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Difference between revisions of "v0.31:Military"

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(equipment and uniforms cleared up, STILL working on this though)
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{{Quality|Exceptional}}{{av}}
  
  
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The military is one of the most important aspects of a successful fortress. Even with many {{l|traps}}, {{l|drawbridge}}s 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}}. Turning your dwarves from useless migrants into bloodthirsty killing machines never hurts.
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<div style="float:right; margin-left:1em; margin-top:1em;">__TOC__</div>
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The '''military''' is one of the most important aspects of a successful fortress. Even with many [[trap]]s, [[bridge|drawbridges]] and [[magma|other defenses]], your military will still need to fend off [[goblin]] [[siege]]s, [[megabeast]]s, [[titan]]s, and fiendish [[Giant cave spider|underground]] [[Forgotten beast|beasties]]. Using a combination of [[squads|squad orders]] and [[scheduling]], you can set up an elaborate offensive, defensive, or balanced military structure for your [[equipment|well-equipped]] [[soldier]]s to follow. Turning your dwarves from [[immigration|useless migrants]] into bloodthirsty killing machines never hurts (unless you're the enemy).
  
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The '''military''' screen is accessible through the {{k|m}} key, the '''squads''' screen is accessible through the {{k|s}} key, and the '''points/routes/notes''' screen is accessible through the {{k|N}} key.
+
The military system is rather extensive and complex, and there is a lot of documentation. Here is a list of key documents categorized by expertise level:
 +
* '''Beginner:'''
 +
** [[Attack]] is a ''very'' simple "How to attack a target" guide. This is useful if you don't know anything about the military and just want to order some (untrained) dwarves to (suicide) attack something ''now''.
 +
** [[Military quickstart]] will teach you to set up and train your very first properly organized squad.
  
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'''See also:'''
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* '''Intermediate:'''
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* A {{L|Military/Guide|quickstart guide}} to the military interface.<!--probably outdated, I incorporated all that info into this page ~Retro -->
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** [[Squads]] helps you understand everything about squads.
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* For a general overview of threats and considerations for fortress defense, see the {{l|Defense Guide}}
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** [[Military interface]] contains mostly complete documentation on the ''military screen''.
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* For specific suggestions on the physical defenses that will defend your military, see {{l|Defense Design}}.
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** [[Scheduling]] describes the squad scheduling system in more detail.
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* 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}}.  
+
** [[Military F.A.Q.]] is a list of frequently asked questions.  
  
 +
* '''Advanced:'''
 +
** [[Sparring]] will give you insights about combat training.
 +
** [[military design|Military Design]] provides specific advice on how to get your soldiers prepared for any threat.
 +
** [[Security design|Security Design]] will give you specific suggestions on the physical defenses that will defend your military.
 +
** [[Defense guide|Defense Guide]] is a general overview of threats and considerations for fortress defense.
 +
** [[Trap design|Trap Design]] contains information on complex traps that are not a minor/optional part of a larger defensive plan (but might be adapted or plugged into one).
  
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=The Basics=
+
The rest of this guide contains an overview of military features (with links to associated sections of other documents).
 +
 
 +
==Quick Reference==
 +
From the main menu:
 +
*The '''[[Military interface|military]]''' screen is accessible through the {{k|m}} key.
 +
*The '''[[squads]]''' screen is accessible through the {{k|s}} key.
 +
*The '''[[Note|points/routes/notes]]''' screen is accessible through the {{k|N}} key.
 +
*The '''[[burrow]]s''' 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==
 
==Creating a Military==
 +
While it may be confusing to a new player, the military system makes up for its initial impenetrability with its versatility. Using the [[military interface]], 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.
  
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Before you can do anything with your military you need to go into the '''{{k|n}}oble''' screen and designate a '''{{l|militia commander}}'''. Subsequent squad leaders are also designated through the nobles screen; once you designate a militia commander it will open up a slot for a '''{{l|militia captain}}''', and once you designate one of those it opens another captain slot, etc. These roles are all functionally equivalent.
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This article is about the general aspects of what a military comprises. For more detailed information including specific key commands, see the associated article expanding on a subject. In particular you may want to check out the [[military interface]] article since the interface is one of the most confusing aspects.
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When you have designated a commander/captain, going to the military screen will show that dwarf under the "Squads/Leaders" heading and you'll notice an option to create a new squad. Doing that moves the the display of the dwarf from his name to the squad's name. You can then fill out the squad from anyone in the fort by filling in the "Squad Positions" heading. A squad automatically defaults to 'training' all year until otherwise defined.
 
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 +
===Squads===
  
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The squad defaults to training all the time (see its 's'chedule on the military screen).
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''Full article: [[Squads]]''
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To actually make them train, though, you need to activate them: 's'quads from the main screen, then press the letter of your squad, then 't' to change it from inactive to active.
 
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You also need to create a barracks from a bed, armour stand, archery target, or weapon rack, then assign the squad to train in it with the 't' key. This makes them immediately start to train there.
 
  
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==Equipment and Uniforms==
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'''Squads''' are the groups of soldiers that make up your military. Your military is now led by the appointed '''[[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.
  
