I was checking the SWMA for TL references in Shadow World and I noticed something odd :
- the "iron age" (TL3) includes the following descriptions "the beginning of science and philosophy" (OKish, I guess, this corresponds to classical hellenic period, which is technically in the Iron Age), "regional governments" (depends on what you call "regional" entirely - there were pretty large kingdom entities during that period), "sophisticated metalworking methods enable society to master alloys such as iron and create vast quantities of metal objects" (I disagree here, if only because iron is not an alloy - while bronze is, in fact, and has more interesting properties than iron for a number of uses when alloyed with the right metals or non-metals - including the fact that bronze is less brittle than cast iron, which means that it would be better for a number of war applications, which is always important). Bronze was historically supplanted by iron mostly because of severe disruption in the tin trade. But first and foremost, the idea that iron was used "as is" during the iron age is incorrect - I quote "The characteristic of an Iron Age culture is the mass production of tools and weapons made from steel" (emphasis mine) because "Only with the capability of the production of carbon steel does ferrous metallurgy result in tools or weapons that are equal or superior to bronze". Additionally, "The use of steel has been based as much on economics as on metallurgical advancements".
So it would seem right that the standard (especially for weaponry) during the iron age would be steel, not base iron; Base iron would be used for cheap tooling, because it was cheaper and easier to work than bronze.
Furthermore, the Iron Age does not lead directly to the medieval age - in central and western europe, the iron age is considered to end at or before 1 BC. Its end in that part of the world more or less matches the rise of the roman empire, but in the near east it end around 550 BC (appearance of historiography), and in northern europe as late as 800 AD (beginning of the viking age). And it does not even exist formally in chinese timeline. So its end is likely not dictated by technological changes, rather by sociological ones (this is the reason why there is no "iron age" in China - it transitions directly from bronze age t the imperial Qin dynasty, which is *post* iron age).
Additionally, the next age (improperly tagged "medieval age") states "steel alloys (swords, chain-mail)", which is also factually wrong - both swords and chainmail are invented (apparently by the celts in western europe) during the iron age and become widespread during that time - in fact, it was the standard lorica hamata armour used by republican romans (so, iron age) as well as later imperial romans - but imperial romans made common the use of the banded mail (lorica segmentata) [that armor type was actually invented in the near east much earlier].
What is the point of all this, you ask ?
- First, that the standard Rolemaster "+0 iron" (as opposed to "-10 to +0 bronze") is technically wrong - bronze was superior to iron at least for most offensive military purposes, but it was more expensive (because of tin import) and difficult to work (the fusion point of bronze is much higher than that of iron). Cast iron was probably -5 or -10 to +0 bronze.
- Second, that having the "iron age" centered around iron weaponry is wrong as well : standard weaponry during the iron age would be low steel very fast because of bronze competition. Iron would be used for most civilian purposes, except for tools where durability was a coveted property, in which case bronze would still be used whenever possible.
- Third, that there is something between Iron Age and Medieval Age - or that Medieval Age is actually a misnomer, because it starts much earlier than the "middle ages". Actually, most of the "Medieval Age" description apparently corresponds with the *late* middle ages (XIIth century and later in western europe), which would leave a gap of almost a full millenium covering the roman empire and the dark ages that is neither "Iron Age" nor "Medieval Age". It would be possible to consider the Dark Ages as an actual regression, but that leaves early empires (Rome, Qin and Han dynasties in imperial China, Maurya and Gupta empires in India, Seleucid, Parthian and Sasanian empires in the middle east), which would support that there is an age between Iron Age and Medieval Age that could be called Early Imperial Age and is characterised by societal changes : consolidation of governmental structure, extensive administration, and a drive to industrialisation of production means.
The second topic is about TL6+. There are a number of places on Kulthea that are tagged as TL6 or more. TL6 includes a number of technological evolutions that change the societal landscape (the printing press being the most radical of them, but advanced clockworks are developed, hot air balloons are used, and the refinement of metalworking provides advanced tooling in medicine among other fields). TL7 includes even more radical evolutions (because this is the beginning of the industrial age) the most important of which is the steam engine.
There are a number of cultures on Western Kulthea that are TL6+ : Ubenmas (heart of the Alliance) is listed as TL5-7, Rhakhaan is TL6, Sel-Kai is TL5-6 (interestingly slightly lower than Rhakhaan...), Namar-Tol is TL6+, the Vashaan Domain is TL5-6, Khomal is TL6-7, Clycallah is TL6-7, Dhuria, Ran Tairi and Dalov Ram are 5-6, Raathvaalg is TL5-6.
Any of the TL6 realms could have aerial observation/exploration and advanced clockwork (which have uses far beyond actual clocks), and ay TL6+ could have functional and potentially industrialised steam engines - at TL7, that means steamships and trains at the very least, and potential use of more efficient fossil fuel engines. All this without the need for magic, and without the use of black powder and conventional explosives.
And steam engine is unavoidable if you can have boiling water (actually, steam power was used for "tricks" much earlier than Renaissance, but late Renaissance developed the steam *engine*), so there is no way you don't have steam engines in the more advanced cultures of Kulthea - because the laws of physics make them possible and observation of effect is easy. And none of them (Clycallah, Namar-Tol and the Alliance) would refrain from using it to the utmost - in fact, Clycallah would likely go through a fast technological development phase because of the war. And Rhakhaan would likely try to develop technology as much as possible as well, to gain the upper hand in Jaiman once and for all.
My problem with all that ? I don't see it at all. Neither Rhakhaan nor Namar-Tol are described as "near-industrial" societies. It's as if the TL was based on wishful thinking, and that the more advanced cultures had made technological breakthroughs but were actually not using them (and having magic is not enough of a reason - magic requires special talent and is limited by intrinsic capability, while technology merely requires training and resources that are typically much easier to acquire than the exotic magical materials).
So why is western Kulthea frozen in a "medieval with pseudo-magical wonders" technology landscape ? I mean, even having Sel-Kai at TL5-6 while it has been existing for 4500 years and was rich enough to build *freaking Eidolon* 1500 years ago basically seems to indicate that technological progress is frozen. And I have trouble with that (or rather, I have trouble with cultures having progressed beyond the stone age at all - the Althan evolved into a galactic empire, which means they probably exhausted all the accessible planetary resources during their own history... so where do the resources that were used to reach the TL2+ levels come from ? And if resources are still readily available, why can't the current cultures use them to evolve at a reasonable pace ?)