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.

Second Foray

I'm having a week off work, busy doing nothing other than a bit of painting and recharging my batteries. Today I finished reading Volumes 5 & 6 of Charley's War, which I bought as inspiration for my WW1 games. I'm at the stage in the story where Charley is at Étaples, where the mutiny kicked-off. The writers notes refer to the use of a "red" flag and the suggestion of socialist revolutionary ideas, which makes for a fascinating kick off point for an earlier "Very British Civil War".

I imagine had a successful revolution taken place then Britain would have withdrawn from the war, leaving France to face Germany, perhaps with American help? Alternatively, the British civil war would have caused enormous turmoil within the Empire, but ultimately failed then we might have seen the German army splitting British forces from the French and demanding terms for the French to surrender. One could then imagine that the Americans then arrive to draw the war out for another two or three years before some new resolution is achieved.

Malta Fever by C.V.Usborne

Now this is a rare gem of a book. Published in 1936 and written by C.V.Usborne (a Rear Admiral that served in the Mediterranean in WW1 - more of which later) the novel has Malta as the backdrop to what is essentially a spy story with an 'imagi-nation' twist. The story revolves around two brothers in the navy and the fact that one is in debt and the other has just been passed over for promotion and has the misfortune to have some secret war plans stolen from him and is thus accused of being a traitor. After various twists and turns including a court martial the older brother is cleared and promoted to Captain. As, perhaps, a sign of the times in which this was written (mid 30's), the story contains the obligatory 'oily foreigner', a plucky and game English rose (I keep having this image of Kate Winslett portraying her!), a bluff old Admiral in charge of the Mediterranean fleet, some cocktail parties, horse racing and even the essential 'salt of the earth' cockney type gunners. The character of the Admiral seems to have been loosely based on Admiral Cunningham - even down to the 'drooping and watery eyes' and the forthright nature in which the said Admiral conducted himself. To be honest the story is very shallow and borderline jingoistic and could not by any stretch of the imagination be classed as a great work of literature but nevertheless it does have a lot of commendable content and a certain period charm.

I enjoyed the description of the court martial from the procedural perspective and the references to naval protocol but the book is relatively light in terms of technical detail (again probably a reflection of the times as much as anything).

Kandavia as a Mediterranean power was deemed to be up there with both France and Italy in the estimation of the Foreign Office and the Admiralty. The country arose out of the turmoil at the end of WW1 and although not located specifically has been attempting to negotiate with another 'imagi-nation' - Urgay - for a large Mediterranean port to make use of the economic boom occasioned by the discovery of numerous gold reserves. The country has a British trained navy based on small vessels - destroyers, torpedo boats and submarines as well as a powerful air force. Key to the story is the location of a squadron of 'super bombers' made from an elasticated metal that is impervious to bullets. This bullet proof skin is eventually overcome by the scientists operating in Woolwich (specifically a Scottish scientist!) designing a special type of ammunition that is able to penetrate the metal.

The whereabouts of the squadron of super bombers is eventually traced to Kandavia and the discovery of the same is what enables the older of the two brothers to eventually clear his name.

The threat to Malta is emphasised although the air defences are far better than what was historically available. The impact of Franco's Spain and Hitler's Germany is also thrown into the mix as well as the relative impotence of the League of Nations.

The author has written a couple of non fiction titles including one which covers small scale naval actions in the Mediterranean during WW1 as well as the invasion of Morocco so I will endeavour to locate these as well as both subjects are of interest to me.

I must confess that the idea of Kandavia really appeals to me and so I shall try to research both the author and the background to see if any further details can be gleaned.

At the very least both Balkrunia and Karagoz will now have some company......................;-)

The Chaco War - Resources on YouTube

Having watched part of today’s football match between Paraguay and Slovakia (which the Paraguayans won by two goals to nil) prompted me to do some online research into the Chaco War. What surprised me was how much there was available on YouTube!

By using the simple search request ‘Chaco War’ I found the following :

• Chaco War – Paraguay-Bolivia 1932-1935
• La Guerra Del Chaco, Petróleo?
• Guerra del Chaco
  • Part 1
  • Part 2
  • Part 3
  • Part 4
  • Part 5
  • Part 6
  • Part 7
  • Part 8
  • Part 9
  • Part 10
  • Part 11
• The Chaco War (N.B. It is worth noting that this was produced by a High School pupil!)

