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The Polish People's Army (Ludowe

Wojsko Polskie

or LWP)

was initially formed from displaced Poles during the Second

World War and fought alongside the Soviet Army during

their drive to Berlin. After the surrender of Germany, Poland

fell under the control of the Soviets and had a communist

government installed by Moscow.

The background of the LWP cannot be separated from Polish

politics. After going over a century without a homeland the

establishment of a Polish Nation in 1918 was short-lived

with it being attacked by Germany and the Soviet Union in

1939. During their occupation Poles who fled their home-

land fought for both the Western Allies and the Soviets and

many hoped that a free and independent Poland would

be established after the Second World War. Falling behind

the Iron Curtain, under the thumb of Stalin, was not the

future for Poland many wanted and a large percentage of

the population resisted the Communist government where

possible. The anti-communist sentiment was part of Polish

politics thoughout the Cold War which became a major crisis

in 1981 with the Polish government establishing martial law

because of the rise of the Solidarity movement. The use of

the LWP in putting down protests against the communist

regimes of Poland and other Soviet satellite nations caused

the support for the army to fall in the eyes of the public and,

in the eyes of Moscow's military planners, cast doubt on their

reliability.

During the mid 1980’s the LWP had about 205,000 men

under arms with two-thirds of them being made up of con-

scripts who had to serve at least two years in the military.

This force was backed up by Soviet units stationed in Poland

during the entire Cold War. In the event of a major conflict

with NATO, the Polish forces would mobilize and

prepare for combat while the Soviet forces would

move into East Germany and Czechoslovakia to

lead the attack into the west.

Formed under the Soviet model, the LWP

looked like other Warsaw Pact armies and

was equipped much the same way. During

the mid 1980s the Polish People's Army had

around 15 divisions in various states of readiness.

These featured armoured, mechanised, air assault,

and naval infantry divisions along with all of the

usual support elements found in the armies of the

JUT L AND

Warsaw Pact.

POLES PREPARE FOR WAR

The level of activity at the Warsaw Military

District Headquarters had increased over

the week before 4 August as Soviet forces

stationed all over the Polish nation raced to

get into position for the main thrust against

NATO. The assembled Polish generals knew

that their role was a smaller one compared to the

USSR, however it was an extremely important

one, they had to hold the entire right flank of the

Warsaw Pact’s planned offensive.

Cuxhaven

Wilhelmshaven

Bremerhaven

NETHERLANDS

CORPS

Bremen

TH E

N ETH ERLA N D S

GERMAN

CORPS

W ES T

GE RMA NY

US CORPS

BRITISH

CORPS

Hannover

XXX

Essen

BELGIUM

CORPS

The first troops were already underway as the 7

Łużycka

Naval Assault Division left Gdansk planning to land on

the Danish island of Funen, which would cut the

Danish capital off from Jutland, the part of

Denmark which is connected to the northern

border of West Germany. Once a beach-

head was established, the 6

Pomorska

Air Assault Division, which was

D ENM A RK

heading to Rostock at that very

moment, would land to support

the 7

Division in their mis-

sion. These elite units were

F U N EN

always at a high state of alert

so their forward movement

allowed the staff to focus on

other issues.

The plan called for the

Warsaw Tank Division

and

the

Szczecin

Mechanised Infantry Division

to quickly move out to the

inner-German border near Lübeck, cross the Trave River

and head northwest for Cuxhaven, West Germany. Once

reached, the Warsaw Pact armies would cut off Denmark

and most likely Norway from their NATO allies. Once the

and 12

advanced, they would be followed by other

Polish units which would take a more northerly route and

would do battle with any NATO forces heading south into

West Germany.

Due to their spearhead mission, the 20

Warsaw Tank

Division and the 12

Szczecin Mechanised Infantry Division

were usually at a high state of readiness; so both of these

units had most of their personnel on-hand and their equip-

ment was in better working condition than most of the other

units in the LWP. The key was for the two divisions to cross

East Germany intact and avoid significant degradation by

NATO air attacks.

Beginning their move at night under strict radio discipline

the two units were fortunate that NATO air power had its

attention directed at the fight in central Germany. It took

just 48 hours to make the trip, and once the divisions

arrived, with no time to waste, they crossed the river and

proceeded west.

Kiel

Rostock

Lübeck

Hamburg

R T

GUARDS

TANK

ARMY

XXX

POLISH

ARMY

GUARDS

ARMY

Szczecin

P O L AN D

SHOCK

ARMY

XXX

B E R L IN

Magdeburg

E A ST GE RMA N Y

POLISH

ARMY

Podpułkownik Patryk Gorecki was not in a good mood. While his tank battalion was able to quickly cross the

Trave River north of Lübeck, little else had gone right. His recce and motorized rifle support were nowhere to be

found, and the sky was clear, with no sign of his promised Mi-24 support. At the crossing his supporting Shilkas

were able to drive off two West German helicopters, but the anti-aircraft vehicles were now out of contact.

