Protecting the Border - The Fortification of the Borka's Western Banks

Several rotating batteries overlooking the bridgehead at Uldiva.

Too many invasion from the east have left Alcovians feeling vulnerable and exposed in the past but the new leadership of the country has promised to strengthen the defenses of the country to make sure that the nation needn't suffer yet another invasion.

Building off of the increased presence of aerial scouts and the always present APA river service, Princes Ukko and Ullo, co-commanders in chief of Alcovia's armed forces have undertaken a massive construction effort designed to fortify the western bank of the Borka against invasion from neighboring Iqenistan. Included in these plans are bunkered batteries and reinforced block houses on the Alcovian side of all bridges spanning the Borka River.

The construction of these defenses has alarmed the Iqeni people who find themselves suddenly in range of some very large guns. Despite official diplomatic protests, Alcovia has not seen fit to dismantle any of their emplacements and batteries instead offering their assurances that the fortifications are purely for defense and really serve no substantial or effective offensive purpose. In fact, the number of emplaced batteries that can strike at any Iqeni holdings are few and generally only located around the heaviest of bridgeheads. There are still plenty of places where there are no river fortifications or where the type of emplacements are of limited range.

Will Alcovia Have An Airforce?

The Alcovian government has always suffered from a bit of hesitation on the subject of an air force. In fact, the concept of a dedicated air force has so far escaped the Alcovian military' grasp. Though scouting and courier planes and a few experimental bombers have existed in military service, they have manifested themselves as a collection of curiosities and aborted projects.

The earliest use of aircraft in Alcovia was a small fleet of a dozen Airco DH.2 scout planes purchased after the end of WW1. These planes were used to scout and survey the border between Alcovia and Iqenistan. Though officially unarmed, the pilots of these scout planes seldom left themselves unarmed as there was always a threat that their unreliable craft might leave them stranded in the harsh Alcovian wilderness.

A nuisance to Iqenistani border posts, these planes often came under fire by border guards and on a few occasions even damaged. It was late in June of 1920 that the first Iqenistani plane entered the air, it's pilot taking potshots at an Alcovian scout surveying the upper Borka river. This brief and rather ineffectual clash resonated through Alcovian leadership and prompted a more serious consideration of air power. If Iqenistan had planes, they might make the move to an air force. But, Iqenistan did not escalate their air power and seemed to reflect the same apathetic stance on air power as Alcovia.

By 1922 the aircraft in Alcovian service were showing their age and nearly unusable. The new planes being produced in the rest of the world were starting to capture the imagination of the nobility and military leadership, but had yet to gain favor among the government. Airplanes were still seen as unimportant and the idea of a service of military fliers unneeded. One man, Colonel Chuka Yagirin took the initiative and invited representatives from Italy, Germany, Britain, and Russia all to show off what they had done with airplanes and arranged an air show for the benefit of the government, the nobility and the military. In a clever move, he also invited members of the common population to witness, holding a lottery for tickets to the event.

The Yagirin air show was a resounding success. All the participants in the event showed off their latest and greatest, hoping to wow the leadership. Demonstrations of aerial skill as well as ground attack and bombing capabilities were held. In one impressive display a mocked up convoy of wooden vehicles was towed by oxen across the open field where it was riddled with bullets by strafing aircraft and then bombed in a spectacular display. The nobility were impressed, the military interested, and the common folk spellbound, but Alcovian leadership was still not enthusiastic. Col. Yagirin did succeed in securing a small order of a dozen German Fokker D.IX which had been delivered by 1923.

One of the biggest things hindering aircraft use in Alcovia has always been the tendency for the ground to get rather wet and soft, making reliable landing surfaces difficult to maintain. Airstrips that have been built and used are one rainy autumn or spring thaw away from turning into sucking quagmires. One solution to this was the adoption of float planes and flying boats, using the numerous lazy rivers, backwaters and canals throughout the country.

In the 30's Alcovia is having to rethink the concept of an air force. It's patchwork collection of speculatively purchased craft and aging machines cannot possibly carry forward into the modern age of fight that is becoming more and more obvious. With Russia becoming more and more involved with Iqenistan, providing them with weapons and materials, Alcovia must look to the west for designs that fit its needs. There is hope that a number of designs will be found from a single source so that a reliable and easily maintained fleet of new aircraft can defend the country in what seems an inevitable war between Iqenistan and Alcovia.

