Hopefully, this link will provide some inspiration to unit makers and raise a few smiles. Post your pics and links here.

A Land Ship
http://forums.civfanatics.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=75442&stc=1&thumb=1&d=1139090850

http://www.tin-soldier.com/Steamtk1.htm

Walkers
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/walker.JPG
http://historicalhobbies.com/DOGS/main/Gaslight/SteamSpider.htm

General Links:

(provided by Ozymandias)
http://www-personal.umich.edu/~beattie/steam.html

http://historicalhobbies.com/DOGS/main/Gaslight/Gaslight.htm

(provided by pedrov)

http://www.voidgamers.com/channel/b.320.r.305.html

how about the electric man settler?...
http://www.bigredhair.com/robots/

and some pretty cool airships...
http://home.att.net/~dannysoar2/HarryGrantDart.htm

some of the airships are interesting...
http://www.visualparadox.com/scifi.htm

okay, probably extreme (definitely extreme), but perhaps an inspiration for land-based aircraft carriers...
http://www.dp9.com/Support/landship.htm

definitely worth navigating for whatever interest, the war stuff is pretty nice (like what appears to be a ferris-wheel style war machine... links at the bottom of the main page (e.g., Future War, ...
http://www.davidszondy.com/future/futurepast.htm

Reserved for unit Wish List

I'd really like to see a steam powered walker:
http://www-personal.umich.edu/~beattie/steam%20and%20flame/16tripod.jpeg
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/walker.JPG
http://historicalhobbies.com/DOGS/main/Gaslight/SteamSpider.htm

And a Land Ship. This would appear in between aaglo's Steam Tank and Hikaro's Land Battleship.
http://forums.civfanatics.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=75442&stc=1&thumb=1&d=1139090850
http://www.tin-soldier.com/Steamtk1.htm

Here's some things I just googled and thought would make great units in the game: The powered dirigeable (probably pedal powered :lol:) and a Steampunk Commando, parachuting behind enemy lines from the aforementioned dirigeable.

Hah, Batman! :D

My first thought was: Doom Diver!

I think there are some dirigibles flying around... but I'm not sure.

It does resemble the doom diver now you mention it, although I see this as a steam powered contraption that would jerkily flap the wings a bit for short periods before the fuel supply ran out - maybe good for jumping out a balloon to get a controlled descent.

I've seen some airship units but most are standard zeppelin type craft. There's Hikaro's great powered airships too but they are very advanced and I would put them in a late tech.

There's also the unit with a boat hung beneath a balloon that most resembles the pic (used in WH2, may even be your unit) but I think it's too fantasy looking or at least looks like "middle-ages" steampunk.

Not only do I love the idea of the Steampunk Commando, I surprisingly have some wing models that might be suitable, and which I never thought I'd have a use for:

http://forums.civfanatics.com/uploads/37977/Ironwings.jpg http://forums.civfanatics.com/uploads/37977/Decowings.jpg http://forums.civfanatics.com/uploads/37977/Technowings.jpg

I think the first would probably be best, with the addition of other Steampunkish gear. What do you think?

Also, I don't know if this character would fit in... possibly as a late-game unit, available with Valves?

http://forums.civfanatics.com/uploads/37977/Robbie.jpg

Yeah, the first one would be best, IMO :)

That's Great Plotinus.

I picture the wings as having a rather stiff, mechanical movement - a little like a butterfly I suppose. I'm not sure if you can achieve that with wing set number 1? It looks more suitable for gliding rather than being 2 distinct wings that would articulate separately. Oh and no one has mentioned the rather big holes in those wings :LOL

The robot is a classic and Valves is a classic tech name. I'd definitely find a use for him.

The first set of wings do actually articulate well - it's not obvious in that image, but they flap and also the different segments in each wing slide over each other, allowing them to fold in and out. As for the holes - errr - nothing Steampunk would really work anyway! Although I should think it would be possible to create some webbing or thin material to fill the holes, perhaps, or to cover one side of the wings, so that the iron is simply the framework.

Glad you like Robbie. I was very pleased to find that model.

I'll add these units to the to-do list then, although there are some others already on it that must take priority...

The wings sound fine then, perhaps simple canvas looking covering or black leather could do for the holes - nothing synthetic though. I quite the like the sound of the sliding segments.

Thanks for adding units to your to do list, I appreciate it very much.

