"The Gulliver Fellowship and 18th C. Torchwood?" Topic

Having re-read Anno Dracula link I became curious about the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen link and was thrilled to discover it already existed in the 18th C. -my favorite period- as the Gulliver Fellowship link .
Since I prefer the time of the War of Austrian Succession I have no qualm to modify some birth dates to have it already active by 1745 -'alternate histories' in the Multiverse (not even a Moorcockian one) are not exactly 'superimposable' for deaths, so why they would be for birth? And following the example of Kim Newman, whose recurring characters are not exactly the same from a 'time-line' to another.

The Gulliver Fellowship fits directly in the period, but what about the Diogenes Club link and, 'worse', Torchwood link officially created in 1879 -and which may pose problems of ©®™ IP? Answer: *to merge them*! I suggest that by the time of the Lace Wars 'Torchwood' was already the self-given nickname of the informal group formed by Francis Bacon link , yet still (semi-)officially known by the British Crown only as Bookworm, the 'innocuous' name initially given by Bacon to his secret gathering of scholars specially knowledgeable in the esoteric and the occult. 'Torchwood' -a counter-reference to Wormwood YouTube link – is to become its official name only when the group receives more official support with the creation of the Torchwood Institute; for it, or at least its secret HQ, Mycroft Holmes is to found the Diogenes Club as a cover, and it will copied far later in America by 'The Threshold' strange-aeons.ca/sa/?page_id=3 .

Back to the Gulliver Fellowship, since it is already active in 1745 Lady Blakeney is obviously not the Marguerite of the French Revolution: several hints link point to Venetian Clarimonde en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clarimonde later to be known as 'Venus' (and in fact none else than Amber St. Clare link). Here the Blakeney will part in the late 1780, and while he becomes The Scarlet Pimpernel she reappears in Venice as La Bianca Paloma link

Of course other secret private organizations and State services would exist, cooperating or competing with the Gulliver Fellowship and its sometimes employer Wormbook: Freemasons, the Prieuré de Sion, the Templars successors: link the Jesuits, perhaps already the 'Assassination' Section XIII of the Pope's secret services link and obviously various Evil Cults.

Various characters can be added to the cast such as a young Baron Münchhausen link , the Comte de Saint Germain link , Cagliostro en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cagliostro if born some 20 years earlier in this time-line… as well as some incarnation of Jerry Cornelius link and Una Persson link .

Miniatures, specially in and around the 28mm size, abound.
As for rules, there is a cornucopia of choice: those specially written for the period link or for the 'Pike & Shot' times link or for witch finding / hunting; but popular sets intended for 'Victorian times' or even later can certainly be adapted. Strange Aeons was successfully 'transposed' to the 18th C. link , Chaos in Carpathia can be played with figurines in tricornes; but the recent Empire of the Dead link would probably be specially adequate TMP link for a 'Diogenes Club / Torchwood' setting -mainly give to 'lacepunk' link weapons the stats of the 'steampunk' ones. Vampires appeared in Western European literature in 1748 at last link and some 'fan' factions link *have* to already exist in the 18th C. link

Privateer Press 'Arcane Tempest Gun Mages' look apropriate for an 'uniformed' faction of 18th c. Empire of the Dead

OK, I'm hooked.

There is obviously a lot of thought gone into this post and so far I'm following it with interest.

Tony

I was just toying with ideas.
I'm retired *also* as a wargamer, and in addition such 'campaign' does not look propitious to solo play. So I just hope someone younger and more 'active' will pick up the general idea -and then will post his/her achievements somewhere on the web.
You know, we elderlies enjoy to watch younger people doing what we can no longer do ourselves

From left to right:
Lemuel Gulliver (Black Scorpion),
Sir Percy Blakeney (BS),
'Lady Blakeney' (Amber St. Clare) as 'the White Dove' (Vesper-on Games),
the Reverend Doctor Christopher Syn (BS),
Fanny "Mana Peel" Hill (Eureka – Laughing Monk),
Nathaniel "Hawkeye" Bumppo (Fenryll),
Orlando as the Chevalier d'Eon (Freebooter).

The minis of the boardgame 'A touch of Evil' link (some available separately link )

others as 'Heroes Packs' with playing cards &c., seem more compatible with 'traditional' 28mm ranges.

I don't know about their current availability, but with their huge zweihänder Magnificent Egos (male) Pilgrim

and (female) Pilgrim Reincarnate

would make *great* 18th C. monster hunters / witchers link (sorcelier and sorceliere, to give them a name more 'exotic' and with a less restrictive obvious etymology, for you anglophones).

.

Another famous 18th C. monsters / demons hunter is Guy Davis' Marquis link

Who knows? Maybe the Marquis de Sade is no one else than the Marquis Vol de Galle themarquisinferno.blogspot.fr having lost his sanity facing to many Hell Courtesans?

