Flames of War: The Black Brigade 2: 10th Mounted Rifles Regiment (10. Pulk Strzelcow Konnych)

So, in our continuing series of Black Brigade related blog posts we come to the 10th Mounted Rifles Regiment (or in Polish: 10. Pulk Strzelcow Konnych)

History

The regimental badge of the 10th Mounted Rifles Regiment

The history of the 10. PSK goes back to 1918 when it was formed as a cavalry squadron in Lamandria di Chavasso near Turin, Italy. The regiment was formed under the leadership of Jan Rudnicki with his second in command being Lieutenant Kazimierz Dworak (who incidentally would, in the September Campaign be at the helm of the 24th Uhlans, fighting alongside 10.PSK as a part of the Black Brigade).

After the formation of the cavalry group the first squadron was sent to Poland, reaching their first Polish railway station at Leszno on 29th April 1919. This date has been celebrated by the regiment ever since with an annual feast for the regiment and a pilgrimage being undertaken by a regimental delegation.

10 Pulk Strzelcow Konnych on the march in 1921

On arriving in Leszno the squadron went straight into combat as a constituent part of the 11th Infantry Division (11DP). It was fighting in the vicinity of Lwow as a reserve squadron of cavalry for the division and later on as support for the 4th regiment of Lancers, where it was transferred to the borders of Silesia (Slask) and Zaglebia.

Nikolas Minkusz. Commander
of 10 PSK 1921 - 1929

During the Polish Bolshevik War the regiment participated in the battle of Radzymin, eventually finishing their combat duties in Slutsk. By order of the Ministry of the Interior, on October 27th 1921 the squadron was transformed into a regiment and given the name 10th Regiment of Mounted Rifles. It was designated the town of Lancut (pronounced Won-sUt) as its garrison depot and the nearby town of Hruszow was allocated as area station for the 4th Squadron.

The Gatehouse to the barracks of 10 PSK in Lancut

In 1923 the Regiment was presented with its banner, instituted by the citizenry of Lancut and Lezajsk and this was followed up in 1927 with a regimental crest being established.

10 PSK heavy machine gun squadron with tczankas in 1929

The 10.PSK was chosen to become a part of the first Polish Motorised Cavalry Brigade with its final order of battle of 1939 comprising

4 Motorised Rifle Squadrons each of 3 infantry and 1 HMG platoons

1 Motorised Heavy Machine Gun Squadron of 12 CKM wz.30 HMG's and 2 81mm Mortars

1 Anti Tank Platoon of 3 37mm Bofors wz.36 Anti tank guns.
1 Communications Platoon
1 Motorcycle Platoon
1 Pioneer Platoon

10 PSK officers and NCO's with dignitaries in Zaolzie 1938

As a part of the 10th Motorised Cavalry Brigade they took part in the occupation of the Zaolzia region.

The September Campaign of 1939

Jan Bokszczanin. Commander
of 10 PSK in 1939 only

The 10.PSK fought as a part of the 10th Motorised Brigade from the start of the campaign until they crossed the border with the rest of the Brigade on 19th September into Hungary so there seems little point in duplicating the information here. Now, when all is said and done this is such an involved area and crammed with so much detail where 10.PSK are concerned that I will direct all those who are interested to go and have a look at Maczeks biography part 4 that I will be posting as that is the one that deals with the September Campaign.

Further Information

The regiment as a whole was awarded the Virtuti Militari

The Silver Cross of the Virtuti Militari was awarded to:

Lt.Col. Janusz Bokszczanin
Rtm. Aleksander Stanko - Posthumously
Jerzy Wazilewski
Ppor. Nicodemus Kluz
Plut Leon Szeweniak
Plut Karol Walczak
Kpr Jan Kanski - Posthumously
Kpr Jozef Manka - Posthumously
Kpr Leon Uberman - Posthumously

The staff of the regiment on 1st September 1939 is listed as:

Commander - pplk (dypl) Janusz Bokszczanin
2iC - Mjr (dipl) Stanislaw Guzowski
Quartermaster - por. Joseph Damanus
Intelligence and Information Officer - ppor. Jerzy Ostrzycki
Technical Officer - rtm. Adam Mackus
Doctor - por. Antoni Kominek
Adjutant - por. Marian Czarnecki
II Adjutant - por. Jan Salwa
Chaplain - ks. Franciszek Sudol
Communications Platoon - por. Ludwik Malinowski
Motorcycle Platoon - por. Jerzy Wasilewski
Anti Tank Platoon - plut. Konstanty Bieniasz
1st Squadron Motorised Rifles - rtm. Antoni Tomkowicz
2nd Squadron Motorised Rifles - rtm. Wincenty Polit
3rd Squadron Motorised Rifles - rtm. Wlodzimierz Korykowski
4th Squadron Motorised Rifles - por. Herman Cieslinski
Heavy Machine Gun Squadron - rtm. Jan Sikorski
Special Section (Pioneers) - Mjr. Emil Slacanski

