Steampunk Bible-Resource

The Steampunk Bible has many outstanding features, but the one feature that I appreciated the most was its mention of other authors and texts, both modern and from the past.

The Steampunk Bible includes a section that mentions the authors and their texts that predate the Steampunk movement. Many of these texts have been an inspiration to authors. I am just scratching the surface here with the mention of the following: Frank Reade, and Edward Ellis. I mentioned these authors in my summer reading list.

Frank Reade

I just made a post about receiving my Frank Reade: Adventures in the Age of Invention book in the mail the other day. As far as I can tell Frank Reade is a fictional character and protagonist in a series of Dime Store novels. I will be writing more about this character and his fabulous inventions later on.

Edward Ellis

Edward Ellis is another author of Dime Store novels. These novels were full of adventure, were primarily written for boys, and were written toward the end of the 19th and into the start of the 20th century. The Guntenberg Press has a large collection of Ellis’s novels available for download. Ellis also wrote about fabulous inventions; see his The Huge Hunter; Or, The Steam Man of the Prairies.

Both authors, the real and imaginary were prolific writers and I look forward to reading as much as I can from these authors. I also forward to recording my findings and thoughts.

My Pirates of the Spanish Main Fleet

Pescados De Plata
The "Silver Fish" is fast and agile. Her crews are all ex-merchantmen sailors and so they are expert cargo handlers.
Nation:	Spain
Points:	8
Masts:	2
Cargo Capacity:	3
Base Move:	S + S
Canon Ranges:	2 S - 2 S
Special Abilities:	Once per turn this ship may move S after unloading cargo.
Card Number:	SS-013
La Furia
Although "The Fury" was outfitted with the same cannons as the Asesino De La Nave, she does not perform as well at short range, a fact that can be attributed only to the quality of her gun crew.
Nation:	Spain
Points:	12
Masts:	2
Cargo Capacity:	3
Base Move:	L
Canon Ranges:	3 S -3 S
Special Abilities:	This ship eliminates two masts with one hit.
Card Number:	SS-0II
Muerta De La Corona
"Death to the Crown" was so named by Gaspar Zuan to appease his brothers blood lust for the throne of Spain.
Nation	Pirate
Points:	9
Masts:	3
Cargo Capacity:	3
Base Move:	S + L
Canon Ranges:	3 S - 3 L - 3 S
Special Abilities:	This ship gets + 1 to her cannon rolls against Spanish ships.
Card Number:	PS-024
HMS GallowGlass
HMS GallowGlass is manned by many ex-cons, including several of Bones Wylies crew. These men can strip valuables from sinking ships and barely get their feet wet.
Nation:	Great Britain
Points:	6
Masts:	2
Cargo Capacity:	2
Base Move:	S + S
Canon Ranges:	3 S - 3 L
Special Abilities:	When this ship sinks another ship, you may repair one of this ships masts.
Card Number:	ES-0II
HMS Birkenhead
HMS Brikenhead was part of several of Sir Myings insertions into Spanish ports. It was outfitted with spikes and guillotine lines to aid in the repelling of boarding parties.
Nation:	Great Britain
Points:	11
Masts:	3
Cargo Capacity:	4
Base Move:	L
Canon Ranges:	3 S - 3 L - 3 S
Special Abilities:	This ship gets +1 to her boarding rolls.
Card Number:	ES-012

It is a Great Day for Spammers

I wonder if spammers even bother to read the posts?

Axis and Allies Unit Purchasing Strategies

I am still waiting to play Axis and Allies 1941. It is very hard to get four or five people together when we all live very busy lives. In the mean time I have read through the rule book once and I am strategizing. I have looked at many different aspects of this game and will be sharing my thoughts on these points in upcoming posts. One point I wanted to mention today is the mobilization process.

As you can see from the accompanied chart, there are three types of units that can be purchased: Land, Air, and Sea. Each county is given a starting amount of Industrial Production Certificated (IPCs) and must plan ahead and purchase units best suited for their upcoming movements and strategies.

Land units consist of infantry (3 IPCs) and tanks (6 IPC’s). Infantry units defend at 2, but only attack at 1, however they are very economical units to purchase and a player should make sure that they have at least three infantry units for every one tank in the defensive mode.

Tanks are not too expensive, at 6 IPCs per unit. They attack and defend at 3. Their advantage is that they move 2 compared to infantries movement of 1. Like I mentioned before, purchase 1 tank for every 3 infantry in the defensive mode.

Next are the air units. There are only two of these units, the fighter and the bomber. Fighters are more economical (10) compared to the bomber (12). That is only a difference of 2 IPC you say; yes, but look at the other aspects like attack and defense ratios and you will notice that the fighter is more economical to purchase than the bomber. That being said, a bomber is better for offensive movements. It has a movement of 6 and they attack at 4. Just don’t send your bomber without support from a fighter or two.

