The "Eastern Copper" is brass, anyway, from the discussion back when we found out about it when we sent the trade mission to the dead priests whose x-name i can't remember...
Edit: I'll note that veekie was also convinced that the Nomads going to get weapons was going to be "suddenly all bronze weapons" and apparently they didn't have anything that stood out, or even any more mundane improvements on a widespread scale. People have been convinced that almost every news about metal is bronze for dozens of turns. I wouldn't be surprised if the MW or the Hathatyn or a farther away nation showed up with bronze sooner rather than later, but its not some foregone conclusion. If anything the bigger issue to me is if others figure out iron working off of us...especially since while we'd have comparable or even better weapons right away, they could, you know, conquer all of their neighbors and get giant before turning on us again.
Actually not quite. I believed the Nomads were
seeking metal weapons, but whether they could get it depended on luck. It turns out they did have a few pieces, so the conclusion was mostly that they didn't have enough to matter(which in hindsight was obvious, a horde that huge takes more than one mine to outfit even if you did nothing else).
Of course, if you think about it, what they really wanted was the ability to breach our walls. But you can't make rams worth a damn with stone tools, or even copper. It's just too difficult to cut large logs that way, and it HAS to be a solid piece or it'd break before the walls do.
It also gives our warriors an outlet if we ever exceed our martial cap again.
Support Subordinate - Aka "Dump your excess warriors here"
Well, early iron is actually rather brittle due to notable amounts of impurities, while brass/bronze is rather more refined, so an early bronze weapon actually has a good chance of beating an iron weapon in usability. Bronze is simply a PITA to acquire in large amounts due to tin not being too common, which is where iron shines by being able to not walk two feet before tripping over an iron rock.
Correct, the difference here is:
Copper
--Availability: Uncommon. Copper isn't impossible to find, but sizeable deposits are not too common.
--Tool quality: Poor, inferior to stone, but replacable.
--Weapon quality: Unusable, negligible durability on impacts.
-Brass
--Availability: Rare->Uncommon(once you learn how to make it on purpose it's easier than being limited to native brass ores)
--Tool quality: Moderate. It's harder than copper, softer than bronze or iron, but hard enough to actually use for tools.
--Weapon quality: Mediocre, it works for maces and clubs, but it's ability to hold an edge in battle is inferior to stone.
-Bronze
--Availability: Very Rare. Native bronze ores are basically arsenic bronze, and tin isn't even found in the same geographical areas.
--Tool quality: High. Bronze actually makes better tools than iron. Easier to shape, higher hardness and durability.
--Weapon quality: High. Bronze makes better weapons than iron, however, it caps out sooner.
-Iron
--Availability: Common. It's very nearly as common as dirt.
--Tool quality: Moderate. Iron tools need extra care as it rusts easily, and it tended to be brittle. Once you figure out steel...well that's a sea change.
--Weapon quality: Moderate. See iron tools
The difference here is that they can use Bronze to outfit their elite units, but most of the horde will be packing stone for a long time. Less if they make armor from it. Even less if they were in a rush and didn't want to wait a generation to make bronze picks for mining.
We can afford to outfit every single full time warrior with iron if we wanted. We can afford to outfit every elite with iron armor if we wanted.
CLANG CLANG.