According to the returns the strength of the 10th Mounted Rifles regiment on 1st September 1939 was:

Officer: 34
Soldiers: 940
LMG's: 43
HMG's: 20
Anti Tank Guns: 3
Transport vehicles: 105
Motorcycles: 66

Modelling the 10th Mounted Rifles Regiment

As is normal for me I stuck the entire element; command, troops and support to lengths of wooden baton to facilitate churning them all out in one go. I remember when I were a wee nipper and a sucker for Games Workshop I used to try painting regiments one miniature at a time... and got really frustrated that I never seemed to finish anything. That is, until I discovered 15mm Napoleonics in my 20's and all of a sudden wooden sticks seemed to fix all of my problems...

A mounted rifle company of the 10th Mounted Rifles with HMG support and transport elements

Painting the Textile Uniforms

The lions share of colour on the troops of the Black Brigade is almost exactly that of Polish Cavalry (which, when one considers the fact that they wore mostly cavalry uniforms, shouldn't come as much of a surprise!). I undercoat/prime in black, put a base coat of Vallejo Brown Violet on followed by a highlight of Vallejo Green Brown. Then I use a thinned (with white spirits) filter of AK Interactive Filter for Nato Vehicles, leave to dry and then use cotton buds/cue tips soaked in white spirits to wipe it off the surface of... everywhere! Finally I apply a matt varnish to seal it before painting anything else.

The command elements of the mounted rifle company

The staff car next to a road sign for Lancut, the garrison town of the 10th Mounted rifles

The helmets are done in almost the same way except instead of Vallejo Green Brown, the highlight is done with Vallejo Khaki Grey. The difference is minimal but it is there.

Painting the Leather Jackets

Leather is leather is leather, and that means its brown... even when its black! :D I undercoat the leather jackets of the Black Brigade troops with Vallejo German Camo. Black Brown. This then has three coats of black ink put over it, or at least enough so that there is only the merest hint of brown in the final appearance. Once these coats are dry, I drybrush all of the leather coat with a subtle (or not so subtle in some of my cases!) Vallejo Yellow Ochre.

A rifle platoon of the 10th Mounted Rifles with its anti tank rifle support and transport elements

A closer look at the anti tank rifle base

At this point the jackets will look like they have nosedived. Dont worry, its intentional. The Yellow Ochre is only a supporting chroma and will be almost totally disguised by the final step whilst still adding its organic feel to the overall leather-i-ness!

A closer look at the section leader base for one of the mounted rifle sections

The reverse side of the above mentioned base

The final step on the leather jackets is to use Vallejo Ivory, or Vallejo Offwhite to paint fine lines on the most pronounced areas of the jackets, with the occasional line (just two or three should be fine) wet blended into the background of the jacket.

Another of the mounted rifles bases showing the scratch built basing details to good effect

The reverse of the above base

Painting the Ammo Pouches and Y-Harness

The Black Brigade were still wearing cavalry uniforms and as such the ammo pouches and Y-Harness (or Yolk, depending on what terminology you use) was made of brown leather. For this I base coated them Vallejo Chocolate Brown and then highlighted with Vallejo Flat Earth

Another base for the mounted rifle section being looked at

The last of the four bases for the section being looked at with its household debris and light machine gunner.

Painting the Canvas Bags  (WSR wz.32 Gas Mask Bag)

A look at one of the other mounted rifle platoons

Occasionally some of the Brigade troopers and more likely the officers would carry Canvas bags (These would carry gas masks if the officer/trooper in question did not carry a gas mask tin) on canvas straps.These were painted with a base coat of Vallejo German Field Grey and highlighted with Vallejo Green Grey

A top down view of the mounted rifles platoon mentioned above

Painting the RCS Gas Mask Tin

A small piece of equipment but quite important as it provides a colour contrast on the miniature itself. The tin itself is basecoated with Vallejo German Camo. Dark Green and then highlighted, by painting bars on the basecoat in a 1:1 mix of Vallejo Yellow Olive and Vallejo Dark Yellow with a final glaze of Vallejo Russian Green being applied to the top. This step may seem overly detailed for such a tiny element but when you are painting 50+ troops at a time it doesnt seem so bad... and looks good so happy days!

