The leagues I am using for Pulp Alley are largely transplants from In Her Majesty’s Name, which explains the Victorian Sci Fi genre set in the year 1895. Some of my leagues are based on IHMN companies I created myself. I thought a listing of some of the leagues/companies might be of interest, as many can be translated into different eras. When I produced the lists for IHMN, I often altered the name of some historical persons and organizations where it was feared copyright issues might ensue. No such effort has been taken below, except with the Pinkertons, whose historical names I forgot to restore when I created the Pulp Alley league!
EDIT: I forgot to mention that Dr.Munro is also historically based, inspired by the Empire of the Dead's Burke and Hare minis: In the 1820s, William Burke and William Hare decided to go into the business of selling cadavers to anatomists at Edinburgh University. Having murdered their first victim, they asked for directions to Professor Alexander Monro, but were directed to an assistant of Dr. Robert Knox instead. Thus Professor Monro escaped the public censure that descended on Knox when the string of murders for anatomy class cadavers became known. I just liked the name Monro better than Knox, and changed the spelling because, well, I just thought it looked better.
Forschungsgruppe (Research Group)This was based on actual Victorian-era German archaeologists Gustaf Kossinna (37 years old in 1895) and Ludwig Borchardt (32). Kossinna’s nationalistic theories of the origins of the Germanic peoples were an influence on Nazi ideology. Borchardt’s excavations at Armana turned up the famous bust of Nefertiti. Other characters are stolen from Indiana Jones films: Elsa Shneider, Arnold Toht, and Ernst Vogel. The league uses their archaeological cover to covertly work for the Thule Society, a German occult and nationalistic group actually founded in 1911.
The Golden DawnThe Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn was a British organization devoted to the occult and paranormal activities. It was established around 1888 in London. The main characters in the league are all historical members: Florence Farr (35), actress and musician; Bram Stoker (48), author of Dracula; and W. B. Yeats (30), Irish poet and dramatist (I used a couple of his quotes in the AAR). Other characters in the IHMN company were Maude Gonne (31), an Irish revolutionary and actress, and Dr. Edward Berridge (52), a pioneer in homeopathy. I don’t believe they really roamed the streets in red hooded robes, but for our purposes they do just fine. I have turned them into a cult of the goddess Isis.
The PinkertonsMy Pinkertons league is based on some historical figures: Beaumont Judd (32) is fictional, the bastard child of US ambassador to Prussia Norman Judd, and Cora Pearl, the famous French courtesan, who are quite historical, although their liaison is not. James “Jimmy” McKenna was the cover name for James McParland (52), an Ulsterman who infiltrated the Molly Maguires in Pennsylvania. Tom Horner is really the notorious Tom Horn (35), scout, detective, lawman, gun for hire. He was hung in 1903 (whether rightly or wrongly is still in dispute) for the murder of Willie Nickell. Other Pinkertons in the IHMN company included Frank Dimauro, based on Francis Dimaio (31), who infiltrated the Mafia in prison in New Orleans, and Kate Flynne who is based on Kate Warne, who at the age of 23 in 1856 became the first female detective in the USA.
The League of Southern GentlemenThe concept of the League of Southern Gentlemen was stolen directly from the first IHMN Supplement,
Heroes, Villains, and Thieves. I altered the character names, choosing names of actual Confederate soldiers I found here:
https://www.nps.gov/civilwar/soldiers-and-sailors-database.htmI just kept looking until I found some cool names.
Now for the totally non-historical:
The BrotherhoodWhen I first saw Empire of the Dead’s Brotherhood miniatures, I fell in love with them, and they’ve been in every convention game I’ve GMed since I painted them. I just gave them a story line and names that seemed appropriate.
Capt. Wolf and the Sky PiratesI always meant to make an IHMN company of Sky Pirates, so transferring the fine Pulp Alley figures into such a league seemed natural. My Montana Annie (actually Pulp Girl!) and Phantom Ace minis were actually both painted by Mila! I am working on Ironclad Miniature’s model #Steam12 to give them their own skyship, which I hope to work into a future scenario.
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April 20, 2015, 10:30:55 AM
