FoW: Infantry Platoons Obrona Narodowa (National Defence)

The Polish Obrona Narodowa (National Defence) was the Polish Second Republics equivalent to our Home Guard and existed between 1937 and 1939.

In this time the manpower for the organisation as a whole was drawn from politically reliable individuals who initially did not have call up papers for any other organisation or who were not already serving members of the armed forces, although as time went by these restrictions were loosened.

Three platoons of a Type IV Battalion National Defence Company

Different areas of Poland had different forms of National Defence Battalions and all of them went through an endemic process of adjustment and refinement right up until the outbreak of hostilities in 1939. Not all of these changes were for the good however with the Battalion command structure being marginalised in favour of the command process being undertaken by divisional or other allocated coimmanders who neither knew the quality of the troops he was representing or else were unable to grasp the combat limitations that the structure of these formations imposed upon them.

Because of the staggered establishment of these battalions and the constant modifications that the troops went through on their way to war, the net result was that there was a massive variety in quality of combat value for these battalions which ranged from troops being able to conduct operations of no more complexity than glorified behind the lines police duties which was common around the southern borders of the country to Lwow in the Type I Battalions, right up to the formations that were so well trained and with such high elan that they were considered the equal of any of the regular troops (albeit lacking somewhat in arms and equipment) such as the National Defence troops to be found in Silesia and with the Coastal Land Defence along the Baltic coastline such as the Silesian Type III battalions and the Baltic Type IV battalions.

There were two main formats that the infantry platoons of the National Defence took. Both types had three sections (or teams as they are termed in Polish) but the sections for each type took different shape.

A WIP of the Intelligence Briefing's Combat Platoons page...

With the first type of platoon, found in the Type IV and Type S battalions, there were three sections of equal size, 14 men apiece and with no LMG's although just before the outbreak of war it seems that some of these battalions started to have LMG's provided to them in order to give them more clout in the field. 

Three platoons of a Type I, II and III Battalion National Defence Company

The second type of platoon that was prevalent in the Type I, II and III Battalions also had three sections in each although in this case each section only had 10 men. In the second phase of the National Defence development these platoons were each supplied with one LMG fire team which was added to the first section of each platoon. This gave an overall structure of one section of 14 men with an LMG and two sections of ten men armed only with rifles.

A typical command base for my National Defence... defenders of faith and fatherland!

The next area to be looked at in a little more detail could perhaps be the weapons that the Obrona Narodowa infantry platoons were provided with then they were founded.

If anything told a story of how the ON fared in 1939 a lot of their troubles could be boiled down to this!

A typical Type IV infantry section. Nout but rifles!

Poland, by 1937, was very happily producing its own small arms but, being a largely agrarian country with a significant dirth of industrial capacity they were simply incapable of adequately providing for the needs of its regular armed forces let alone a new experiment such as the National Defence.

frontal view of the above

As a result of this when these battalions were initially established they were forced to supply them with weaponry gradually, and even then from retired stocks of ex world war one weapons such as the Austro-Hungarian Mannlicher M1895 which was widely regarded as having little practical use and were mainly retained by the Blue Police (Policja Państwowa ) or else the French Lebel wz.86/93's or Berthier 07/15-16's which were the most common weapons available to the National Defence due to the large amounts that had been purchased for use when Poland was fighting with the Communists in 1920.

...and the obligatory rear view of the above above!

One of the biggest problems encountered by the National Defence in 1939 was the supplies of ammunition with which they were given. Frequently they discovered under combat conditions that the ammunition that they had been provided with was the wrong type and couldn't therefore be used.

They would have to have a mad scramble to dig up usable ammunition from somewhere as a result of this...

A typical command section of a Type I infantry platoon. A blue Christ because they are feeling pretty blue about things!

Where the light machine guns was concerned the choices were limited here as well to retired stocks of barely functioning weapons.

