Poland

This is the first of my Alt-History ‘Modern’ forces.

As with the other forces I will be building I have taken the basis of the OOB from ‘The Military Balance 1994’. The only additions are the Reserve/Territorial forces that I have put together from what was available in the Cold War WOW & OTK organisations. The Border Guard Formations are based on the 1939 forces. I have taken the 1994 Air Force and swapped the Soviet aircraft for corresponding ‘Western’ types by looking at the Wikipedia entry for the Soviet plane and picking a new one from the ‘See Also’ section – nice and simple and adds some randomness. All TO&E’s have been gleaned from the ‘MicroMark’ Army List sets and adapted for Fistful of TOWS 3. To get the mix of kit for the Army I have used whatever non-Soviet equipment the Poles use and added the equipment of the Nigerian Army too as I wanted to use Vickers MBT’s as the Polish indigenous tanks and I liked their mix of APC’s!

In this timeline Poland is an important player in Europe and since the 30’s they have had good relationships with France and Great Britain who helped them in the 1950’s war against the Soviet Union. The Alliance with France and Britain also helps mitigate the threat from Germany, that still simmers from having to hand over East Prussia and parts of Pommerania following their defeat in the 1938 war with the Czechs that Poland helped turn the tide in. Poland is also one of the countries that ensures the independence of the Baltic states and regularly sends units there to take part in exercises.

Sandwiched between the Soviets and the Germans Poland has one of the largest militaries in Europe and is well served by their domestic arms industry that either produces their own equipment, tanks for example, or licence builds, such as some of their APC’s, and have enjoyed some moderate export success’.

All posts regarding the actual formations that I build will be found on the corresponding tabs from this page.

The Polish Army

4 Corp HQ’s

• Helicopter Battalion
• Artillery Brigade
• Engineer Brigade
• 2 SAM Regiments
• 3 Regular Divisions from:
  • 10 Mechanised Divisions
  • 1 Armoured Cavalry Division
  • 1 Marine Division
  • 3 Reserve Motorised Divisions
• 1 Brigade from:
  • Armoured Brigade
  • Podhale Rifles Mountain Brigade
  • Guards Mechanised Regiment
  • Infantry Brigade

Army Troops

• Air Assault Brigade
• Para Brigade
• Special Forces Battalion
• 2 SAM Regiments
• Air Defence Brigade
• 2 Reserve Infantry Regiments
• 4 Reserve Pontoon Regiments
• 3 Reserve Engineer Regiments

Territorial Defence

• 13 Territorial Regiments
• 2 Chemical Defence Battalions
• 1 Engineer Battalion (Road/Bridge)

Border Guard

• 14 Battalions

Polish Air Force (Planes in game terms)

• 5 Tactical Air Wings
  • 2 Ground Attack Squadrons @ 6 Jaguar
  • 4 Fighter Bomber Sqdns @ 6 Mirage IIIPl
  • 1 Lt GA Sqdn @ 5 PZL TS-11 Iskra
  • 1 Training/Recce Sqdn @ 5 PZL TS-11 Iskra
• 1 Air Defence Wing
  • 4 Interceptor Sqdns @ 6 Viggen F.37
  • 1 FGA Sqdn @ 7 F-16 Falcon
  • 1 Training/Recce Sqdn @ 5 PZL I-22 Iryda
• 1 Recce Wing
  • 2 Recon Sqdns @ 6 Mirage III
• Training Command
  • 5 Training Sqdns @ 10 PZL TS-11 Iskra
• Transport Command
  • 1 Utility Heli Sqdn @ 6 Pzl-3
  • 1 Heavy Lift Heli Sqdn @ 3 Super Frelon
  • 2 Medium Lift Heli Sqdns @ 10 Puma
  • 1 Light Transport Sqdn @ 9 Pzl M-28
  • 1 Transport Sqdn @ 5 G.222 & 1 C-130 Hercules
  • 1 Jet Transport Squadron @ 5 Fokker F.28
• 14 Base Defence Sqdns @ 4 Roland-1

Polish Navy

• 3 Submarines
• 1 Destroyer
• 1 Frigate
• 4 Corvettes
• 7 Missile Craft
• Patrol
  • 2 Coastal Patrol Vessels
  • 19 Inshore Patrol Vessels
• Mine Warfare
  • 6 Minesweeper (MSC)
  • 17 Minesweeper (MSL)
  • 1 Minesweeper (MHL)
• Amphibious
  • 1 Command Ship
  • 5 LSM (135 troops, 9 tanks)
  • 3 LCU
• Naval Aviation
  • 3 Strike Squadrons @ 7 Buccaneer
  • SAR Sqdn @ 6 Pzl W-3 Sokol
  • ASW Sqdn @ 7 Sea King
  • Recce Sqdn @ 7 Pzl TS-11 Iskra
• Coastal Defence
  • 7 Gun Battalions
  • 3 SSM Battalions