This sub-forum thingy seems to be taking off now and there was me getting worried for a while :)

Your Steampunk Commando sounds a lot like Spring-Heeled Jack (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spring_Heeled_Jack). Here's an image featuring him of a very rough and raw tech icon I'm tenatively calling Alter Egos:
http://img516.imageshack.us/img516/3320/alteregolargezb3.png

Spring-heeled Jack - brilliant idea!

Little-known fact: Leibniz and von Helmont designed shoes with springs in the heels to help people run faster. A connection? Nice to think so...

Spring-heeled Jack - brilliant idea!

Little-known fact: Leibniz and von Helmont designed shoes with springs in the heels to help people run faster. A connection? Nice to think so...Newton was an alchemist; perhaps Leibniz was also. And when Newton got the credit for calculus, he worked feverishly until he actually discovered the philosophers' stone, became immortal, and began taking his eternal revenge against all Englishmen. :hmm: And Moriarty was a mathematics professor ...

One of Leibniz' first jobs was working for a group of alchemists. I don't think he was ever really into it in the way that Newton was, though; indeed, his whole philosophy was based around the notion that everything is clear and easy to understand if you put your mind to it, while alchemy was all about mystique and ancient secrets. However, Leibniz was a cabbalist - that's where he got the idea of monads.

I was just riffing in an alternate-reality kind of way. I don't really believe Leibniz was Moriarty, although it is interesting to consider theodicy (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gottfried_Leibniz#Theodicy_and_optimism) as a justification by a mind-warped mathematician for his immoral acts (cliology (http://www.jmsnews.com/forums/showpost.php?p=9101&postcount=2) + social darwinism = best of all possible futures).

Ah, "cliology" is psychohistory, as in Asimov's Foundation? That could be a pretty good steampunk sort of idea too. I imagine that steampunk techs would have to include all sorts of daft Victorian ideas that in this scenario are actually true - crenology, mesmerism, fairies at the bottom of the garden (faerology?), etc.

Yes. Cliology is also understood to involve more direct societal manipulation than psychohistory, one effective tool of the Victorian Illuminati. Amongst the many tech icons I'm working on are some that lead through non-Euclidean maths combined with difference engine techs into time, aetheric (space) & dimensional manipulation & travel as well as Cliology.

Other ur-tech lines I'm working out icons for include Bertillonage (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthropometry#Bertillon.2C_Galton.2C_and_criminolo gy) and cogitative enhancement (via phrenology in part), a lot of the quack medicines such as violet ray therapy (http://www.electrotherapymuseum.com/Articles/VioletRayMisconceptions.htm), and a series of developments based on Lamarckian (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lamarckism) evolution (Dr. Moreau will be happy).

Spring-heeled Jack - brilliant idea!

Little-known fact: Leibniz and von Helmont designed shoes with springs in the heels to help people run faster. A connection? Nice to think so...

I also think the German Army experimented with spring heels for WWII but abandoned it after so many broken ankles. :D

Newton was an alchemist; perhaps Leibniz was also. And when Newton got the credit for calculus, he worked feverishly until he actually discovered the philosophers' stone, became immortal, and began taking his eternal revenge against all Englishmen. :hmm: And Moriarty was a mathematics professor ...
Didn't Leibniz steal calculus from Newton?

Yes. Cliology is also understood to involve more direct societal manipulation than psychohistory, one effective tool of the Victorian Illuminati. Amongst the many tech icons I'm working on are some that lead through non-Euclidean maths combined with difference engine techs into time, aetheric (space) & dimensional manipulation & travel as well as Cliology.

Other ur-tech lines I'm working out icons for include Bertillonage (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthropometry#Bertillon.2C_Galton.2C_and_criminolo gy) and cogitative enhancement (via phrenology in part), a lot of the quack medicines such as violet ray therapy (http://www.electrotherapymuseum.com/Articles/VioletRayMisconceptions.htm), and a series of developments based on Lamarckian (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lamarckism) evolution (Dr. Moreau will be happy).
That all sounds very interesting. The problem I am finding is fitting some of these things into Civ3 gameplay. I will post an era 1 tech tree. At the moment it seems a bit conventional to me so I'd like some input on it- can't break away from my scientific training.

Didn't Leibniz steal calculus from Newton?

Well, that was the verdict of the independent and impartial inquiry into the matter, conducted by the Royal Society (president: Sir I. Newton), chaired by England's leading mathematician (Sir I. Newton) and whose report was written by the foremost Natural Philosopher of the day (Sir I. Newton). In fact scholars now think that Newton invented it first (he called it "fluxions") but, as with most of his amazing discoveries of the 1660s, he never bothered to publish it; Leibniz invented it a few years later independently and published it. It is possible that Leibniz' thoughts along these lines were prompted by vague reports from his correspondents that Newton had done something terribly clever with curves, but he certainly wouldn't have had any more information than that and possibly not even that. It's Leibniz' version that's used today, not Newton's.

