late 19-th its vsf, but what is...

[Fjodin]

Can someon ehelp me to identify the genre. Late 19th century/colonial wars with some imaginative things (steam mashines, lost worlds etc) it VSF.
Real Interwar period with imaginative things (Rocketeer movie for example) its Diselpunk.

But is there any genre for World War 1 era with imaginative things (Like Wierd World War One here http://steelonsand.blogspot.com/2009/03/weird-wwi-1919-part-4.html)???

[Hammers]

Can someon ehelp me to identify the genre. Late 19th century/colonial wars with some imaginative things (steam mashines, lost worlds etc) it VSF.
Real Interwar period with imaginative things (Rocketeer movie for example) its Diselpunk.

But is there any genre for World War 1 era with imaginative things (Like Wierd World War One here http://steelonsand.blogspot.com/2009/03/weird-wwi-1919-part-4.html)???

What it is? It is an undesired addition to an alternative universes already creaking at the seams with steam contraptions, UFOs, zombies, German occultism and space faring, that's what it is.

[JollyBob]

GSF? As in Georgian Science Fiction? I'm sure I've heard it called that before but I can't think where. 

[Plynkes]

Who calls that period Georgian? That term is already firmly established as describing another era - the 18th Century and the Regency. If any people are calling this later time by that name, then they should stop, because it is an idiotic thing to do. 

[v_lazy_dragon]

I *have* heard the period described as Edwardian Science fiction (ESF), and also as Werid World War 1 (WWW1),  but personally I'd consider it as Diselpunk. Then again, I don't consider the interwar stuff diselpunk, I consider that to be Pulp.

As with 'Steampunk', 'diselpunk' is descriptive of a technology level rather than a time period. I always saw that tech level as primative petrol driven land levithans, dergibles, crude areoplanes and water cooled assault rifles. Trench warfare, gasmasks, maxims and drab uniforms sums up the military tech.

Examples of how I see diselpunk:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iron_Storm_(video_game)
http://www.ironstorm.com/index.html
The Quar figures by Zombiesmith
The Death Korps of Kreig by Forgeworld
England Invaded, by overthe wire miniatures/warrior miniatures

[Westfalia Chris]

Originally posted this in the (quasi-identical) WW1-thread (enough with the double posting already! ), but removed the post there so as to have it in one place:

I don't see why you couldn't extend Dieselpunk to cover WW1 as well. Basically, apart from certain stylistic differences (Art Nouveau vs. Art Déco), it's still pretty much the same tech level. I'll agree, though, that it would probably closer to VSF (due to the stylistic conventions and the fact that a lot of VSF is Victoriana with WW1 tech thrown in) in most cases.

There is a rather strange Biggles movie, for example, that pits the hero against a German ultrasound secret weapon and throws in some time travel.

The "Tannhäuser" boardgame is purportedly a "30 Years War"-ified WW1, although to my mind, they muddle their aesthetic design sensibilities and produce something that isn't really different enough from any 3W2 thing.

Generally, I'd see that it depends on what point of view you assume. From a Victorian view, WW1 IS the dystopian future devouring Belle Epoque-era Europe. Looking forward from a WW1 perspective, well, that is pretty much the 1920s and the 1930s. Somehow, "Edwardian/Belle Epoque" doesn't feel so much different from Victoriana, just adding automobiles, heavier-than-air aircraft and even more "Fortschrittsglauben" (can't find a proper English expression, maybe "quasi-religious belief in technological advance") to somehow characterise it.

I'd have to be hard-pressed, though, to make WW1-tech more outrageous than it already is off the top of my head. I would leave out robots/mecha, though, and maybe focus on some other technological advances and cultural icons - maybe electricity (rayguns/lightning cannon), maybe some supernatural stuff in the Carpathian, Werewolf Brigade of Zenda, or something...

[v_lazy_dragon]

I'd have to be hard-pressed, though, to make WW1-tech more outrageous than it already is off the top of my head. I would leave out robots/mecha, though, and maybe focus on some other technological advances and cultural icons - maybe electricity (rayguns/lightning cannon), maybe some supernatural stuff in the Carpathian, Werewolf Brigade of Zenda, or something...

