Editing v0.31:Sample Starting Builds

The following are sample starting builds provided by users.  They may be as specific as full skill and item specifications with a file that you can copy and paste to use yourself, or as general as suggestions on how you might set up your starting build.


===Ashery===
*Military: 5 armor use, 5 dodge. Possibly a mix of dodge and shield use instead of max dodge, but that's up in the air. Set to start training the moment goods are hauled inside the fort's entrance. Also does woodcutting as needed.
*Doctor/Leader: 1 appraise, 2 diagnose, 2 bone doctor, 2 surgeon, 2 wound dresser, 1 suture. Also serves as one of my primary miners and, once replacement miners come, the fort's first bookkeeper as well.
*Farmer/Cook: 4 farming, 5 cooking, 1 armorsmith. Does most of the early hauling grunt work, but eventually is restricted only to food related activities. No mining is done in order to keep armorsmithing as the highest moodable skill.
*Farmer/Brewer: 4 farming, 5 brewing, 1 armorsmith. Same as the cook.
*Weapon/Armorsmith: 5 armorsmith, 5 weaponsmith. Does a sizable amount of the early mining, but is removed from duty before the mining skill gets too high.
*Mason: 5 mason, 5 building design. Can help out with mining if necessary, but is usually busy constructing buildings or helping the farmers haul goods.
*Carpenter/Mechanic: 5 carpentry, 5 mechanic. An odd mix, but mechanisms are my primary export.

===Tarran===
*(every skill has five points put into it)
*2 miners/engravers (when they are not mining they are engraving)
*1 mason/carpenter (deals with all that stuff)
*1 mechanic/stonecrafter (when he is not making mechanisms he is making crafts)
*1 woodcutter/architect (when not cutting wood he is designing buildings)
*1 grower/brewer (deals with all my needs this early in the game)
*1 adequate armorsmith, weaponsmith, and metalcrafter. novice furnace operator, and wood burner (remove wood burner if you have magma)

===Ancient Enemy===
*Leader with all his points distributed through negotiation/bookkeeper/appraiser/etc.
*3 dwarves with proficient mining
*1 proficient grower
*1 proficient brewer
*1 proficient cook

===Proteus===
*Leader/Miner: 6-7 points into things important to become leader and broker (appraisal, negotiation, judge of intent, organizing and others, all at least with 1 pt), rest into mining
*Doc/Recordkeeper +at least another productive job: 1-2pts into diagnostics, 1pt in each other medical skill, 1pt in recordkeeping, rest into 1-2 jobs
*Cook: 4-5pts in cooking,  2-4pts  in brewing,  rest in fish cleaning and butchery
*Farmer: around 3-4pts in Growing, at least 1pt in milling, plant processing and brewing
*Crafter: Usually 5pts in stone crafting,  rest in other crafting jobs (although that might change, as now bone carving has become next to worthless)
*Clothier: 2-4pts in leatherworking and clothier, rest into weaving and tanning
*Builder: Most of  his points into Masonry, Engraving and Mechanics, as well as a few  points into Carpenter  (if no other dwarf already has pts in this job)

===Cronus===
*Miners/Mechanics: 2 dwarves with max points in mining and mechanics; get the fort, then those traps, up quickly. 
*Woodcutter/Carpenter: points in woodcutting and carpentry; chop during initial dig then start pumping out beds and barrels
*Farmer/Brewer: points in farming and brewing; get the wheat and helmets in and brew during the off-season. Can also serve as butcher in a pinch.
*Crafter: points dispersed into stonecrafting, bonecarving, weaving, and leatherworking. 
*Mason/Architect: points into masonry and building design. Allows a focus on walls, doors, and bridges.
*Leader/Trader: spread points among appraisal, negotiator, conversationalist, consoler, and comedian.