The irony is that Leibniz was branded a terrible plagiarist, at least in England where everyone hated him and worshipped his nemesis; but of all people, Leibniz would have been the first to give credit where due if he really had taken the idea from someone else. Leibniz was one of those philosophers who was always looking for points of agreement between himself and other thinkers, partly because he wanted to present his ideas as common sense, shared by many people, rather than radical and peculiar inventions of his own. (Also ironic, since he still has a reputation as a nutty metaphysician weirdly obsessed with monads.)

Anyway, this is going just a tad off-topic.

It's not too off topic if its interesting which this is. It's amazing how much "original" theories and inventions are made almost simultaneously and seemingly independently. It also happened with Darwin's Theory of Evolution which Alfred Russel Wallace similarly proposed (both contemporaries).

I'm just away to google monads since I have no idea what it is...

I'm glad you think it's interesting! Yes, Darwin and Wallace are another good example of the same sort of thing. This sort of thing does seem to happen, which is why about twenty people seem to have invented the steam engine, the television, etc. I suppose if all the evidence/required techs are there, anyone clever enough can make the next leap and come up with the new theory/invention; it's just a matter of getting it to the patent office before the other guy!

Monads are almost as much fun as they sound. An infinite number of immaterial, immortal substances, and the physical world consists of nothing but their perceptions - like an infinite number of tiny film projectors all showing the same film from a different point of view. Oh, and they can't interact with each other - every monad follows its own internal program, given to it in the beginning by God, which means not only that everything is determined but there's no such thing as causation. Everyone always mocks poor old Leibniz for coming up with such a daft theory but I always think it's really no odder than modern quantum physics.

I'm glad you think it's interesting! Yes, Darwin and Wallace are another good example of the same sort of thing. This sort of thing does seem to happen, which is why about twenty people seem to have invented the steam engine, the television, etc. I suppose if all the evidence/required techs are there, anyone clever enough can make the next leap and come up with the new theory/invention; it's just a matter of getting it to the patent office before the other guy!I believe it was Hugo Gernsback (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugo_Gernsback) who said "It steam engines when it comes steam engine time."

Well, here's a few of my own mad inventions:

This is a modified US military WW II field telephone that I use as my desk phone (yes, it really works!!) Maybe could be used for some kind of advanced telephony tech?:

http://img215.imageshack.us/img215/9361/ee8amod1bhn8.th.jpg (http://img215.imageshack.us/my.php?image=ee8amod1bhn8.jpg)

This is my 5-position Aethernet Relay (a.k.a. 5-port LAN switch):

http://img520.imageshack.us/img520/8488/aethernetrelayonse8.th.jpg (http://img520.imageshack.us/my.php?image=aethernetrelayonse8.jpg)

Takayama Denki's original Voltaic Pile-backed Teslao-Galvanic Power Source and Protectionary Device for Aether-Electric Computational Engines (a.k.a. heavily modified APC UPS/Surge protector):

http://img89.imageshack.us/img89/4080/powersupplysm5.th.jpg (http://img89.imageshack.us/my.php?image=powersupplysm5.jpg)

And a 200 Watt Capacity Aural Intensifier (200 Watt Power Amp):


http://img248.imageshack.us/img248/2899/poweramponbnr9.th.jpg (http://img248.imageshack.us/my.php?image=poweramponbnr9.jpg)


Yeah, I not only read, watch and play steampunk, I LIVE it!! :D :crazyeye: :mwaha:

Oh, yeah, how about something like this for a steampunk paratrooper:

http://img134.imageshack.us/img134/3771/zepcrewao3.th.jpg (http://img134.imageshack.us/my.php?image=zepcrewao3.jpg)

(Yes, that is a recent pic of me dressed up for Halloween as a Steampunk Zepplin Crewmember... The sad part is that minus the military insignia on the Jacket, that is the kind of outfit I usually wear to town and such).

Cool. Very Cool HT. I love your clock too.

Unfortunately, the clock don't work... Those Kundo 400-day anniversery clocks always were tempermental... I'm thinking about converting it to electrick power, with the gear train driving a worm gear that spins the torsion pendulum as well as the clock face, and be done with it.

My parents have one and its long given up the ghost.