Painting the Rifles and LMG's

The HMG section that is provided with the mounted rifles company along with their Polski Fiat 508 III Furgon transports.

All wooden components of the weapons are basecoated with Vallejo German Camo. Medium Brown and then the grain of the wood is simulated by painting highlights in stripes along the weapon with Vallejo Beige Brown. All of the metal components are painted with Molten Metals Steel paint and the canvas straps are painted with Vallejo Khaki Grey

A closer look at one of the HMG bases clearly showing the NCO's leather jacket

A look at the reverse of the above mentioned base.

Painting the Vehicles

So, just a staff car (Polski Fiat 508 Lazik), a couple of pick up trucks (Polski Fiat 508 III Furgons) and a stack of trucks (Polski Fiat 621L Ursus') to paint then! 

A quick look at the home made Polski Fiat 508 III furgons provided to the HMG section

A look at the rear of the two Furgons mentioned above

...and all done to exactly the same methods as described on the Black Brigade Part 1 Command and Control Units.... go see! :D

So, there we have it. One complete Squadron for use as my 10th Mounted Rifles Regiment completed.

All comments welcome. Lets open a dialogue eh?

Now troops, I think its time to FIX BAYONETS!!!!!!!

Flames of War: Polish Cavalry - The Dismounted Elements

After my last post, outlining the sum total of all of my mounted Polish Cavalry elements I thought it would be a great idea for my next post (i.e this one for those that struggle with inference) to be one that covers all of my dismounted elements for my Flames of War 19th Volhynian Uhlans... Not just the Dismounted Infantry and Horse Holders  in one post and Artillery and Anti Tank pieces in another! No! All together in one post... and all completed by the end of play 2016!

What I didn't realise when I started out on this epic slog was that I was, in point of fact, being an absolute clown shoe!

27 pots of paint, 2 spray cans of Varnish, 4 destroyed paintbrushes, 3 rolls of toilet roll (no comment!), a box of sand, bottomless pots of tea and a conveyor belt of coffee... and of course she who must be obeyed being deported to Poland for the duration and 7 looooooooooong weeks later; I have finally crossed the finishing line!

Thank God!

2016 is done and I have a clean sheet for new projects going into 2017.

So there isn't much to say with regards to the painting as the colours for the Polish cavalry uniforms are the same as for the infantry so I'll just get straight into it all.

The Horse Holders

These are all Forged in Battle Miniatures and whilst I don't think the horses themselves are as good as the True North miniatures they are a country mile ahead of Battlefronts pathetic attempts. The handlers themselves are also well cut and take paint well.

I have done a base for each of my mounted cavalry sections.

The Dismounted Uhlan Companies

The meat and gravy of any Polish Cavalry army for Flames of War. Absolutely hard core troops rated as Fearless Veteran! The best in the game. Dig these guys in and your opponents will need to call in Balfour Beatty to dig them out of your table again. Not particularly hard hitting, as they are only rifle teams BUT each platoon is accompanied by its own anti tank rifle team which in 1939 is not as much of a joke as you may think, especially as the Polish wz.35 'Ur' anti material rifle was a lot better than anybody elses at the start of the war.

These miniatures are predominantly Forged in Battle Miniatures although unfortunately FiB do not provide anti tank rifles for the Polish cavalry range and so these are provided by the excellent Polish range from True North Miniatures owned by Old Glory UK. The reason I chose FiB for the majority of my Dismounted Uhlans is principally because of the sculpts  which include some absolutely beautiful miniatures such as those firing their carbines. The only down side that I ever see from FiB is evidence of mould deterioration with some of the faces being very indistinct.

The True North Miniatures are my favourite overall choice because the sculpts are of a high enough standard, and in any case streets ahead of market leaders Battlefront Miniatures. They lend themselves to conversions well and are sculpted with enough depth that they take paint well enough to disguise any shortcomings... and of course a range of miniatures that is more wide ranging than anybody else for the Polish. The shortcomings being occasional inaccuracies of uniforms and very low quality vehicles sculpts.

I am, if nothing else, really fussy about the quality of the miniature that I will use in an army I choose to model. If there are alternatives I will ALWAYS choose the quality option. 

Heavy Machine Gun Platoon

As the rest of the boots on ground are only rifle teams the Heavy Machine Gun platoon provides some heavier firepower which when dug in is pretty much immovable!

There isn't anybody worth considering, other than True North miniatures who produces Polish Cavalry Heavy Machine Guns,  although I believe Alex (of Anatoli's Games Room) has used FiB French Heavy Machine Guns to represent them. As I have ordered plenty of stuff from True North however and liking their miniatures I decided to go ahead and order my heavy machine guns from them.