===Jake Grey===
* The Hunter: Ambusher, Marksdwarf, Hammerdwarf, Shield/Armour User, Dodger. Number two source of protein and useful military backup.
* The Catering Team: One Grower/Butcher/Fish Cleaner/Tanner and one Grower/Cook/Brewer/Plant Gatherer/Thresher. Usually get the Record Keeper and Appraiser points as well, since they have probably the safest jobs, and some points in mining to get things dug faster.
* The Artisans: One Carpenter/Woodcutter/Bone Carver, one Miner/Mason/Stone Crafter/Architect and one Miner/Metalsmith/Weaponsmith/Armoursmith/Furnace Operator. The blacksmith usually gets the Organiser points, as I don't embark with an anvil.
* "Dr Fisher": Adequate Diagnostician, Wound Dresser, Suturer, Bone Doctor, Surgeon, Novice Fisherdwarf. The world's happiest on-call GP, feeds the fortress almost single-handed while waiting for someone to get injured.


===The Stoners===

The Dwarves:
*Miner/Stonecrafter (mines and makes pots and crafts when needed)
*Miner/Mechanic (mines and makes levers or traps when needed)
*Mason/Building Designer (makes all the furniture and buildings)
*Carpenter/Woodcutter (cuts wood, makes beds, bins, barrels, and cages if needed)
*Weaponsmith/Armorsmith (will provide good quality gear for your militia)
*Grower/Brewer (farms, makes booze, and does most of the hauling early)
*Grower/Cook (farms, cooks food, and does most of the hauling early)

Supplies:
*2 Picks
*1 Battleaxe
*1 Anvil
*60 Booze
*30 Meat/Fish/Eggs
*5-10 of each seed
*Spend the rest of the points on anything else you want like plump helmets, animals, wood, and ores. Taking copper ores (malachite/copper nuggets) and tin ores (cassiterite) are a good choice since using them to make bronze is very cheap at 6 points per ore.

Notes: 
*After hauling your wagon supplies indoors, have your smith work nonstop making fuel, smelting ores, and making weapons/armor. By the time your first migrants arrive you should have a full set of armor and a weapon for each. If not have the migrants help the smith out with smelting. Then draft them. By starting training early and having good gear your militia should do well.
*Trading early on will mostly consist of stone crafts and any extra goods you have lying around like plump helmet roasts for example.

===Gemcutters=== 

The Dwarves:
*Miner/Stonecrafter (mines and makes pots and crafts when needed)
*Miner/Gem Cutter (mines and cuts gems)
*Miner/Gem Setter (mines and encrusts gems into crafts and furniture)
*Mason/Building Designer (makes all furniture and buildings)
*Carpenter/Mechanic (makes beds, bins, barrels, cages, levers, and traps)
*Weaponsmith/Armorsmith (will provide good quality gear for your militia)
*Farmer/Brewer (hauls early on until you hit the caverns, then will farm and brew)

Supplies:
*3 Picks
*1 Anvil
*60 Booze
*30 meat/fish/eggs
*15 plump helmets
*5 of each seed
*50 or so logs
*spend the rest on whatever else you want like animals and ores.

Notes:
*This is basically a variation of "The Stoners" build above, except modified to be used on a glacier type embark. The woodcutter is useless on glaciers so tons of wood is brought instead. The 2nd farmer is replaced with a 3rd miner in order to help find the caverns before your food runs out. 
*Once you hit the caverns you can start farming on the mud. Be sure you draft your first few migrants and supply them with good gear using your smith; in order to defend yourself from anything that may be down there. 
*Trading early on will mostly consist of stone crafts/mugs encrusted with any gems you find.

===The Warriors ===
The Dwarves:
*1 Miner (No secondary skill, he does all mining, all the time)
*1 Carpenter/Mechanic
*1 Mason/Brewer
*1 Herbalist/Farmer
*1 Axeman/Armor User
*1 Spearman/Dodger
*1 Swordman/Shield User

The Supplies:
*1 copper pick.
*6 Iron Ore, 6 Flux Stone (For making steel weapons and helmets)
*5 Magma safe stone (for first workshops)
*15 Logs
*15 Leather
*5 Lye (For soapmaking)
*Remaining points go to bronze-making supplies and/or steel making supplies and coal (or more logs).