Unfortunately, the clock don't work... Those Kundo 400-day anniversery clocks always were tempermental... I'm thinking about converting it to electrick power, with the gear train driving a worm gear that spins the torsion pendulum as well as the clock face, and be done with it.

Don't just build a zeppelin mooring mast, build a tourist destination. (http://v3.espacenet.com/textdoc?CY=ep&LG=en&IDX=GB1153249) 1969 patent that was probably channeled from an SP alternate reality.

Edit: How to properly refresh yourself (http://v3.espacenet.com/textdoc?CY=ep&LG=en&IDX=WO9939598) while contemplating the above.

HT, you're mad :lol:

What to do with the odd remaining shoggoth once your civ discovers megastructural engineering. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tempest_Prognosticator) (The Big Ben SW becomes obsolete)

HT, you're mad :lol:

He's not mad just eccentric. The person(s) who put in the beer-helmet patent(in Blue Monkey's post) now, they're mad. :D

That's a great example of the type of language I'd like to incorporate for tech names. "Tempest Prognosticator" - what a great name.

What to do with the odd remaining shoggoth once your civ discovers megastructural engineering. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tempest_Prognosticator) (The Big Ben SW becomes obsolete)

I'm glad he put the leeches in jars facing each other so they wouldn't get lonely. It's little touches like that that distinguish the truly loony inventors from the merely hopeless ones.

I'm glad he put the leeches in jars facing each other so they wouldn't get lonely. It's little touches like that that distinguish the truly loony inventors from the merely hopeless ones.
He's so loony that it actually works. There's a reason all those mad inventors in the movies seem to be British. And compassion for others seems very Dickensian.

On rereading the article I realized that the model shown at the Great Exhibition was styled after Indian temple architecture. I'd really like to know what was going on in his mind. There's a reason for my shoggoth allusion. Or maybe he was more like the infamous Dr. Emilio Lizardo.

And I noticed the Victorian Web (http://www.victorianweb.org/index.html) in the footnotes. I'm probably the last of us to find out about it.

The classification of the Tempest Prognosticator as Victorian Bio-technology is quite amusing. I just noticed that his name is Merryweather, you really couldn't make it up could you.

Wow, HT, you actually look like Cid, facially and all!

And these are some amazing idea's y'got here! Some truely whacky. Truely Victorian! :lol:

Wow, HT, you actually look like Cid, facially and all!

And these are some amazing idea's y'got here! Some truely whacky. Truely Victorian! :lol:

Thanks.... I blame it on the fact that I live in one of those places where "building it yourself" is still considered a mark of pride, and where seeing traction engines and steam trains runnin, as well as the occasional WW I biplane (a replica, sadly) flying about are not considered very unusual......

So Hikaro,
How exactly do the cowboy boots fit with the rest of the outfit? :)

Well, "cowboy" boots were actually used quite a bit by late-19th century US military (particularly the Cavalry).... That and I didn't happen to have a pair of combat boots handy (and I sure as heck wasn't wearing my old US-Navy patent leather dress shoes... those things hurt my feet after a while).

Here are a few ideas I am throwing out. I would love to see some of these made. :D


Battlesphere
The Battlesphere is another innovative design from the mind and workshop of Professor Richard Boffin it is a small but powerful armored fighting vehicle designed to provide protection and much increased firepower to the individual soldier.
http://www.stgfc.com/pnp/Images/BTS/Battlesphere.jpg

Steam Walker
The steam powered Walker is another innovative design from the mind and workshop of Professor Richard Boffin it is a visually intimidating, powerful armored fighting vehicle designed to provide protection and much increased firepower to the individual soldier.
http://www.stgfc.com/pnp/Images/BTS/B-Walker.jpg

Utopia Planitia Space Dock 1889
As part of the Albionese Royal Navy's expansion in Æther Operations the first orbital construction and repair Space Dock was completed above the Utopia Planitia region of Mars in 1889.
http://www.stgfc.com/pnp/Images/BTS/B-drydock.jpg


Aerial Flyers:
Aerial flyers, also called aerial gunboats or just flyers, are armed vessels held aloft by liftwood panels. Liftwood is a tree native to the Martian highlands with unique anti-gravity properties.

The Ackerman Flyer Mark II Aerial Steamship:
http://www.stgfc.com/pnp/Images/BTS/Ackerman.jpg
The Ackerman Flyer Company is owned and operated by Stephen Ackerman I and has been producing various flyers in its Syrtis Major yard for almost two years. It's most popular product, the Ackerman flyer, is based upon a 1500 ton modified Flemish screw launch hull. Powered by the Ackerman steam turbine it hit a speed of 125 knots in trials. Under full load and with all of the safeties installed it can just achieve a speed of 100 knots.

