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[Deus Machina]

Alright, available if not plentiful iron, but not much flux. Plenty of obsidian.

The wiki says obsidian swords do the same damage as steel. Awesome. Does damage=penetration, or is that assuming unarmored foes?

[Number4]

Don't. That is a relict I think - do not use it against armor. Iron should be way better. It cuts however flesh very fine - but there's not much differece between "cuts flesh fine (iron) and "cuts flesh very fine" (obsidian).

[Dantrithor]

Aztecs used obsidian blades in their "swords" and axes. Remember what happened when they faced iron and steel plates from european invaders?

Yes, that.

[kotekzot]

I think you were reading an article for version 40d, in the new versions abstracted material "strongness" has been replaced with various physical properties, making stone swords quite weak.

[flieroflight]

i had a fort with 3 or so levels of obsidian, my results were that it was effective against light armour but not so good against plate gear, and that it tended to break and fracture bones rather than severing limbs.

[Deus Machina]

I think you were reading an article for version 40d,

Oh, look at that. That's where the wiki brought me to, as opposed to bringing me to the current version for everything else. Sigh.

Alright, so the dorfs get obsidian swords and copper hammers, and whatever iron I can spare, until I can actually get some steel going.

[Number4]

Alright, so the dorfs get obsidian swords and copper hammers, and whatever iron I can spare, until I can actually get some steel going.

Harvest goblinite and put it to use, either in it's orginal form or melted and reforged. Have any not-copper picks or axes cutting or mining? Replace with copper and put them to better use. Consider crossbows...all this should keep you alive till proper masterwork steel weapons can be forged!

[thegoatgod_pan]

Actually I think Aztec weapons did just fine against the European invader; it was more the horses and canons the Europeans had and the disease they brought.

[Doro]

well... as far as im aware, conquistadores had not much armour on them, except breastplate, wich didnt cover arms or legs that well so in theory aztecs should have done quite good.
and about that aztec weapons against armor thing, aztecs had obsidian stuck into wooden club, so when you hit at iron/steel breastplate with that, wouldnt the wood break because of small, sharp obsidian shards stuck in it, rather than, obsidian shards cutting through iron / steel armor

[Girlinhat]

Clearly you've never cut down a tree.  Some people underestimate wood.  Wood was used, and is still used, to build BOATS.  Little ships that sit in the water for 100+ years, assailed by waves and temperature and barnacle and sometimes rocky shores.  Roller coasters are made of wood.  A solid wooden door, especially one that was double-plated so that the wood grain alternated to make axing it down difficult, could realistically hold back hardened invaders.  If you take a solid, healthy branch and embed some bits of stone in it, and slam it on concrete, you'll chip the concrete more likely than break the branch.

Even if it does break, it doesn't matter.  Wood is everywhere, and obsidian is easy.  If you can make a wooden spear in an afternoon's work and ram it through the stomach of a 20 year trained soldier, who's winning?

[Sarda]

Clearly you've never cut down a tree.  Some people underestimate wood.  Wood was used, and is still used, to build BOATS.  Little ships that sit in the water for 100+ years, assailed by waves and temperature and barnacle and sometimes rocky shores.  Roller coasters are made of wood.  A solid wooden door, especially one that was double-plated so that the wood grain alternated to make axing it down difficult, could realistically hold back hardened invaders.  If you take a solid, healthy branch and embed some bits of stone in it, and slam it on concrete, you'll chip the concrete more likely than break the branch.

Even if it does break, it doesn't matter.  Wood is everywhere, and obsidian is easy.  If you can make a wooden spear in an afternoon's work and ram it through the stomach of a 20 year trained soldier, who's winning?

That all depends on just what type of wood you use. Ironwood, of course, is excellent. Balsa? Not so much. And boats DO require maintenance, and wooden doors have metal hinges and more likely than not, some metal reinforcements.

[nanomage]

i guess it's elves who distinguish.
for dwarfs, best wood is charcoal

[Girlinhat]

Your average tree is still very tough, and could easy survive being used as a spiked club, especially if they used slender pieces and forced them in against the grain, so that when they struck something they wouldn't split the grain open.  It would keep itself stable as you bashed iron armor, it might only dent the armor a little but it wouldn't hurt the weapon very much either.

[Sarda]

Point taken. Obsidian, however, is not nearly as tough. I know from experience that it can get very, very sharp, but it's also extremely brittle. If you tried to hack at armor with the typical "obsidian chips embedded in wooden handle" obsidian sword, you'd be left with a wooden baton before long.

[Girlinhat]

Oh yes, it's very much a short-term weapon.  Even on unarmored opponents it would hit bone and chip, or just dull itself on skin.  But, when you can make a weapon by carrying a stick and finding a boulder to chip some flakes on, it can afford to be expendable.  When it's that cheap, it doesn't matter if it breaks.  You can make another on the way home, or carry a spare!  Not like it would be very heavy, after all.  Either way, the Aztecs were cool, but still got pwnd by anyone with armor because they lacked the same hard metal weapons.  Their weapons worked against what they faced, but not against a stronger foe.

Either way, obsidian in-game has a good edge to it, and can do a bit of damage.  We don't have equipment damage yet, so your obsidian sword won't break, but it's also poor for stabbing with.  It'll do great against armor, but lacks the material value to combat against an armored foe.  That being said, goblins wear a breastplate and thong.  You can slash their arms, legs, neck, and that thong isn't gonna protect them for long.