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In the military screen, press {{k|u}} to open the '''uniforms''' tab. Each listing under the 'Uniforms' header is essentially a pre-designed set of equipment that you can quickly apply to any individual soldier or entire squad, much like a template. You can create new uniforms if you want and add or remove items from any uniform by navigating this menu. <!--MORE INFO NEEDED-->
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===Equipping Soldiers===
  
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While still in the military screen, press {{k|e}} to open the '''equipment''' tab. The default sub-tab, '{{k|V}}iew/Customize will be open. In this screen you can select individual dwarves and apply individual pieces of equipment to them. To apply your preset uniform templates, press {{k|U}} to open the Assign Uniforms sub-tab and move the selector to the Position Uniform header. Pressing {{k|enter}} will apply the selected uniform to the individual dwarf of your choosing, and {{k|shift}}+{{k|enter}} will apply the selected uniform to the entire squad.
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''Full article: [[Squads#Equipping Soldiers]]''
  
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In the early stages of your fort your dwarves will equip themselves, but once enough migrants have arrived your fortress will require an '''{{l|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, give him an office and things will be up and running again. Note that if you don't have an option for 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.
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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.
  
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==Alert levels==
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<!-- Please reenable when added back
 +
====Arsenal Dwarf====
 +
The Arsenal Dwarf was removed in version 0.31.09 but may be re-introduced in a later version.  The rest of this section is only applicable if you are playing an older version.
  
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The ''alert level'' is a fundamental concept of military management. In each alert level, you can program instructions for your military and 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.
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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 '''[[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 [[manager]], an Arsenal Dwarf will need to sign off on equipment changes before they can be made.
  
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Your entire fortress is always set to exactly one 'Civilian alert level'. This restricts where civilians 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 (m then a), create a new alert level (call it something like 'Danger'), highlight it in the left pane, then press enter on the correct burrow in the right pane. You can change the currently active civilian alert level by pressing enter on the correct alert level in the left pane.
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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.
  
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Each alert level also carries instructions for military dwarves when it is activated. Unlike the civilian level, which applies to your entire fort, the military alert level can be set individually for each squad. To set a squad to an alert level, either select it from the squad menu (s) and press 't' until the desired alert level is selected, or go to the alert menu (m then a), highlight the correct alert level in the left pane, then highlight the correct squad in the middle pane, then press Shift-Enter.
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*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.
 +
*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.
 +
-->
  
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==Scheduling==
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==Directing Soldiers==
  
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Each squad can be given a schedule to follow for an entire year. 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. The main scheduling screen can be accessed by pressing s from the main military screen.  
+
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.
  
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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 / and * numpad keys. You can use the + and - numpad keys 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 up and down the month list, and the left/right arrow keys to navigate between the 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 Tab to switch focus to this order list. From here, you can press e to edit the orders.
+
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.
  
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When you press 'e', a screen will come up saying something like 'o: Train'. Press o to change the order's 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 and press Enter. It should be highlighted in green. When you are done, press Shift-Enter to save the order and return to the schedule screen.
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===Active Command===
  
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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.
+
''Full article: [[Squads#Direct_Commands|Squads#Direct Commands]]''
  
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To eliminate some of the tedium in scheduling many months, you can copy-paste orders from one cell to another with the c and p keys. Press c in the cell you want to copy from, then go to the cells you want to paste to and press p in each one.  
+
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.
  
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By pressing Shift-Tab in the main military screen, you can flip 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.
+
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.
  
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Warning, dwarves who are set to do nothing but train 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 : from the schedule screen, edit (o)rders, and use (-) until the value is 1 or 2 less than the current number of soldiers in your squad. This will change the limit for the current month only, so use the copy/paste feature to update every month.
+
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.
  
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==Stations and Routes==
+
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.
  
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Stations are set in the {{k|N}}otes menu. Simply place a point where you want a squad to stand, give it a name if you want to be able to find it quickly, then give your desired squads orders to guard that station.
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===Passive Command===
  
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Routes are made by combining stations. Once you have stations set along your desired route (at least 2, or you can't make a route), 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.
+
''Full article: [[Scheduling]]''
  
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==Kill orders==
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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.
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The kill command allows your military to focus their attack on one or more specific targets. It is a very unsubtle way of beating into your dwarves' booze addled minds that they are to kill your target or be killed in the attempt. It may very well be your last command to your dwarves.
 
  
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Kill Order steps - as new DF can be confusing:
+
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.
  
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1. Have a squad(s) set up through the 'm'ilitary menu at the main screen. Start a new squad if necessary by moving over to the dwarves and selecting them. Now assign proper weapons and armor. You do not need to mess with alerts or schedules at this time. You should always have a squad set up before everything goes to Armok, but this command may be utilized to have civilians join in a last ditch defense.
+
Civilian alert levels are also possible - civilians can be restricted by '''[[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.
  
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2. Go back to the main screen, then press 's' to access the 's'quad menu.  
+
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.
  
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3. Press either 'a'/'b'/'c'/etc or 'A' 'B' 'C' to select the squad(s) that will execute the Kill Order. You may press 'p' if you want to toggle between having an individual dwarf or the squad perform the kill order.
+
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 '''[[barracks]]''', defend a '''[[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.
  