This flyer comes with three potential gun mounts that will hold weapons up to half-inch Gatling Guns, a favorite of the designer. On the prototype, Ackerman mounted a half-inch Gatling gun on the bow mount and a five barrel Nordenfelt that could be moved to either the port or starboard mount. On some later hulls, custom modifications have been made to mount a single 1-inch Gatling in a dorsal mount replacing the port and starboard weapons mounts.

The prototype flyer set the pattern for all of the Ackerman Flyers to follow. With it's flush deck and pillbox deck house it is a pleasure to see in flight. The engineering spaces are unusual with the boiler sitting in a well on the aft deck surrounded by the coal bunker. Machinery is below decks in the spaces that take up the aft half of the flyer's below decks. Below decks in the forward portion of the flyer has a cargo capacity of a thousand tons and has a small galley, WC and storage locker. Access to the lower deck is from the deck house and the cago bay doors located on the port side. The roof of the deck house is used as the flying bridge. The flying bridge has a duplicate set of controls that allow the flyer to be controlled from either the flying bridge or the deck house.

Specifications: Ackerman Aerial Steamship built by the Ackerman Flyer Company, Londin, Albion

Ackerman Flyer Aerial Steamship:
Engine: Ackerman Steam Turbine with 250 horsepower, imported from Terra
Length: 363 feet
Beam: 127 feet
Height: 56
Weight 1500 tons
Maximum speed at sea level: 100 knots; Crusing speed at sea level; 50 knots
Ceiling: 10,500 feet
Range: 4000 miles
Endurance: 60 Days
Armament: (Optional) 1 half-inch Gatling Gun Forward, 1-2 Nordenfelts in port/starboard mounts
Crew: 25 (2 pilots, 3 trimsmen, 5 engineer/topmen, 15 cargo handlers, they also crew any weapons that have been installed)



Balloon Cargo Hauler:
Originally a Martian design, the balloon cargo hauler has become a popular method of delivering cargoes in large urban areas. Although the example shown here is departing the Syrtis Major High Docks at dusk; This method of delivering cargo has become popular in most of the large cities of the Empire, including Londin, Liverpool and Manchester.

http://www.stgfc.com/pnp/Images/BTS/CH.jpg



Albionese Aerial Runabout:

http://www.stgfc.com/pnp/Images/BTS/Runabout.jpg

Modified from a Martian design, by the addition of a steam engine, the Aerial Runabout is a short-range steam powered vessel designed to provide an observation platform. Limited defensive armaments have also been fitted to vessels of this type, mainly gatling guns.



Cheers, Thorgrimm

Thorgrimm, those are great! Looks like someone just has to distract Boffin - "Quick, fetch the Sonic Screwdriver!" then make off with the models for units to be made.

Here are some other inspirational images (some are quite large):

The battle ball in action on the Western Front; a variant in use for lunar exploration; the "gyro-electric destroyer" (perhaps Msr. Ferris aided in the design?); &, lest anyone think these designs impractical, a working prototype.
thumbnail
http://img405.imageshack.us/img405/7420/battleballskg2.th.jpg (http://img405.imageshack.us/my.php?image=battleballskg2.jpg)

Artillery: A Volta Cannon; steam-powered field gun; and a scheme for a watertight anti-submarine battery.
thumbnail
http://img206.imageshack.us/img206/414/artillerygm2.th.jpg (http://img206.imageshack.us/my.php?image=artillerygm2.jpg)

Armoured Combat Vehicles: Apparently an actual ACW vehicle with a gattling gun; a steam tank; French mobile infantry; a walker for rough terrain; and the Russian RL solution to winter combat
thumbnail
http://img20.imageshack.us/img20/6817/combatvehiclesmb7.th.jpg (http://img20.imageshack.us/my.php?image=combatvehiclesmb7.jpg)

Juggernauts of increasing magnitude (compare the wrestling robots' size to that of the tank trying to snipe one of them!)
thumbnail
http://img405.imageshack.us/img405/3193/juggernautspj0.th.jpg (http://img405.imageshack.us/my.php?image=juggernautspj0.jpg)

A diving suit similar to Boffin's walker
thumbnail
http://img20.imageshack.us/img20/6983/divingsuitba0.th.jpg (http://img20.imageshack.us/my.php?image=divingsuitba0.jpg)

I wish the picture was better of this wireless telephone with umbrella antenna
thumbnail
http://img405.imageshack.us/img405/706/spcellphonefv5.th.jpg (http://img405.imageshack.us/my.php?image=spcellphonefv5.jpg)

@ Blue Monkey, I have always loved the steampunk genre so I have a lot of pics and some I have come up with descriptions of. :D

Here are some more. maybe the Aerial Torpedo can be the new cruise missile. The Aphid, Dauntless and Reliant are from GDW's Space: 1889 series of rpg's and games.

