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v0.34:Mount
| This article is about an older version of DF. |
Enemies in sieges will often come mounted on other creatures, their mounts. These mounts can not only add to the attacks of those mounted on them, but also give their riders more battle ability: their mounts might be able to fly, might be building destroyers, they might be faster and fleeter than the creature would regularly be on foot, or they might just be plain scary in combat.
Mounts can arrive in one of two forms: as individual rides for a squad captain, or with whole squads mounted on them. Squads do not necessarily have to be mounted on the same unit; in fact, oftentimes they ride mixed mounts, which can be a blessing, as goblin bowmen on giant bats will not path over your walls if some of their companions are riding elk birds instead. Sometimes, particularly scary mounts will arrive without riders, in their own leaderless squads (cave dragons and trolls arrive this way). The types of mounts that siegers will arrive on depend on the civilization:
- Goblins will come on any underground [MOUNT_EXOTIC]: elk birds, giant cave swallows, giant olms, giant bats, and giant cave spiders, cave crocodiles, rutherers, jabberers, blind cave bears, and voracious cave crawlers, to name a few. Cave dragons and trolls can also appear alongside their sieges.
- Elves will come on any aboveground [EXOTIC] [MOUNT_EXOTIC]: unicorns are the most outstanding example.
- Humans will come on any above-ground "normal" animal, exotic or not. They tend to ride camels (of both varieties), horses, and grizzly bears, and may bring along squads of trained war animals, like giant cheetahs.
Dwarves cannot mount creatures, but as the information above tells, all other civilizations can and do. Beyond acting like a force multiplier, dead mounts can be butchered after the battle to feed your meat industry. A squad of cave dragons that is killed and hauled back inside will produce a lot of meat products, making mounted sieges convenient food resupplies, if you are prepared to handle them that is. Note that goblins only have a single animal trainer, their general; if he falls (or, because of a bug, leaves the map), you will never see mounted goblin units again. Humorously, amphibious siege mounts will disregard their riders inability to breathe under water or swim, and reports of cave crocodiles and giant toads diving into moats or rivers, only to have their goblin riders drown, are fairly common.