You may find this post useful my attempt at taking on the French AAR starts with them straight off skipped over Poland. Mobhack gave some very useful advice in it which allowed me to prevail. Found they were surprisingly hard guys to get to route if remember correctly. Chars were not the biggest worry as a rule was those Somanas or whtever there called.
http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/showthread.php?t=41834