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[Ancalagon_TB]

Hello

So I'm on a 2X2 fort, and after a while of searching I grew a bit concerned, and used a DH function to see what kind of minerals I have.  It seems I have no iron bearing ore at all.  I have tons of galena, which I have been busily using to make silver trades good, so obviously I can easily trade it for *some* iron. 

The DH function also told me I have tetrahedrite and cassiterite, so I have the means to make bronze, although I haven't found either yet.   My map has lots of trees and I have a steady bone supply.

(I also have Sphalerite, but whatever).

So... what's the best way to use my limited iron here?  I have *tons* of flux stone and lots of wood, so obviously I should turn it into steel to get the most use out of it.  So assuming I do this and I manage to make bronze, what's the best practice?  Steel weapons and bronze armor?  What should I use to make bolts?  etc etc.  Your wise advice would be appreciated

[Lemunde]

Having the minerals be a mystery before you arrive is part of the fun. Part of the challenge of DF comes in making do with what you have. That being said, not having iron isn't the end of the world. About 2 out of 3 times I embark onto a site without any iron. Fortunately there's usually copper, silver or both when there isn't any iron. Copper usually comes in the form of tetrahedrite so you'll get a little bit of silver to go with it.

You've been fortunate enough to have a site capable of producing bronze, which is a passable material for producing weapons and armor. You should explore the metals portion of the wiki to decide how best to use it. Alternatively you can turn that silver into warhammers which make excellent crushing weapons. It's also a lesser known fact that silver makes decent bolts for your crossbows.

If you feel you absolutely must have iron then trade for it. If you have the resources you can trade for all of the steel weapons and armor that the caravans bring. Otherwise you can just request and trade for steel bars, iron bars, pig iron bars and iron ore. It doesn't take long to trade for enough steel to equip a squad with steel weapons so you can focus on that first and just put them in bronze armor.

[Diamond]

Steel axes and swords, silver maces and bolts. Bronze armor, wooden shields.

[CaptainLambcake]

trade

[Ancalagon_TB]

trade

Oh I have been!  But there is limited amounts of iron (or steel) you can get that way.  You can't just order 100 bars of iron... I'm trying to figure out what the best thing to do with the limited iron I can get.

[smeeprocket]

you can put in an order for toys and instruments and such, though. You can melt those down if they come in the form of steel or iron. I've been doing that for steel, because I have no flux stone, and flux stone isn't generally brought in large amounts no matter how important you rank it.

Also things like cages and flasks.

[Aslandus]

silver trade goods? Blasphemy! Silver is for warhammers and maces! Even kobolds can figure out how to use iron, only true dwarves can make deadly weapons from silver!

In seriousness, Silver is a decent weaponable metal for blunt weapons, but bronze will be better for edged weapons and spears, you can just use copper to make bolts... steel is good for anything, so you should use it for edged weapons and stabby weapons you want to give to your favorite warriors...

If you REALLY want more, you can use the smelting exploit, making trap components and leggings will train your crafters and return more metal than you put in... presumably that's how the dwarves manage to have steel even if they lack iron...
http://dwarffortresswiki.org/index.php/v0.34:Exploit#Infinite_Adamantine_/_Metals

Bronze armor will probably be sufficient for whatever you face, unless you go out seeking trouble in the deep caverns...

[Col_Jessep]

If you REALLY want more, you can use the smelting exploit, making trap components and leggings will train your crafters and return more metal than you put in... presumably that's how the dwarves manage to have steel even if they lack iron...
http://dwarffortresswiki.org/index.php/v0.34:Exploit#Infinite_Adamantine_/_Metals

Careful with adamantine minecarts! I think Toady fixed that exploit. You can probably still use coins or bolts for adamantine but you might want to keep a backup file just in case.

If you train your military in a danger room they can get ridiculous levels in shield skill and will deflect almost all blows. A light wooden shield will work perfectly fine and their bronze armor will barely see any use. If you have spare steel/iron I'd try to give everybody a good helmet and gauntlets. Losing a leg will barely hinder a dwarf once he is accustomed to his crutch but getting your head bashed in or losing your sword/shield arm really blows!

[Mictlantecuhtli]

Bronze is actually better than Iron for many applications, but it's harder to get a nice amount of the materials needed for mass production. Iron should be saved for steel production if you have little in the embark. I myself never use iron weapons/armor, it's always made into steel. Silver for blunt weapons, imported materials for weaponry+ exceptional bronze armor should be plenty for most armies in vanilla DF.

[MDFification]

Remember, you do have a group of friendly neighbours willing to bring you a hundred+ bars of iron at once! They're also quite keen to babysit.

[vjmdhzgr]

trade

Oh I have been!  But there is limited amounts of iron (or steel) you can get that way.  You can't just order 100 bars of iron... I'm trying to figure out what the best thing to do with the limited iron I can get.

Well if you order iron ore from the caravan you would generally get at least five of each type of ore, there's three ores of iron, three times five equals fifteen, four ingots for each piece of ore, four times fifteen equals sixty. Then you add in the five iron, pig iron, and steel ingots you would get each year from the caravan and you get at least 75 iron ingots a year and if that's not enough then I think you're probably doing something wrong(or making an excessively large military or giant steel building which is cool and not wrong).

[Bearskie]

An entire army of silver warhammer-wielding dwarves, backed up with even more marksdwarves with silver bolts. BLOCK OUT THE SUUUUNNNNNNNN!

It's kind of an uber offensive setup, so I generally rely on the hammerdwarves as the cleanup crew since they're 90% armorless. Like he said, make do with what you have. A galena-only map isnt that bad tbh, I once had a map with *no weapons-grade metals*, which forced me to build a huge labyrinth to trap invaders, and gradually pick them off with wooden bolts

[Ancalagon_TB]

well I found tetrahedrite so I have some copper now, still haven't found tin... I think I'll manage