Steampunk advice please.

[Thunderchicken]

Hi all,

My nephew is taking the plunge into the wargaming world and has decided he wants to start with Steampunk.

Can anyone suggest some relevant figure manufacturers (25/28mm), forums specific to the period and rule sets? I dipped my toe into Steampunk quite a while ago and collected figures from Warrior Miniatures so they'll be donated to the cause. Unfortunately I never got any further than collecting figs and in addition all the links and information I gathered are on defunct laptop.

I've had a good search on this forum  but any help would be appreciated.

Thanks.

[Lowtardog]

Wyrd miniatures have some lovely figures, not cheap but very well done

[YPU]

If he is looking for something with a decent amount of players I would suggest warmachine. Especially at a younger age few things are better than huge robots.

Oh wait I lied, at any age few things are better than huge robots.

[Ramshackle_Curtis]

Me too me too! I make a huge freaking steam spider! You knew that though.

[Lowtardog]

If he is looking for something with a decent amount of players I would suggest warmachine. Especially at a younger age few things are better than huge robots.

Oh wait I lied, at any age few things are better than huge robots.

Yep I have a few and keeping an eye on others for Weird West they are nice also.

and Yep Ranshackle has some lovely vehicles and figures whihc would be ideal

[ZenWired]

Can anyone suggest some relevant figure manufacturers (25/28mm), forums specific to the period and rule sets?

The aforementioned (and exquisite, IMHO) 32mm Wyrd minis and associated game (Malifaux) have a steampunk aspect (as well as a weird west/gothic horror/dark fantasy aspect). And although the figures are pricey, the game is geared toward very small-scale skirmishes, so it requires as few as four or five figures per player. Even full crews can be had for far less than the starting cost of most other games on the market. (The rules are a bit daunting at first, but very easy to understand after a bit - and diceless, for those like myself who have a love/hate relationship with our polyhedral friends. Oh - and they're a lot of fun!)

If you're looking for more of a "scientific romance" type game, you could try GASLIGHT. Never played the game myself, but it seems popular enough.

Another rules set I've not played but heard favorable things about is the Space: 1889 Soldier's Companion.

As for minis for VSF games:

Parroom Station makes several lines of excellent VSF figures (that, I believe, lean toward the tall end of 25mm - and are not "heroic" scale-chunky).

RAFM has the Space:1889 figure line. (These are close to - if not exactly - true 25mm.)

Hope this helps a little.

[rob_the_robgoblin]

GASLIGHT is supposedly very simple but very brutal. In it's most basic state (without expansions), I have heard there are no 'wounds', you calculate damage according to the unit and the way it is set up. Heroes have 'armour save' values, which more often than not make no difference. The rules for vehicles are also meant to be quite fun.

I have heard great things about it, it allows for large games to be played quickly and is so open for little home improvements.

[Red Orc]

What do you see as the differences between Steampunk and VSF, Thunderchicken? To me, they're the same thing; someone once told me that the difference was Jules Verne was VSF (because he was writing SF at the time of the Victorians) but stuff inspired by Jules Verne (ie, a modern take on VSF) was Steampunk.

I don't think that works, because of course would mean there's no such thing as 'VSF Gaming' - it's all Steampunk, because Gaslight and Space 1889 are modern takes on VSF.

Seems to me that the way it's used on these boards, 'VSF' is the weird little brother of Colonial Gaming - Colonel Bagshotte and the 9th Galvanic Artillery against sinister Graf Von Stumpenpfeffer and his fiendish Prussian Mechanische Kavalrie; whereas 'Steampunk' is more like a kind of Victorian-retro Pulp thing, where the plucky but slightly piratical crew of the aeroship Icarus Rex attempt to stick it to the evil Doctor Mandragon and his mechanical henchmen, with lots of explosions.

So one's a bit like 'Weird World War One' (but, you know, 20 years earlier) and the other's a bit like Indiana Jones, but 40 years earlier.

So I wonder if what you're looking at is a distinction between unit-based wargames and individual-based, RPG-type party skirmishes. Because if that's not the distinction you're making, I'm at a loss. You're one of the High Council of VSF Top-Holeness; and therefore, all you need to be an expert in Steampunk is a few more guys with Improbable Hats and Probably Goggles.

