, create different alert levels which will cause squads to follow out new user-programmed instructions depending on circumstance, give direct orders to attack one or more specific targets or move to a specific location, or follow patrol routes and stations with greater accuracy. The entire system (including alert names) is completely configurable, and in time you will find yourself using complicated scheduling to rotate squads between training and defending/patrolling specified areas over the course of a year without any user input, or to start defending the fort entrance or trader route with a few easy key presses.

There is now a clear discrepancy between ''active'' orders and ''passiv''e orders-- the latter is programming that a dwarf will follow to the letter and acts more as a defense method, and the former is used for taking the fight to the enemy. The ''squads'' menu is predominantly used for active commands, and the ''alert'' and ''scheduling'' menus are used for passive commands. This article will focus on the '''passive''' commands you can leave your squads to follow.

For more information on '''active''' commands, see '''{{l|Squads}}'''.

==Alert Levels==

The '''alert level''' is a new and fundamental concept of passive military management. In each alert level, you can program instructions for your military and/or civilian dwarves to follow. The game contains two alert levels by default - 'Inactive' and 'Active/Train'. In 'Inactive', all squads are assigned no orders. In 'Active/Train', all squads are supposed to be assigned to train the entire year, however due to a bug they will idle or work as civilians instead. By default, your squads will all be set to 'Inactive', which actually works the way 'Active/Train' was supposed to, causing your Dwarves to train if you have a barracks set up for it.{{version|0.31.01}} You will need to make more alerts if you want them to do anything more complicated than this.

Your entire fortress is always set to exactly one ''civilian alert level''. This restricts where civilians, any non-military dwarf in the entire fort, may go. To define the restriction area, you must first create a {{l|burrow}} encompassing the area you want to restrict your civilians to. Then, go to the alert screen ({{k|a}} in the {{k|m}}ilitary screen), {{k|c}}reate a new alert level (you can {{k|N}}ame it something like 'Danger'), highlight it in the left pane, then press enter on the correct burrow in the rightmost pane. Multiple burrows may be selected. Note that burrow restriction replaces the 'Dwarves may/may not go outside' order that was in the older versions. If you intend on having your Dwarves stay inside at any time, for any reason, you will need to create a burrow.

Individual squads can be set to a certain alert by highlighting the appropriate alert level, then selecting the correct squad in the central pane and pressing {{k|enter}}. You can also select a squad's alert level by pressing {{k|s}} to open the squads menu, {{k|a}} to select a squad, and {{k|t}} to scroll through alerts. You can change the currently active civilian alert level by pressing {{k|enter}} while the correct alert level is highlighted. Squads and civilians can only be set to one alert level at a time, so selecting one alert level for a group removes them from the former alert.

The main reason you want to use civilian alerts is to enforce {{l|burrow}} restrictions... ie making sure that your civilian Dwarves do not wander outside in the middle of a siege. It can also be used to switch the areas where Dwarves live and work around on a monthly basis, if you are so inclined.

==Schedules==

Each squad can be given multiple '''schedules''' to follow for an entire year, broken up by month. Each squad has a separate schedule for each alert level; it can be swapped between these schedules with the procedure outlined in the previous section. Without scheduling, alert levels would do nothing; without alert levels scheduling would be horribly inefficient; the two functions co-exist and rely on each other. The scheduling screen can be accessed by pressing {{k|s}} in the military screen.

On the main scheduling page you will see a list of months on the left side and a list of all of the squads in your fortress along the top edge. Scheduling is done separately for each alert level; to switch between alert levels use the secondary page up/down keys (by default {{k|/}} and {{k|*}}). You can use the secondary up/down keys (by default {{k|+}} and {{k|-}}) to scroll through the squads at the top if you have more than will fit on one screen. Use the up/down arrow keys to navigate the month list, and the left/right arrow keys to navigate between squads. The orders in the currently selected cell are displayed in blue towards the bottom of the screen.

When you've highlighted a cell, press {{k|tab}} to switch focus to this '''order list'''. From here, you can press {{k|e}} to edit the standing orders or {{k|o}} to give a new one. Both will open to the Give Orders screen. Pressing {{k|o}} will scroll through and change the order type. This cycles between 'Train', 'Defend Burrow', 'Patrol Route', and 'Station'. To use any of the orders other than Train, you will first need to set up the appropriate {{L|burrow}}, station, or route. When you cycle to the order you want, highlight the burrow, station, or route you want the order to go to (in the left pane) and press {{k|enter}}. It should now be highlighted in green.

Orders have a soldier-based '''order criteria''' that lists how many soldiers in the squad will follow the order at once. Using the secondary up/down keys you can choose how many soldiers must be in a squad the order applies; by default this number is ten. You can also select specific positions within the squad in the right pane to set those positions as 'preferred' - the order will try pick these dwarves to follow the orders if there are multiple off-duty dwarves to choose from. When you are done, press {{k|shift}}+{{k|enter}} to save the order and return to the schedule screen. If desired, multiple order criteria can be set for each month.

Note that the text displayed on each cell (like 'Train') is a completely customized text; it does NOT reflect the actual orders in the cell! When you have a cell highlighted, you can press 'n' to edit the label. Don't be confused by the fact that when you edit the orders in a cell, the label does not change to reflect your changes. You need to update the cell text yourself to be consistent with the orders.

To eliminate some of the tedium in scheduling many months, you can copy-paste orders from one cell to another with the {{k|c}} and {{k|p}} keys. Press {{k|c}} in the cell you want to copy from, then go to the cells you want to paste to and press {{k|p}} in each one.

By pressing {{k|shift}}+{{k|tab}} in the scheduling screen, you can flip the display of the rows and columns in the main grid. This allows you to see more squads, but fewer months. This can be useful if you want to see all your squads at the cost of not seeing the entire year's schedule. This change is cosmetic only; the tools still work the same way.

