How One Response to a Reddit Query Became a Big Budget Flick (http://www.wired.com/underwire/2012/03/ff_reddit/all/1)
Timmay alt-hist sploogefest of the day: MEU ends up in ancient Rome, about 23BC. Hilarity ensues. Excerpt from the Reddit stories for those who don't want to read the article:
QuoteDAY 1
The 35th MEU is on the ground at Kabul, preparing to deploy to southern Afghanistan. Suddenly, it vanishes.
The section of Bagram where the 35th was gathered suddenly reappears in a field outside Rome, on the west bank of the Tiber River. Without substantially prepared ground under it, the concrete begins sinking into the marshy ground and cracking. Colonel Miles Nelson orders his men to regroup near the vehicle depot—nearly all of the MEU's vehicles are still stripped for air transport. He orders all helicopters airborne, believing the MEU is trapped in an earthquake.
Nelson's men soon report a complete loss of all communications, including GPS and satellite radio. Nelson now believes something more terrible has occurred—a nuclear war and EMP which has left his unit completely isolated. Only a few men have realized that the rest of Bagram has vanished, but that will soon become apparent as the transport helos begin circling the 35th's location.
Within an hour, the 2,200 Marines have regrouped, stunned. They are not the only moderns transported to Rome. With them are about 150 Air Force maintenance and repair specialists. There are about 60 Afghan Army soldiers, mostly the MEU's interpreters and liaisons. There are also 15 U.S. civilian contractors and one man, Frank Delacroix, who has spoken to no one but Colonel Nelson.
Miraculously, no one was killed during the earthquake but several dozen people were injured, some seriously. All fixed-wing aircraft and the attack helicopters were rendered inoperable by the shifting concrete, although the MEU did not lose a single vehicle or transport helicopter.
As night falls, the MEU has established a perimeter. A few locals have been spotted, but in the chaos no one has yet established contact. Nelson and his men, who are crippled without mapping software and GPS to fix their position, begin attempting to fix their location by observing stars. The night is cloudy. Nelson orders four helicopters back into the air at first light, to travel along the river in hopes of locating a settlement.
In short, dude from Des Moines is getting at least $120k to write a screenplay about this after someone from Madhouse Pictures saw his Reddit posts of these stories and the community reaction.
SM Stirling would have extra rape in it if he wrote it.
Quote from: Ed Anger on March 21, 2012, 08:15:03 PM
SM Stirling would have extra rape in it if he wrote it.
Hedley: "Qualifications?"
Outlaw: "Rape. Murder. Arson. Rape."
Hedley: "You said rape twice."
Outlaw: "I like rape."
Please.
So what would happen if a Roman cohort or legion went the other way ?
It might even be a more interesting a story, assuming we got a insight into the 'real' psychological and cultural character of Romans, rather than whatever our current interpretation is.
Quote from: mongers on March 21, 2012, 08:31:09 PM
So what would have if a Roman cohort or legion went the other way ?
Turtledove sorta did that. Except it went to to Byzantium-like fantasy world.
Quote from: mongers on March 21, 2012, 08:31:09 PM
So what would happen if a Roman cohort or legion went the other way ?
It might even be a more interesting a story, assuming we got a insight into the 'real' psychological and cultural character of Romans, rather than whatever our current interpretation is.
The get sick and die. Marines probably do as well, but the manage to spread a major plague in Rome before hand.
The Senate gets the HIV.
Quote from: mongers on March 21, 2012, 08:31:09 PM
So what would happen if a Roman cohort or legion went the other way ?
It might even be a more interesting a story, assuming we got a insight into the 'real' psychological and cultural character of Romans, rather than whatever our current interpretation is.
:huh: Why do you think the current interpretation is not the real one?
And how would a modern-day screenwriter be privy to a more accurate interpretation?
Spending $120K to have someone write a screenplay is still several steps away from actually making a big budget flick.
I am 99% sure the dude from Des Moines is an old EUOT member named prufrock (or something very similar). He wrote a war on xmas aar over there.
Quote from: Jacob on March 21, 2012, 09:12:17 PM
Spending $120K to have someone write a screenplay is still several steps away from actually making a big budget flick.
I'll write a screenplay for half that.
Quote from: Admiral Yi on March 21, 2012, 08:47:55 PM
Quote from: mongers on March 21, 2012, 08:31:09 PM
So what would happen if a Roman cohort or legion went the other way ?
It might even be a more interesting a story, assuming we got a insight into the 'real' psychological and cultural character of Romans, rather than whatever our current interpretation is.
:huh: Why do you think the current interpretation is not the real one?
I dunno. I'm not sure what the current interpretation is and what the real one is. Sort of like asking what's the difference between these two unknowns.
Quote from: sbr on March 21, 2012, 09:53:35 PM
I am 99% sure the dude from Des Moines is an old EUOT member named prufrock (or something very similar). He wrote a war on xmas aar over there.
It's still pretty awesome to get paid $120k to expound on a random internet post.
This isn't that interesting to write about though. Their technology isn't transmittable to the natives. It's just too advanced.