Rutt's Patented Aerial Torpedo:

http://www.stgfc.com/pnp/Images/BTS/Rutt.jpg

Colonel Rutts' Patented Aerial Torpedo is a finned projectile filled with dynamite, held aloft by means of liftwood vanes, and powered after launch by a propellor driven by a small flywheel. It also trails a cable with a small grapnel to snag vessels over which it passes.



Wittscombe's Aerial Conyeyor:

http://www.stgfc.com/pnp/Images/BTS/Witt-Conv.jpg

Inventor James Bartleby Wittscombe conducted many experiments designed to build a personal aerial conveyor. Using liftwood blades to provide lift and human muscle power to provide motive power his innovative designs herald a true revolution in personal transport.



Albionese Aerial Battery
The escalating arms race in Aerial and Æther Flyers amongst the Europan Powers raised fears amongst civilians that towns and cities could be targeted by indicriminate bombing attacks. To counter this threat, and also to wrest back some control of Aerial weapons from the Royal Navy, the Albionese Army developed a series of Aerial Batteries designed to provide defense for military and civilian targets.

The aerial batteries were the subject of much controversy. Concerns were raised that the lack of railings on this craft increased the danger to the crew. The army response was that railings would impede the firing arcs of the aerial battery weaponary and the crew are equipped with magnetic boots.

Further concern was raised about the recoil from the main gun potentially causing a fatal loss of trim to the aerial battery. This was of greater concern to the army and research was begun into the possibility of retro-fitting a Lightning Cannon to the Aerial Battery, as shown below.

There was also much argument by the navy that the Aerial Batteries are in fact a form of Aerial Flyer and should therefore be under Naval control. The army response is that while these batteries use Liftwood to allow them to ascend; they have no motive power and as such are not vessels. The Arguments continue.

http://www.stgfc.com/pnp/Images/BTS/AB.jpg

http://www.stgfc.com/pnp/Images/BTS/AB-R.jpg



H.M.A.S. Aphid Class Aerial Gunboat:

http://www.stgfc.com/pnp/Images/BTS/Aphid.jpg

The Aphid class was the first and is the smallest armored aerial gunboat in Albionese service, and it is also the most common, there being currently a total of 10 in service and ten more in production at Syrtis Major. Each of these vessels carries a crew of 15 and has an endurance of 20 days steaming. They are each armed extremely well for their diminutive size, with a 4-inch gun, two Hotchkiss 1-pounder rotating cannons, and two five-barrel Nordenfelts.

The Aphid was built in 1881 for the Syrtis Major station. The Aphid is 90 feet long, 30 feet wide and measures 160 tons. Her triple expansion steam engine delivers 250 horsepower to a single wood air screw. It also powers a small dynamo which provides electricity for search and signaling lights. Louver slats of Meepsorian liftwood in the hull, controlled by a complicated arrangement of trim levers, can lift the ship to a high altitude. Though lightly armored, the Aphid class gunboats are well armed, mounting a four-inch quick-firing gun on the foredeck and two one-pound Hotchkiss rotating cannon on the wings. The normal complement is 15 men.

Specifications: Aphid class aerial gunboat: built by Royal Navy Shipyard, Syrtis Major, Mars

Aphid class aerial gunboat: built by Royal Navy Shipyard, Syrtis Major, Mars
Engine: triple expansion steam engine with 250 horsepower, imported from Terra
Length: 90 feet Beam: 22 feet, overall width (including gun wings and rudders) is 30 feet
Height: 19 feet, 8 inches (not counting the mast)
Weight 160 tons
Maximum speed at sea level: 100 knots
Ceiling: 10,500 feet
Range: 1,000 miles
Endurance: 20 Days
Armament: 1 four-inch quick-firing gun, 2 one-pound Hotchkiss rotating cannon
Crew: 15 (three officers and twelve enlisted).