'''Warning:''' Dwarves who are permanently on-duty with no downtime have been observed to begin to starve themselves keeping to the rigorous schedule, and thus grow unhappy. Do you really want to find out how much damage that practice spear can do? To allow some of your dwarves to go sleeping when they need, you need to lower the minimum number of dwarves of the squad that need to follow the current order at any time in the order criteria as listed above. You want the criteria to be at least one or two dwarves less than the current number of dwarves in your squad. This will change the limit for the current month only, so use the copy/paste feature to update every month.{{version|0.31.01}}

'''More Warning:''' When using a rotation schedule as describe in the warning above, military dwarves that have no civilian skills, and possibly also civilian dwarves who do not have any military skills can generate bad thoughts with disturbing frequency caused by them frequently going on and off duty from monthly rotations. To avoid this problem it may be a good idea to cross train all your militia with at least one level in a civilian skill.{{version|0.31.01}}

==Orders==

:''If you were redirected here while looking for information on moving your squads to a certain point on command, you may be looking for the {{l|Squads#Selecting_Squads.2FSoldiers|squad movement}} section on the {{l|squads}} page.

The five types of scheduling orders are listed below:

===Inactive / no order===

When dwarves have an empty spot in their schedule, dwarves with good self-discipline will visit the barracks and train themselves in their spare time - if you see a dwarf doing "Individual training" when they're free, that's what's happening. Technically this is not an order applicable in the 'Give Orders' screen - it is a ''lack'' of an order.

Currently this appears to be the ''only'' way your dwarves will properly train.

===Training===

For your dwarves to train a '''{{l|barracks}}''' must be designated. This can be done through using {{k|q}} to examine an appropriate building and assigning it as a barracks. Previously only beds, armor stands, and weapon racks could be designated as barracks, but many storage objects are now eligible. There is a new 'Position' option that allows you to assign specific beds/storage to specific dwarves. If dwarves aren't assigned anything in particular they'll just use whatever they feel like, as per normal.

When being viewed, barracks can now be {{k|n}}amed, used for {{k|s}}leeping, {{k|t}}raining, or {{k|i}}ndiv eq. and {{k|s}}quad eq. You can choose if a squad trains in one place and sleeps in another, or in multiple, and so on. Multiple squads can overlap with one barracks.

To get marksdwarves to train in any way other then bashing each other with their crossbows, they must have quivers and an archery range. Archers will no longer fire bolts without a quiver to store them in (ie. they will not hold a single stack in their hand). The archery range that is set up for the squad via building an archery target and listing it as a {{k|t}}raining area for that squad.

When dwarves are being ordered to train, squad leaders will set up training classes for particular skills, or they will have dwarves spar. Any dwarves in the squad that don't qualify for these will default to individual training. In the current release, training classes are bugged where if a squad leader sets up a training class, he will wait forever (Or until you change his orders) for students, even if nobody shows up. Likewise, if students decide to request a class and the squad leader is doing individual training, they will wait for him to finish, even if they start starving. Thus, at the moment it's best to alternate your forced training schedules with downtime so the longest a dwarf will be stuck waiting is a game month (Which isn't long enough to die), or just leave them off duty all the time and have them do individual training only, at least until this issue is fixed.

===Defend Burrows===

After a {{l|burrow}} has been created in the {{k|w}} menu, you can order your dwarves to defend it. If an enemy enters the burrow (and is not hiding) the assigned squads will be alerted and attack it. It is unknown if a soldier defending a burrow is limited to his line-of-sight or is simply aware that an enemy is present. 

===Stations===

Stations are set in the {{k|N}}otes menu. Simply {{k|p}}lace a point where you want a squad to stand, give it a {{k|n}}ame if you want to be able to find it quickly, then open the scheduling menu and set your chosen squad to be Stationed and select the station you want.

===Routes===

Routes are made by combining stations. Once you have stations set along your desired route (at least two stations are necessary), hit {{k|r}}outes while in the {{k|N}}otes menu. {{k|a}}dd a route, {{k|n}}ame it something appropriate, then {{k|e}}dit its waypoints. You need to {{k|a}}dd the points in the same order you want the dwarves to follow. They'll loop back to the initial point when they reach the last one. Waypoints can no longer be made on the fly; only stations can be selected as waypoints.

==Instructors and Demonstrations==

The leader of the squad, either a milita commander, or captain, will lead the group during a {{l|sparring|training}} session. This can be in the form of a demonstration.

=Frequently Asked Questions=

''Full article: {{l|Military_F.A.Q.|Military F.A.Q.}}''

{{Military v0.31}}

v0.31:Scheduling

2010-05-22T11:25:02Z

TheDarkEnigma: /* Alert Levels */

{{AV}}
{{Quality|Exceptional}}

No matter how much you micromanage your '''{{l|military}}''', your '''{{l|squads}}''' won't be able to get stronger or protect you from ambushes without proper scheduling practices. With practice, you'll be able to set your '''{{l|soldier}}s''' to follow a complicated annual training regimen, patrol major trade routes, defend important areas, or any combination of these... all with the flick of a few keys.

For quick reference: from the main menu the '''military''' screen is accessible through the {{k|m}} key, the '''points/routes/notes''' screen is accessible through the {{k|N}} key, the '''burrows''' screen is accessible through the {{k|w}} key, and the '''squads''' screen is accessible through the {{k|s}} key. The military screen and all its tabs are mouse-compatible, and can be navigated through mouse clicks rather than strictly keys (when in windowed mode).

=Passive Defense=

The new '''alert level''' and '''scheduling''' system is a new feature that is both incredibly versatile... and, initially, completely impenetrable. Once you learn the system, though, you will find that you barely need to manage your military at all. Effectively, a schedule is programming for a squad to follow within an alert, broken up by month, and alerts can be quickly and easily swapped in order to apply different schedules of your choosing to different squads of your choosing.

It is now possible to give your squads different monthly schedules, create different alert levels which will cause squads to follow out new user-programmed instructions depending on circumstance, give direct orders to attack one or more specific targets or move to a specific location, or follow patrol routes and stations with greater accuracy. The entire system (including alert names) is completely configurable, and in time you will find yourself using complicated scheduling to rotate squads between training and defending/patrolling specified areas over the course of a year without any user input, or to start defending the fort entrance or trader route with a few easy key presses.