And an airship, obviously. Everyone needs an airship.

[rob_the_robgoblin]

I'd say its about the tech, Steampunk falls under VSF usually, but I think VSF is limited to a world set in the Victorian era and the tech used is not necessarily steam, but anything. i.e. War of the Worlds.

[Thunderchicken]

Thanks for your help chaps.

I think the difference between VSF and Steampunk is largely a personal interpretation as they can overlap in certain respects. For this reason I tend to stay away from the debates concerning the subject even though they raise valid points. To me Steampunk is more industrial and technology driven and lurks in the Edwardian period and later, heavily influenced by VSF technology. So in my interpretation VSF develops into Steampunk along with all its continuities but with a marked difference in technology, uniforms etc.

Take Warrior Miniatures England Invaded range, most of the figures can be used for VSF or Steampunk except for the Brits. In my humble opinion those figures have crossed the threshold into Steampunk. Also, not the best example but the Mutant Chronicles has some great examples of tech that can be used for both VSF and Steampunk but some that appears too advanced for VSF. The Bauhaus tanks in the opening battle scene can pass for VSF but the uniforms and huge artillery guns of Bauhaus and Capitol wouldnt fit into my VSF world. The airships in the film are a great concept but again in my interpretation I feel they're one stage on from VSF Aeronefs. As I have already said the two periods quite clearly merge but I feel there comes a point where you do have to pigeon hole technology or 'a look' as being too advanced for a period you have defined in your mind (as fictional as it is).

Originally my nephew was interested in VSF but said he wanted something 'a few decades later with more tech'. To put it into context when I stood a Brit in Home Service Uniform next to an Artizan Immortal Battalion trooper he went for the latter and when I put a 19th century Prussian/German next to an Artizan Nacht Jager again he went for the latter. He said no to Pulp so I got the gist of where he was coming from and suggested Stempunk.

If you've read all of this well done!

If you've read all of this and it doesn't make sense dont worry. Go away, get drunk and come back to it. That might help but probably not. Sorry.

The bottom line for me is it's all about your own interpretation and luckily there's enough figures and models out there to help!

Thanks again for your help chaps.         

[Red Orc]

Makes perfect sense to me. VSF = fictional late 19thc, Steampunk = fictional early 20thc, that follows the VSF late 19th.

Unfortunately, I can't be much help. But I perfectly understand the question!

[Dewbakuk]

Makes perfect sense to me. VSF = fictional late 19thc, Steampunk = fictional early 20thc, that follows the VSF late 19th.

Okay, I will not go into an irrational rant about how wrong the two of you are    Instead I will sum it up simply.

VSF = Victorian period with some twists to setting/technology etc.

Steampunk = Timeperiod/setting is entirely irrelevant. The important thing is that technology involves a great deal of steamtech and it's a 'dystopian' feel. "Steam" "Punk", the clue is in the name   A good example of a Steampunk setting would be taking Firefly/Serenity and altering it slightly. Make the ship a zeppelin/nef type steam vessel and do the same to all the other ships etc in the setting and you're pretty much there. You could then also make the crew elves and dwarves etc and have them flying around a fantasy world but still keep the themes and the steam zep and it's still Steampunk.

Now, going back to the model choices your nephew made, sounds like Weird World War 2 is the way to go. The Westwind forums for "Secrets of the Third Reich" are pretty active and helpful and those figures fit right in. It's also easy to leave out the supernatural aspects and just go for mechs/powersuits/fancy nachtjager type stuff if wanted.

[rob_the_robgoblin]

Sounds perfect mate. Exactly what I was trying to say, but not from the muddled mind of a teenaged ingrate. 

[thebinmann]

Parroom Station makes several lines of excellent VSF figures (that, I believe, lean toward the tall end of 25mm - and are not "heroic" scale-chunky).

do they have a UK/Europe retailer?

Thanks

[Thunderchicken]

Okay, I will not go into an irrational rant about how wrong the two of you are   

As I said old fruit, much of 'unhistorical' gaming is down to interpretation especially if it is not bound by a set of rules which create a background story/history. Part of the fun for me is creating a world based on my interpretation of a fictional age.

Binman, unfortunately there is no Parroom retailer in Europe at present but Lon at Brigade is quick at getting orders out.