Vesper-on Games (Carnevale) 'Duke' link is a tolerable approximation of the 'Marquis'.

.

'All for One: Régime Diabolique'

seems specially adapted for such 'urban' Lacepulp campaigns? Now 'Brink of Battle' is reputedly very flexible link

.

Now, the 18th C. equivalent of Torchwood / Threshold agents, just like their modern counterparts, would appear as civilians with unobtrusive weapons. Such minis can be found in several 'pirates' ranges (specially any 'Treasure Island' one), among Foundry Moonfleet-type 'smugglers'..;. Seemingly the Rattrap 'Characters of Gevaudan' are out of stock? Westwind have some useable figurines in their 'Sleepy Hollow' range, but the most appropriate minis come probably from the F&IW armed settlers, e.g. from Galloping Major link

For simpler 'tentacled female monsters', inspirational conversions:

link
Starting from 18th C. ladies


link
(surprising similarities between some pieces of the 2 sets, don't you think? )
I've forgotten it, but the Old Glory pack includes several figurines perfectly fitting for some members of the Gulliver Fellowship

Otherwise, what about Shambleaus (Shambleaux, in French) link ?

Btw could someone identify the 2 'undead Marines' *there* link (sorry for the extremely poor quality of the image) -the figurine on the left is from Alternative Armies.

Black cat (i think) make those undead marines along with heaps of apropos lacepunk minis.

Right: link thanks!

Black Cat Bases 'Pirates of the Skeleton Sea' Skeleton Captain:

(also 3 ≠ 'trooper' -Marines, actually)

From Alternative Armies: link

Specially for a multi-players campaign there is a wide choice of potential part-time allies (while Torchwood is roughly the European equivalent of the Pangaean Hoellesingen-Organisation link , but having to face more diverse…'monstrosities' link ) and rivals / arch-enemies: link

For French colleagues (members of the 'Section Esotérique' of the Secret du Roi), some characters from 'Brotherhood of the Wolf' link are obvious choices: Hubert "Double Scalp" de la Pâte Feuilletée & Oumpah-Pah link )

and Sylvia (the beautiful courtesan-cum-skilled assassin in the secret service of the Vatican).
link

link

Now, to really become an Extraordinaire Gente Dame 'Sylvia' can actually be Geneviève Sylvie d'Isle Dieudonné link – maybe having received the Witchblade en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Witchblade from her dear companion Joan of Arc YouTube link?

As for appropriate rules, there is a cornucopia of available sets link; hard to choose, each seemingly offering original elements: indeed ideally a group effort (given the number of books and supplements to buy, peruse and analyze) would "break the bone and suck out the substance-full marrow"of all this documentation and write the perfect synthesis?

Old news or flashnews?
Eureka is to do a "Hawkmoon" figures range
Exciting by itself, but from her first image Flana Mikosevaar link could also become a mysterious 18th C. lady:

An old sculpt, seemingly link, but Eureka now is reported to have Moorcock's agreement.

A good ornithopter model would not be out of place in a Lacepulp / Lacepunk game.

If Heroclix ever does 28mm characters of Assassin's Creed III, Aveline de Grandpré

would be a great Lacepulp character (Heroclix minis turn quite good one repainted: while the commercial painting is too often awful, the sculpting is generally good).

An interesting *historical* weapon

Breech-loading musket (miquelet system) which belonged to Philip V of Spain, made by A. Tienza, Madrid circa 1715. It came with pre-loaded reusable cartridges. link

With such and a Girandoni Air Rifle link

a 18th C. 'human' faction can face any monster band from Empire of the Dead link

.

Their line is uninterrupted since the early days of Christianity, thus in the 18th C. the Pope *had* a Magdalena as his trump card link

(no 28mm, unfortunately!)

A 'nice' monster link

A wise suggestion on the LAF link : "Might the origins of the Bookworm / Torchwood Society have not actually begun earlier in the 16th Century? Perhaps with Dr. John Dee 1527 – 1608, Elizabethan era mathematician, court astrologer, magus and geographer, – and sometime ally of the alchemist and "spirit medium" Edward Kelly aka Edward "Talbot" (who later resided in Prague, employed at the court of the Holy Roman Emperor Rudolf II) and Francis Walsingham, Queen Elizabeth I's spymaster, and Lord Burghley. (employing Walsingham's son-in-law, Sir Philip Sydney, as their muscular right arm)? They provide a counterweight to the machinations of Catherine de Medici and her favorite astrologer, Nostradamus."

Indeed -so much the more as John Dee -according to the most knowledgeable sources- published a translation of the Necronomicon:

Then Francis Bacon link is a not unlikely 'heir apparent', then successor, of John Dee.