These do exactly as they say on the tin.

Dismounted Cavalry Anti Tank Platoon

In the Polish army of 1939 the anti tank workhorse was the excellent Swedish designed Bofors 37mm anti tank gun designated wz.36 37mm AT. Poland had license to produce these in country and was able to turn out quite a few before the war started and provided its thirteen cavalry brigades with a far above average ratio. The individual platoons was also provided for to a greater degree  with each platoon having two sections of two guns.

A wz.36 with cavalry crew set up and ready to pour it on!

A trained crew could fire 12 aimed rounds a minute from one of these and penetrate up to 40mm of armour at 300 metres at anything up to 60 degrees. Not to be sneezed at as in the German and Soviet armies of 1939 not a single armoured vehicle in their arsenals carried more than this. At just under a mile away this gun could still penetrate about 15mm of armour plating under ideal conditions.

Guns and crew are provided by True North miniatures again whilst on the command base the guy waving is a Forged in Battle miniature whilst the other two are also True North.

Now, the horse limbers are provided by Battlefront Miniature and took me about a year to get a hold of. As you can see, if you compare the quality of the horses next to horses provided by True North or even FiB you can see that the Battlefront horses are of a far FAR lower quality... however, at least they aren't so bad that the paint peels off of them in an effort to get away.

You can see the small pneumatic tyres provided on the limber in this photograph

The limbers themselves have had some small modifications to make them more in line with Polish cavalry AT gun limbers. Quite simply the wheels were replaced with small pneumatic tyres which I had spare from previous 37mm AT gun models from True North.

The limber crewman didn't need much work as the uniform that they are sculpted with are very nondescript but instead I limited myself to some head swaps and filing the puttees until they looked like full cavalry boots.

Bosh! Job done!

Horse Artillery Battery

These were considered the cream of the crop in a Polish army. Poland did not have ANY elite troops in 1939. The Cavalry and the Mountain Infantry were considered the best along with a limited number of the Korpus Ochrony Pogranicza (KOP - Border Protection Corp) battalions that had been well provided for. Within the Cavalry however the tradition of the Horse Artillery was maintained. They were the hardest trained and the highest skilled.

Following the surrender of the Soviet Union to Poland in 1921 Poland was left with a healthy amount of artillery pieces. There were more than a few 3" Putilov's (the ubiquitous 'Orthodox's') available and so the Polish rechambered them from 76.2mm to 75mm Polish ammunition and handed to thecavalry.

A Polish 75mm showing how the caisson would be set up next to it for easy access to ammunition

One of my pet hates about Battlefront miniatures is that their ranges are rife with incorrect provisions for the troop types in question and being pointed towards using incorrect miniatures to represent something gets me a little hot under the collar! Because Battlefronts artillery are all for Piechoty (Infantry) with even the guns being the incorrect versions, let alone infantry being called upon to represent cavalry I decided I needed to go my own way again.

A Polish 75mm showing how it would be limbered and drawn

True Norths 75mm's are badly sculpted so I needed another option and I found it in Peter Pigs World War 1 Russian range. By happy coincidence I also decided to utilise some other pieces from Peter Pigs ranges, such as the Sign Post on the mounted spotter base and the table, chairs and periscope on the Staff Team base.

The artillery, command, staff and spotter crews are all provided from True North Miniatures again. 

The mounted spotter had a slight conversion done on him to provide myself with a mounted spotting team. I took a mounted cavalry officer and removed his sword arm. I took a kneeling officer with binoculars and shaved his right arm away from his body keeping his binoculars in hand and removing the left hand from them. This right arm was then drilled and pinned onto the body of the mounted officer.

Personally, I like what I came up with!

...and there you have it! My completed Pulk Kawalerii! Of course there are other elements that the Polish cavalry in Flames of War can field such as Reconnaissance tank platoons and armoured car platoons, along with Motorised Anti Aircraft batteries as well as Infantry and KOP companies and Light Gun and Howitzer batteries from Infantry Divisions. All of these have already been painted previously... as the following photos of my completed army demonstrate! :D

The only thing left to do for Polish Cavalry which I am unlikely ever to field is a dismounted cyclist company, although they could make for an interesting modelling project at some point having tracked down a single photograph of a dismounted cyclist section on exercise and I reckon I could knock them up without much bother... but that's for another time I think!

Dismounted Cavalry Cyclist section. Uniforms are identical to mounted cavalry even down to the spurs!

Fix Bayonets!