That brings us to the sea units and we have quite a few types of units to think about. They all have their advantages and disadvantages. None of these units have all that great of an attack or defense rates, with the exception of the battleship, which has an attack and defense rate of 4. However, at 16 IPCs per unit, you don’t want to send them out without some type of support, perhaps with a submarine and at least one destroyer. The destroyer nullifies a surprise attack by a submarine. The same with aircraft carriers, at 12 IPCs per unit and with a defense rate of 2, you want to provide as much cover as possible.

Monsters of the Shattered World

Start here and scroll down to the bottom of the page to listen to the first episode of Monsters of the Shattered World. Monsters of the Shattered World is twelve part fantasy podcast. The podcasts run anywhere from four to about seven minutes and can be listened to on site or downloaded as a MP3 file. The story is narrated and is quite entertaining.

Frank Reade: Adventures in the Age of Invention

My copy of Frank Reade: Adventures in the Age of Invention arrived the other day in the mail. It looks like a great book with a lot of colorful illustrations and history. I look forward to plunging into it. I will be bringing you more about this text in the very near future.

Millennium Falcon Resources

Millennium Falcon (image)

Blueprint to the Millennium Falcon

Wired offers a nice high resolution blueprint of the Millennium Falcon; for whatever it is worth.

More Data about the Millennium Falcon

The Starwar’s Encyclopedia offers information about Star War characters and its technologies including the Millennium Falcon. Read a description, and statistics about this “worn-out junker”.

$12 DIY Miniature Metal Millennium Falcon Model

The article calls this model a laser cut metal model kit, but wouldn’t that be considered a photo-etched kit? Whatever the case the model looks like it would fun to assemble and wonder to display

Millenium Falcon Revell-Monogram Model (under $10)

Another model available from the well know Revel-Monogram model maker. Don’t know of its scale, but current price seems like a steal and is an easy to build kit (snap together).

Ironclads and Ether Flyers -What is an Ether Flyer?

Image adaptation from Introduction to Space 1889.

Ether Flyer’s are large spacecraft that are used for interplanetary space travel. They use propellers for propulsion, but rely on “liftwood” for atmospheric flight.

US Army Photo of the Day: Little Green Army Men

I was just reading my Little Green Army Men post and decided to search for Little Green Army Men and came upon this site, which I thought was rather neat.

Ironclads and Ether Flyers

My copy of Ironclads and Ether Flyers arrived in the mail the other day. Ironclads and Ether Flyers, Aeronaval Warfare in the 19th Century, is a turn based Role Playing Game (RPG) written by Frank Chadwick. Ironclads and Ether Flyers is part of the Space 1889 series and can make use of miniatures found at Game Tech (If they are still in existence?). Ironclads and Ether Flyers defines the technologies used, provides scenarios, and campaign rules (a campaign lasts ten turns).

I look forward to reading this book and learning more about “Space 1889”.

Blog News

I am excited about this month’s upcoming posts. I have many ideas and posts lined-up for this month. Last month seemed so laborious and exacting. Although I found things to write about, I wasn’t excited as I am now, about writing or pursuing the threads presented in June. I suppose you will have this.

Miniature Star Wars Millennium Falcon

The Millennium Falcon, first publicized in Star Wars IV, is a spacecraft that is commanded by the smuggler Han Solo and is Wookiee first mate. This replica measures 1.27 cm (1/2 inch long) and is made entirely of paper. It is reported that the model took eight hours to complete. Although it probably wouldn't be a project that I would undertake, I am sorry that there are no plans for this model.

Miniature Mash-ups

What do you get when you couple small forms of nautical life with miniatures? You get images that are fantastic and “hilariously creative”. The site offers eleven image mash-ups where miniatures were paired up with various forms of small nautical life.

My Summer Reading List(revised)

I have revised my summer reading list. I have removed one epub and have added two new titles that I have just sent for. The two new titles have been added to the bottom of the list. I hope to be able to get through this new abbreviated reading list over the summer. I will be making a post about Edward S. Ellis and Frank Read once I start reading these novels.

The Most Dangerous Game (short story), 1924, Richard Cornell

The Most Dangerous Game is a story about a big game hunter that is being hunted by a Cossack aristocrat on an isolated Island in the Caribbean. Score: Big Game Hunter=3; Cossack aristocrat=0. Nice ending!

Anthem (short story), 1937, Ayn Rand

Anthem is a dystopian short story. Anthem is set in an unspecified time in the future. "Mankind has entered into another dark age characterized by irrationality, collectivism, and socialistic thinking and economics." In this dystopian society the concept of individuality has been eliminated. It is a place where uttering the word "I" is punishable by death. Interesting story!

My other texts

• The Steam Man of the Prairies, 1868, Edward S. Ellis
• The Land of Mysteries, 1840, Edward S. Ellis
• Frank Reade: Adventures in the Age of Invention, 2012, Paul Guinan, & Anina Bennett
• Ironclads & Ether Flyers: Aeronaval Combat for Space 1889 (Space 1889 Sci-Fi Roleplaying), 2000, Frank Chadwick