So, there is a thing generally about Polish infantry up to September 1939.
DRG, please read it carefully and check for yourself.
How does it currently look like?
There is a platoon made of 3 squads, each having 19 men.
Is it correct? Yes, it is.
Yet, there are 2 arguments going against such solution.
Argument 1: Gameplay
Currently those 19 men squads dispose 2 weapon slots, one taken by the rifle and one taken by the BAR. Such firepower however does not represent the actual cluster of troops in such a squad. You have 19 men firing their rifles with just the same efficiency as eg. Slovakian rifle squad of that era.
Yes, let us take a look on Slovakian military of 1939.
What do we have there?
Rifle Company - historically accurate - is made of 3 platoons, each having 4 squads with 10 men. This means we have 12 rifle squads that "carry the fight". each is equipped with a rifle and ZB26.
If you sum up the firepower, you have roughly 12 rifle tests going and 12 LMG tests going, assuming each rifle squad fires a salvo.
120 men = 12 rifle tests, 12 LMG tests.
Meanwhile, Polish have 3 squads with 19 men each. 157 men makes company's "bring it to the enemy" force. If you however sum it up, it ends with:
157 men = 9 rifle tests, 9 LMG tests (as company has 9 squads total)
Thus, not only firepower of nearly 40 men more than in Slovakian company is omitted, but actual squad efficiency is nowhere "noted". Like, we ignore the fact Polish squad has 9 men more.
But yes, I know, this is game limitation here. In some cases USMC infantry has similar problem. I would name that 13 men squad as maximum, above which game in portraying firepower ineffectively.
Same applies to casualties. Big squads have tendency to take lots of casualties at once. It is common - when playing Polish - to get 3-4 men as casualties from a single salvo. I do not thing my grandfathers were that eager to die.
So, to sum it up, in firefight between Slovakian platoon and Polish platoon, which has 130% of Slovakian firepower strength, Slovakia gets more tests (4/4 vs. 3/3) with omittion of Polish numbers, is more accurate (big squads are easier to hit) and scores way more effective hits (Slovakia usually losses 1-2 men, Polish 1-4 men).
Tests above work with literally every other nation. Took Slovakia as an example.
But OK. At this point someone may simply say "game portrays squad, so we have a squad".
Here comes argument 2: There ARE already exceptions in SPWW2!
First, quick note how Polish squad was organized. I am speaking out of my head, but if you only like I can bring you lots of sources. They vary on details only.
19 men was pretty much correct. We used to divide that squad into 3 elements: command element with squad leader, couple of riflemen (and dedicated messenger who was in every squad). That element often carried a 46mm mortar "Jarząbek" (it is a different discussion if "GL Section" should be dispersed among normal squads). Then, there was a covering element, consisting of BAR gunner, his commander and ammo bearers. And then, there was maneuver element made of riflemen only.
As of numbers, here I do not remember for sure, but it should be: 5-6 men in command element, 4 men in covering element, 10 men in maneuver element. I will get you details on this.
Practically however, command element and covering element were often merged together as they operated closely with each other. Maneuver element was so strong because they often operated alone for long time, squad could have been split for hours. It was normal in Polish doctrine at that time.
OK, here there may be another question: "Why should we care".
Developers, please take a look at Italians.
Italian rifle company: 3 platoons, each with 4 "squads". 2 squads carry only Carcano rifles, the other 2 squads: Breda LMGs. Two of them, usually.
Lets take a look, for instance, here:
http://www.bayonetstrength.150m.com/...0to%201943.htm
Italian Infantry battalion, OK, quoting from the bottom of the page:
"The Italian Rifle Platoon used a unique internal organisation.
It was divided into
two large Squads, each of twenty men, which were further split into Rifle and Light Machine Gun groups. The Squad was commanded by a Sergeant or Major Sergeant, who controlled the LMG Group. This was made up of two detachments, each of a Corporal gunner, an assistant gunner and two ammunition bearers. Each detachment served a Breda Modello 30 light machine gun. The balance of the Squad was found in the Rifle Group of eleven men, which included a Corporal Major and Corporal.