There is now a clear discrepancy between ''active'' orders and ''passiv''e orders-- the latter is programming that a dwarf will follow to the letter and acts more as a defense method, and the former is used for taking the fight to the enemy. The ''squads'' menu is predominantly used for active commands, and the ''alert'' and ''scheduling'' menus are used for passive commands. This article will focus on the '''passive''' commands you can leave your squads to follow.

For more information on '''active''' commands, see '''{{l|Squads}}'''.

==Alert Levels==

The '''alert level''' is a new and fundamental concept of passive military management. In each alert level, you can program instructions for your military and/or civilian dwarves to follow. The game contains two alert levels by default - 'Inactive' and 'Active/Train'. In 'Inactive', all squads are assigned no orders. In 'Active/Train', all squads are assigned to train the entire year. By default, your squads will all be set to 'Inactive' and will do nothing unless you cycle their alert to 'Active/Train'. You will need to make more alerts if you want them to do anything more complicated than this.

Your entire fortress is always set to exactly one ''civilian alert level''. This restricts where civilians, any non-military dwarf in the entire fort, may go. To define the restriction area, you must first create a {{l|burrow}} encompassing the area you want to restrict your civilians to. Then, go to the alert screen ({{k|a}} in the {{k|m}}ilitary screen), {{k|c}}reate a new alert level (you can {{k|N}}ame it something like 'Danger'), highlight it in the left pane, then press enter on the correct burrow in the rightmost pane. Multiple burrows may be selected. Note that burrow restriction replaces the 'Dwarves may/may not go outside' order that was in the older versions. If you intend on having your Dwarves stay inside at any time, for any reason, you will need to create a burrow.

Individual squads can be set to a certain alert by highlighting the appropriate alert level, then selecting the correct squad in the central pane and pressing {{k|enter}}. You can also select a squad's alert level by pressing {{k|s}} to open the squads menu, {{k|a}} to select a squad, and {{k|t}} to scroll through alerts. You can change the currently active civilian alert level by pressing {{k|enter}} while the correct alert level is highlighted. Squads and civilians can only be set to one alert level at a time, so selecting one alert level for a group removes them from the former alert.

==Schedules==

Each squad can be given multiple '''schedules''' to follow for an entire year, broken up by month. Each squad has a separate schedule for each alert level; it can be swapped between these schedules with the procedure outlined in the previous section. Without scheduling, alert levels would do nothing; without alert levels scheduling would be horribly inefficient; the two functions co-exist and rely on each other. The scheduling screen can be accessed by pressing {{k|s}} in the military screen.

On the main scheduling page you will see a list of months on the left side and a list of all of the squads in your fortress along the top edge. Scheduling is done separately for each alert level; to switch between alert levels use the secondary page up/down keys (by default {{k|/}} and {{k|*}}). You can use the secondary up/down keys (by default {{k|+}} and {{k|-}}) to scroll through the squads at the top if you have more than will fit on one screen. Use the up/down arrow keys to navigate the month list, and the left/right arrow keys to navigate between squads. The orders in the currently selected cell are displayed in blue towards the bottom of the screen.

When you've highlighted a cell, press {{k|tab}} to switch focus to this '''order list'''. From here, you can press {{k|e}} to edit the standing orders or {{k|o}} to give a new one. Both will open to the Give Orders screen. Pressing {{k|o}} will scroll through and change the order type. This cycles between 'Train', 'Defend Burrow', 'Patrol Route', and 'Station'. To use any of the orders other than Train, you will first need to set up the appropriate {{L|burrow}}, station, or route. When you cycle to the order you want, highlight the burrow, station, or route you want the order to go to (in the left pane) and press {{k|enter}}. It should now be highlighted in green.

Orders have a soldier-based '''order criteria''' that lists how many soldiers in the squad will follow the order at once. Using the secondary up/down keys you can choose how many soldiers must be in a squad the order applies; by default this number is ten. You can also select specific positions within the squad in the right pane to set those positions as 'preferred' - the order will try pick these dwarves to follow the orders if there are multiple off-duty dwarves to choose from. When you are done, press {{k|shift}}+{{k|enter}} to save the order and return to the schedule screen. If desired, multiple order criteria can be set for each month.

Note that the text displayed on each cell (like 'Train') is a completely customized text; it does NOT reflect the actual orders in the cell! When you have a cell highlighted, you can press 'n' to edit the label. Don't be confused by the fact that when you edit the orders in a cell, the label does not change to reflect your changes. You need to update the cell text yourself to be consistent with the orders.

To eliminate some of the tedium in scheduling many months, you can copy-paste orders from one cell to another with the {{k|c}} and {{k|p}} keys. Press {{k|c}} in the cell you want to copy from, then go to the cells you want to paste to and press {{k|p}} in each one.

By pressing {{k|shift}}+{{k|tab}} in the scheduling screen, you can flip the display of the rows and columns in the main grid. This allows you to see more squads, but fewer months. This can be useful if you want to see all your squads at the cost of not seeing the entire year's schedule. This change is cosmetic only; the tools still work the same way.

'''Warning:''' Dwarves who are permanently on-duty with no downtime have been observed to begin to starve themselves keeping to the rigorous schedule, and thus grow unhappy. Do you really want to find out how much damage that practice spear can do? To allow some of your dwarves to go sleeping when they need, you need to lower the minimum number of dwarves of the squad that need to follow the current order at any time in the order criteria as listed above. You want the criteria to be at least one or two dwarves less than the current number of dwarves in your squad. This will change the limit for the current month only, so use the copy/paste feature to update every month.{{version|0.31.01}}

'''More Warning:''' When using a rotation schedule as describe in the warning above, military dwarves that have no civilian skills, and possibly also civilian dwarves who do not have any military skills can generate bad thoughts with disturbing frequency caused by them frequently going on and off duty from monthly rotations. To avoid this problem it may be a good idea to cross train all your militia with at least one level in a civilian skill.{{version|0.31.01}}

==Orders==

:''If you were redirected here while looking for information on moving your squads to a certain point on command, you may be looking for the {{l|Squads#Selecting_Squads.2FSoldiers|squad movement}} section on the {{l|squads}} page.