Better for a Spanish Tercio from the 30 Years War to get sent back to like 150AD. The noble in charge should know Latin, as would the priest and Spanish isn't that far off from Latin. It's definitely something the men could learn. Plus they'd have gunsmiths and blacksmiths who would be able to teach the down timers their techniques.
Quote from: Peter Wiggin on March 21, 2012, 11:08:26 PM
Quote from: jimmy olsen on March 21, 2012, 10:59:47 PM
Better for a Spanish Terico from the 30 Years War to get sent back to like 150AD. The noble in charge should know Latin, as would the priest and Spanish isn't that far off from Latin. It's definitely something the men could learn. Plus they'd have gunsmiths and blacksmiths who would be able to teach the down timers their techniques.
There's a reason why time travel fiction is almost always anchored with one end in the present- you want readers/viewers to be able to relate to somebody.
Plenty of novels/movies are set entirely in the past, how is setting a novel or movie in two different time periods in the past any different?
The American audience can only handle getting bad history about one time period at a time.
"Nelson and his men, who are crippled without mapping software and GPS to fix their position"
Outside Rome, on the banks of the Tiber! Jeez. what more do you need to figure out where you are? :p
I've read this same story a bazillion times.
Its pretty common amongst alternate history folks.
Quote from: Tyr on March 22, 2012, 07:01:33 AM
I've read this same story a bazillion times.
Yup.
When I was 13, I started a story about a squad of US infantrymen in post-WW3 West Germany (V Corps out of Heidelberg) that was transported to the Middle Ages. A few weeks later, my friend Eric showed me a cheesy paperback at the bookstore about a WW2 infantry squad transported to a fantasy world, complete with dragons. I promptly stopped writing said story.
Quote from: jimmy olsen on March 21, 2012, 10:59:47 PM
Better for a Spanish Terico from the 30 Years War to get sent back to like 150AD. The noble in charge should know Latin, as would the priest and Spanish isn't that far off from Latin. It's definitely something the men could learn. Plus they'd have gunsmiths and blacksmiths who would be able to teach the down timers their techniques.
(https://languish.org/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.espnmediazone3.com%2Fus%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2009%2F11%2FTirico_Mike_cropped.jpg&hash=e427f99eb005a091f9fdbbc38d25f17644b0a23b)?
That would be so awesome, having Mike Terico doing the play-by-play for the 30 years war. But only if Joe Theisman or Paul Maguire can do color.
Quote from: CountDeMoney on March 22, 2012, 10:02:17 AM
That would be so awesome, having Mike Terico doing the play-by-play for the 30 years war. But only if Joe Theisman or Paul Maguire can do color.
Works for me.
Then he could rape an intern.
Quote from: derspiess on March 22, 2012, 09:59:35 AM
Quote from: jimmy olsen on March 21, 2012, 10:59:47 PM
Better for a Spanish Terico from the 30 Years War to get sent back to like 150AD. The noble in charge should know Latin, as would the priest and Spanish isn't that far off from Latin. It's definitely something the men could learn. Plus they'd have gunsmiths and blacksmiths who would be able to teach the down timers their techniques.
Pic
Now that's a funny typo! :lol:
I obviously meant
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tercio
QuoteBetter for a Spanish http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tercio from the 30 Years War to get sent back to like 150AD.
:hmm: No, that doesn't make sense, either. I doubt that the Spanish had Wikipedia links in the 1600s.
Quote from: Habbaku on March 22, 2012, 10:40:56 AM
QuoteBetter for a Spanish http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tercio from the 30 Years War to get sent back to like 150AD.
:hmm: No, that doesn't make sense, either. I doubt that the Spanish had Wikipedia links in the 1600s.
:rolleyes:
Don't be like that.
Quote from: PDH on March 22, 2012, 10:32:29 AM
Then he could rape an intern.
I think all he did was harrass, right? And come on, everyone sexually harrasses at ESPN :rolleyes:
Quote from: derspiess on March 22, 2012, 11:14:26 AM
Quote from: PDH on March 22, 2012, 10:32:29 AM
Then he could rape an intern.
I think all he did was harrass, right? And come on, everyone sexually harrasses at ESPN :rolleyes:
Yeah but it is the 30 Years War he would be covering. I upped the ante.
Quote from: CountDeMoney on March 22, 2012, 10:02:17 AM
That would be so awesome, having Mike Terico doing the play-by-play for the 30 years war. But only if Joe Theisman or Paul Maguire can do color.
Theisman: He's no military genius, like Publicus Cornholio Scorpio!
Quote from: jimmy olsen on March 22, 2012, 10:38:02 AM
Quote from: derspiess on March 22, 2012, 09:59:35 AM
Quote from: jimmy olsen on March 21, 2012, 10:59:47 PM
Better for a Spanish Terico from the 30 Years War to get sent back to like 150AD. The noble in charge should know Latin, as would the priest and Spanish isn't that far off from Latin. It's definitely something the men could learn. Plus they'd have gunsmiths and blacksmiths who would be able to teach the down timers their techniques.
