Polish Infantry Platoon Command Command,

The Polish Infantry Platoon Command unit leads
Polish Rifle squads into battle with a fierce
determination. They are protecting their homeland from
the Fascist invaders. All they need to do is buy time and
fight a withdrawing action to allow the French or
Romanians to come to their aid!
Alas, that aid was not to come and the valiant
defenders of Poland would ultimately be defeated in the
opening month of one of the greatest conflagrations to
engulf Europe and eventually the world.
However, the end results do not convey any
information about the abilities of the outnumbered
defenders.
“The performance of the Polish military can perhaps
be put into proper perspective by comparing it to that of
the Western Allies in the spring of 1940. The Poles,
only partially mobilized and vastly outnumbered, held
out for 36 days and inflicted heavy losses on the
Germans. The British, French, Belgians, and Dutch had
almost nine months of mobilization to prepare. When
war did come to the West, the Allies had near parity in
ground and air forces, an actual superiority in tanks and
outright superiority at sea…[yet were defeated in a 39
day campaign] It is therefore, almost impossible to
avoid the conclusion that the Poles in 1939 fought far
better than the French and British did in 1940.
(Zabecki, “Invasion of Poland”, p.34)
The higher Morale and movement special abilities only
apply when the messenger functions as a messenger outside
of the Command radius of both the Platoon leader and
Platoon NCO.
Self-Rally: Almost constantly on the defensive and experts
at the fighting withdrawal the Poles had become adept at
pulling the troops back together when separated. All
members of the Polish Infantry Platoon Command are able
to self-rally using their normal Morale as opposed to using
½ Morale.
The ATR and Mortar are crewed by the remaining
members of the Platoon Command section and all rules for
ATR’s and Mortars apply.
Options:
Medic: The Company Headquarters Section of the
Polish Infantry Company had 4 stretcher bearers at their
disposal when needed in battle. A stretcher bearer can
function under the Medic rules for a cost of 30 points. When
allocated to the platoon the medic functions as a member of
the Platoon Command Section

Polish Infantry Platoon Command Special Rules

Platoon Leader The Platoon is lead ably by a

lieutenant who can help rally any platoon member and
he can direct the fire of the ATR section or the mortar
crew. All Leader rules are in effect.
Platoon NCO The Platoon NCO may assume
command of the Infantry platoon in the event of the
Platoon leader’s demise in combat. All Leaders rules
are in effect.
Observer: The Platoon observer can be a very
useful asset. He controls the communications with the
company commander and artillery assets. As the Polish
Army made more extensive use of field phones than
radios, all rules for Field Phones are in effect.
Messenger: The runner of the Platoon Command
functions as messenger to run information from the
Platoon commander to the squad leaders. The
following special abilities apply:
Higher Morale: All messengers Morale is one
point higher than normal per Troop Quality type.
Example: Veteran Messengers have a Morale
(ML) of 13.
Movement: Messengers receive an additional
inch of movement per action, giving them 6” as
opposed to the normal 5” per action.

Battleground World War II