The five types of scheduling orders are listed below:

===Inactive / no order===

When dwarves have an empty spot in their schedule, dwarves with good self-discipline will visit the barracks and train themselves in their spare time - if you see a dwarf doing "Individual training" when they're free, that's what's happening. Technically this is not an order applicable in the 'Give Orders' screen - it is a ''lack'' of an order.

Currently this appears to be the ''only'' way your dwarves will properly train.

===Training===

For your dwarves to train a '''{{l|barracks}}''' must be designated. This can be done through using {{k|q}} to examine an appropriate building and assigning it as a barracks. Previously only beds, armor stands, and weapon racks could be designated as barracks, but many storage objects are now eligible. There is a new 'Position' option that allows you to assign specific beds/storage to specific dwarves. If dwarves aren't assigned anything in particular they'll just use whatever they feel like, as per normal.

When being viewed, barracks can now be {{k|n}}amed, used for {{k|s}}leeping, {{k|t}}raining, or {{k|i}}ndiv eq. and {{k|s}}quad eq. You can choose if a squad trains in one place and sleeps in another, or in multiple, and so on. Multiple squads can overlap with one barracks.

To get marksdwarves to train in any way other then bashing each other with their crossbows, they must have quivers and an archery range. Archers will no longer fire bolts without a quiver to store them in (ie. they will not hold a single stack in their hand). The archery range that is set up for the squad via building an archery target and listing it as a {{k|t}}raining area for that squad.

When dwarves are being ordered to train, squad leaders will set up training classes for particular skills, or they will have dwarves spar. Any dwarves in the squad that don't qualify for these will default to individual training. In the current release, training classes are bugged where if a squad leader sets up a training class, he will wait forever (Or until you change his orders) for students, even if nobody shows up. Likewise, if students decide to request a class and the squad leader is doing individual training, they will wait for him to finish, even if they start starving. Thus, at the moment it's best to alternate your forced training schedules with downtime so the longest a dwarf will be stuck waiting is a game month (Which isn't long enough to die), or just leave them off duty all the time and have them do individual training only, at least until this issue is fixed.

===Defend Burrows===

After a {{l|burrow}} has been created in the {{k|w}} menu, you can order your dwarves to defend it. If an enemy enters the burrow (and is not hiding) the assigned squads will be alerted and attack it. It is unknown if a soldier defending a burrow is limited to his line-of-sight or is simply aware that an enemy is present. 

===Stations===

Stations are set in the {{k|N}}otes menu. Simply {{k|p}}lace a point where you want a squad to stand, give it a {{k|n}}ame if you want to be able to find it quickly, then open the scheduling menu and set your chosen squad to be Stationed and select the station you want.

===Routes===

Routes are made by combining stations. Once you have stations set along your desired route (at least two stations are necessary), hit {{k|r}}outes while in the {{k|N}}otes menu. {{k|a}}dd a route, {{k|n}}ame it something appropriate, then {{k|e}}dit its waypoints. You need to {{k|a}}dd the points in the same order you want the dwarves to follow. They'll loop back to the initial point when they reach the last one. Waypoints can no longer be made on the fly; only stations can be selected as waypoints.

==Instructors and Demonstrations==

The leader of the squad, either a milita commander, or captain, will lead the group during a {{l|sparring|training}} session. This can be in the form of a demonstration.

=Frequently Asked Questions=

''Full article: {{l|Military_F.A.Q.|Military F.A.Q.}}''

{{Military v0.31}}

v0.31:Military

2010-05-22T11:20:23Z

TheDarkEnigma: /* Passive Command */

{{AV}}
{{buggy|bugsection=Reported Military-Related Bugs}}
{{Quality|Exceptional}}

The '''military''' is one of the most important aspects of a successful fortress. Even with many {{l|trap}}s, {{l|bridge|drawbridges}} and {{l|magma|other defenses}}, your military will still need to fend off {{l|goblin}} {{l|siege}}s, {{l|megabeast}}s, {{l|titan}}s, and fiendish {{l|Giant cave spider|underground}} {{l|Forgotten beast|beasties}}. Using a combination of {{l|squads|squad orders}} and {{l|scheduling}}, you can set up an elaborate offensive, defensive, or balanced military structure for your {{l|equipment|well-equipped}} {{l|soldier}}s to follow. Turning your dwarves from {{l|immigration|useless migrants}} into bloodthirsty killing machines never hurts (unless you're the enemy).

''Related articles:''
* For a ''very'' simple "How to attack a target", see {{L|Attack}}.
* For a list of frequently asked questions, see the {{l|Military F.A.Q.}}
* For a general overview of threats and considerations for fortress defense, see the {{l|Defense guide|Defense Guide}}.
* For specific suggestions on the physical defenses that will defend your military, see {{l|Security design|Security Design}}.
* For complex traps that are not a minor/optional part of a larger defensive plan (but might be adapted or plugged into one), see {{l|Trap design|Trap Design}}.
* For specific advice on how to get your soldiers prepared for any threat, see {{l|military design|Military Design}}.

For quick reference: from the main menu the '''military''' screen is accessible through the {{k|m}} key, the '''{{l|squads}}''' screen is accessible through the {{k|s}} key, the '''points/routes/notes''' screen is accessible through the {{k|N}} key, and the '''{{l|burrows}}''' screen is accessible through the {{k|w}} key. The military screen and all its tabs are mouse-compatible, and can be navigated through mouse clicks rather than strictly keys (when in windowed mode).

=Creating a Military=

While far more confusing than before, the new military system makes up for its initial impenetrability with a huge increase in versatility. Squads can be assigned, reordered and restructured at will, dwarves can be set to equip a highly-specified uniform along with the rest of their squad or stand out and equip something unique, and you can give incredibly detailed commands and programming to your squads to follow out based on time of year, circumstance, location, and user convenience. That being said, there's a lot to be learned.

