I did not want to be mechanistic, but there are good (rulewise) reasons to use unenchanted forged iron if you are a westerner.
Several sources indicate that iron is "quite" common in the west,
specially in Seshnela. However the costs in POW to enchant all the iron in
a suit of armour are high. So now you have 25 Enc of untreated iron (-125%
to spells). You pray to the Saints and the Creator before the battle
(without armour). Your lord's priest will bless you after the prayers. And
the Saint's blessings that are most useful in battle do not need rolls.
Most knights would not use magic "during" the battle, even if they could.
And it must be one of the reasons for knights not learning too much sorcery
(even in Loskalm). What I propose is that they use iron as a magical
protection, and it is one of the things that make knights Hell on wheels in
a battlefield.
There is more. Dwarfs will not usually enchant theirs either, as a "small" penalty to their casting chances. That is one of the subtle reasons Iron and Sorcery are linked in Glorantha.
Regarding the "complexity level" of the Digest, the real problem is the absence of new "official" materials. Discussing armour rules is boring the third time that appears in the Digest, so people discuus small philosophical details because most other things have been debated to death, and most of us are not brilliant enough to come with new ideas (or brave enough to show them).
Jose
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