Originally posted by GunsForBucks:

Personally I ditch out a good distance from all structures and even include a copper node or two if I can.

If you can't ditch due to water then I would consider moving my location so I could. Hillsides are good since you can just carve in a drop off rather than a ditch.

Not a fan of building by water... takes a lot more effort to make secure base defenses.

Edit add - The ideal situation in that regard for me would be to find a copper node as close as possible to iron crypts.

That might make more sense, just.. if this base defense idea works, well a lot less work overall than normal plus free deliveries from skeletons killing meadow game and draugrs killing dwarfs. Hoping to get a Troll and Abom fight going, already tangled with one Abom during scouting.

If this build doesn't work out I'll probably give your advice a shot, thanks :)