Pic
Now that's a funny typo! :lol:
I obviously meant
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tercio
Oh, or even better someone from the 30 years war could come to modern era and try to explain to us what the hell that war was all about. Twice I've tried to read Peter H. Wilson's The Thirty Year War, and both times I came away defeated.
Or we could go with the original idea. Except instead of a Marine Expeditionary Unit going back to ancient Rome they just go back to ancient 1st century Afghanistan and see if they noticed the difference.
I don't get the premise - assuming away the time travel aspect, why would the unit move in space from Central Asia to Central Italy?
Quote from: The Minsky Moment on March 22, 2012, 02:42:45 PM
I don't get the premise - assuming away the time travel aspect, why would the unit move in space from Central Asia to Central Italy?
Because ancient Rome is cool, but there are no marine units in Rome right now.
Quote from: Jacob on March 22, 2012, 02:44:12 PM
Quote from: The Minsky Moment on March 22, 2012, 02:42:45 PM
I don't get the premise - assuming away the time travel aspect, why would the unit move in space from Central Asia to Central Italy?
Because ancient Rome is cool, but there are no marine units in Rome right now.
Isn't there a big US naval base around Naples?
To end up on the surface of the earth at all is quite a feat. The earth has moved a good deal since 23 BCE.
He wrote the old EU2 Sibir AAR that involved a time-travelling British that eventually transforms into a child and is taken care of by Washington.
The AAR is surely more interesting than US marines in Ancient Rome...
The 173rd Airborne Brigade in NATO reserve in Italy time travels back to the beginning of life on Earth and jacks off in the primordial ooze.
Quote from: Ed Anger on March 22, 2012, 03:34:00 PM
The 173rd Airborne Brigade in NATO reserve in Italy time travels back to the beginning of life on Earth and jacks off in the primordial ooze.
I like my premise better, where a Spetnaz team in 1982 Afghanistan is transported back in time to 1282 Afghanistan, and doesn't notice a fucking difference.
What about a Zhou unit suddenly finding itself in Shang?
Quote from: CountDeMoney on March 22, 2012, 03:38:36 PM
Quote from: Ed Anger on March 22, 2012, 03:34:00 PM
The 173rd Airborne Brigade in NATO reserve in Italy time travels back to the beginning of life on Earth and jacks off in the primordial ooze.
I like my premise better, where a Spetnaz team in 1982 Afghanistan is transported back in time to 1282 Afghanistan, and doesn't notice a fucking difference.
make it a shortfilm and you could have a prizewinner at some of the festivals.
Quote from: CountDeMoney on March 22, 2012, 03:38:36 PM
Quote from: Ed Anger on March 22, 2012, 03:34:00 PM
The 173rd Airborne Brigade in NATO reserve in Italy time travels back to the beginning of life on Earth and jacks off in the primordial ooze.
I like my premise better, where a Spetnaz team in 1982 Afghanistan is transported back in time to 1282 Afghanistan, and doesn't notice a fucking difference.
That's very unrealistic. IRL, the cultural improvement of 1282 Afghanistan over 1982 Afghanistan would be quickly apparent.
1282 is just a few decades after the utter destruction of the Mongol invasion. You should have picked another century.
Quote from: The Minsky Moment on March 22, 2012, 04:15:50 PM
Quote from: CountDeMoney on March 22, 2012, 03:38:36 PM
Quote from: Ed Anger on March 22, 2012, 03:34:00 PM
The 173rd Airborne Brigade in NATO reserve in Italy time travels back to the beginning of life on Earth and jacks off in the primordial ooze.
I like my premise better, where a Spetnaz team in 1982 Afghanistan is transported back in time to 1282 Afghanistan, and doesn't notice a fucking difference.
That's very unrealistic. IRL, the cultural improvement of 1982 Afghanistan over 2012 Afghanistan would be quickly apparent.
JR you messed the dates up, I've corrected it for you.
Quote from: jimmy olsen on March 21, 2012, 10:59:47 PM
Quote from: sbr on March 21, 2012, 09:53:35 PM
I am 99% sure the dude from Des Moines is an old EUOT member named prufrock (or something very similar). He wrote a war on xmas aar over there.
It's still pretty awesome to get paid $120k to expound on a random internet post.
This isn't that interesting to write about though. Their technology isn't transmittable to the natives. It's just too advanced.
Better for a Spanish Tercio from the 30 Years War to get sent back to like 150AD. The noble in charge should know Latin, as would the priest and Spanish isn't that far off from Latin. It's definitely something the men could learn. Plus they'd have gunsmiths and blacksmiths who would be able to teach the down timers their techniques.
You can always downgrade your equipment.
Muzzle loaders still beat sword infantry at least 10 to 1.
Besides, it is the small things we know that give us victory. Hygene, proper diet, tactics, operational planning, etc.
A modern infantry battalion can conquer the ancient world by chosing what and when to fight, and with whom to ally.
My guess is that Hernan Cortez played this game the right way, and no Alt-Hist pseudo-writter will ever beat him.