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mj12games.com/forum → Iron Stars → Edwardian SF vs. Victorian SF
I think the only movie I've seen that would be close to Edwardian SF would be the anime Steamboy which seems to be in the same pre-WW I era.
But comparing the two subgenres, what would be the big differences between them? I'm not that sharp on my history and nothing comes to mind other than the internal combustion engine and Tesla -- though he's more post WW I.
But comparing the two subgenres, what would be the big differences between them? I'm not that sharp on my history and nothing comes to mind other than the internal combustion engine and Tesla -- though he's more post WW I.
Not a whole helluva lot, actually... from a tech perspective, some of the speculative Victorian stuff would be a reality in Edwardian times -- but frankly it's more or less a semantic distinction.
I prefer "Edwardian" to describe Iron Stars' setting -- since the first thing that happens in our timeline is that Victoria dies a few months before the Martians invade...
If I may make the suggestion ...
Perhaps the biggest theme to such a game would be what you've been doing, a unstoppable march towards a WW I type event where the air is charged with change and there's a tension in the air. People know there's something building in the air, though people can't put their finger on it.
A time of innocence and honor is ending.
Admittedly, it's been done before in several other eras before and after the early 1900s. It's currently a theme in the Pirate sequals and quite a few modern takes on the Pulp genre love to touch on this as well.
Don't know how you can bottle more of that into the look of the minatures or the feel of the rules, but it's an idea.
Perhaps the biggest theme to such a game would be what you've been doing, a unstoppable march towards a WW I type event where the air is charged with change and there's a tension in the air. People know there's something building in the air, though people can't put their finger on it.
A time of innocence and honor is ending.
Ooo... I like that as a hook.
Have you been reading my notes? 
Ooo... I like that as a hook.
Have you been reading my notes?
That's cool considering I've only had time to look over the rules. I've been saving the background for when I have the book in hand.
Maybe we're on the same brain wave. 
Looks like it's time to put my hand in my jacket, stand on the bridge and give the command, "It's time we found out what the Germans are up to. Full Forward! And mind the asteroids Mr. Cargill!"
The captain consulted his charts, and studied the magnetometer for a few moments. Satisfied, he came to a decision, and grabbed for the speaking tube to battle central, "All Damage Control Stations stand by in Airtight Suits, all Assault Crews don Space Armor".
To the Bridge Chief he said "Call for General Quarters, Chief!"
"Aye Sir, General Quarters" the chief dialed the Main Ships Announcement circuit, "General Quarters! All Hands, General Quarters!"
Bells and Klaxons sounded, and Crewmen groaned as they slipped out of their warm bunks, and drew on their cold and clammy rubber-and-leather Airtights. Marines checked magazines and strapped on the bulky wasserstahl plating that would stop any human borne weaponry, but wasn't proof against the lightest guns a ship might bring to bear.
The space about the ship seemed to crackle in anticipation as the Leviathan warmed up her Lightning Guns, and shells slamming into breeches created a distant ringing in the hull.
"Tesla Units to full power!" The Engineer commanded.
A member of the bridge crew reported "Heat source to Starboard Sir!"
"Vane's to Starboard!" commanded the captain.
Leviathan swung it's bulk to starboard, it's forward gunners staring down the scopes, seeking for the target all knew was there.
Good stuff, Dugan! 
Do I sense the gaunlet being thrown down, Mr. TheDugan?
Let me get my hands on that IS book and I shall fire off a volley of vigilettes back, sir. You have been warned!
Do I sense the gaunlet being thrown down, Mr. TheDugan?
Let me get my hands on that IS book and I shall fire off a volley of vigilettes back, sir. You have been warned!
Oh dear. Dueling by short story. Grab your Thesaurus' folks...and watch out for stray double negatives. 
Vigilettes?
I do not think that word means what you think it means, sir. :wink:
Rich
Do I sense the gaunlet being thrown down, Mr. TheDugan?
Let me get my hands on that IS book and I shall fire off a volley of vigilettes back, sir. You have been warned!
Baah...
I have read the vaunted scripts of Baen,
I have watched the firefights of Drake sparkle
in the spaces that man has not yet seen....
Come hither, and let us taste the sting of your pen.
...I think you mean "vignettes"
Von Ether wrote:Do I sense the gaunlet being thrown down, Mr. TheDugan?
Let me get my hands on that IS book and I shall fire off a volley of vigilettes back, sir. You have been warned!
Baah...
I have read the vaunted scripts of Baen,
I have watched the firefights of Drake sparkle
in the spaces that man has not yet seen....Come hither, and let us taste the sting of your pen.
...I think you mean "vignettes"
Yes I do! And you will, good sir. As soon as the world stops spinning and I put this bottle of wine down. ...