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4. After selecting which dwarves will execute the kill order, press 'k' for "Attack".
+
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 necessary for training.
  
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5. Now you have several options, you can move the cursor to what you want to die and press 'enter', press 'l'ist and select what you want to die from a list, or 'r'ectangle to select an area of things you want dead.
+
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.
  
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6. Watch your dwarves fulfill their beardhood or join the halls of their fathers.
+
==Frequently Asked Questions==
  
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==Training Marksdwarves==
+
''Full article: [[Military F.A.Q.]]''
  
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To get marksdwarves to train in any way other then bashing each other with their crossbows, you need two things. First, they must have quivers. Archers will no longer fire bolts without a quiver to store them in. Second, you need to have an archery range that is set up for the squad and listed as a Training area for that squad.
+
==Current Reported Military-Related Bugs==
 +
* When selecting new dwarves to place in a squad the cursor always returns to the first available dwarf instead of remaining where it is.
 +
* 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; most notably, dwarves will try to equip two left gauntlets or two right gauntlets rather than one of each. This happens if there are an odd number of gauntlets of any quality level; the dwarves try to equip two gauntlets of the highest quality level, regardless of whether they are left or right. A solution is to make sure every quality level accounts for one right gauntlet for each left gauntlet.
 +
*Dwarves who become lords automatically disable all their civilian jobs. When they come off duty and back on duty they lose experience as well.
 +
*Military dwarves in squads that are assigned to a schedule may get increasingly angry about long patrol duties, even if they were not on duty the past 12 months.
  
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'''See Also: [[DF2010:Military guide]]
+
{{Military}}
 +
{{Category|Military| }}

Latest revision as of 23:30, 21 June 2024

xTATTEREDx  · +FINE+  · *SUPERIOR*  · ≡EXCEPTIONAL≡  · ☼MASTERWORK☼
v50.14 · v0.47 · v0.34 · v0.31.25 · v0.28 · v0.23
This article is about an older version of DF.


The military is one of the most important aspects of a successful fortress. Even with many traps, drawbridges and other defenses, your military will still need to fend off goblin sieges, megabeasts, titans, and fiendish underground beasties. Using a combination of squad orders and scheduling, you can set up an elaborate offensive, defensive, or balanced military structure for your well-equipped soldiers to follow. Turning your dwarves from useless migrants into bloodthirsty killing machines never hurts (unless you're the enemy).

The military system is rather extensive and complex, and there is a lot of documentation. Here is a list of key documents categorized by expertise level:

  • Beginner:
    • Attack is a very simple "How to attack a target" guide. This is useful if you don't know anything about the military and just want to order some (untrained) dwarves to (suicide) attack something now.
    • Military quickstart will teach you to set up and train your very first properly organized squad.
  • Intermediate:
    • Squads helps you understand everything about squads.
    • Military interface contains mostly complete documentation on the military screen.
    • Scheduling describes the squad scheduling system in more detail.
    • Military F.A.Q. is a list of frequently asked questions.
  • Advanced:
    • Sparring will give you insights about combat training.
    • Military Design provides specific advice on how to get your soldiers prepared for any threat.
    • Security Design will give you specific suggestions on the physical defenses that will defend your military.
    • Defense Guide is a general overview of threats and considerations for fortress defense.
    • Trap Design contains information on complex traps that are not a minor/optional part of a larger defensive plan (but might be adapted or plugged into one).

The rest of this guide contains an overview of military features (with links to associated sections of other documents).

Quick Reference[edit]

From the main menu:

  • The military screen is accessible through the m key.
  • The squads screen is accessible through the s key.
  • The points/routes/notes screen is accessible through the N key.
  • The burrows screen is accessible through the 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[edit]

While it may be confusing to a new player, the military system makes up for its initial impenetrability with its versatility. Using the military interface, 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 a military comprises. For more detailed information including specific key commands, see the associated article expanding on a subject. In particular you may want to check out the military interface article since the interface is one of the most confusing aspects.

Squads[edit]

Full article: Squads

Squads are the groups of soldiers that make up your military. Your military is now led by the appointed 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.

Equipping Soldiers[edit]

Full article: 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.


Directing Soldiers[edit]

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[edit]

Full article: 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[edit]

Full article: 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 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 barracks, defend a 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 necessary for training.

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[edit]

Full article: Military F.A.Q.

Current Reported Military-Related Bugs[edit]

  • When selecting new dwarves to place in a squad the cursor always returns to the first available dwarf instead of remaining where it is.
  • 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; most notably, dwarves will try to equip two left gauntlets or two right gauntlets rather than one of each. This happens if there are an odd number of gauntlets of any quality level; the dwarves try to equip two gauntlets of the highest quality level, regardless of whether they are left or right. A solution is to make sure every quality level accounts for one right gauntlet for each left gauntlet.
  • Dwarves who become lords automatically disable all their civilian jobs. When they come off duty and back on duty they lose experience as well.
  • Military dwarves in squads that are assigned to a schedule may get increasingly angry about long patrol duties, even if they were not on duty the past 12 months.
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