The majority of the National Defence light machine gun requirements were fulfilled with the heavy but accurate and fast rate of fire German Lkm 7.92mm wz. 08/15 "Maxim" or in much reduced numbers the Rkm 7.92mm wz.15 "Chauchat". The Chauchat could fire both single shot and fully automatic although its rate of fire wasn't great. The benefit of this however was that this quality gave the weapon a greater longevity than other weapons accessible to the National Defence although the complexity of the weapon itself caused difficulties in cleaning the weapon and thus frequent jamming.

A view of a full Type I, II & III infantry platoon

There were very few handguns issued to the reserve officers and NCO's of the National Guard unless they were provided for by themselves and were instead usually equipped with the same rifles as their men.

A Type I second phase infantry section with its additional LMG team

A rear view of the same infantry section

Where uniforms are concerned the National Defence suffered the same problems as with their weaponry. There simply weren't enough stocks of modern pieces to equip this second tier force.

A view of a normal Type I, II & III infantry section of only 10 men.

At inception, they were frequently issued with the old pre 1936 uniforms with the characteristic leg wrap puttees and adrian helmets. It is this particular uniform that I have chosen to model my company on.

A rear view of the above infantry section

As time went by and new battalions were raised and established they would be provided with more up to date equipment as it became available. This meant that by the time the war started the majority of the National Defence would look almost identical to the regular army having been kitted out with the wz.1936 uniforms.

A close up look at one of the LMG bases

The two main things that these new battalions would be missing however, which were to have a sadly significant impact on them under combat conditions in 1939 is that they were not supplied with either helmets or entrenching tools.

A rear view of the same base.

Those battalions that were raised at the start and were later reorganised and upgraded were able to retain their adrian helmets, although they still had no entrenching tools provided.

If you want to field a force of Obrona Narodowa for your games its a simple case of just modelling the usual piechoty models that are wearing the Rogatywka. Even the Baltics Naval (Morska) brigade wore regular army uniforms by 1939 signified as ON and Naval only by the anchor on their collars.

So there we have it. Buckets of meat to throw on German, Slovakian and Soviet bullets!

Fix Bayonets gentlemen! I feel a charge coming on!

FoW: Command elements Obrona Narodowa (National Defence)

Last year I thought it would be a great idea to add a platoon of Obrona Narodowa to my Polish army as it would give me another little zingy modelling project with some differently funky uniforms as well as providing a troop type that are rarely seen on a wargames table...

.. of course me, being me, said to myself "Self'; this is an opportunity to do a whole new army..."

...and lo did a whole new army come into being.

All of the common command elements for all different National Defence formations all displayed together...

Now, the thing with the Polish National Defence forces is that there were numerous different types with different perceived tactical capabilities, based largely on the numbers of potential manpower that could be drawn, the Volhynian and Galician areas proving the areas with the greatest paucity of potential troops whilst the areas around Silesia and around the Baltic Corridor proving rich manpower areas, and arms, equipment and training facilities.

The Obrona Narodowa Battalions ranged from type I which were the weakest and least armed perceived as fulfilling security tasks behind the front line all the way up to the Type IV which were tooled up to the nines and were planned on being so well trained in the future that the Polish High Command could consider them to be of such high combat value that they could be collected together and renamed as Reserve Infantry Regiments.

By the time that the Type IV's started to come into being however it was already too late for them to achieve this state of readiness unless they were being converted from other types. When the war started the National Defence troops that were considered the best were the Silesian Type III battalions who had had a lot of attention paid to their development and the newly converted Type IV's along the Baltic Coast.

Sadly there was also a plethora of organisations that fell somewhere in the middle.

So this particular blog post outlines the different formats of the Company Commands that were found across the Obrona Narodowa organisations

A Wip for the Obrona Narodowa Headquarters Options

The Type I ON Battalions were the most poorly supplied of all of the Home Defence troops and were mostly positioned in the Carpathian and Tatra mountains to boost the manpower on the ground.

A Type I Battalion Company Commander

These battalions were only really envisaged as providing security manpower behind the frontlines freeing more qualified troops for front line service. Because of these facts these battalions were not seen as needing any provisions of specialist arms or services and as such the Company Command force for a Type I battalion is very skin and bones requiring only transport for the single command team (motorcycles) and for the medic team (a civilian car) as well as a wagon carrying supplies.

