Steel tech and weapons

[Jevan Furmanski <furmansj@expert.cc.purdue.edu>]

In response to the hub-bub about steel, the problem with steel isn't the
working of it, but the making of it.  The planet hasn't even developed
coke technology, which is essential to steel production, and I would
attribute this to the planet's lack of dried up swamp land.  Steel
production is the tricky part, and for the most part wasn't as we know it
until the first world war, and yielded cool new ways to kill eachother.
If someone wanted to have a group of super artisans like the Japanese
swordsmiths, who overcame their technological limitations I could back
that.  Steel as a raw material is hundreds of years away though.