Pirates of the Meandering Sea

Invasion barges assemble on the Alcovian side of the Borka during preparation for the counter-offensive following the invasion of 1854. 

The border between eastern Alcovia and western Iqenistan is a 500 mile stretch of the river Borka. Snaking its way out of the Capaccian Mountains the stretch where the two neighboring nations meet is known to Alcovians as the "Meandering Sea", a name derived from the wide, slow-moving and twisting waters of the Borka. It is along this watery span that Alcovia's flotilla of river boats, gunboats and monitors patrols, keeping a vigil against invasion from the east.




An early Alcovian river monitored, based off of American Civil War designs. Since the mid-nineteenth century, Alcovia has endeavored to maintain their presence on these waters, following the invasions of 1832 and 1854 when large sections of eastern Alcovia were seized and occupied by Iqenistani troops. Since their repulsion and the reclamation of those territories, a steady program of acquisition and production of vessels suitable for river patrol and fresh water naval bombardment has been a major priority. Beginning with the purchase and importation of foreign vessels, and later by the construction of native vessels, often copied or under license from foreign shipyards, Alcovia now boasts a sizable river flotilla of some 150 vessels ranging in size and type from small coal-fueled patrol steamers to fully armored gunboats boasting multiple turrets.
Alcovian customs and border patrol vessel. This vessel is a conversion of a civilian river craft carrying light guns and a contingent of ASA border marines. Known affectionately by their crews as "Pirate Brigs". Service in the Apa Sirviciul Alcovia, is considered a service for cutthroats and desperate men. Operating far from the capital and with a great degree of autonomy, the sailors of this branch of Alcovian service are known for their brash, often loose adherence to the law. They are also renowned for a certain roguish nature and lack of couth that more “civilized” circles often find distasteful. For these reasons, ASA servicemen spend little time in central or western Alcovia and usually hail from the rougher eastern towns and villages who have a history of river piracy, wrecking and smuggling. In fact, many Alcovian sailors aren’t even from Alcovia at all, having been either pressed or recruited into service from foreign nations or from foreign vessels plying the Borka.

These foreign servicemen are most often confined to the ASA special border marines. Specializing in trans-riverine operations, hit and run and interdiction, these men are often sent on strike missions against targets across the river and into Iqenistani territory. These men are hard, often veterans or deserters from other country’s armed forces who pride themselves on their craftiness, skill in combat and the diehard attitudes. Their most famous mission to date was the storming of the river town of Kuzbhani in 1916 at the southern tip of the Iqenistani/Alcovian border where some 150 border marines rescued Countess Natavya Kishinug, daughter of king Ilya’s brother Ukko.

The princess had been abducted as a political prisoner when her private yacht was forced to dock in Kuzbhani after experiencing engine troubles on its return from the Black Sea. The military garrison commander of Kuzbhani, Rikan Alabash, had seized her from the residence of the city’s mayor Ulmor Fedaha. Alabash had hoped to use her as a bargaining chip in his own military and political agendas. When the border marines were through with their mission, however, Alabash was slain and the garrison of Kuzbhani devastated.

In the aftermath of this brief conflict, Fedaha insisted that Iqenistan not use this as an excuse for war by his people in a very public display of regret at the actions of his countryman, Alabash. In this operation, only three border marines were killed, all of their bodies returned to Alcovia where they were entombed as national heroes and the reputation of the border marines was reaffirmed and their national character established as the go-to men for dirty jobs.




A modern Alcovian "Bortha" class river monitor sporting two 15cm guns in a forwar turret. Six of these vessels built between the years of 1915 and 1925.

Future Heroes of Alcovia

Urban youngsters throughout Alcovia participate in state sponsored and supervised clubs that teach them the basics of combat and warfare. Diguised as scouting and club activities, the activities included in these groups instruct the children and youth of urban Alcovians in such elementary military staples as small unit tactics, field craft, as well as marksmanship in the various city rifle competitions.

As Alcovia has not the means for a true military academy, these boys clubs are the closest that young boys will ever get to an academic military education. Any Alcovian aristocrat that wishes a true academy education must travel abroad. In fact most of the Alcovian nobility have received their military educations in foreign lands, a practrice that Alcovian nobility sees as akin to the ancient practices of fostering - creating bonds with other nations through its children.