Another view of the Type I Battalion Company Commander

For the Intelligence Briefing I decided to make the Ammunition Wagon an optional alternative as there was a plethora of problems regarding the supply of suitable ammunition to the troops fighting for the National Defence.

A Type IV battalion Company Commander with all assets

For all other types of Company Command similar assets were provided to each with a variety of different functions being fulfilled such as Reconnaissance troops, the habitual medical team, ammunition wagons and such like.

Another view of the Type IV Battalion Company Commander with all attached assets...

Essentially no matter what type of National Defence Battalion you choose to field, all of the different formats can have their assets provided for by these common types:

The Company Command Rifle Team:

In keeping my Catholic nutty idea I decided to go the whole hog with the company command teams and have proper Catholic flags knocked up for them. Basically I just did some digging around to find what religious banners Polish organisations have been flapping around over the last 100 years or so and these are what I came up with. The uniforms are as per the previous post on the Obrona Narodowa platoon and the miniatures are all Peter Pig Spanish Carlist Requetes from their Spanish Civil War range with French WW1 Adrian Helmet and Polish Czapka head swaps.

The banner pole crossbar is made out of brass rod inserted into the pre existing banner pole whilst the banners are made from tin foil from butter which was cleaned and painted. Once all of the painting had been completed the flag was glued into place with the tabs and then contoured to represent movement in a breeze.

An hour or so's work to get each banner painted... but not too shabby. Admittedly they don't look very cloth-like but I'm just happy they are done and out of the way to be honest.

The Company Medic Patrol:


Medics in the Polish army is one of those things that few people will every consider but when I started digging around for information on the ON formations I found that one thing that they did seem actually well furnished with was people who could tie peoples limbs back on with string and keep them fighting. I decided that this would be one of those things that would be worth including in their Intelligence Briefing as another game gimmick.

I really enjoyed making this one because finding evidence of Polish medics uniforms in the Obrona Narodowa was a challenge in itself and once I had found images of these defenders of life I then had to find miniature analogues that could be put together convincingly.

The miniatures used were German stretcher bearers from Peter Pigs WW1 range with the habitual head swaps whilst the actual medics were one from Peter Pigs French WW2 Motorised Gun Crew and one from Peter Pigs Polish WW1 Gun Crew all with appropriate head swaps where necessary.

I haven't actually come up with  the rules for themedics for the Intelligence Briefing yet but Im digging around and I will see what I can come up with...

The Company Scout Team:

The Obrona Narodowa could never be considered a 'mobile' force, in fact despite the large distances that these formations covered in 1939 it could almost be assumed that they were no better than static forces with their lack of transport. However, no matter how static a force is (or isn't) they still need to be aware of what is going on around them, and for that reason the powers that be who were responsible for the development of the Obrona Narodowa supplied them with at least an element of reconnaissance troops so that they were not left completely blind on the battlefield.

Owing to an extreme paucity of appropriate troops to represent the Polish scout troops I opted to do two things. Firstly, as I usually do, I mounted one miniature with binoculars on each of my scout bases that I did and because the ON reconnaissance troops were usually cycle mounted I also placed at least one cycle on each base and in order to provide the extra room that this modelling would require I only mounted 4 figures on each reconnaissance base.

The majority of the miniatures are, as to be expected, from Peter Pigs SCW Carlist range whilst the miniature with the binoculars is from the Peter Pigs French WW2 Motorised 60mm Mortar pack with the top of his head cut away and replaced with an Adrian helmet.

The Motorcycle and Sidecar:

These were actually completed when I did my Cavalry Brigade troops... even though the Cavalry Brigades have no motorcycles (well, only one but you get the point!) and I realised that the uniforms are a good approximation of my chosen ON uniforms. Not much to say on this as you have probably seen them already so I'll just put the image here for the sake of completeness :)

Poland in the period of the Interbellum was a country with an extremely low level of motorisation but one thing that the Poles did actually manufacture within Poland in some numbers was motorcycles. Not only that but motorcycles were deemed as being much more suitable for the poor Polish transport infrastructure and because of this many of the Obrona Narodowa formations were supplied with motorcycles for the command elements to get around in.

