Quote Originally Posted by DrewID View Post
Loosely inspired by an on-line essay that pointed out that the culture of classic D&D was far more like the Iron Age than that of the Middle Ages, I am taking a stab at a campaign set during the transition between the Bronze and Iron Ages. In broad strokes, of course, since the world map will not be Earth and the history will have to take into account, if nothing else, the presence of Elves, Dwarves, Orcs and Goblins.

I'm looking for a guide to what equipment will be available. From what history I have picked up, not infrequently here (I'm more a medieval buff ordinarily), I gather that bronze and iron swords will be shorter and/or a touch thicker than later medieval swords, that bronze weapons and armour will be slightly heavier and more expensive but stronger than their iron counterparts. Also I recall reading that bronze is easier to work into larger plates. Anything else I should take into account?

DrewID
Bronze is easier to work into large pieces (like ship's rams), especially since it requires a lower temperature to work and can be cast into all sorts of shapes, or hammered even when cold. Damaged equipment is pretty easy to repair. Bronze is about 10% denser than an equivalent volume of steel, and well-worked stuff is much better than any kind of iron and even the lowest grades of steel. In the real world, the advantage iron had was that it was plentiful and occurred with coal/charcoal, making it cheap. Tin was harder to source, being the necessary other component besides copper to make bronze, and often didn't appear anywhere near each other. Though depending how early you are, there might be a lot of arsenical bronze around - that's where the stereotype of the lame smith comes from, working with arsenic is very bad for your health.

Start from armour, which will influence the sorts of weapons available. A hoplite-style panoply of bronze plates - helmet, cuirass, shin, thigh and forearm plates - is likely the heaviest armour available. There are textile armours available for something lighter than bronze. Flexible locations covered by leather or textile tassets, and the shield is the most significant piece overall. Unless you're going into late Iron Age, mail doesn't exist. Many warriors will fight with no more protection than helmet and shield.

There are few two-handed weapons because blades can't be made that long and they're not necessary. Two-handed axes are about it. Most swords are shorter than a medieval arming sword, some of them heavy choppers rather than cut-and-thrust. Spears are ubiquitous and the prime weapon used in war. Javelins are also common. If you're going with a European-style late Bronze/early Iron age, bows are weak and underpowered self bows, generally used for hunting rather than war (obviously if you have an eastern/steppe analogy then composite bows are around and much better than the western bows).

Contrary to the oft-perpetuated myth, cavalry could charge (stirrups are necessary for horse-archery, not shock cavalry). However, horses were small and might only be large enough to pull chariots rather than support genuine cavalry. As an example, the original Persians who founded the Achaemenid Empire were charioteers.

If you're considering the maritime stage of affairs (which you should be if it's at all inspired by antiquity), most trade is conducted by sea, with land trade being predominantly from the port to larger settlements that aren't coastal. Which will be rare, most major settlements will be on the coast to take advantage of trade. Most vessels would be oared galleys like the pentekonter, which is equally useful for trade and war. Their primary means of combat is ramming and boarding, with the oarsmen also acting as marines.

Are you going with Bronze age palace economies, where society revolves around the king? Or something less centralised from later? That'll impact stuff like whether there is even currency.