This article is about the general aspects of what comprises a military. For more detailed information including specific keypresses, see the associated article expanding on a subject.

==Squads==

''Full article: {{l|Squads}}''

'''Squads''' are the groups of soldiers that make up your military. Your military is now led by the appointed '''{{l|militia commander}}''' and has many other squads led by '''militia captains''' under him. Creating a squad in the military screen is one of the first things you should do when starting your military.
*For some reason your '''{{l|leader|expedition leader}}''' can not be appointed as a militia captain or commander. He can still be assigned to a squad as a regular soldier however. It is unknown if this is intended behavior.

==Equipping Soldiers==

''Full article: {{l|Squads#Equipping Soldiers}}''

Rather than simply pick a level of equipment and hope your dwarves pick up the right stuff, you can select what your dwarf will wear by item type or specific item, or create a new uniform template and apply it to a dwarf or entire squad all at once. Even the material and color of your soldiers' uniform is configurable. You can create identical armored units with intimidating red cloaks or just slap something together based on need and circumstance. Even artifact weapons/armor are now selectable - luck and micro-management have been removed from the equation.

In the early stages of your fort your dwarves will equip themselves, but once enough migrants (13, making your population 20+ dwarves) have arrived your fortress will require an '''{{l|Arsenal_dwarf|Arsenal Dwarf}}''' (designated in the nobles screen) to manage your armory. The Arsenal Dwarf serves the role of quartermaster; without him your dwarves will be unable to change their equipment. Once you have a dwarf selected, make sure to give him an office - like a {{l|manager}}, an Arsenal Dwarf will need to sign off on equipment changes before they can be made.

Note that if you don't have an option for an Arsenal Dwarf, it just means your fort isn't big enough to need one yet. Dwarves will equip themselves until your fortress grows too large - just keep an eye on the nobles screen every time you get migrants, and assign an Arsenal Dwarf when you need one.

*If your Expedition Leader/Mayor is killed it can cause all unassigned nobles to vanish from the nobles screen. This could cause your arsenal dwarf position (among others) to be unavailable. A new expedition leader should eventually arrive, although this may take several years. {{version|0.31.02}}
*There have been reports of the Arsenal Dwarf not appearing despite the population criteria being fulfilled. This is likely caused by your Expedition leader/Mayor being absent.{{version|0.31.02}}

=Directing Soldiers=

Getting your military to actually ''do'' something is a lot more difficult than it once was; gone are the days of simply designating a barracks and letting your recruits have at it. It is now possible to give your squads different monthly '''schedules''', create different '''alert levels''' which will cause squads to follow out new user-programmed instructions depending on circumstance, give '''direct orders''' to '''attack''' one or more specific targets or '''move''' to a specific location, or follow '''patrol routes''' and '''stations''' with greater accuracy.

There is now a clear discrepancy between ''active'' orders and ''passive'' orders-- the latter is programming that a dwarf will follow to the letter and acts more as a defense method, and the former is used for taking the fight to the enemy. The ''squads'' menu is predominantly used for active commands, and the ''alert'' and ''scheduling'' menus are used for passive commands.

==Active Command==

''Full article: {{l|Squads#Direct_Commands|Squads#Direct Commands}}''

In the new military, soldiers operate much more like part-time militiamen than full-time warriors. When soldiers are not passively doing their civilian duties or following their schedule programming, they can be actively sent to do small tasks to aggressively defend your fortress. After these orders have been carried out or cancelled, your dwarves will happily return to their passive programming as if they were never interrupted. It is possible to select multiple squads or specific dwarves to carry out these orders.

Your forces can be commanded to carry out two types of orders: '''Move''' orders and '''Attack''' (or '''kill''') orders. Move orders are much like the 'station squad' command in previous versions; your selected dwarves will run to wherever you've sent them. Similarly, attack orders will select an enemy (by location on screen, general area on screen, or list) and send your dwarves charging off that way.

Soldiers following orders will attack any hostiles they encounter on their way to their destination as well as wild animals and whatever other creatures they might encounter, whether you like it or not. As a result it is very difficult to attack members of an enemy group with any sort of precision, and if your dwarves cannot take down their target there is no real way to get them out of combat; it's do-or-die. It is unknown whether this is a bug or a feature.

Orders can be cancelled through the squads screen, but your dwarves tend to be so enthusiastic that they'll just ignore you in their bloodlust. This is likely a bug.

==Passive Command==

''Full article: {{l|Scheduling}}''

The new '''alert level''' and '''scheduling''' system is a new feature that is both incredibly versatile... and, initially, completely impenetrable. Once you learn the system, though, you will find that you barely need to manage your military at all. Effectively, a schedule is programming for a squad to follow within an alert, broken up by month, and alerts can be quickly and easily swapped in order to apply different schedules of your choosing to different squads of your choosing. Without scheduling, alert levels would do nothing; without alert levels scheduling would be horribly inefficient; the two functions co-exist and rely on each other.

It is now possible to give your squads different monthly schedules, create different alert levels which will cause squads to follow out new user-programmed instructions depending on circumstance, give direct orders to attack one or more specific targets or move to a specific location, or follow patrol routes and stations with greater accuracy. The entire system (including alert names) is completely configurable, and in time you will find yourself using complicated scheduling to rotate squads between training and defending/patrolling specified areas over the course of a year without any user input, or to start defending the fort entrance or trader route with a few easy key presses.

Civilian alert levels are also possible - civilians can be restricted by '''{{l|burrow}}''' to where they can roam should the need to tuck them away into a panic room arise. The 'entrance dance' bug of the previous version has also been removed - if a dwarf restricted to a burrow is not there, he will do his best to make the journey.

