Nearly Automated Method for Stealing from Dwarven and Human Caravans
Make two trade depots, one that the wagons can reach, and another that only the non-wagon traders can reach. When all the wagons get to the Depot, all the traders will run away, leaving the goods that were in the wagons in a forbidden pile of goods on top of (but not inside) the depot.
I made this discovery quite by accident on version 40.24, on a new fortress where I built an underground trade depot, but had difficulty deciding how to build the wagon entrance. So I just built a temporary above-ground depot for the first season, and discovered this issue. I haven't experimented all that much with this technique, in fact I don't have much interest in stealing from caravans in the first place, as I find it rarely difficult to buy everything I want and then some. But I was curious if this technique is known, it might possibly be an interesting starting point for others to further develop this technique, and this bug is probably worth reporting.
Posted Feb 9, 2015, 3:10 AM UTC
Sounds like a bug.
Please upload a save file and write up a small report (heck, just copy/paste from your post) on http://www.bay12games.com/dwarves/mantisbt/main_page.php
Thanks!