The manual indicates that the two Groups were to operate as distinct elements, with the two LMGs supporting the Rifle Group onto its objective. At the time, most other armies embedded a light machine gun with each Section/Squad, themselves roughly half the size of the Italian Squad, which by comparison seems an unwieldy organisation. Individual weapons are given as pistols for each Corporal gunner, a carbine for the Major Sergeant and rifles for all others."
When you take a look at the Italians, you can see that squad is SPLIT in the for long long time (I play this game for like 5 years and I do not remember it to be different).
So, Italian rifle platoon should be in fact made of 2 squads, each with 20 men, representing Carcano rifles and Breda Machine Guns as one.
Does it sound familiar? Yes it does, this is how Polish are organized. But when you are playing Italians, you can simulate platoon maneuvers correctly and you are not loosing that effective in-game firepower, you are not limited to 4 weapons slots as well (you have 8 instead, due to the split into 2 separate units).
I have a feeling that Spanish army is designed similarly, but I know little of it, someone else would have to confirm.
So I say: If Italians are organized that way, Polish should be as well. It would add realism and increase effective gameplay of the Polish companies. And that would portrait great numbers of infantrymen, far greater than any other nation was using in a company.
How to do it:
I know little about OOB editing. I make scenarios, not armies.
Yet, I guess Polish rifle platoon, simple rifle platoon, should be pretty much the same starting from January 1930.
It currently consists of:
Medium Infantry (19 men, Wz98a, Wz28 LMG, Grenade Wz24, Sniper Rifle)
Infantry (19 men, Wz98a, Wz28 LMG, Grenade Wz24 Za, Grenade Wz24 Ob)
Infantry (19 men, Wz98a, Wz28 LMG, Grenade Wz24 Za, Grenade Wz24 Ob)
I recommend to make it look like that:
Infantry (c. 10 men*, Slots: Rifle, Rifle, Grenade, Grenade**)
Infantry (c. 10 men*, Slots: Rifle, Rifle, Grenade, Grenade**)
Infantry (c. 10 men*, Slots: Rifle, Rifle, Grenade, Grenade**)
Medium Infantry (c. 9 men*, Slots: Rifle, LMG, Grenade, Grenade**)
Medium Infantry (c. 9 men*, Slots: Rifle, LMG, Grenade, Grenade**)
Medium Infantry (c. 9 men*, Slots: Rifle, LMG, Grenade, Grenade**)
* - I will get you exact data on numbers if you like
** - Second grenade may be optional
This way Polish squad is correctly split. I am joining command element with covering element, as mentioned above, they were often merged. But I can propose additional division, yet I say if we made 9 in-game units if of this that would waaay too much.
If would need to be clarified whether Medium Infantry unit should also have 46mm mortar. If you accept the general idea, I will get the very details.
Quick note about weapons (thing of less importance, but if we are with it):
Wz. 98a - currently most common rifle - was produced from 1936 and less than 100.000 models were produced. This weapon should not be that most often spotted.
Instead, Polish should be armed with standard Wz. 98 which was nearly direct copy of Gewehr 98 and quite common (half million in numbers) Wz. 29, which was resemblant to Karabiner 98.
MORS SMG - technically it should not be so widely available, only about 200 were manufactured.
Grenades - up to you, every other nation seems to have just one "grenade". There was a difference between Za and Ob variants of Wz. 24 Grenade, but I am not sure if OOB should portrait that.
OK, that was long, but I hope you made through this. I did a lot of research about rifle companies of various nations and decided to address that aspect.
If you like, I may also check up that MG Company. It seems to be quite correct, but I am not sure what Taczankas are doing there. And Wz. 14 HMG was completely scrapped in 1939, also.
Polish OOB
Linear Mode