Excuse me, can anyone tell me which of the two tables floating in front of me is the real one?
thedugan wrote:Von Ether wrote:Do I sense the gaunlet being thrown down, Mr. TheDugan?
Let me get my hands on that IS book and I shall fire off a volley of vigilettes back, sir. You have been warned!
Baah...
I have read the vaunted scripts of Baen,
I have watched the firefights of Drake sparkle
in the spaces that man has not yet seen....Come hither, and let us taste the sting of your pen.
...I think you mean "vignettes"
Yes I do! And you will, good sir. As soon as the world stops spinning and I put this bottle of wine down. ...
Excuse me, can anyone tell me which of the two tables floating in front of me is the real one?
If it's wine, then it would be the one on the left in my experience.
Flu medications tend to weight reality to the right for me....
I've a few moments at work, and it seems that I can get to the MJ12 server again....
Captain Williamsby folded the message he'd just been flashed over the
wireless. German Aetherships had been spotted by his scouts some 150
Kilometers off L-4, and were engaged protecting some sort of con-
struction project. Signals from the platform they hovered about
indicated some high energy Tesla units were in use.
"Trouble sir?" enquired his Signals officer, Cargill.
"Yes, seems the Hun are engaged in another project designed to give
us pause" Captain Willaimsby called over the intership com "Supply,
this is the captain. How far along are we doing stowing away that last
supply bouy drop?"
"Crane here" the tinny metal cone replied, "we'll be done in about 5
minutes, It's only some oxygen cylinders, a few maintenance parts, and
some 200-odd pounds of meats"
"Very Good" replied the captain, "I suspect that we're going to be
doing some hard manuevers, it would good to insure they're secure"
"Aye sir, Stores out"
A few moments later, the Stores were secure, and the Captain looked up
from his charts "It's time we found out what the Germans are up to.
Full Forward! And mind the asteroids Mr. Cargill!"
The Leviathan rumbled her approval, and Cargill's magnetoscopes would
occasionally keen their awareness to the bridge crew of Asteroids and
space junk. There had been some talk of using heterodyned radio waves
to detect the stuff at longer ranges, but the gear was bulky and quite
fragile. It was practically impossible to repair anything in zero-gee,
and the glass that made up some of the components would have been quite
troublesome if they broke.
The bridge chief reported "Lookouts report we're nearing the position
you wanted, sir".
The captain consulted his charts, and studied the magnetometer for a few
moments. Satisfied, he came to a decision, and grabbed for the speaking
tube to battle central, "All Damage Control Stations stand by in
Airtight Suits, all Assault Crews don Space Armor".
To the Bridge Chief he said "Call for General Quarters, Chief!"
"Aye Sir, General Quarters" the chief dialed the Main Ships Announcement
circuit, "General Quarters! All Hands, General Quarters!"
Bells and Klaxons sounded, and Crewmen groaned as they slipped out of
their warm bunks, and drew on their cold and clammy rubber-and-leather
Airtights. Marines checked magazines and strapped on the bulky
wasserstahl plating that would stop any human borne weaponry, but wasn't
proof against the lightest guns a ship might bring to bear.
The space about the ship seemed to crackle in anticipation as the
Leviathan warmed up her Lightning Guns, and shells slamming into
breeches created a distant ringing in the hull.
"Tesla Units to full power!" The Engineer commanded.
Leviathan's power plants changed pitch, her twin tesla spheres shifting
internally to maximize the collector surface area, increasing the power
outlet driving her instruments and engines.
Tesla's dissection of Martian power plants had provided the technological
boost that made those plants possible, but others before him had observed
the phenomenom that drew electrons across the tiny gaps from electrode to
electrode, seemingly creating energy from the vaccum between them. Casimir
had measured the effect, but Tesla had put together the hardware. Without
the Martians, we wouldn't have known HOW to assemble that hardware.
A member of the bridge crew reported "Heat source to Starboard Sir!"
"Vane's to Starboard!" commanded the captain.
Leviathan swung it's bulk to starboard, it's forward gunners staring
down the scopes, seeking for the target all knew was there.
"Gunnery! launch Star Flares to Starbord!" The Captain ordered.
There was a muffled reply - the crews worked in Airtight suits, and
speech was nigh-unintelligible in the best of times. A few seconds later,
the ship rebounded slightly as a secondary gun sang it's defiance at the
constant night.
The shell burst a few kilometers away, and every lookout threw up their
telescopes and binoculars at wide appature.
"Captain!" the bridge chief barked "Reports at 40 degrees of Starboard
bow!"
"Very Good Chief" The captain shifted his gaze slightly, "What they
bloody hell are the Hun playing at now?"
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