The scheduling screen is broken up into a list of squads, months, alert types and '''order criteria'''. Each order (applied to one month; multiple orders can be stacked on one month as well) can be given criteria to define how many dwarves within a squad will follow its programming at once, allowing you to make a few dwarves out of the squad active at a time while the rest go about their business or to make the entire squad always active for a matter of the utmost importance, foregoing food, sleep, and booze. You can also choose which positions in a squad the order will prefer to utilize when forcing a squad to follow it.

Four types of orders can be given (as well as the 'inactive' command), defining different types of patrolling or stationary defending. Squads can spar and be given combat demonstrations in the '''{{l|barracks}}''', defend a '''{{l|burrow}}''', patrol a '''route''', or defend a single '''station'''. The monthly schedules can be named so as to better suit your needs, and a new (if still a bit buggy) copy/paste system has been introduced to eliminate some of the tedium in creating fancy scheduling for many months. The display can also be flipped around. 
'''Important note: As of version 31.01, choosing the passive command 'train' will simply cause your Dwarves to idle, while selecting 'no orders' will cause them to train, provided you have enabled this at your barracks. {{version|0.31.01}} '''

Barracks can now serve the needs of multiple specific squads at once. A barracks can be defined as a place to train, sleep, store squad equipment, store individual equipment, or any combination of the above, in any weird overlapping combination of barracks you like. Barracks are still necessary for training, but due to a bug it appears that your dwarves will only train when Inactive, despite what the Train command may have you believe. Marksdwarf training also appears to still be a bit glitchy.

When dwarves are being ordered to train, squad leaders will set up training classes for particular skills, or they will have dwarves spar. Any dwarves in the squad that don't qualify for these will default to individual training. In the current release, training classes are bugged where if a squad leader sets up a training class, he will wait forever (Or until you change his orders) for students, even if nobody shows up. Likewise, if students decide to request a class and the squad leader is doing individual training, they will wait for him to finish, even if they start starving. Thus, at the moment it's best to alternate your forced training schedules with downtime so the longest a dwarf will be stuck waiting is a game month (which isn't long enough to die), or just leave them off duty all the time and have them do individual training only, at least until this issue is fixed.

=Frequently Asked Questions=

''Full article: {{l|Military F.A.Q.}}''

=Reported Military-Related Bugs=
{{version|0.31.02}}
* '''Setting Dwarves to train will result in them idling instead of training. Instead, set them to have no assignments and set up a barracks with training enabled for their squad.'''
* Copying and pasting an empty order onto a non-empty order causes a crash. -- '''Fixed''' {{version|0.31.03}}
* Going to the military-schedule-grid screen and selecting your inactive alert group causes a crash. -- '''Fixed''' {{version|0.31.03}}
* Accessing 'Pri/Assignments' ({{k|m}}, {{k|e}}, {{k|U}}, {{k|P}}) when no squads are formed causes a crash. -- '''Fixed''' {{version|0.31.03}}
* If one of your soldiers equips a dagger it causes an immediate crash when you select that squad in the military screen. Editing your raw files and replacing [SKILL:DAGGER] with [SKILL:SWORD] is a workaround that prevents this crash.[[http://www.bay12games.com/dwarves/mantisbt/view.php?id=378]]
* If your Expedition Leader/Mayor is killed, all unassigned noble positions vanish.
* Soldiers who have been killed are not removed from their squads. You can see how many dead soldiers you currently have by comparing the number of dwarves in your squad(s) against the number found at the top of the military screen.
* When selecting new dwarves to place in a squad the cursor always returns to the first available dwarf instead of remaining where it is.
* The list of dwarves available to join a squad includes dwarves that are already in a squad.
* Soldiers who have completed a kill task do not cancel their kill task. This may be intentional.
* There are still various problems with dwarves not equipping what they should; notably marksdwarves (who try to train not with archery practice but by sparring with crossbows as blunt weapons).
* Dwarves that are training and forced to stop (for example with deconstruction the barracks) will go into "no job" for eternal, they wont count to idle, just like "on break" ones, but will never ever lift a finger again... ever, neither for training nor civilian. they still will go for kill or move orders.

{{Military v0.31}}
{{Category|Military| }}

v0.31:Military

2010-05-22T11:15:59Z

TheDarkEnigma: /* Reported Military-Related Bugs */

{{AV}}
{{buggy|bugsection=Reported Military-Related Bugs}}
{{Quality|Exceptional}}

The '''military''' is one of the most important aspects of a successful fortress. Even with many {{l|trap}}s, {{l|bridge|drawbridges}} and {{l|magma|other defenses}}, your military will still need to fend off {{l|goblin}} {{l|siege}}s, {{l|megabeast}}s, {{l|titan}}s, and fiendish {{l|Giant cave spider|underground}} {{l|Forgotten beast|beasties}}. Using a combination of {{l|squads|squad orders}} and {{l|scheduling}}, you can set up an elaborate offensive, defensive, or balanced military structure for your {{l|equipment|well-equipped}} {{l|soldier}}s to follow. Turning your dwarves from {{l|immigration|useless migrants}} into bloodthirsty killing machines never hurts (unless you're the enemy).

''Related articles:''
* For a ''very'' simple "How to attack a target", see {{L|Attack}}.
* For a list of frequently asked questions, see the {{l|Military F.A.Q.}}
* For a general overview of threats and considerations for fortress defense, see the {{l|Defense guide|Defense Guide}}.
* For specific suggestions on the physical defenses that will defend your military, see {{l|Security design|Security Design}}.
* For complex traps that are not a minor/optional part of a larger defensive plan (but might be adapted or plugged into one), see {{l|Trap design|Trap Design}}.
* For specific advice on how to get your soldiers prepared for any threat, see {{l|military design|Military Design}}.

For quick reference: from the main menu the '''military''' screen is accessible through the {{k|m}} key, the '''{{l|squads}}''' screen is accessible through the {{k|s}} key, the '''points/routes/notes''' screen is accessible through the {{k|N}} key, and the '''{{l|burrows}}''' screen is accessible through the {{k|w}} key. The military screen and all its tabs are mouse-compatible, and can be navigated through mouse clicks rather than strictly keys (when in windowed mode).