Notes:
* The warriors are immediately set to forging their own gear, then quickly set to training. If you like ditch the mason/brewer and replace with a 4th warrior for 2 squads of 2 (maximum training speed). Herbalist provides brewing and food (hint: cook the seeds) until the warriors can hunt. This setup is also ideal for piercing aquifers, since it is well-adapted to life on the surface, and the warriors can double as pump-operators.

===The Mining Guild===

The Dwarves:
*7 Proficient Miners

Supplies:
*7 Copper Picks
*100 Booze (25 of each type)
*100 Meat/Fish/Eggs
*25 Plump Helmets
*7 Logs

Notes:
*Seven miners to dig out your entire fort straight from the start with enough food/booze to last you a year or two. Let migrants fill the other roles your fortress will require. 
*Don't bother hauling all these supplies. Just build a wall around your wagon site and make it accessible via a staircase underground. 
*Use the 7 logs + the 3 from the wagon to make a cheap dormitory until a good carpenter migrates to you. Also make a small dining room so dwarves stop complaining. 
*Plump Helmets are to be used for emergency booze only, not eaten. Keep them forbidden until enough barrels become empty.
*Now dig, dig EVERYTHING. Two hundred bedrooms, noble quarters, grand dining room, massive workshop floors, massive stockpile floors, magma smelting floors, massive tree farms, barracks, hospitals, wells, crypts, trap corridors, etc etc.


=== BillyBob and the Rock Nuts ===
{| class="wikitable" cellspacing="0" border="1" cellpadding="5"
!Profession
!Skills
|-
|FarmerBrewer
|Grower-5, Brewer-5
|-
|MinerMason
|Mining-5, Masonry-2, Engraving-3
|-
|MinerJeweller
|Mining-5, Masonry-1, GemCutting-4
|-
|LumberjackHerbalist
|Woodcutting-4,Herbalism-3, Axedwarf, Armor, Carpentry
|-
|CookDoctor
|Cook-3, Threshing-2, Diagnose, DressWounds, Suture, SetBones, Surgery
|-
|CarpenterLeader
|Carpentry-4, Leadership-3, Negotiate, Appraisal, Record Keeper
|-
|CrafterArchitect
|Stonecraft-5, Building Designer-4, Mechanic
|}
The lumberjack is the only one that _has_ to go outside, and all the rest can work indoors. Two main sources of income are farming (Sweet Pods->Dwarven Syrup) and Rock Crafting (to buy elven wood/barrels).

