User:UristMcGinger/General Strategy

PLEASE NOTE THIS GUIDE IS HEAVILY UNDER CONSTRUCTION. I've only gotten as far as embarking, as of yet.

There's a distinct dearth of strategy guides for .40, so I decided to make one. Please note that all information in this guide is subjective to my personal opinion, and may not be viable on a case-to-case system. It also assumes you're familiar with the game's controls already - if not, see the Quickstart Guide.

This guide hopes to give a general sense of making a successful fort (not necessarily and overly fun one), from selecting an embark site to stability.

Embark Site

Before anything else can take place, you need a place. Preferably, one that's nice and comfy.

Surroundings These are your surroundings options.

	Benign	Neutral	Savage
Good	Serene	Mirthful	Joyous Wilds
Neutral	Calm	Wilderness	Untamed Wilds
Evil	Sinister	Haunted	Terrifying

You should be more than fine in any surroundings that are Serene, Mirthful, Calm, or Wilderness (although in all honesty, I've never had any serious issues on anything but Terrifying).

Climate

For the easiest time, select a Warm climate. The water sources never freeze, thus you never run the risk of dying of thirst. Don't go hotter than "Warm", or colder than "Cold", unless you're looking for more of a challenge. It may render some of my advice obsolete, however, as I'll be assuming you have a thawed aboveground source of water.

Plant life

Any embark with even sparse tree-life should provide you ample wood for carpentry and craft purposes. However, you always run the risk of an embark without natural coal, and for this reason I try to have a significant portion of the embark be "Woodlands."

Other plant life is largely irrelevant, unless you're looking to make aboveground farms for luxury food/booze purposes later on.

Layers

- Soil/Clay

You want, at the 'least', "Little Soil" or "Shallow Clay." This makes setting your farms up much, much easier. I prefer to go for "Some Soil" or "Deep Soil", but not "Very Deep Soil," just for ease of accessing stone. All a preference thing, again, but this guide won't cover setting up farms without soil in place.

- Flux Stone

You want this. You need flux stone to make both Pig Iron and Steel, and having your own source makes getting your steel industry running smoothly much, much easier.

- Metal

At the least, "Shallow Metal". I prefer to aim for sites with both "Shallow Metals" and "Deep Metals", to maximize my chances of getting useful ones.

Aquifer

Don't have one. End of story, they're one of the biggest pains this game has to offer.

River

I almost never embark without a river - they provide a limitless source of both food (in the form of fish) and of water.

Neighbors

Always check this screen - it tells you if you're at peace or war with the elves, if there are goblins that will want to siege you, and - most importantly - if there's a nearby tower, which tends to provide high amounts of unpredictable fun.

Try to get both humans and elves, both at peace, to maximize trade. Goblins are mostly irrelevant as threats, and towers are very dangerous, but unpredictable, and so are a matter of personal preference. I won't be accounting for them in this guide.

Embark Profile

Congratulations! You've selected a spot that will give your dorfs the highest chance of surviving. It's all relative, of course, given the intelligence level of the little buggers. Still, you've got a decent shot here. But what do you bring with you?

Note that this section is even more subjective than most, and changes the most with embark location, as well as what's available.

Tools/Materials

I'll bring;

3 picks

1 axe

3 buckets

1 wheelbarrow

3 bags

2 anvils

3 splints

3 crutches

5 units of cloth

5 units of thread

3 ropes

Food/Drink/Seeds

16 units of Dwarven Wine

16 units of Dwarven Beer

16 units of Dwarven Ale

16 units of Dwarven Rum

16 units of 2 different types of meat (different animals).

16 plump helmets

6 plump helmet spawn

6 cave wheat seeds

6 pig tail seeds

The odd numbers are to get one extra container with the food/drink. This can be optimized by selecting a different animal's meat for 'each unit', but I find that to be a bit exploit-y, and more trouble than it's worth.

Animals

I stick to just one breeding pair of dogs, and a couple male cats (which are promptly gelded).

Dorfs

Assuming you've followed my profile to the letter - and my math is correct - this should leave you with 381 points to spend on your dorfs. I'll break down their skills individually.

'Dwarf One' - A miner - Proficient Miner

'Dwarf Two' - A miner -Proficient Miner

'Dwarf Three' - A miner -Proficient Miner

'Dwarf Four' - The Woodworker -Proficient Woodcutter -Proficient Carpenter

'Dwarf Five' - The Stoneworker -Proficient Mason -Proficient Engraver

'Dwarf Six' - The Mayor-in-Training -Adequate Fisherdwarf -Adequate Grower -Competent Consoler -Novice Leader

'Dwarf Seven' - The Soon-to-be-Broker -Adequate Brewer -Adequate Cook -Adqueate Fish Cleaner -Novice Record Keeper