Sieges instantly retreating?

[Perro Grande]

Anyone else having the issue when you get attacked by goblins but they suddenly instantly retreat?

[malthenielsen]

I see undead doing that sometime.

IDK why it is an issue? It's what they do.

[Perro Grande]

Originally posted by malthenielsen:

I see undead doing that sometime.

IDK why it is an issue? It's what they do.

I want their iron! I have destroyed like 10 of their sites and killed hundreds of them and now want to actually see the fights happen on my map and they just run away instead :/

[Haethei]

Your dwarves are too smelly. The goblins puke and leave. Make a bathhouse out of soap bars in the middle of your main entrance and fill it with knee-high water.

[Xcorps]

cages are the way. Masterwork electrum cages with masterwork obisidan gears. A pit. You don't get a point until you have 10 goblins to kill. When you get 10 points it's time to capture a clown.

[malthenielsen]

Originally posted by Smokey The Bear:

Originally posted by malthenielsen:

I see undead doing that sometime.

IDK why it is an issue? It's what they do.

I want their iron! I have destroyed like 10 of their sites and killed hundreds of them and now want to actually see the fights happen on my map and they just run away instead :/

Seems like those goblins aren't dumb!

Maybe if you chain animals around the map you can like bait them in because they might want to kill the animal.

[Commisar Jon Fuklaw]

I had tiny raids just pass through my embark zone for a few years after the first one - composed entirely of crossbowgoblins - mysteriously vanished (spoiler: it was magma). Eventually, the green filth started coming back in the numbers I expected the first time around, all on their own. I assume it's because they want some artifact or another, because they want to parley half the time. Or maybe it's just a ploy to keep me away from those huge Goblinite veins.

[Sinclair]

If a siege force instantly leaves, that might be either because they were scared off, or because they were heading somewhere else and stepped onto your tile on the way. Don't worry, they'll be back. Now they know where you live.

[db48x]

Originally posted by Sinclair:

If a siege force instantly leaves, that might be either because they were scared off, or because they were heading somewhere else and stepped onto your tile on the way. Don't worry, they'll be back. Now they know where you live.

This. If they were scared off, you would see a message to that effect (I forget the exact wording).

What happens is that when two civs are at war, they will send armies to attack each other. These armies walk in straight lines across the world map (they don’t try to follow roads or go around dense forests or mountains. oh well). If their path happens to take them through any of the world tiles that is part of your fortress map, then they will be spawned in at the edge of your map in the corresponding place. They will then march across your map and out the other side. If they’re at war with your civ, you’ll get an the announcement that you’re being invaded, even if they are really headed somewhere else. In that case they will fight anyone they come across, but they won’t stick around. Since they can walk in diagonal paths on the world map, this can lead to them coming in on a corner tile of your map and immediately exiting on the neighboring edge. Once they leave they will continue on their way to their target and raid it as usual.

Since that raid will probably hurt your civ, it would actually be a good idea to try to stop them at your fortress rather than letting them go, if you can.

Incidentally, there are other parties moving about the map than just armies. Thieves, bandit gangs, plotters, merchants, performing troupes, hunters, refugees, etc. One of the cooler aspects of adventure mode is that you can run across these groups as you play. You can track them by the trails they leave behind, you can hunt them, you can help them, and it really helps to explain what is going on behind the scenes in fortress mode.

[jeetrix]

can occur when they get stress from overwhelming odds