=Creating a Military=

While far more confusing than before, the new military system makes up for its initial impenetrability with a huge increase in versatility. Squads can be assigned, reordered and restructured at will, dwarves can be set to equip a highly-specified uniform along with the rest of their squad or stand out and equip something unique, and you can give incredibly detailed commands and programming to your squads to follow out based on time of year, circumstance, location, and user convenience. That being said, there's a lot to be learned.

This article is about the general aspects of what comprises a military. For more detailed information including specific keypresses, see the associated article expanding on a subject.

==Squads==

''Full article: {{l|Squads}}''

'''Squads''' are the groups of soldiers that make up your military. Your military is now led by the appointed '''{{l|militia commander}}''' and has many other squads led by '''militia captains''' under him. Creating a squad in the military screen is one of the first things you should do when starting your military.
*For some reason your '''{{l|leader|expedition leader}}''' can not be appointed as a militia captain or commander. He can still be assigned to a squad as a regular soldier however. It is unknown if this is intended behavior.

==Equipping Soldiers==

''Full article: {{l|Squads#Equipping Soldiers}}''

Rather than simply pick a level of equipment and hope your dwarves pick up the right stuff, you can select what your dwarf will wear by item type or specific item, or create a new uniform template and apply it to a dwarf or entire squad all at once. Even the material and color of your soldiers' uniform is configurable. You can create identical armored units with intimidating red cloaks or just slap something together based on need and circumstance. Even artifact weapons/armor are now selectable - luck and micro-management have been removed from the equation.

In the early stages of your fort your dwarves will equip themselves, but once enough migrants (13, making your population 20+ dwarves) have arrived your fortress will require an '''{{l|Arsenal_dwarf|Arsenal Dwarf}}''' (designated in the nobles screen) to manage your armory. The Arsenal Dwarf serves the role of quartermaster; without him your dwarves will be unable to change their equipment. Once you have a dwarf selected, make sure to give him an office - like a {{l|manager}}, an Arsenal Dwarf will need to sign off on equipment changes before they can be made.

Note that if you don't have an option for an Arsenal Dwarf, it just means your fort isn't big enough to need one yet. Dwarves will equip themselves until your fortress grows too large - just keep an eye on the nobles screen every time you get migrants, and assign an Arsenal Dwarf when you need one.

*If your Expedition Leader/Mayor is killed it can cause all unassigned nobles to vanish from the nobles screen. This could cause your arsenal dwarf position (among others) to be unavailable. A new expedition leader should eventually arrive, although this may take several years. {{version|0.31.02}}
*There have been reports of the Arsenal Dwarf not appearing despite the population criteria being fulfilled. This is likely caused by your Expedition leader/Mayor being absent.{{version|0.31.02}}

=Directing Soldiers=

Getting your military to actually ''do'' something is a lot more difficult than it once was; gone are the days of simply designating a barracks and letting your recruits have at it. It is now possible to give your squads different monthly '''schedules''', create different '''alert levels''' which will cause squads to follow out new user-programmed instructions depending on circumstance, give '''direct orders''' to '''attack''' one or more specific targets or '''move''' to a specific location, or follow '''patrol routes''' and '''stations''' with greater accuracy.

There is now a clear discrepancy between ''active'' orders and ''passive'' orders-- the latter is programming that a dwarf will follow to the letter and acts more as a defense method, and the former is used for taking the fight to the enemy. The ''squads'' menu is predominantly used for active commands, and the ''alert'' and ''scheduling'' menus are used for passive commands.

==Active Command==

''Full article: {{l|Squads#Direct_Commands|Squads#Direct Commands}}''

In the new military, soldiers operate much more like part-time militiamen than full-time warriors. When soldiers are not passively doing their civilian duties or following their schedule programming, they can be actively sent to do small tasks to aggressively defend your fortress. After these orders have been carried out or cancelled, your dwarves will happily return to their passive programming as if they were never interrupted. It is possible to select multiple squads or specific dwarves to carry out these orders.

Your forces can be commanded to carry out two types of orders: '''Move''' orders and '''Attack''' (or '''kill''') orders. Move orders are much like the 'station squad' command in previous versions; your selected dwarves will run to wherever you've sent them. Similarly, attack orders will select an enemy (by location on screen, general area on screen, or list) and send your dwarves charging off that way.

Soldiers following orders will attack any hostiles they encounter on their way to their destination as well as wild animals and whatever other creatures they might encounter, whether you like it or not. As a result it is very difficult to attack members of an enemy group with any sort of precision, and if your dwarves cannot take down their target there is no real way to get them out of combat; it's do-or-die. It is unknown whether this is a bug or a feature.

Orders can be cancelled through the squads screen, but your dwarves tend to be so enthusiastic that they'll just ignore you in their bloodlust. This is likely a bug.

==Passive Command==

''Full article: {{l|Scheduling}}''

The new '''alert level''' and '''scheduling''' system is a new feature that is both incredibly versatile... and, initially, completely impenetrable. Once you learn the system, though, you will find that you barely need to manage your military at all. Effectively, a schedule is programming for a squad to follow within an alert, broken up by month, and alerts can be quickly and easily swapped in order to apply different schedules of your choosing to different squads of your choosing. Without scheduling, alert levels would do nothing; without alert levels scheduling would be horribly inefficient; the two functions co-exist and rely on each other.

It is now possible to give your squads different monthly schedules, create different alert levels which will cause squads to follow out new user-programmed instructions depending on circumstance, give direct orders to attack one or more specific targets or move to a specific location, or follow patrol routes and stations with greater accuracy. The entire system (including alert names) is completely configurable, and in time you will find yourself using complicated scheduling to rotate squads between training and defending/patrolling specified areas over the course of a year without any user input, or to start defending the fort entrance or trader route with a few easy key presses.

Civilian alert levels are also possible - civilians can be restricted by '''{{l|burrow}}''' to where they can roam should the need to tuck them away into a panic room arise. The 'entrance dance' bug of the previous version has also been removed - if a dwarf restricted to a burrow is not there, he will do his best to make the journey.

