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Yes.  I had one that was wiped out by raiders, kept watching, and eventually had someone join - a useless noble who soon starved. 

The T-9 Incendiary Launcher will also start fires - that's what I use.  Also, fires will throw sparks at a max of two tiles away.  So if you make a concrete pad for your stockpile(s) with an extra perimeter around it, the fire won't spread outside.

What I found, by trial and error, is that you can have a max width of 10 tiles on one axis; as in, a 10x10 room dug out of the mountain will not have a collapse, nor a 10x20.  But if you turn it up to 11...

This has been from digging out in the hillside though, so I'm not sure about building in the open, or if it applies only for "thick rock roof" areas.

I've had this thought also.  However, I do know Tynan is planning to completely redo the stockpile system - so if it ends up with customization options like Dwarf Fortress, we won't need separate dumping areas.

With about a dozen colonists, 12 tables is plenty enough.  I'd have a continual increase of food, eventually having 5k or more.  My preferred design is to double up the tables - you only need access to one side, not both:
aisle
table
table
aisle

This is where I have to disagree:

B.) You shouldn't have to funnel raiders around and abuse their cover system with blasting charges to take them out. The game is about the stories the events bring, not about the 513th raid that was ended immediately when they all got remotely blown up.

And in my opinion, the story should not be about endless waves of raiders besieging you until you fall.  The game is in alpha, and I'm sure gameplay will change a lot as more features are added.  Balancing needs to be done after those features are added.

Unfortunately, they were NOT eating raw food - there were dozens of harvested food in my growth chamber waiting to be hauled which they ignored, starving instead.  Maybe a bug compounded by the chamber being in either a solar flare or conduit explosion induced darkness???

Was the raw food inside what would be considered the prison area, with your accidental restructuring?

On Classic, I simply stop getting any new peeps after about1 2 or so.  No travelers, seems impossible to capture anyone.  Even doing melee on the last few fleeing raiders will kill them.  I have been wondering if it's a bug, or just a run of bad luck.

Well, the truth is, it seems this way because there is nothing else to do in the game - yet.  Right now, once you get food, power & living quarters up, that's about it.  There's a few things to research - really just a "demo" of the research system, but there's nothing else to do except fight raiders.

The biggest solution will be to have more things that you need or want to work on - which will come.  This is alpha, after all.

I remember it was said somewhere that there are 3 vents on every map, although they might be buried.  Also, in combat you can draft everyone and park the limp, lame & lazy out of the way.

That is a bit odd.  Can you manually have them prioritize hauling it, by clicking on the food?  Are they blocked from getting to the stockpile, for some reason?

One thing I have been doing, for hauling - I use the default priority system most of the time.  But I also set the manual priorities with Hauling at the highest.  That way, when I have a bunch of stuff to move, I can toggle it to manual, let them carry things around, and then reset it to the default.

I do like having one noble around - full time Doctor, Warden & Researcher.  Plus they are usually decent at firearms.

There is a pretty rough hump in difficulty in the early game.  I think my first dozen or so games had everyone dying and me getting really frustrated; then I started getting a feel for the gameplay.  (Long time DF player here as well)

The first thing to check, as the saying goes - "Location, location, location!".  Pause (pick up the pistol), and look at the map.  Where do you want to set up, now and planning for the future?  Soil area for 2-3 growing areas.  Steam vents.  Natural choke points.  You do not have to set up where the pods drop.  Also save the game, in case you need to totally restart.

Then start working.  Get 1 or 2 growing areas up & planted.  Get a steam vent cleared, or pick out a spot for solar cells & batteries, and get some power going.  Get a paste dispenser up.  (Rain has a bad effect on batteries & the dispenser)  Do the minimum of work to get all of that, and get started on picking up loose food & metal.  Also build a jail - room with a door & a sleeping area or 3, set for prisoners.

*Food note:  Once food is put into the stockpile, it is only available through the paste dispenser.  A meal (tray) of paste costs 10 food, less with research.  If they eat raw food, they go through a lot more.  Not sure how much or if it's a bug, but I think I saw someone pick up an entire stack of 30-ish and eat it all.  Paste is more efficient, so prioritize.

At this point, you will probably get hit with the first raid, a solo raider with a pistol.  It should be an easy capture, getting you another colonist soon.  Keep building - focus on defense, sandbags or nooks for your guys, a turret or two, and a short firing lane for the raiders.  Be ready to move around in combat if they bring grenades.  You should be able to get a couple of rooms built or dug out.  I tend to plan around my dining room (as that is the most common non-work activity); I plan it out, but put sleeping pads in, instead of tables.  Get your paste dispenser built in here (sell the other) if you have to relocate.  Lights, some potted plants, and smooth stone flooring should help a bit with the mood.  Harvest wild plants if you need more food as you go.

Depending on the first 2-3 raids and any travelers, you should be able to split someone off for research.  I go for hydroponics first.  If you do that, get the room set up for your grow op - 12 1x4 tables should give you a huge amount of food, eventually.

And this is about the hump point.  This is when you start getting hit by heavier raids with tough weapons.  If you can make it through this segment, you might get more prisoners to recruit, and you will get more weapons.  As you get more bodies, you can optimize your defenses; as you get everyone armed better, you can fight off the waves easier.

Save often.  Never give up, never surrender!

Yeah, I'm at 4, 4, 2, 4, after downloading 250 & 254 (Windows).

I have noticed that when someone is lit on fire, someone else will (eventually) come over to beat out the flames.  The flames on the person...   "Hold still, there's something on you!"  *SMACK*