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[Haruspex_Pariah]

Ya, I ran five tests of warhammers and full armor for each pairing (steel, iron, bronze). All three metals appeared to be equal, and the death came from a headshot in all cases though earlier injuries may have made that easier.

[rephikul]

Projectiles: Silver, copper and bronze are good. Strength becomes more important against armour relative to density, but steel is too light to be ideal against anything you're likely to face.

My personal experience says steel is the best projectile metal against anything composed of/armored in bronze or better. However, ranged weapons are ridiculously overpowered in vanilla (better penetration then war hammers or spears) so it's hard to ever notice it, even if you try a bronze colossus or steel FB.

[Erkki]

Made some testing:

http://df.magmawiki.com/index.php/Military_testing#Bronze_vs._Iron

To simulate Fortress mode opponents and leave weapon material as the only variable, dwarves wore just iron armour. Also no bashing with shields that could even the fight.

[Haruspex_Pariah]

Swords, shields, and full armor. Iron vs bronze, five 1-on-1 matches.

It took a long time for the matches to resolve.

Bronze scored one kill after a severed hand, opponent died from blood loss.
Iron did likewise, after a severed foot.
The remaining three matches were all won by iron, but the victory was achieved by strangulation, punch to the head, and kick to the head respectively. So the material seemed not to be a factor.

Conclusion: Sword-wise, iron and bronze seem about equal.

[Xenos]

Bronze is worse than iron for armor from what i have seen in weapons testing, but for many weapons it seems to be about equal or slightly better.

[Haruspex_Pariah]

Swords, shields, and full armor. Five 1-on-1 matches.

Steel vs Iron.

Steel wins convincingly. Steel sword was able to cut arteries and sever limbs through armor on any location.

Steel vs Bronze.

Steel wins convincingly. As easily as it did for iron.

Conclusion: Steel makes a good weapon for swords. Against goblin armor (iron, copper, etc), you won't have to worry so much about deflection.

[Sutremaine]

However, ranged weapons are ridiculously overpowered in vanilla (better penetration then war hammers or spears)

I dunno, this seems kind of sensible to me. A bolt is smaller than a spear and fired faster, and has more length than the head of a war hammer.

[Girlinhat]

There's also the Blood Thorn tree, found in the deepest cavern depths, with a density of 1.25g/cm³, the heaviest tree available, and useful for ballista and bolts since it's a renewable source and produces 25 bolts per log.

And war hammers aren't meant to penetrate, they're hammers!  They bash things, they don't slice!

[rephikul]

And war hammers aren't meant to penetrate, they're hammers!  They bash things, they don't slice!

That's a maul. Actual, functional war hammers actually have a small head and usually also double as a military pick.

[tehc]

I found that even with full legendaries for my military, they get killed by some cheap shot going through a bronze or iron helm or breastplate. I wouldn't recommend starting a dedicated military unless you have access to a lot of steel or adamantine. Until then, serrated discs of basically any metal will utterly dice enemies, seeing as they strike three times each and you can fit ten of them into a single trap.

On a side note, why is adamantine still considered a spoiler. The dangers of mining it is a spoiler sure, but the stuff is viewable on the stocks and stone screen. And I found that if its due to being uncommon, I find less platinum than adamantine as well as a whole bunch of other really uncommon crap.

[Girlinhat]

I killed a giant with one 10x serrated trap.  Granted, the next giant got killed by one soldier who dodged and blocked all attacks, and then cut the giant's throat with an axe, so I think giants aren't as impressive as they sound, but STILL!  Untill your serrated trap clogs, it'll pretty much shred anything.

[Jake]

It's also worth factoring in how quick and resource-intensive it is to get the items in question forged. In the early game, when you've got no experienced furnace operators and no access to magma (and I really do suggest you steer clear of magma in the early game!) then you're better off starting out with plain iron; it's more important that the whole militia be armed and armoured with something as expeditiously as possible.
Note also that since alluvial layers have yet to be implemented, cassiterite is quite difficult to find.

[Haruspex_Pariah]

It's also worth factoring in how quick and resource-intensive it is to get the items in question forged. In the early game, when you've got no experienced furnace operators and no access to magma (and I really do suggest you steer clear of magma in the early game!) then you're better off starting out with plain iron; it's more important that the whole militia be armed and armoured with something as expeditiously as possible.
Note also that since alluvial layers have yet to be implemented, cassiterite is quite difficult to find.

Yes, this is true. Goblins (in my experience) tend to be armed with iron or worse. Iron armor should be able to protect against their attacks significantly. Of course, ranged attacks are another matter entirely but you know how ranged attacks are.

[Jacob/Lee]

I've had hordes upon hordes of goblins attack me this fort. Most were wearing normal clothes, but some had copper breastplates (copper wtf?) and iron helms for whatever reason. They also sported iron weapons, so goblinite could make a decent iron ore if you can't find any.

[Girlinhat]

If you've got access to magma, goblinite makes a fantastic ore.