Victorian Sci-Fi

[Jage the Brain]

As of now I am in the concept stage of this project. My goal is to
have a few ground-based forces for this genre, these will mainly be
composed of scratch-built land-ironclads. One problem I am facing is
what technological level to set my armies at. In Wells' original story
the armies were both using the more advanced smokeless powder and
machineguns and other weapons were near WWI standards. In some more
recent works the weapons (besides the areonef and ironclads) are
somewhere near the Franco-Prussian War in 1871 standards.
The destructive power of regular weapons and the technological
advancement in general would greatly affect the designs of the land-
ironclads so this is why I am greatly interested and need some
feedback. So what do you think?

[Jage the Brain]

[jweiser]

I think some ideas you can go with here?

1. Poison Gas, Wells had a bit of a fetish for that.

2. Cantankerous nature...make them prone to breakdown, and prone to
going boom from boiler explosions when hit.

3. Slow, if RL WWI tanks are any guide..they aren't going to move very
fast, be able to carry much armor (it should stop rifle and MG fire,
but anything heavier is going to be trouble) and bog down easily,
especially the heavier models.

4. They should have a victorian "whimsy gothic" visual influence? (I
don't know HOW you'd do that, it's sort of one of those if "I'd know
it if I saw it".)

Jason

[Jage the Brain]

I agree with your points.

One thing I would consider would be the affect of all that burning
coal on the crew inside especially if any of the pipes leaked due to
mechanical failure or enemy fire.

On point 3 I may have to invent some reason for being able to carry
enough armor so they can be truly worthy of the name Ironclad, not
just tin can, it will probably include some sort of improved coal. Of
course this would make fueling and resupply a big problem (some
scenarios are just writing themselves).

And for your final point I'm thinking maybe spire-like observation
towers.

[Jason Weiser]

I may have to let you have a look at my Russian Civil War Armor books...WWI tanks were dangerous, cramped, with poor air and often, crews left vomiting and gasping for air..They were thrown about like marbles in a tin can...and often were badly injured. In short...throw coal in with the associated Carbon Monoxide? I see a lot of crews asphyxiating....that could be fun and interesting in it's own right...as a doomed land ironclad charges the enemy fanatically before they succumb to the choking fumes!

   Jason

[Curt]

Have you guys seen the Boilerplate site?

 

www.bigredhair.com/boilerplate/

 

Whimsical and inspiring.

[Jason Weiser]

I like this Curt, I may steal some ideas too...Terminator 1889?

  Jason

[Jage the Brain]

At first the british put some respected young cavalry officers in the
Mark VIII. The aristocratic equestrian were horrified with the new
machine It's said they vomitted for days on end. I see how fallling
into and coming out of line after line of trenches could be quite
grueling

On Feb 13, 9:12 pm, Jason Weiser <jason.wei...@gmail.com> wrote:
> I may have to let you have a look at my Russian Civil War Armor books...WWI
> tanks were dangerous, cramped, with poor air and often, crews left vomiting
> and gasping for air..They were thrown about like marbles in a tin can...and
> often were badly injured. In short...throw coal in with the associated
> Carbon Monoxide? I see a lot of crews asphyxiating....that could be fun and
> interesting in it's own right...as a doomed land ironclad charges the enemy
> fanatically before they succumb to the choking fumes!
>
>    Jason
>