Right: Rubel Yugolev seen leading his mean in a march to defend Alcovia's eastern borders from Iqenistani raiders.

Still, the basic education in the art of war instilled in Alcovian children and youths in these clubs is much more than some other nations have to offer and the skills learned there can make the difference between being just another poor conscript and the leader of such men. Many Alcovian lietenants are conscripts that have a history in these organizations. At least one national hero, Rubel Yugolev, was a member of the renowned Kuslob Flag and Rifle Team.

Early Armor in Alcovia

The late Alcovian King Ilya Chubakov (1847-1920) and his heirs Ilya II, Ukko and Ullo were known for their fondness for armored vehicles. Ever since Ilya I saw their birth in Great War it had become his dream to one day hear the rumble and rattle of armored might crawling across Alcovia towards her enemies. Unfortunately, financial strife and a low technological base hampered Ilya's dreams beyond a few surplus German tanks, but it was a dream that burned on in his sons Ukko and Ullo.

In 1922, Prince Ukko, working with a conglomerate of Alcovian and Elistonian businessmen and a number of foreign investors, gambled on an enterprise to acquire several copies of foreign tanks for study by Alcovian engineers. The intent was to determine what designs were within the realm of possibility for the small nation both economically and technologically. If designs could be found that were within Alcovia's means, Ukku intended to begin production, either licensed or illegally, for the purposes of both national defense and export.

After considering several designs, Ukko's agents settled upon the now quite common FT-17 as a standard tank for use by the Alcovian military. The FT-17 was a widely used tank and Ukko figured that it would be nearly impossible for Alcovia to be cut off from supplies of parts and new vehicles until it was able to produce on its own. FT-17s were imported from a number of sources including France and Poland and were designated the TA22 for Tankovya Alcovia, Model 1922. In total, 35 of these tanks were initially imported.

By 1924, Alcovia had two factories manufacturing TA22s in both their original and the new TA22/24 which was a new version with more horsepower. In total, 54 TA22s and 32 TA22/24 tanks were built before the Royal Armories developed newer vehicles to phase out the FT-17 derived tanks. TA22s were never completely abandoned and continued in service into the 1940s in reserve roles.

The Bread Riot

Right: Artist's rendition of peasants storming a bakery during the Bread Riots.

In 1916, Alcovian common folk in the cities and townships rose up in angry protest against the discovered practice of mixing flower with sawdust and other fillers such as ground chaff and even chalk. This recent practice had been the handywork of bakers who themselves had been victimized by corrupt government grain suppliers who demanded steep kickbacks for the grain they provided.

After three months of on and off again protests and riots, government officials were forced to take action and rooted out at least a dozen corrupt officers from the Department of Agricultural Management. The DAM officers were later found to have amassed a considerable sum of money which, due to the illicit manner in which it was collected, had been shielded from taxation. This elevated their crimes to that of a crime against the state and they were summarily tried and hanged for their "treason".

In the following months the government dispatched bread trucks throughout the country delivery complimentary loaves of bread to townships and within the major cities. Civil order was restored but only after hundreds were killed in the unrest. The Bread Riots, as these events became known, marked a major change in government policies concerning the control of national resources. It should also be noted that rural Alcovia was relatively untouched by these events as local access to quality grain and other agricultural goods left them uneffected by the corruption of the DAM officers.

Alcovia Welcomes You

Greetings from the landlocked, modest nation of Alcovia. Small in size but packed with people willing (or not so) to give their bodies, lives, and souls for the greater good of their beloved Prince Ullo. Alcovia is known for its brooding citizens, its rabble-rousing poets and the singing horsemen of it's eastern steppes known as the Kuzaks.

I am basing Alcovia after no particular nation but a bit of a hodgepodge of this and that, cobbled together for the feel I want. There will be outdated cavalry, rattletrap armor, even a few planes of I'm lucky. I am still trying to figure out a specific concept for uniforms, though I am leaning toward Romanian for infantry and late 19th/early 20th century Russian for cavalry. Kuzaks will be directly based on Cossacks. The way I see it, Alcovia sits landlocked in Eastern Europe, bordering my mountainous other imag-nation of Elistonia on the west and the vaguely Ottoman imagi-nation of my friend, Iqenistan.

I'll be playing in 15mm to begin with, shifting figs originally pruchased for Chinese Warlord forces into service for these new imagi-nations.

-Eli