H.M.A.S. Dauntless Class Aerial Gunboat:

http://www.stgfc.com/pnp/Images/BTS/Dauntless.jpg

The sleek lines of the Dauntless make it one of the most attractive of all the aerial vessels currently in service, but its performance is disappointing when compared to its cost, and no further examples of this class are planned. The principal difficulty with the vessel is that its forward gun is mounted low behind the hull armor to give it greater protection at no additional weight. The practical result is that the forward four-inch gun does not have sufficient traverse to engage broadside targets. Despite the fact that the ship has two four-inch guns, it can only engage a target with one of them at a time.

The first two vessels of this class were built with conventional boilers. The third vessel, H.M.A.S. Danger was built with forced draught boilers. The weight savings has allowd the placement of two more Nordenfelt rotating cannons sighted to fire to the broadside, although for some reason this modification was not carried out until recently. The technical specifications below are for the original design.

Specifications: Dauntless class aerial gunboat: built by Royal Navy Shipyard, Syrtis Major, Mars

Dauntless class aerial gunboat: built by Royal Navy Shipyard, Syrtis Major, Mars
Engine: triple expansion steam engine with 500 horsepower, imported from Terra
Length: 135 feet Beam: 24 feet, overall width (including gun wings and rudders) is 35 feet
Height: 20 feet, 8 inches (not counting the mast)
Weight 315tons
Maximum speed at sea level: 100 knots
Ceiling: 10,500 feet
Range: 1,000 miles
Endurance: 20 Days
Armament: 1 four-inch, long, forward fixed under armor, 1 four-inch long, sterntower, 2 three-pounder Hotchkiss rotating cannons, wing mounts, 2 Nordenfelt, broadside
Crew: 35 (four officers, twenty enlisted. one marine officer and ten marines).


H.M.A.S. Reliant Aerial Protected Cruiser:

http://www.stgfc.com/pnp/Images/BTS/Reliant.jpg

The Reliant was built in 1883 for the Syrtis Major station. Reliant is 220 feet long, 82 feet wide and measures 800 tons. Her two triple expansion steam engines deliver 750 horsepower to twin wood air screws. It also powers a small dynamo which provides electricity for search and signaling lights. Louver slats of Meepsorian liftwood in the hull, controlled by a complicated arrangement of trim levers, can lift the ship to a high altitude. Reliant was for many years the most powerful aerial gunboat in existence. It is well armed, mounting two six-inch guns in wing sponsons, a four-inch long gun on a stern tower, two six-pound Hotchkiss rotating cannon on the bow, eight Nordenfelt machineguns, and eight Hale Rocket Batteries. The normal complement is 51 men.

Specifications: Reliant class aerial gunboat: built by Royal Navy Shipyard, Syrtis Major, Mars

Engine: two triple expansion steam engines with 375 horsepower each, imported from Terra
Length: 220 feet
Beam: 64 feet, overall width (including gun sponsons) is 82 feet 6 inches
Height: 56 feet, 6 inches (not counting the mast)
Weight: 800 tons
Airspeed: 28 knots
Ceiling: 10,500 feet
Endurance: 20 days
Armament: 2 six-inch guns in wing sponsons, 1 four-inch long gun on a stern tower, 2 six-pound Hotchkiss rotating cannon on the bow, 8 Nordenfelt machineguns, and 8 Hale Rocket Batteries
Crew: 51 (four officers, 35 enlisted, 12 marines).

Those are very inspiring pics guys, thanks! Thorgrimm, love your background descriptions too and some of those pics would make fine wonder splashes.

Everyone: I've been busy of late with testing an update to EFZI2 - sucked up all of my time and then there was also the festive period. However, now I've finished all the drink in the house and EFZI2 is almost polished off I'm returning to SteamPunk.

Those are very inspiring pics guys, thanks! Thorgrimm, love your background descriptions too and some of those pics would make fine wonder splashes.

Everyone: I've been busy of late with testing an update to EFZI2 - sucked up all of my time and then there was also the festive period. However, now I've finished all the drink in the house and EFZI2 is almost polished off I'm returning to SteamPunk.

The warship descriptions are from the late GDW's Space:1889 RPG and sourcebooks. If you need any help don't hesitate to shout. I am happy to help get a Steampunk Mod up and running. :D



:nuke: Cheers, Thorgrimm :nuke:

Here's a very SteamPunkish & quite Victorian Wedding Carriage:

http://img387.imageshack.us/img387/3796/steampunkweddingcarriagvn8.png

Ladies and Gentlemen, may I present to you Prof. Emilio Zuntaras' Bi-Orbital Spectral Audiometer (http://www.brassgoggles.co.uk/bg-forum/index.php?topic=7112.0) for your viewing and listening pleasure.

