Battlemechs in Steampunk — Reinventing Victorian Warfare
- ramiekerschenpa
- Dec 5
- 6 min read
Updated: 7 days ago
Mecha in Steampunk — Reinventing Victorian Warfare
Greetings, ladies and gentlemen. My name is Bonsart of Radio Retro Future, and today I want to talk to you about mecha in steampunk. Because who doesn't like big, stompy robots? Therefore, it's high time we talked about them!
First things first: what people often get wrong about war machines in any setting is that they assume the audience just likes big, stompy robots. But no—these machines are tropes for a reason. They must adhere to certain genre conventions. In this article, we will not just study what could be a steampunk robot, but what genre conventions steampunk robots need to adhere to.
One of my biggest criticisms of go-to steampunk universes like Mortal Engines, for example, is that the whole mobile-city idea is just a vehicle to explore completely unrelated themes. Really, the moving cities could have been replaced with floating islands, and you could tell the exact same story. This is what I mean when fantasy stories disguise themselves as science fiction. This article is, in a sense, about preventing that from happening.
Some people accuse Battletech of doing the same thing, but I do not completely agree. And today, I want to explore why.
A Brief Look at Battlemech Traditions
If you know anything about science fiction, you’re probably familiar with the concept of BattleMechs: the big, stompy robots from Battletech, the grimdark monstrosities of Warhammer 40K, or the nimble, pilot-operated machines from anime like Gundam and Robotech.
It’s interesting how closely connected Western and Eastern depictions of such machines are. One of the major games that made big stompy robots popular in the West is Battletech—a franchise that, believe it or not, used to be bigger than Warhammer. Hard to imagine today.
However, Battletech did not design all of its original robots. From its inception, FASA licensed many mecha designs from Japanese studios—some of Battletech’s most iconic designs, including the Marauder and Locust, were taken straight from anime sources. Legal battles ensued, some designs became the infamous “Unseen,” and although things were eventually settled, Warhammer overtook the market.
Today, Battletech lives on under Catalyst Game Labs.
Japan never abandoned mecha. The ’80s and ’90s saw an explosion of iconic anime: Gundam, Robotech, Macross, Evangelion, and Escaflowne. In all these shows, the robots are front-and-center—not window dressing.
In the West, by contrast, we never developed a dedicated mecha genre outside franchises like Battletech and MechWarrior. Mecha in the West are usually part of a broader genre, often space opera. Even so, Battletech carries many thematic overlaps with Japanese mecha traditions, especially anti-war themes.
Many mecha stories explore the tragedy and horror of war through the pilots—everyday people thrust into conflict. Even Battletech, often pulpier in tone, includes stories like Perfect War, which reads like “MechWarrior Vietnam.”
The point here is that mecha already carry their own genre conventions. To integrate them with other genres—like steampunk—you must understand the themes and clichés that come with them.
Where Steampunk and Battlemechs Should Overlap (But Rarely Do)
Steampunk is excellent for exploring themes such as technological progress, rapidly changing societies, and subcultures formed around unconventional technology. The mecha genre, meanwhile, thrives on stories about pilots facing shifting alliances, unstable politics, and the weight of war.
Sounds like a perfect match, doesn’t it?
And yet, very few steampunk settings make full use of mecha. When they appear, they’re often set dressing or power-fantasy vehicles. Rarely do they engage with the deeper themes of war, technology, class, or ideology.
Meanwhile, many steampunk novels are essentially fantasy in disguise—with magic, fantastical creatures, and hand-waved technologies that ignore their own implications.
Why Internal Logic Matters: The Suspension of Disbelief
Consider settings that use biological war machines, such as those in Leviathan. The idea is cool—until you think about the logistics. Biological constructs must be fed constantly, maintained, cleaned, exercised, and disposed of. You can't stockpile them like tanks. You can't let them loose without ecological chaos. And once the war ends… now what?
This is where fantasy tries to present itself as science fiction but reveals no workable logic beneath the surface. As soon as the audience thinks for more than 30 seconds, the illusion cracks.
Steampunk suffers from this a lot. Too many works rely on vague aesthetics instead of coherent worldbuilding.