The Civilian Car:


When the powers that be were attempting to come up with transport solutions they eventually arrived at the conclusion that there simply was not enough financial resources available to ensure that all troops that required transport could be supplied appropriately. To plug this shortfall they made it incumbent upon each respective formation that they should source their own transport and that the command function had the legal right to requisition civilian motorised vehicles for use during wartime.

Because the Obrona Narodowa were empowered by the government to requisition civilian motor vehicles and horse drawn vehicles for use on the field, instead of my usual casts of the Lazik command cars I opted to buy one of Peter Pigs Citroens from their WW2 French range.

Painting was a pretty simple affair with a black undercoat and basecoat and highlights applied with deep blue/ turquoise mix with an airbrush.

Job done!

The Ammunition Wagon:

The wagons were a bit of an issue for my Polish army as there was a certain model of wagon that the regular army used which of course nobody manufactures in 15mm. However the logistics tabors of the National Defence battalions requisitioned whatever they could get and because of this I opted to head over to Museum Miniatures' line of horse drawn wagons and bought 11 of them of mixed types.

The painting was a new one for me as I had bought AK Interactives two sets of paints for painting wood and this was the first time I would get to give them a field test. I'm OK with the results... from a distance! :D

The Ammunition Wagon is a high sided wagon with spoked wheels with a double baggage load (which conveniently represented the masses of ammo that they would be tasked with carrying) pulled by a tidy pair of draught horses.

Ammo wagons aren't usually a big thing in Flames of War games, however the issues with ammunition were quite a problem that the Obrona Narodowa faced in '39 so I wanted to make it a central issue for anybody fielding an ON force. Having your troops accompanied by ammo wagons is one of the ways to address ammunition running out.

Obviously if you opt not to have your troops accompanied by such wagons then it is more likely that your troops will run out of ammunition leaving troops little option but to fix their bayonets and run madly towards the enemy machine guns screaming at the top of their lungs... just as the Koronowo Battalion did in 1939!

So there we have it. All of the command elements for anybody who wants to field some of Poland's lesser known patriots.

All in all, quite a fun little modelling project with an abundance of....

...BAYONETS!!!!!

FoW: Obrona Narodowa (National Defence) Platoon

So these guys are the somewhat unsung heroes of September '39. Along with the State Police (a.k.a The Blue Police) these guys were all over Poland fighting in almost all of the battles... but just like the Blue Police, nobody really seems to give them the credit they deserve.

For me they represent another opportunity for a funky modelling project where I get to put something together that looks a little different from the average so let me run you through a little bit of history and then I'll take you through how I put my ON (Obrona Narodowa) platoon together.

The History of the Obrona Narodowa

The Obrona Narodowa (ON) was a territorial military formation that existed between 1937 and 1939. It comprised a system of Brigades and Demi-Brigades which were each assigned to District Corp Headquarters where in times of need they would be subordinated to specific Polish army groups based on perceived local needs.

The decision to establish an organisation of National Defence units was taken in December 1936, with service in the ON units being based on the well known principles of our own Territorial Army. Initially the National Defence units service was performed exclusively by volunteers of Polish nationality, unrestricted reserve soldiers and the unemployed. The basic organisation was by the Battalion with varying levels of manpower depending upon which model of battalion you were serving in; Types I, II, III, IV and S (there was also a Cavalry ON brigade as well).

Formation of the first ON Battalions began in January 1937 with Reserve Troops populating the territorial system and initially formed on the instigation of each of the District Corps, depending upon whether or not there was a perceived need for more manpower at that time.

National Defence formations were equipped with a variety of uniforms and equipment, rarely modern at inception, although by 1939 many Battalions had been issued uniforms that were to a larger degree identical to the regular army with the exception of formation markings.

Formations of the ON were provided for the short term defensive activities of any given area whereby the ON would assist in the defence of their own homes and other short term defence tasks when under favourable field conditions, principally with the support of regular troops.