<pre>
[PROFILE]
	[TITLE:BillyBob and the Rock Nuts]
	[SKILL:1:MINING:5]
	[SKILL:1:DETAILSTONE:3]
	[SKILL:1:MASONRY:2]
	[SKILL:2:MINING:5]
	[SKILL:2:MASONRY:1]
	[SKILL:2:CUTGEM:4]
	[SKILL:3:WOODCUTTING:4]
	[SKILL:3:CARPENTRY:1]
	[SKILL:3:HERBALISM:3]
	[SKILL:3:AXE:1]
	[SKILL:3:ARMOR:1]
	[SKILL:4:CARPENTRY:4]
	[SKILL:4:NEGOTIATION:1]
	[SKILL:4:APPRAISAL:1]
	[SKILL:4:RECORD_KEEPING:1]
	[SKILL:4:LEADERSHIP:3]
	[SKILL:5:BREWING:5]
	[SKILL:5:PLANT:5]
	[SKILL:6:PROCESSPLANTS:2]
	[SKILL:6:COOK:3]
	[SKILL:6:DRESS_WOUNDS:1]
	[SKILL:6:DIAGNOSE:1]
	[SKILL:6:SURGERY:1]
	[SKILL:6:SET_BONE:1]
	[SKILL:6:SUTURE:1]
	[SKILL:7:STONECRAFT:5]
	[SKILL:7:MECHANICS:1]
	[SKILL:7:DESIGNBUILDING:4]
	[ITEM:2:WEAPON:ITEM_WEAPON_PICK:INORGANIC:COPPER]
	[ITEM:2:WEAPON:ITEM_WEAPON_AXE_BATTLE:INORGANIC:COPPER]
	[ITEM:1:ANVIL:NONE:INORGANIC:IRON]
	[ITEM:11:DRINK:NONE:PLANT_MAT:GRASS_WHEAT_CAVE:DRINK]
	[ITEM:11:DRINK:NONE:PLANT_MAT:GRASS_TAIL_PIG:DRINK]
	[ITEM:11:DRINK:NONE:PLANT_MAT:MUSHROOM_HELMET_PLUMP:DRINK]
	[ITEM:5:SEEDS:NONE:PLANT_MAT:GRASS_TAIL_PIG:SEED]
	[ITEM:12:SEEDS:NONE:PLANT_MAT:MUSHROOM_HELMET_PLUMP:SEED]
	[ITEM:11:SEEDS:NONE:PLANT_MAT:POD_SWEET:SEED]
	[ITEM:11:MEAT:NONE:CREATURE_MAT:MARMOT_HOARY:STOMACH]
	[ITEM:11:PLANT:NONE:PLANT_MAT:MUSHROOM_HELMET_PLUMP:STRUCTURAL]
	[ITEM:1:THREAD:NONE:PLANT_MAT:GRASS_TAIL_PIG:THREAD]
	[ITEM:1:CLOTH:NONE:PLANT_MAT:GRASS_TAIL_PIG:THREAD]
	[ITEM:3:BOX:NONE:PLANT_MAT:GRASS_TAIL_PIG:THREAD]
	[ITEM:2:CHAIN:NONE:PLANT_MAT:GRASS_TAIL_PIG:THREAD]
	[ITEM:3:BUCKET:NONE:PLANT_MAT:ALDER:WOOD]
	[ITEM:2:SPLINT:NONE:PLANT_MAT:ALDER:WOOD]
	[ITEM:2:CRUTCH:NONE:PLANT_MAT:ALDER:WOOD]
	[ITEM:15:MEAT:NONE:CREATURE_MAT:WARTHOG:MUSCLE]
	[PET:2:DOG:FEMALE:TRAINED_WAR]
	[PET:1:DOG:MALE:TRAINED_WAR]
	[PET:2:CAT:FEMALE:STANDARD]
	[PET:1:CAT:MALE:STANDARD]
</pre>