Suspension of disbelief is a contract between creator and audience. We can accept floating islands or faster-than-light travel as long as the setting remains plausible. Not realistic—plausible. But when creators ignore their own rules, or treat their world’s technology as an afterthought, audiences lose interest. Fans want constraints. They want internal consistency. They want tools to imagine solutions.
The Origins of Steampunk Mecha
The concept of what we now call steampunk robots is not new. It can be traced back to The Steam Man of the Prairie by Edward Sylvester Ellis (1868), a dime-novel Edisonade about a young boy who builds a colossal steam-powered automaton. Johnny Brainerd, its creator, can arguably be considered one of the first mecha pilots in literature.
This raises natural questions: How does it move? How are the limbs powered? What kind of computation allows it coordination?
Ellis didn’t consider these things—nor do most writers today. In Leviathan, the answer is “biology.” In fantasy, the answer is “magic.” But in more science-fiction-leaning steampunk, the answers matter.
How Much Does Technical Detail Matter?
Does it matter how mecha work?
Sometimes they do. Sometimes not.
In Battletech, neuro-helmets translate pilot thoughts into motion, explaining the machines’ human-like agility. This is enough to justify why they move the way they do without requiring a physics textbook.
But fans still ask questions:
How do 100-ton mechs not sink into soil?
Why don’t they topple over when struck?
How do heat sinks work?
How do lasers and missiles fit?
Fan communities generate headcanon to adapt or ignore the inconsistencies. Because at its core, Battletech is about epic fights with big stompy robots—not hard-science realism.
When designing steampunk mechs, there will never be universal rules. Many assume mechs must be steam-powered because the genre is called “steampunk.” But actual Victorian technology included combustion engines and early electric cars. Steam is inefficient, dangerous, and structurally limiting.
If someone can present a plausible steam-powered mech design, I would genuinely love to see it. Until then, I find most uses of steam power too fantastical to align with more science-fiction-oriented steampunk.
What Really Matters: The Story Behind the Machines
Regardless of power source, the key question is:
Why do mechs exist in your setting?
Not “what do they do on the battlefield,” but why were they created? Ambition, desperation, greed, national rivalry, a desire to leave a legacy. These motivations shape the machines’ place in history.
In Battletech, many mechs exist that are considered failures, obsolete, or hopelessly specialized. And yet they persist, because they carry stories.
Situational irony, unintended consequences, and the evolution of technology all enrich a world. These elements help explore the pros and cons of invention without slipping into real-world politics.
Designing Steampunk Mechs: Principles to Consider
For me, it begins with simplicity and plausibility.
Form must resemble function. If a mech needs to scale steep inclines, it should have powerful legs.
Power sources must fit the world’s logic. Not necessarily realism, but internal consistency.
Technology must have constraints. What it can’t do matters more than what it can do.
For example, an anti-air platform that trivially destroys anything in the sky is not interesting. But when confronted with a heavily armored ground enemy, limitations force creativity, yielding drama and strategy.
How This Relates to My Own Setting
In The Association of Ishtar, I’ve written about two early mass-produced mechs: the Turkish Çalmak and the British Peeler (Will post this at later date). These machines emerged through specific political and technological pressures—not because “steampunk needs mechs,” but because the world’s logic demanded them.
If you're interested in how these developments unfold, I have more lore in other articles, and more is coming.
Upcoming Projects
I am currently preparing the next Kickstarter: The Casket Girls, Part 2 — Engines of the Damned. It would greatly support the channel if you follow the campaign, and maybe back it once it launches.
🚀 Upcoming Kickstarter – The Casket Girls: Engines of the Damned: https://associationofishtar.com/kickstarter
The first book will also be available, along with new STL files in development. If we gather enough followers, we might even offer physical editions.
Additionally, the Nightwatch Steampunk RPG, where you can control your own steampunk mechs, is nearly ready for distribution. This will be your last chance to make a late pledge and obtain the game along with all stretch goals. Till then, you can purchase our books and STL through our Gumroad Store.
📺 Video: https://youtu.be/IIt-W_ULZJ0
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