ON troops participating in the Zaolzie occupation 1938

It would seem that when the ON were deployed as envisioned they performed admirably though if, through events beyond their control, they were pulled out of their comfort zones and expected to operate in a wider tactical environment their lack of weaponry and training would start to tell very quickly, frequently precipitating a collapse in morale.

When the second world war started Poland was able to mobilise a total of about 83 battalions with a total strength of about 1500 officers and between 50-60,000 NCO's and Privates.

Sequence of Events in 1939

7th April 1939: A root and branch reorganisation of the ON started to take place with the issue of order L. 1022/Tjn which dealt with the theoretical strengths and mobilisation plans for the ON.

2nd May 1939: The start of the physical establishment of the ON Battalions followed soon after with order L.dz 1600/ Tjn. HE. and L.dz 1601/ Tjn.

New brigades were established and existing ones expanded and in place of the original organisational TO&E's 1,2,3 & 4 the following organisational TO&E's were introduced:

Brigade Headquarters (demi-brigade) ON type I
Brigade Headquarters (demi-brigade) ON type II
Battalion ON Type I
Battalion ON Type II
Battalion ON Type III
Battalion ON Type IV
Battalion ON Type 'S' (Fortress Garrisons. June '39 mobilisation of 12 such battalions was planned)
Company ON Type 'KS' (Cyclists)
Company ON Type 'K' (Cyclists)

The breakdown of a Type IV Obrona Narodowa Battalion

10th May 1939: The commander of Corps Area Command No. VII in Poznan issued order L.dz 2398/ Tjn.Org.ON outlining the creation of ON units in the Corps area.

31st May 1939: Brigadier General Kazimierz Sawicki was appointed General for Unit Affairs and Head of the National Defence Agency whilst also retaining the post of Director of the State Office of Physical Education and Military Training.

10th July 1939: The N ational Defence Department is legally separated from the M.S.Wojsk Infantry Department, and is subsequently integrated into the National Defence Agency.
Head of the Obrona Narodowa - Lieutenant Colonel Jozef Zoncyk-Bohusz
Head of Organisational Documentation - Capt Kazimierz Gustaw Czermak
Head of Budget - Captain Stanislaw Marian Bigo
Head of Department - Major Tadeusz Wiktor Rozek

27th July 1939: The Office for Units of the Army issued an order 136/ Tjn. for the formation of ON artillery platoons

28th July 1939: The Office for Units of the Army issued an order 182/ Tjn. for the formation of Gdynia ON Battalion III and the reorganisation of Gdynia ON Battalion II and Kashubian ON Battalion to the Type IV organisational structure

2nd August 1939: The Office for Units of the Army issued an order 183/ Tjn. for the formation of the Dabrowa ON demi brigade

25th August 1939: Brigadier General Bronislaw Regulski was replaced by the Minister of Military Affairs due to a combat alarm carried out by units of the ON.

29th August 1939: The Office for Units of the Army issued an order 349/ Tjn. outlining the change of command organisation for the Poznan and Podhale ON Brigades from Type I to Type II.

29th August 1939: The Office for Units of the Army issued an order 183/ Tjn. for the formation of the National Defence Brigades in Warsaw.

That brings us up to the war....

Owing to the precipitous collapse of the Polish front lines at the start of September the ON were frequently called upon to fight outside of their local environments in circumstances that were not suitable for their organisational imperatives. The most effective battles that the ON waged were when they were fighting for their 'little homeland'. 

This is labelled as an ON section launching an attack but I am almost certain that this is a Cavalry section.
The troops are all wearing cavalry boots and the soldier in the foreground still has spurs on his boots.

In the German overrunning of Army Pomerania (Armii Pomorze) to the west of Bydgoszcz on 2nd September 1939 the ON Battalion 'Koronowo' is a good example of what well led battalions could achieve when fighting for their homes.