===Tatter's Ragtime Band===

Designed to pair important time-consuming skills with important but quickly completed skills, moodable skills with non-moodable skills, and generally embark only with skills that can't be trained from "unskilled" quickly (for example, no mining skills). Tailored to minimize bugs in versions 31.12.
*Boss: 5 points in Armor User, 1 point in Appraiser, Negotiator, Judge of Intent, Record Keeper, and Organizer. Will be your chief miner, militia commander, and all-around noble early on, and almost certainly will become expedition leader as well. As other dwarves arrive with mining and/or noble skills (even if they aren't as high-level as the Boss's), replace the Boss with them as soon as possible, to relieve his workload. Keep the Boss as your militia commander and broker, mining mostly to train his skill with a pick, until a dwarf with better skills for these tasks arrives. If you embark with dogs, give the Boss the Animal Trainer labor as well and have him train them into War Dogs for extra protection. Note: As of 31.12, training seems to finally be working as intended, making axe/sword/hammer/spear dwarves feasable. Swap the Armor User with any other weapon skills if you like, but Armor User seems to be the slowest skill to develop, and I personally prefer to stick with it for the Boss. Plus, picks being pretty crummy weapons will help if you decide to make a Sherrif or Captain of the Guard with poor weapon skills so punishing "crime" won't result in undue maiming. (Moodable skill: Mining)
*Doc: 5 points in Carpentry, 1 point in Diagnostician, Bone Doctor, Surgeon, Suturer, and Wound Dresser. A doctor that can make his own beds, splints, and crutches (and tables and cabinets, if you have an excess of wood). Make him Chief Medical Dwarf right away, but replace him as soon as a better Diagnostician comes along. Make him a Plant Gatherer and Wood Cutter as well (until immigrants with better skills arrive), to give him something to do when he has nothing to build and nobody to heal. (Moodable skill: Carpentry)
*Rock Farmer: 5 points in Grower, 5 points in Gem Cutting. Farming is more difficult to set up than it used to be, but no less time consuming. Gem Cutting takes little time and provides the fortress with the highest-value, lowest-weight trade items you're likely to find early on. You can also make him a Plant Processor and/or Miller if you need the materials for emergency mood satisfaction and/or cooking, but these skills should be provided at higher levels by immigrants fairly quickly, and cloth isn't critical for an early fortress (hunt and butcher wildlife with your militia instead, and make bags/clothes out of leather). Give him the Mining labor at least, though, as all dwarves who aren't Wood Cutting or Hunting should be available as backup miners and emergency militia. (Moodable skill: Gem Cutting)
*Embalmer: 5 points in Brewing, 5 points in Leatherworking. Makes leather bags and armor early in the game, alcohol later. Assign him the Tanner and Butcher labors as well, until immigrants with better skills arrive, and the Miner labor, for the reasons stated above. (Moodable skill: Leatherworker)
*Iron Chef: 5 points in Cooking, 5 points in Weaponsmithing. Makes the steel when he isn't making a meal. Assign him the Furnace Operator and Wood Burner labors, until immigrants with better skills arrive, so he can make the raw materials of his craft, and the Miner labor on general principles. If you're unlucky with immigrants, or determined to make additional forges or metal armor right away, you can give him the Armorer and Blacksmith labors as well. (Moodable skill: Weaponsmith)
*Architect: 5 points in Mason, 5 points in Building Designer. Unlocks all buildings from the start, and will build nice stone ones that improve dwarven moods. The sheer amount of construction needed to build a secure and functional initial fort quickly may make it a good idea to turn OFF all labors for the Architect except Mason and Building Designer, at least until everyone and everything is safely underground. If you ever do finish building everthing you need, give him back any labors you turned off, and add Engraver (train him by smoothing stone first) and Miner labors as well. (Moodable skill: Mason)
*Mech Pilot: 5 points in Mechanic, 5 points in any skill you want. I used to think Ballistae were awesome, but sadly they only work well on paper, unless built (and crewed) in large numbers. If you still want to use them, putting his 5 points in Siege Engineer is better than Siege Operator, for high quality machines straight away. Build some extra catapults and sling rocks around for training when your dwarves have some free time, if you still want to use siege engines. Otherwise, you can give him a quick crafting skill, possibly one of the job skills the other dwarves would be training up from Dabbling (Armorer or Blacksmith would probably be the best). Don't attach a seriously time-consuming skill like Wood Burner or Furnace Operator, though, because this dwarf should mostly be making mechanisms for your cage traps. (Moodable skill: Mechanic)
Crafting and Gem Setter skills should be available through immigrants, but the Stonecraft skill can be trained up easily and cheaply from nothing by any dwarf that spends much time idle, if you absolutely must have something quickly. Fishing and Hunting can likewise usually wait until immigrants arrive with these skills. Chasing wolves around with your militia can be frustrating, but eventually one of them will make the mistake of trying to stand and fight, and even simple clothes can deflect most animals' teeth, claws, and horns (just don't go after bears without metal armor!). 