The scheduling screen is broken up into a list of squads, months, alert types and '''order criteria'''. Each order (applied to one month; multiple orders can be stacked on one month as well) can be given criteria to define how many dwarves within a squad will follow its programming at once, allowing you to make a few dwarves out of the squad active at a time while the rest go about their business or to make the entire squad always active for a matter of the utmost importance, foregoing food, sleep, and booze. You can also choose which positions in a squad the order will prefer to utilize when forcing a squad to follow it.

Four types of orders can be given (as well as the 'inactive' command), defining different types of patrolling or stationary defending. Squads can spar and be given combat demonstrations in the '''{{l|barracks}}''', defend a '''{{l|burrow}}''', patrol a '''route''', or defend a single '''station'''. The monthly schedules can be named so as to better suit your needs, and a new (if still a bit buggy) copy/paste system has been introduced to eliminate some of the tedium in creating fancy scheduling for many months. The display can also be flipped around.

Barracks can now serve the needs of multiple specific squads at once. A barracks can be defined as a place to train, sleep, store squad equipment, store individual equipment, or any combination of the above, in any weird overlapping combination of barracks you like. Barracks are still necessary for training, but due to a bug it appears that your dwarves will only train when Inactive, despite what the Train command may have you believe. Marksdwarf training also appears to still be a bit glitchy.

When dwarves are being ordered to train, squad leaders will set up training classes for particular skills, or they will have dwarves spar. Any dwarves in the squad that don't qualify for these will default to individual training. In the current release, training classes are bugged where if a squad leader sets up a training class, he will wait forever (Or until you change his orders) for students, even if nobody shows up. Likewise, if students decide to request a class and the squad leader is doing individual training, they will wait for him to finish, even if they start starving. Thus, at the moment it's best to alternate your forced training schedules with downtime so the longest a dwarf will be stuck waiting is a game month (which isn't long enough to die), or just leave them off duty all the time and have them do individual training only, at least until this issue is fixed.

=Frequently Asked Questions=

''Full article: {{l|Military F.A.Q.}}''

=Reported Military-Related Bugs=
{{version|0.31.02}}
* '''Setting Dwarves to train will result in them idling instead of training. Instead, set them to have no assignments and set up a barracks with training enabled for their squad.'''
* Copying and pasting an empty order onto a non-empty order causes a crash. -- '''Fixed''' {{version|0.31.03}}
* Going to the military-schedule-grid screen and selecting your inactive alert group causes a crash. -- '''Fixed''' {{version|0.31.03}}
* Accessing 'Pri/Assignments' ({{k|m}}, {{k|e}}, {{k|U}}, {{k|P}}) when no squads are formed causes a crash. -- '''Fixed''' {{version|0.31.03}}
* If one of your soldiers equips a dagger it causes an immediate crash when you select that squad in the military screen. Editing your raw files and replacing [SKILL:DAGGER] with [SKILL:SWORD] is a workaround that prevents this crash.[[http://www.bay12games.com/dwarves/mantisbt/view.php?id=378]]
* If your Expedition Leader/Mayor is killed, all unassigned noble positions vanish.
* Soldiers who have been killed are not removed from their squads. You can see how many dead soldiers you currently have by comparing the number of dwarves in your squad(s) against the number found at the top of the military screen.
* When selecting new dwarves to place in a squad the cursor always returns to the first available dwarf instead of remaining where it is.
* The list of dwarves available to join a squad includes dwarves that are already in a squad.
* Soldiers who have completed a kill task do not cancel their kill task. This may be intentional.
* There are still various problems with dwarves not equipping what they should; notably marksdwarves (who try to train not with archery practice but by sparring with crossbows as blunt weapons).
* Dwarves that are training and forced to stop (for example with deconstruction the barracks) will go into "no job" for eternal, they wont count to idle, just like "on break" ones, but will never ever lift a finger again... ever, neither for training nor civilian. they still will go for kill or move orders.

{{Military v0.31}}
{{Category|Military| }}

v0.31:Release information/0.31.04

2010-05-19T12:12:02Z

TheDarkEnigma: /* Known Issues */

<blockquote>The main thing here is the new OpenGL code by Svein Ove Aas (Baughn). Especially if you weren't running at maximum framerates even on the title screen, you should notice a great improvement. There are some modes worth messing around with in data/init/init.txt -- try "2D" if the game does not work as well as it used to (or stick with the legacy version if truly necessary). 
You can get at macros with: 
* Ctrl+r = record 
* Ctrl+p = play 
* Ctrl+s = save 
* Ctrl+l = load 
There is a directory data/init/macros for them. 

You can use PNGs for (translucent) tilesets, you can resize the window using the border, you can zoom using the mouse wheel (reset with F10, you can rebind this to keys if you like) and multiple keys can be bound to one command. 

A lot of changes were necessary to get this running, so there are likely to be a variety of bugs. The legacy version has also been reorganized to make releases easier, so there could be new bugs even there.
</blockquote>
:::-- [[Toady One]]

==Known Issues==

* The detailed (non-tile) map export from legends mode is out for Linux and Mac until I get it working
* Unclear sound situation for Linux (I don't get any)
* Junk flashes on screen during last frame of opening movie
* Offloading units slow?
* There was a world gen compression error crash that <s>went away and hasn't returned, but I'm not completely sure I got it fixed.</s> pops up from time to time, but apparently fixes itself if you run the world gen again.
* Some of the "Ending game..." or "Saving..." style indicators don't reliably show up

==Crash fixes==
* stopped site finder from eating up a ton of memory (crashing the game on large maps)

==Major bug fixes==
* changed day/night temperature calculations (fixes fish availability and melting in the rain)
* stopped suture and dressing jobs from being repeated over and over on healed wounds

==Minor changes==
* made all vermin and smallish outdoor corpse items disappear over time (can be hit after a month for vermin, season for corpse chunks)
* changed ranges for adv mode temperature text
* made temperature of squares adjacent to lava slightly lower