Kinetiscope of the Audiometer in action:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N3ym3KlJ_BE

These technological marvels never cease to astound me ;)

I think it's fantastic that people spend so much time making objects that have no real practical use, or which do the same thing as something much smaller and cheaper. It's creating beauty for the sake of it. Hats off!

Yeah, I know... And on top of that, Prof. Zuntaras was kind enough to share his source for small (3" dia) phonograph horns with the rest of us as well....

Well, since the steampunk forums seem to be down, let me introduce the Takayama Telephone & Electric Co's TTE Mark 1 wall phone with patented Aether-Electric Dial-o-Matic keypad with capabilities of dialing either standard automatic switchboards or the new Aetheric "Dual Tone Multi-Function" switchboards. In addition, it has a visual ring indicator with a switch to turn off the extra-loud compact mechanical bell ringer, and a volume control for those times when the person on the other end of the line insists on yelling into the transmitter. Weighing in at just over 5 lbs, and with ultra-compact dimensions of a mere 4 and a half inches by 11 and a half inches, this telephone is much lighter and smaller than comparable Bell-type phones. Additionally, the convenint handset with 9 feet of coiled cord allows for much greater freedom of movement while talking on the phone as well.

http://img214.imageshack.us/img214/3885/ttemk13mm3.th.jpg (http://img214.imageshack.us/my.php?image=ttemk13mm3.jpg)

"Engine Room! We need more steam!"
"Hello, Hunan Garden? 10 Kung Pao Chicken to go!"

That much Kung Pao chicken would definitely put some fire in the ol' boiler. :lol:

Surely it needs a handset like this one:
http://www.telephonelines.net/traditional_photos/4909.jpg

Otherwise, I prefer the shrimp.

I don't have a source for that type of handsets... The closest I can come is some of the Sound-Powered telephone handsets made by Dynalec, but they cost $200 each.......

Nah, I like yours anyway: it's Retropunk. And handsets like your black one there had better sound than anything that's been made since.

Bakelite rocks!

Here's an invention of mine, based on Ruby Sauce's tesla cannon, and Hikaro's Tesla Tank:

The back story is that in late 1928 and early 1929 Al Capone, increasingly paranoid about being killed by his rival, George "Bugsy" Malone, contacted Nikolai Tesla, who had been working on the initial calculations for an electrical energy weapon. Although Tesla initially refused even after being offered large sums of money, Capone's men "convinced" Tesla to comply, and the result was the Tesla-Thompson gun, seen in this rare photo:

http://img151.imageshack.us/img151/5812/thompsontesla1fu2.jpg


Although the awesome weapon didn't help Capone's career, it was found by Geraldo Rivera some forty years later in an otherwise empty vault in Chicago; this boosted Rivera's career significantly, and he has now been the anchor of the CBS Evening News for many years, and is among the most respected newsmen in America.

"Good evening Mr. and Mrs. North and South America and all the ships at sea. Let's go to press. ...Scarface & his minions made a lightning raid on Bugsy's headquarters last night..."

Telectroscope (http://www.tiscali.co.uk/telectroscope/home.php) (Trans-Atlantic Viewing Device), from the same people that presented the "Sultan's Elephant" spectacle.

Whilst the Moniac analogue computer (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MONIAC) is based on mid-20th c. hydraulics technology, it occurred to me that there would certainly be a version based on steam in our alternate history. Build a hyper-difference engine with high pressure "valves"?;)

Ork walkers from Warhammer 40k also look alot steampunkish...

http://www.games-workshop.com/gws/catalog/armySubUnitCats.jsp?catId=cat1020018&rootCatGameStyle=

Came across this (http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2008/09/11/wacky_toaster/). In RL - image telegraph (1842) + electric toaster (1893). Got me to thinking how much Phileas Fogg would appreciate being able to read telegrams, or even examine phototelephotic (http://technovelgy.com/ct/content.asp?Bnum=754) stills, whilst simultaneously enjoying his perfectly toasted morning bread.

The same people that brought the Sultan's Elephant to life have unleashed La Princesse (http://technovelgy.com/ct/Science-Fiction-News.asp?NewsNum=1862), a 37 ton mechanical spider, on Liverpool.

Came across this (http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2008/09/11/wacky_toaster/). In RL - image telegraph (1842) + electric toaster (1893). Got me to thinking how much Phileas Fogg would appreciate being able to read telegrams, or even examine phototelephotic (http://technovelgy.com/ct/content.asp?Bnum=754) stills, whilst simultaneously enjoying his perfectly toasted morning bread.

That's great, the news in handy bite size chunks.