With the Polish front line having been overrun by German armoured thrusts the Polish 'Koronowa' ON battalion was all that stood in their path. Without external support they fought off a succession of German waves holding back the entire German 3rd Infantry Division until all ammunition was exhausted. When the ammunition had run out Major Wrzesinksi took the decision to order a bayonet charge instead of a withdrawal. Nobody considered capitulation. They fought to the very end with only a few managing to escape the carnage.

ON soldiers... actually in Greatcoats!

Similar resistance was made by many other battalions throughout Poland although few will come close to the extreme valour demonstrated by the ON Battalions that fought with the Naval Rifle Brigades around Gdynia, most especially on the Oksywie Kepa where 15,000 troops dug themselves into a local hillside and forced the Germans to literally dig them out having to wage over 100 individual  battles over a 10 day period up to 19th September when the commander Colonel Stanislaw Dabek committed suicide and the remaining troops laid down their arms. Kazimierz Pindel wrote: "All Coastal Land Defence forces have been completely destroyed. There was no surrender at Oksywska. The struggle of the few Coastal Defence Troops in comparison to the German forces continued until their destruction by the enemy!" 

The troops did actually eventually surrender, but only when ammunition and food was exhausted, medical supplies were non existent, casualties had risen to over 40% and a complete organisational breakdown had been forced upon the defenders.

Despite what the world may think, Poland was no pushover!

Sadly a lot of the troops serving with the ON were murdered either on the field of battle, or most especially in prisoner of war camps where the ON's efforts to suppress German 5th Column activities drew savage reprisals from their captors. There were a number of officers of various battalions who actually suffered the indignity of being guillotined.

Uniforms

Miniatures portraying some Obrona Narodowa soldiers from 1939 in older pattern uniform items.

The outfitting of soldiers of the National Defence organisations was along the same lines as those of the regular army with the ideal kit being provided being the same as that provided to regular army soldiers.

The reality was somewhat more disparate however with the Brigades frequently, and especially at inception being issued with older pre 1936 military uniforms. As time went by and war approached however replacement of these older uniforms for the newer post 1936 model became more accelerated. Because of this I will only address the more outdated uniforms issued to the ON as, other than ON markings the modern uniforms bore no noticeable difference.

A fine artists impression of an older uniformed Obrona Narodowa soldier of 1939

There were small differences in the uniforms between the ON and the Regulars however, even with the most modern uniforms. So to detail the uniforms:

A typical ON uniform but with a wz.36 helmet

Headwear: Other than the rogatywka cap that the troops habitually wore the ON were issued with old world war 1 era French Adrian helmets. These were eventually replaced by the more modern wz.1936 helmet as war approached.

Upper Body: A standard 'kurtka sukienna' (cotton jacket) was issued. The more modern wz.1936 issue jacket would have been issued as war approached but for wargaming purposes there is practically no difference. Their cotton greatcoats or sleeping blankets would be worn rolled across the chest, over the shoulder and tied together with the other end just above the belt. 

Lower Body: The cloth trousers of the ON were typical of the era and were tight laced around the calves, ballooning out above the knee. One of the most identifiable things about the ON uniforms however was the leg wraps. As opposed to the puttees of most European armies by this time the Polish were still issuing long cotton strips of fabric that were tied around the legs, starting just above the ankle and being tied off below the knee. Even when newer uniforms had been issued many ON formations still retained the use of these wraps.

Feet: The ON were issued older black leather ankle boots. Nothing much to say here. Exactly as it says on the tin!

Equipment: The equipment issued to the ON, such as the webbing, harnesses, ammo pouches and rucksacks etc. was exactly the same as that issued to regular infantry. The older gas mask tin was issued as opposed to the newer canvas bags but other than that there is no practical difference for a wargamer to worry about.

Armament: As a militia organisation that was tasked with defending hearth and home the ON did not have access to the newest weaponry the Polish army was being equipped with. However they were not bereft of heavy weaponry and/or support weaponry that many suppose although much of it had been reallocated before the war started. Some ON Battalions were very well furnished, such as those in the Karpaty whilst others such as those up in Grodno were somewhat bereft.