Recommended embark items:
*1+ copper picks (use any leftover embark points to buy up to 5 spares)
*1 iron anvil, to guarantee you can make more picks quickly.
*1 wooden training axe, or battle axe if the "training axes can chop down trees" exploit is ever fixed. This will keep you from being left without fuel for the forge if you run out of wood, but can be skipped if you're embarking to an area where there are no trees (or if you're going to DIY it).
*1+ of each type of seed, mostly for the bags, as you will probably be surface farming with gathered plants until the caravans arrive anyhow. Note that quarry bush seeds are edible, and dwarves will often consume your whole initial stockpile before you can plant them.
*35-40 units of meat/fish, one from each different animal or fish that is available to your culture for 2 embark points per unit. This will give you enough meat to keep your dwarves fed until the first caravan arrives, and the maximum number of free barrels as well. Meat is generally preferred by dwarves over organs that aren't prepared in a kitchen first (meaning the barrels will be empty and available for other uses faster). Note that some animals may not have meat available (vermin like cave spiders, for example), in which case organs are preferable to nothing at all. Note that dwarven nutritional needs seem to have increased since the 31.12 patch; the original recommendation of 25-30 food probably won't even last you through summer, and getting this minimum might not even last through autumn without farming or hunting some extra.
*31 each of dwarven ale, dwarven beer, and dwarven rum. Dwarven wine will be produced in large quantities on site once subterranean farming is ready to grow Plump Helmets, and this should be enough alcohol to keep your dwarves happy until a caravan arrives with more if you need it. Dwarven alcohol needs have increased a bit too, it seems.
*Anything else that you may need more of than the site can provide right away:
**Wood, if the biomes are devoid of trees (glacier, mountain, desert, etc.).
**Metal ore, if you have plenty of trees but may need more/better metal than you are likely to find immediately (savage/evil biomes).
**Metal bars, if you need metal but trees are scarce.
**Weapons and armor, if you are mad enough to take on a Terrifying biome.
**Flux stone, if you want to make steel quickly but the embark site lacks chalk, limestone, or dolomite (marble and calcite are normally only found far too deep to be of much early use).
**Dogs, if you want a decent "militia" fairly quickly. Build a kennel and have the Boss train them into War Dogs. One male and the rest females will produce more dogs as quickly as possible.
**Plaster bags, for the hospital. You can usually find some plaster-making stones on site, but turning them into bags of plaster powder for setting bones is a difficult, time consuming, and fuel burning process, until you can build magma kilns. On the other hand, if you aren't expecting serious combat before the caravans arrive, you can usually buy more than you will ever use from them fairly cheap.
**Plump Helmets, as an emergency food/alcohol supply if you anticipate problems making a subterranean farm. Buy in quantities ending in 1, for the maximum number of free barrels. They're quite a bit more expensive than seeds, or other foodstuffs, but their utility makes up for that.

===The It-Do-Yourself Steel Option weApon Pair Strategy or TIDYSOAPS===

{| class="wikitable" cellspacing="0" border="1" cellpadding="3" style="text-align:center;float:right;margin:0 0 20px 30px;"
|-
! colspan="4" style="background-color:#eee;border-bottom:1px solid black;text-align:center;" | Embark Costs of Pre-made Implements
|-
!Material
!Battle Axes
!Picks
!Total Points
|-
|steel
|2
|
|2040p
|-
|steel
|
|2
|1320p
|-
|steel
|1
|1
|1680p
|-
|bronze
|2
|
|340p
|-
|bronze
|
|2
|220p
|-
|bronze
|1
|1
|280p
|-
|copper
|2
|
|136p
|-
|copper
|
|2
|88p
|-
|copper
|1
|1
|112p
|}
This is a power-gaming strategy that can be integrated as a component of a starting build, in lieu of a pair of steel weapons. In the current build, a steel pick costs 660p (embark points), and a steel battle axe costs 1020p. All told, we can get two steel implements at better [[Item quality|quality]] for 312p, more or less. (See the table at right for a comparison of embark costs.)  The steel implements, able to double as weapons, can give your squishy [[Miner|Excavators]] and [[Wood cutter|Lumberjacks]] an advantage in battle.

You get two steel implements for a minimum total cost of '''172p'''. (312p with the skills, and those too will last you a lifetime.)  It's steel for the price of [[bronze]]! What a... steal. *uncomfortable cough* This gives you a savings of up to 1868p, which means you roughly double-and-a-half your embark points.  It just takes a bit of time and dwarf labor.