The quality of some of the film used is quite poor, but this does not detract from the fact that these are a very useful source of inspiration to anyone interested in the Interbellum period.

There are probably a lot more such resources out there; it is just a case of finding them!

Latest draft of my Interbellum rules is now available

After a few struggles and diversions along the way, I have finally managed to complete the latest draft of my INTERBELLUM rules, and they are available in PDF format as a download from my Interbellum website.

Please note that the rules are password protected; the password is 'interbellum'.

The rules do incorporate some ideas from my previous rules, WHEN EMPIRES CLASH!. In particular there are now rules for the use of Transport Units as well as a whole new section at the end that sets out rules for the use of aircraft over the battlefield. The rules have yet to be play-tested (or even properly proof read!), but I set myself the goal of finishing the draft today ... and managed it!

New 15mm Montenegrans

Irregular Miniatures have just released 15mm WW1 Montenegrans:

SBWM1	Montenegran infantry (in many assorted positions) 22/5/10	A
SBWM2	Montenegran Machine gun & 2 crew 22/5/10	F
SBWM3	Montenegran officer 22/5/10	A
SBWM4	Montenegran gun & 4 crew 22/5/10

No pics but they should be perfect for 'Bolkans' imagi-wars whether as regular or irregular forces.

There's also more pics of the 15/20mm guns on their Really Useful Gun page.

Cheers
Mark

More truth from THE TRUTH?

Further to their recent revelations, THE TRUTH has published more images of prototype self-propelled artillery based on the FT-17 chassis.

The first picture shows one of the previously featured prototypes, but this time the photograph has been taken from the side of the vehicle.

The second prototype is different from those already featured in that the armament is reputed to be a 149mm howitzer. The latter has been fitted with an armoured shield that offers some protection to the crew.

It is worth noting that none of these designs allow the armament to traverse more than a few degrees, and that half the designs have armament that faces towards the rear of the chassis. These designs give the artillery mobility, but not the ability to be used offensively.

THE TRUTH prints ... the truth?

Further to its recent article about self-propelled artillery that uses the FT-17 chassis, THE TRUTH (the official newspaper of the Soviet Peoples' United Republic) has printed the following photographs.

The first photograph shows a vehicle where the 75mm gun is mounted in a fixed position low down in the hull front. Whilst this would make it very easy to use the gun where the range is short and the crew needed to be protected by armour, it is difficult to understand how it could be used to provide traditional artillery support.

The second vehicle has obviously been designed to use the tracks and lower hull of the FT-17 to provide a means of moving a 75mm gun over difficult terrain. However, the fact that the gun faces towards the rear of the hull seems to show that it could not be used offensively as it could not engage targets as it advanced.

The third vehicle seems to combine the best aspects of both of the previous prototypes. Its gun faces forward, which means that it can be used offensively, whilst the crew platform at the rear provides some shelter to the crew on a fire-swept battlefield.

THE TRUTH did not provide any further information about these prototypes, and their country or countries of origin are unknown. Only time will tell if these prototypes are the progenitors of a whole new breed of self-propelled artillery.

Self-propelled Artillery prototypes

The latest issue of THE TRUTH, the official newspaper of the Soviet Peoples' United Republic, has published an as yet unsubstantiated report that they have obtained pictures of several self-propelled artillery prototypes based on existing FT-17 tank chassis.

The article does not give any indication where these photographs were obtained nor which country has built these prototypes. One can only hope that they will publish these photographs and further information as soon as possible.

Interbellum sources and resources

I have continued to add both fiction and non-fiction books to my Interbellum website.

So far all the fiction books I have added are ones that were written during the inter-war period, but I expect to include non-contemporary ones is due course. In the case of the non-fiction books I have selected those which were either written during the inter-war era or which mainly deal with wars, campaigns, and/or weapons from that time period.

The website is still in its early stages of development, and I still have lots of stuff that I can add to it in due course. At some time in the future I also intend to add pages that cover films that were either made during the inter-war era or that cover incidents from the 1920s and 1930s.