Science fantasy weapons of the 20’s and 30’s

The following is a list of imaginative weapons described in science fiction writing during or before the period of our Jurassic Reich game. These weapons must be accounted for in our rules, and modelled to follow the available descriptions.

For example, the word Laser was not coined until the 60’s. What we had in the 30’s was a ‘raygun’, and the rays had lots of different effects. Similarly, the word ‘gauss’ is a very modern one to describe projecting a bullet through electromagnetic force instead of explosive combustion. At the time it would have been called an Electric Gun – though not to be confused with the Electric Rifle, an entirely different beast designed by the heroic character of the age, Tom Swift.

This list is the starting point of our investigations into this period of technological fantasy.

Name	Author (Publication Date)
Annihilator Beam	L.F. Stone (1931 )
Atomic Bomb – very early reference	Robert Cromie (1895 )
Biological Warfare – first use of the concept in fiction	H.G. Wells (1898 )
Blast Rifle	Frank Belknap Long, Jr. (1937 )
Blaster – a deadly energy weapon.	Nictzin Dyalhis (1925 )
Concentrated Light – predicts the laser	Nat Schachner (1937 )
De-atomizing Ray – a disintegration beam	Edmund Hamilton (1928 )
Demagnitizing Ray	George Griffith (1911 )
Disintegrator	Garrett P. Serviss (1898 )
Disruptor Tube – pale beam of destruction	Nat Schachner (w. AL Zagat) (1931 )
Electric Machine Gun (Railgun) – electromagnetic acceleration	John W. Campbell (1933 )
Electric Rifle – Tom Swift’s weapon of choice	Victor Appleton (1911 )
Electrify the Rail – repel boarders!	Jules Verne (1875 )
Heat Ray – concept of the laser	H.G. Wells (1898 )
Invisibility – now you see it -	H.G. Wells (1897 )
Joystick Controls w/Remote Display	H.G. Wells (1903 )
Leyden Ball – grandfather of the taser	Jules Verne (1875 )
Needle Pipe – needle gun	Ray Cummings (1928 )
Pain-Producer	Edmund Hamilton (1928 )
Paralyzing Ray – early use	Ray Cummings (1931 )
Pencil Heat Ray – narrow beam	Ray Cummings (1931 )
Pentavalent Nitrogen – most powerful chemical explosive.	E.E. ‘Doc’ Smith (1931 )
Proton Pistol (Proton Beam) – beams of fury	Raymond Z. Gallun (1937 )
Ray Gun	John W. Campbell (1930 )
Rocket Gun	Philip Frances Nowlan (1928 )
Standish – a mean beam of energy	E.E. ‘Doc’ Smith (1934 )
War-Balloon (Navigable Aerostat)	George Griffith (1893 )
Zero-Ray	Clark Ashton Smith (1931 )

JR – broad proposals on Monday

Here are some more proposals for Jurassic Reich. Please confirm or refute them point by point.

1) Space travel to the planets by rocket is commonplace and has been steadily improving since the days of Verne.

2) People can freely expect to travel to the planets of the solar system and do so with the same ease and frequency as they historically travelled on ocean liners.

3) Travel times between the planets is comparable to oceanic travel. So we are talking hours to the Moon, a few days to the closest planets, and a few weeks to the outer planets. Must check for time-dilation effects here: Einstein had published by this time.

4) Only the planets known in the 1930’s exist in the game (Pluto was discovered in 1930 – this would make it a mystery world). All planets are habitable.

5) Space is filled with air, because that is what everyone at the time believed. So it is possible to ’step out on deck’ when on a space voyage. This is problematic with regard to implied speeds because of Aerodynamics and friction effects (both of which were well understood at the time. The speed of sound was known and believed to be unbreakable. ) . This clause alone may give us a lot of trouble.

6) The Great War (1914 – 1918 ) occured for much the same reasons, and had much the same result, except that the conflict spread through the planetary colonies as well. As a result of the crushing economic effects of this war, the Great Depression has still occured, and the revolutions in Germany and Russia have still occured, all with the same effects as those of genuine history.

7) Stargates, or Himmeltors, have only very recently been discovered, offering instant travel between locations on Earth and the planets. This is a strategic enabler, shortcutting travel times and threatening to upset the balance of power. Nazi Germany, particularly, is quick to recognise the ability to lauch surprise attacks.

8.) With the recognition that ancient or mysterious artefacts are real and can directly impact the political life of mankind, the race is on to secure these artefacts, or at least to prevent them from falling into the hands of one’s ideological enemies.

9) The world of Jurassic Reich looks very much like the world that the people of the thirties dreamed of. This setting is their fantasy come true.

JR – to get the ball rolling

I propose that the core themes of this setting are to be found in the art and stories of or directly inspired by the 1920’s and 1930’s.