Ditto - perhaps for technology more 'terror' weapons (A bit hard form a war with Chemical weapons & flame throwers, but I guess bacterialogical weapons *could* be used... although it would be risky for both sides), maybe increase the use of trench armour a bit more.
There was a british rifle being developped with a clockwork magazine (The exact name escapes me, but Farquar-Hill or some such rings a bell), so perhaps something along that line? Tesla-style weapons could be used as well I guess, and possibly produce more SMGS

The super natural is always an option, but I'm not sure zombies & Vampires quite suit the feel of the western front. I'd have thought ghosts, intelligant reanimated soldiers and demonic possession (see the film Deathwatch) are perhaps a little closer?

Late last year I did have a chat with a figure company, that shall remain nameless, about scope for future releases and they mentioned plans for a 28mm Alternative/weird WW1 game. The idea being that the war goes pretty much to the 'historical' timeline, but with the occasional weird happening, setting a basework for a very weird WW2...

[Viper]

I've never been a fan of the "-punk" names (aside from Cyber) but asside from issues with the names it does annoy me slightly that the media and some people within the groups try and nail down hard and fast rules about what is and isn't part of their genre/culture.

VSF/Steampunk could easily be extended to include WW1, Weird World War 1 would be the most accurate term, and then Dieselpunk for me would start shortly after WW1.

I am a huge fan of genres blurring and there being grey areas, things just get stale if you have to go along with the rules the "cool kids" have written in stone on various blogs and forums.

Whatever a person chooses to call these various settings I hope they never suffer the same knockback that Cyberpunk did.

The media jumped in wanting to know what it was exactly and the more arrogant people in the community were more than happy to shout their version of the genre from the roof tops, the media then took this definition and said that it was what Cyberpunk ment, and so people coming into the genre later only saw this one tiny aspect of it.

At the moment Gaslight Fantasy/VSF/Steampunk has pretty much as many different definitions as it has people interested in the genre and I for one hope it stays that way.

Oops went on a bit of a ramble there...the bottom line though is who cares what it's called as long as it's cool.
 

[JollyBob]

Who calls that period Georgian? That term is already firmly established as describing another era - the 18th Century and the Regency. If any people are calling this later time by that name, then they should stop, because it is an idiotic thing to do. 

You are probably right there, and its not something I do myself I hasten to add, just something I'd heard. I have also heard of E(dwardian)SF, but thought that WW1 would be too late for that. Although it is SF, so maybe King Edward got hisself a monkey-steered robot body and didn't park his clogs in 1910, what do I know?  

The previous posts also reminded me of this:



http://www.amazon.co.uk/Arrowsmith-Smart-Their-Fine-Uniforms/dp/1401202993/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1266922838&sr=1-3

A graphic novel about a fantasy influenced WW1 that I found rather intriguing. Maybe not exactly what you were looking for, but cretainly some damn fine ideas for weirdness on the Western Front (dwarf sappers, vampire batallions, dragon-assisted aerial combat, magic based artillery and a whole alternate history of Europe).

Worth checking out, I enjoyed it.  

[Viper]

A fantasy influenced WW1 sounds wonderful, Steam Fantasy is probably one of my favourite styles at the moment, so this sounds like the next step along the time line.

I know there are some Cyberpunk/Post-Apocalpse type Fantasy setting too, so this starts to fill in the gap between that and Steam Fantasy.
 

[rob_alderman]

Those 'dieselpunk' images are the mutts nuts! Brilliant illustrations, very inspiring. 

[Viper]

Finally had a slow look through the artwork, those troops in samurai style armour are beautiful.

Hmm...might need to pick up some Samurai historicals and see if I can convert some WW1/2 guns and masks onto them.
 

[Onebigriver]

Finally had a slow look through the artwork, those troops in samurai style armour are beautiful.

Hmm...might need to pick up some Samurai historicals and see if I can convert some WW1/2 guns and masks onto them.
 

Might be worth having a look at some of the Triad models from Urban Mammoth:

http://www.urbanmammoth.com/acatalog/

[Tacgnol]

Might be worth having a look at some of the Triad models from Urban Mammoth:

http://www.urbanmammoth.com/acatalog/

Excellent advice, since the Sumatori already have WWI-friendly gas masks on.

[Viper]

I did have a mind towards having a look at those models again, it had been a while.

The Sumatori are brilliant as is the triad boss that looks like a gasmask samurai in everyday clothes. The rest of the models while very nice don't really have any traditional samurai armor amongst them, so I'd still be tempted towards converting some Perry samurai arquebusiers.