Dwarf Fortress: How to Make a Military Squad (2024)

Players that hope to thrive in the harsh world of Dwarf Fortress will need to put some amount of effort toward defending their bases. One way that this can be done is through the creation of military squads, which are capable of performing both offensive and defensive maneuvers. This guide is here to provide a simple overview of how to make these military squads in Dwarf Fortress, and it will help players get started with this very important mechanic.

Dwarf Fortress: How to Create a Military Squad

Assign a Militia Commander

The first step toward establishing a military squad is to assign a militia commander. This is done by clicking on the crown icon in the bottom-left corner of the screen, in order to open the nobles and administrators menu, and then clicking on the plus sign next to "militia commander."Dwarf Fortress players should then simply select the dwarf that they would like to make militia commander, favoring a character with skills that are relevant to the job if there is one.

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Create a New Squad

Once a militia commander has been assigned, players should click on the blue flag icon in the bottom-right corner of the screen. This action will open the squad sidebar, and fans of simulation video games should click on "create new squad" and select the type of armor that the squad's members will wear. Notably, a squad's armor type can be changed after it is created, which means that players need not put too much thought into this preliminary decision.

Assign a Leader and Members

Fans should now find that a listing for their newly-created squad is appearing in the squad sidebar, and they should click on the associated icon that features a dwarf's head. This action will open a menu in which players can assign a leader to the squad, and they should select a dwarf with a relevant skill if one is available. Once that is done, fans of city building video games will be able to assign other dwarves to positions within the squad, and again characters with relevant skills should receive preference.

To note, players should be careful to not assign key administrators, like Dwarf Fortress's brokers and bookkeepers, to their military squads. Indeed, a squad's duties can interfere with the jobs that these administrators need to perform, and that can lead to some significant issues over time.

Make a Barracks and Start Training

After a squad has been created, players should put them into training. This training will be done in a Barracks zone, and fans should click on the place zone icon at the bottom of the screen, click on Barracks, select an area where the zone can exist, and click on accept. Fans should now see information about their Barracks zone above the zone placement menu, and they should click on the blue flag with the plus sign that appears in this area and click on the axe icon next to the squad to set it as a space for training.

When that is done, players should return to the squad sidebar and click the empty square that appears above their squad. This will cause a number of options to appear at the bottom of the sidebar, and indie video game fans should click on schedule and choose a training regiment. For the sake of simplicity, it is recommended that players start by choosing constant training, though they should plan to refine the schedule as they become more familiar with the mechanic and have created additional squads.

Equip the Squad Members

The final component of creating a basic military squad is equipping its members for combat in Dwarf Fortress. While the creation of military equipment is a topic that is too expansive to cover fully in this guide, it is worth noting that a Metalsmith's Forge is an excellent workshop for crafting both weapons and armor.

Regardless of how a player obtains their equipment in Dwarf Fortress, they should click on the aforementioned empty square in the squad sidebar and then click on equip at the bottom to check the status of their squad's gear. While squad members should equip gear automatically, fans can click assign uniform in the equip menu and select the type of armor that they have available to force the issue. Players can also create custom uniforms, with the add uniform button, and have a squad update their equipment with new items from this menu.

Dwarf Fortress is available on PC.

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