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[Gus Smedstad]

No, not how to make it.  Why you'd ever mess with it.  Every time I've embarked, there's been plenty of iron near the surface which can be turned into steel, and while copper often shows up early, I almost never see tin until I've dug quite deep.  So it seems like there's no point to bronze unless you've got a noble insisting you make something made of bronze.

Was this different in 40d?  I recall the 2D version (which is what I played before) put copper and tin in fairly accessible areas, but buried iron deep, so there was a natural progression from copper -> bronze -> steel.

 - Gus

[Daetrin]

Time. Well, and resources. One coke + "make bronze from ore" = 2 bronze. Steel takes considerably more time and effort. Also, cassiterite only appears in granite, so depth has nothing to do with it. If your first two layers are granite and marble...

[LordSlowpoke]

They did it because bronze is now so badass that you can kill almost everything with it, if you're good enough. Or, if you have enough of it, see the case of the colossi - you can kill them all.

[Gus Smedstad]

Also, cassiterite only appears in granite, so depth has nothing to do with it. If your first two layers are granite and marble...

That probably has something to do with it.  I'm still very fuzzy on the various rock layers.  I'm moved from "soil vs. rock" to "you want a flux-stone layer," but I don't really know what to expect from other rock layers, like granite.

 - Gus

[TheMirth]

If you have iron and flux there's not a lot of need. If you're flux deprived or haven't gotten your production lines setup to handle steel production, bronze weapons are considerably better than iron ones against goblin armor.

[Kon]

In one of my fortresses, there was no iron ore anywhere. Also, no lignite or bituminous coal. And, melting is broken. Made lots of bismuth bronze weapons and armor, which worked quite well.

[Vicomt]

As said above, bronze is incredibly useful if you're resource poor for steel. My current AxeMasters are bronze armed and armoured top to toe and so far they've taken out goblins, gorlarks and forgotten beasts without any difficulty whatsoever. I have an almost total lack of flux (damn mountainhome - when I say max priority, please bring more than 4 rocks) but enough bronze to last me a lifetime (oh and diamonds... lovely diamonds...)

[Eric Blank]

I've also heard reports of iron weapons of your enemies going right through steel and iron armor, while being stopped dead by bronze, so it may be a decent tactic to make at least some variation in armor and weapon types, just on the off chance that someone will be pitted against their perfect cannon fodder.

[scira]

Maybe things are different in 31.04 but marble is kinda the "screw you" flux, since hematite(?) is rare in non sediment layers, but I suppose its better than nothing if you have a good source of goblinite.

[zecro]

Though bronze is generally harder than wrought iron, with Vickers hardness of 60–258[2]  vs. 30–80,[3]  the Bronze Age gave way to the Iron Age; this happened because iron was easier to find. Bronze was still used during the Iron Age, but, for many purposes, the weaker wrought iron was found to be sufficiently strong. [...] As ironworking improved, iron became cheaper; and as cultures advanced from wrought iron to forged iron, they learned how to make steel, which is stronger than bronze and holds a sharper edge longer.[5]

Wikiedia: Bronze

I think it's kind of cool that DF (accurately) portrays bronze as better than iron. However, I think steel is still superior to bronze, which is also accurate.

[Saladman]

If you've got ample iron, flux and coal you shouldn't mess with it.  On a less than perfect embark you might have to though.  I'm 5+ years in and down to the second cavern layer in my main fort in 31.03 and still have no flux.  So... bronze it is for armor, though I've gotten some steel axes out from purchased steel and pig iron bars.

[Hyperturtle]

I use the iron only to make steel.  The bronze I use to make the initial weapons and armor, and keep practicing (and selling and dumping) the stuff they don't need.

The way the arsenal dwarf works, is that if you have a *iron armor* it will be considered a better thing to wear than a +steel armor+, because of the quality designation.  Try it, I have had people dump -adamantine gauntlets- for ooh shiny *copper gauntlets* I picked up after a goblin siege.

So use the material you don't care about to build up the skill set.  I have a few magma forges continually pumping out bronze trap components, next to magma smelters continually pumping out bronze bars.  It works well.  Skill sets are increased for weapon and furnace operator--and of course you can't have too many bronze caps to dump or trade, to build up your armorsmith skill.

Stud with bronze, make bronze toys, you name it.  Since you don't require flux to make bronze, and bronze is better than iron, your best bet is to make as much bronze as possible and make as many things as possible in the magma shops (if you have them of course), and it's like free metal.  Then when they get skilled, have them make steel or adamantine items.

[HAMMERMILL]

I never really understood this distinction between "iron" and "steel" anyways. The terms are interchangable. What does the game mean by Iron and Steel? Impure cast-iron and 20th century stainless steel alloy 1040 or what?

[Hurgal]

The way the arsenal dwarf works, is that if you have a *iron armor* it will be considered a better thing to wear than a +steel armor+, because of the quality designation.  Try it, I have had people dump -adamantine gauntlets- for ooh shiny *copper gauntlets* I picked up after a goblin siege.

This is why I assign a material to each piece of equipment assigned to my dwarves on the uniform page of the military screen.

[Bronze Dog]

I never really understood this distinction between "iron" and "steel" anyways. The terms are interchangable. What does the game mean by Iron and Steel? Impure cast-iron and 20th century stainless steel alloy 1040 or what?

Iron is an element. Steel is an iron alloy with carbon (sometimes other metals) added to it, IIRC, to counteract the brittle nature of straight iron. The carbon is why charcoal/coke is an ingredient in the process, and not just fuel for the fire.