Copper weapons and armor

[Anders]

If you haven't discovered bronze, or are low on tin, you may have to do with copper. You can make crappy weapons and tools with copper - better than stone tools but far worse than bronze or steel. So...

1) You can make copper spearheads and axeheads, as well as knives. They are +1 CF and automatically cheap quality.

2) You can make copper plates to use as armor, but it has -1 DR and +1 CF.

3) Working with copper tools for applications that assume bronze or iron tools gives -2 to skill. Again, +1 CF.

What do you think?

[AlexanderHowl]

Copper is often worse than stone for the purpose of making weapons (though a copper mace would just be more expensive than a stone mace), so I would treat it as stone but -1 to cutting/impaling damage and 3x the cost. There is no reason to make armor or tools out of copper (leather is better for the former and stone is better for the latter), so it would only be used for either in ceremonial settings.

[maximara]

Originally Posted by AlexanderHowl

Copper is often worse than stone for the purpose of making weapons (though a copper mace would just be more expensive than a stone mace), so I would treat it as stone but -1 to cutting/impaling damage and 3x the cost. There is no reason to make armor or tools out of copper (leather is better for the former and stone is better for the latter), so it would only be used for either in ceremonial settings.

The Chalcolithic period is interesting in that is lasted around 1,000 years but as you mention copper just doesn't seem to have used for armor or weapons.

[Anders]

I'm not so sure about that. The ice-man Ötzi's axe was made from copper, and the Egyptians used copper-tipped spears, copper helmets and copper tools (notably chisels).

[Tyneras]

Copper has the advantage of being easily repairable. If your stone axe cracks in half, you need a completely new axe. If you copper axe gets bent, you can pound it back into shape and sharpen. The need to frequently sharpen copper would be annoying, but how does that compare with needing to knap dulled stone tools?

[Dustin]

Copper's low melting point probably contributes to its scarceness in the archaeological record. I expect most of it ended up recycled into later bronze items, unless it was lost at sea or under similar unfortunate circumstances (as with Ötzi).

[The Colonel]

Originally Posted by maximara

The Chalcolithic period is interesting in that is lasted around 1,000 years but as you mention copper just doesn't seem to have used for armor or weapons.

I'm pretty sure there were some copper disc breastplates kicking about in ancient Mesopotamia and a couple of other fertile crescent civs seem to have used copper maces, axes and similar weapons - as Dustin suggests, I'm tempted to blame recycling. Plus, it wouldn't surprise me if anyone using something as soft as copper to make weapons wasn't used to recasting them every now and again.

[weby]

Originally Posted by Dustin

Copper's low melting point probably contributes to its scarceness in the archaeological record. I expect most of it ended up recycled into later bronze items, unless it was lost at sea or under similar unfortunate circumstances (as with Ötzi).

I think that this is a big reason.

As for copper making worse tools or weapons than stone, they have one huge advantage: Repairability. A broken stone tool usually means having to make it again whereas a copper tool can be often hammered back to shape.

[Rupert]

Originally Posted by weby

I think that this is a big reason.

As for copper making worse tools or weapons than stone, they have one huge advantage: Repairability. A broken stone tool usually means having to make it again whereas a copper tool can be often hammered back to shape.

And of not, then it can be melted down and remade into a new tool.

[DanHoward]

They worked out pretty early on that some ores produced better tools and weapons than others. There are plenty of copper deposits with contaminants like arsenic that produce weapons that are almost as good as bronze, and plenty of physical examples in the archaeological record. Copper makes perfectly functional body armour too, but there is nothing to suggest that body armour of any kind was used before the second millennium - well after the Bronze Age began. The only evidence for armour in Mesopotamia is helmets (made from copper), definitely no body armour.

As far as GURPS goes there is no functional difference between bronze and copper except that copper is less durable and requires a lot more maintenance.