Typically the personal weapons issued were old French Mannlicher rifles of World War 1 vintage with a smattering of equally unPolish lmgs, such as the French Berthier's. As time went by more BAR's were issued although they kept their French rifles. Ammunition on the field of battle was to be a perennial problem.

Insignia: The ON uniforms had no insignia on them other than the coat of arms of the Obrona Narodowa and a collar flash of white over red cut diagonally on both jackets and cloaks. The older Adrian helmets could also be found sporting the Polish Eagle, although the majority of these had been removed by the time war broke out. Ranks were carried on epaulettes just as with other arms.  

Modelling the Obrona Narodowa

Organisationally speaking the ON Type IV Battalions were a bit different from the average Polish company. Each company, as expected would contain three platoons each of three sections... but this is where the similarities end. Each section was only 15 men as opposed to the normal 19. There is questions as to how many LMG's the platoons would have access to as well although just for variety I've included a base in each section with a team.

So, I can obviously just choose to repurpose my normal piechoty for use as Obrona Narodowa should I choose but I just can't help feeling that I would be missing out on another modelling opportunity and a chance to field something  just this side of funky!

The full Obrona Narodowa platoon in all its undermanned and undergunned glory!

I decided that I would opt to model and field an ON platoon equipped with the older uniforms that were initially issued in 1937. That would mean the older Adrian helmets, leg wrap putties, rolled greatcoats/blankets and an assortment of weird and wonderful weapons (OK so practically this would just mean an alternative LMG)

A full section of 15 conscripts advancing, waved on by their NCO in the middle.

I cast my eyes about the wargames world to find some options. Generally speaking the armed forces of the world of this time period all wore similar uniforms that could be nicely done with a little nip and tuck. One option was obviously the True North National Defence troops which is a manufacturer I normally swear by but I just wanted to try something different, and in any case the True North ones have been sculpted without the leg wrap putties, in fact the only difference here would be the helmets and at the moment I am very taken with my chosen alternatives.

A closer look at one of the LMG bases

I settled on the Carlist range of Spanish Civil War miniatures by Peter Pig, whose heads I quickly removed. These were then replaced with Adrian helmet heads, again provided by Peter Pig and Czapka heads, also provided by the same. 

A closer look at the platoon command base.... complete with their very own Catholic, cross toting nutter!

It would be nice if they actually sculpted Rogatywka heads, which is what the Poles actually wore in the field as opposed to the czapkas which were actually chiefly worn with dress uniforms, parades and special functions... for a lack of an alternative I had to go ahead and use them anyway. 

An excuse to have a closer look at one of the Sergeants

The benefit of the Carlist miniatures is that with the exception of water bottles these miniatures wear the correct form of belt, harness and ammo pouches, have leg wraps, have the blanket/greatcoat rolled across the body and sling the rest of their bags in almost the same way as ON troops. They were an ideal fit once all of the heads had been replaced.

A look at the rear of the soldiers showing to good effect their rolled blankets, leg wrap putties, Adrian helmets and packs.

Given that the Poles are a bit Catholic nutty and I figured it would only have been worse in 1939, especially given the fact that they were having their own Jewish pogrom before the Germans even bounced across their borders I thought I would keep the Holy Cross touting Carlist and use him as a proxy banner bearer along with two officers. 

A decent view of one of the sections advancing straight towards the camera crew :D

Unlikely this would ever have happened in a real battle of course but I do like the idea of a hard pressed ON battalion being brought back to the fight by a lonely officer or NCO hauling a cross into the air, planting it firmly in the ground and urging his men to take not one further step backwards!

Anyway apart from that all of the painting was completed as with everything else Polish that I've done and just so with the bases!

The whole platoon viewed from the front, command in the background!

So Im left with the feeling that this particular little force went so well that I decided to go ahead and order one more platoon of Carlists, and enough weird and wonderful troops types and heads to allow me to create 2 HMG teams, 1 mortar team, 1 anti tank gun team and three horse drawn wagons of typically rural types... I just cant help adding these little projects!

Its no wonder I never seem to finish anything! :D

FIX BAYONETS!!!!!!!!!