'''Prepare for the journey carefully:'''

At the [[Embark]] screen, choose the following items:

* Required
** 3p x 1 unit of [[fire-safe]] [[stone]] from the Stone category
** 100p x 1 [[iron]] [[anvil]]
** A distinct lack of [[steel]] weapons

* Main, cheapest, most desirable raw materials
** 24p x 2 units of iron [[ore]] from the Stone category ([[Hematite]], [[Limonite]], or [[Magnetite]])
** 6p x 2 units of [[flux]] stone from the Stone category ([[Calcite]], [[Chalk]], [[Dolomite]], [[Limestone]], or [[Marble]])
** 3p x 3 units of [[Bituminous coal]] from the Stone category
** 0p x3 logs of any type of [[wood]] 
*** From deconstructing your [[Wagon]]
** 0p (No [[Skill|skills]] taken)

*'''Recommended''' but optional:140p (4 skills x 35p for embark skills at Proficient: [[Furnace operator]], [[Wood burner]], [[Metalsmith]] and [[Weaponsmith]])


You want more than two implements?

'''For each successive weapon pair: (72p)'''

The same scheme can be used to make more weapon pairs.  For four implements, just double all of the raw materials and add an extra [[Bituminous coal]] to make up for the lack of wood from the wagon.  Simply add more of the raw materials to provide for more pairs.  The rough cost is 72p per successive pair. Your only constraint is more time and dwarfpower.

*For an extra pair of steel weapons:
**24p x 2 units of [[iron]] [[ore]] from the Stone category ([[Hematite]], [[Limonite]], or [[Magnetite]])
**6p x 2 units of [[flux]] [[stone]] from the Stone category ([[Calcite]], [[Chalk]], [[Dolomite]], [[Limestone]], or [[Marble]])
**3p x 4 units of [[Bituminous coal]] from the Stone category


'''Substitutes for above grocery lists:'''

Due to extenuating circumstances, such as the variability of the goods your [[Civilization|parent civilization]] has 
available, some substitutes may be used:

* Substitutes
** Fuel:
*** 3p x 3 logs of any type of wood from the Wood category instead of the Wagon wood
****Don't deconstruct wagon
*** 3p x 5 logs of any type of wood from the Wood category instead of 3 Bituminous coal
**** Make 8 charcoal
*** 10p x 1 units of [[fuel|charcoal or coke]] and 1 Bituminous coal instead of  wagon wood
**** Don't build wood furnace
*** 10p x 8 units of [[fuel|charcoal or coke]] instead of wood + coal
**** Skip wood furnace and coke making
** Single option sub. to save time:
*** 50p x 1 iron bar + 50p x 1 pig iron bar instead of 2 iron ores + 1 flux stone + 1 Bituminous coal + 1 log of wood
*** 150p x 2 steel bars instead of 2 iron ore + 2 flux stone + 2 Bituminous coal + 1 log of wood


'''Strike the earth!'''

* Deconstruct the [[Wagon]] your [[Embark|starting goods]] come in.
* Build a [[Wood furnace]] with the fire-safe stone
** Use 3 wood to make '''3''' charcoal
** Deconstruct the furnace

* Build a [[Smelter]] using the fire-safe stone from the deconstructed furnace
** Smelt 3 bituminous coal (powered with 3 charcoal) --> into 9 units of coke
** Smelt 2 iron ores (powered with 2 coke) --> two iron bars
** Smelt '''ONE''' iron bar + 1 flux stone + 1 coke (powered with 1 coke) --> 1 pig iron bar
** Smelt 1 iron bar + 1 pig iron bar + 1 flux stone + 1 coke (powered with 1 coke) --> 2 steel bars
** Deconstruct the smelter

* Build a [[Metalsmith's forge]] using the fire-safe stone from the deconstructed smelter + iron anvil
** Using 2 steel (powered with 1 coke) forge 2 weapons
** Deconstruct the forge

* At the end of which, all you will have left relevant to the strategy are:
** A unit of fire-safe rock
** Two steel weapons
** An iron anvil
** Possibly an extra coke

You could then, for instance, embark with several copper picks since pick material doesn't really help actual mining much{{Verify}}, then forge axes. Lots of them. Only 72p per pair. Wowza.
Why buy picks? If you're running this setup it's cheaper to get steel.