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[Aseaheru]

 Except perhaps as the ammunition.

[Draignean]

Holy crap don't confuse cast and wrought iron. Cast iron is technically a form of steel, as I recall. It's got a high carbon content and EXTREME hardness because of the way it's cooled (Really hot to cold, fast as possible). It's brittle enough to be shattered by a single hit from a child using a hammer.

Please don't use it in a weapon.

Cast iron cannons were the main alternative to expensive bronze cannons during the age of sail. They were noted for their occasional... explosive tendencies.

It was used in weapons all the time.

[milo christiansen]

Not really. I would think concrete would bee too crumbly. Lead or copper clad iron would be your best bets.

I'm assuming iron only rots at altitude? As in it can be worked without issues near the base of the spire? If not, how are iron items made at all?

Holy crap don't confuse cast and wrought iron. Cast iron is technically a form of steel, as I recall. It's got a high carbon content and EXTREME hardness because of the way it's cooled (Really hot to cold, fast as possible). It's brittle enough to be shattered by a single hit from a child using a hammer.

Please don't use it in a weapon.

Cast iron is simply iron that has been cast directly out of the smelter. It has more impurities than wrought iron, and is more brittle. You can make cast iron cannons, but unless they are quite thick and perfectly cast they tend to have issues with bursting. As long as you can make good casts, cast iron is actually not half bad for cannons since it is so cheap.

Wrought iron is made by beating or puddling cast iron to remove impurities and anneal it somewhat. Due to the extra processing required it is more expensive than cast iron.

Steel is wrought iron alloyed with carbon. Even more expensive.

[Draignean]

I'm assuming iron only rots at altitude? As in it can be worked without issues near the base of the spire? If not, how are iron items made at all?

Right, within the first half mile of a spire, below the mist-line of the spire, you can have foundries that can work iron. The lower the better as far as quality control goes. Once the plating is made it's typically waxed or immersed in oil until its ready to be shrouded in copper/bronze/brass.

[milo christiansen]

You realize, that if you don't run this game now you are going to have legions of angry forumites after you?
 

[Draignean]

You realize, that if you don't run this game now you are going to have legions of angry forumites after you?
 

It's an arms race game, if I run it I'll have legions of angry forumites after me.

Damned if I do...

[Taricus]

Well, if you run it you can tell them to shut the hell up so...

[Madman198237]

And lynched if you don't. Clearly, there is only one choice.

So, as to cannons.

The original cannons ("Bombards") fired stone balls. Concrete's not out of the question.

Technically steel isn't necessarily wrought iron. It's just that the more purified the iron is, the better the resulting steel. The Bessemer process, in fact, is just a way of producing pure(ish) iron without the wrought-iron process, which involves a forge, a burly smith, a sledgehammer, and several hours of heating and pounding.

CAST iron, nowadays, specifically refers to iron that is heated VERY hot (Sometimes hot enough to melt and be cast into a form or mold) and cooled rapidly, creating a very hard, very brittle metal with a high melting point (This is why it is used for charcoal forge fireboxes, in fact).

As always, cast iron has a spectrum of hardness versus brittleness, but in general it's not terribly suited to warfare, unless in certain designs such as katanas, which trade extreme hardness (Technically of steel, but same difference) at the edges and softer metal on the back of the blade, to give both sharpness and flexibility (Both of which a sword needs, which is normally a trade-off between flexing and hardness).

[Aseaheru]

 The Turks where using stone cannonballs up into the 1800s.

[Draignean]

Well, if you run it you can tell them to shut the hell up so...

Ask and ye shall occasionally receive things against my better interests.

[FallacyofUrist]

Alright, is anybody willing to help me develop Arms Race mechanics? To me, it looks like these games are freakishly complicated and I'd like to design a system that isn't freakishly complicated, for the good of all us prospective Arms Race GMs.

[RAM]

I am willing to sit uselessly by the side making pedantic comments.

[Madman198237]

Go ahead and post any possibilities, I'll shoot them down whenever necessary always.
Anyway, yeah, I'll help.

[Draignean]

Alright, is anybody willing to help me develop Arms Race mechanics? To me, it looks like these games are freakishly complicated and I'd like to design a system that isn't freakishly complicated, for the good of all us prospective Arms Race GMs.

I can help you make a freakishly overcomplicated rules out of a simple concept! It's one of my strongest abilities.

As for going the other way, I don't think I can help you.

[NUKE9.13]

Alright, is anybody willing to help me develop Arms Race mechanics? To me, it looks like these games are freakishly complicated and I'd like to design a system that isn't freakishly complicated, for the good of all us prospective Arms Race GMs.

I think ICAR is about as simple as you can get without losing a lot of what makes an Arms Race an Arms Race. I mean, can you give some examples of undue complexity that you'd be looking to eliminate?