Following his orders, he rapidly moved his battalion of 31 T-72Ms forward to secure Bundesstraße 432 and cut

off the NATO forces that clung to the inner-German border. As he ordered his unit forward some of his lead

tanks suddenly came under missile fire from a small copse of woods to his unit’s front.

Gorecki keyed his microphone and ordered his tanks to quickly engage the barely visible NATO infantry. In

unison most of the T-72Ms' 125mm guns barked to life and poured HE rounds into the dense German woods.

The fire of the Polish tanks was effective and soon the woods fell silent, with Gorecki ordering the formation

forward to find the road which was their objective.

Just as his lead elements informed him that they found the objective, a troop of enemy tanks made their

presence known. Three Danish Leopard 1 tanks, moving in the open from the north opened fire on the lead

Polish tanks. The older Leopard 1 tanks were no match for his T-72Ms, and within minutes the three Danish

tanks were furiously burning with their surviving crewmen fleeing to the rear.

Gorecki knew for the Danes to be this far south meant the road ahead would be even tougher than what he

thought when he received his orders. After a brief pause, Gorecki was back on his command net, they were

going to advance to the northwest.

The 20

Warsaw Armoured Division (20

Dywizja Pancerna)

was based in western Poland and was made up of three tank

regiments and one mechanised infantry regiment includ-

ing the 24

Drezdeński Tank Regiment, 28

Saski Tank

Regiment, 68

Tank Regiment, and the 49

Warszawski

Mechanised Infantry Regiment. Being closer to the border

of NATO and the Warsaw Pact, the division had a higher

readiness standard than most of the other Polish armoured

units in the LWP. This focus on readiness ensured that the

tank units in the division had the T-72M available for use

alongside the older T-55AM2 tanks. Both of these tanks were

built in Poland, however each of them have been upgraded

for use with the LWP. The 49

Warsaw mechanised infantry

had two battalions mounted in tracked Polish BWP-1

(BMP-1) armoured personnel carriers with the third unit

being mounted in the wheeled OT-64, which is produced by

Poland and Czechoslovakia.

Divisional support for the 20

Warsaw is built much like

other Warsaw Pact units, with supporting artillery, anti-air-

craft and reconnaissance assets available for the division's

use. Beyond the division level the 20

Warsaw can call in

additional anti-aircraft support and a robust selection of

artillery that belongs to its parent corps. Aviation support

is provided by the Mi-24 Hind helicopters of the division

or the SU-25 Frogfoot attack aircraft of both the Polish and

Soviet Air Forces.

POLISH SPECIAL RULES

The Polish People's Army has a number of features and

weapons. These are reflected in the following special rules.

BAZOOKA SKIRTS

T-72M tanks did not have the BDD armour of the later

model T-72 tanks used by the Soviets. To compensate for this,

the T-72M was fitted with ‘bazooka skirts’, spaced armour to

protect them from light, hand-held anti-tank weapons.

Teams with Bazooka Skirts have a Side armour rating of

10 against HEAT weapons.

AUTOLOADER

The Dana 152mm howitzer is fitted with an auto-loading

system, allowing it to lay down quick, devastating barrages.

When a weapon with an Autoloader fires an Artillery

Bombardment reduce the score required To Hit Teams

under the Template by 1.

20 DYWIZJA PANCERNA

‘20

WARSAW ARMOURED DIVISION’

DREZDEŃSKI

TANK REGIMENT

WARSZAWSKI

MECHANISED

INFANTRY REGIMENT

MECHANISED

INFANTRY REGIMENT

LUDOWE WOJSKO POLSKIE

T-72M

TANK BATTALION

TPL101

BMP

MOTOR RIFLE

BATTALION

TPL103

WHEELED

MOTOR RIFLE

BATTALION

TPL111

LUDOWE WOJSKO POLSKIE

T-55AM2

TANK BATTALION

TPL109

Attached from

Pomerania Mechanised Infantry

Division

BATTALION,

ARTILLERY REGIMENT

ROCKET ARTILLERY BATTALION

ARTILLERY

LUDOWE WOJSKO POLSKIE

RECONNAISSANCE

BATTALION

LUDOWE WOJSKO POLSKIE

ATTACK HELICOPTER

SQUADRON

LUDOWE WOJSKO POLSKIE

SUDECKI ANTI-TANK

ARTILLERY REGIMENT

LUDOWE WOJSKO POLSKIE

DANA SP 152MM

ARTILLERY

BATTERY

TPL126

BMP-1

SCOUT PLATOON

TPL118

MI-24 HIND

ATTACK HELICOPTER

SQUADRON

TPL123

SPANDREL

ANTI-TANK PLATOON

TPL115

LUDOWE WOJSKO POLSKIE

ANTI-AIRCRAFT

ARTILLERY REGIMENT

BM-21 HAIL

ROCKET LAUNCHER

BATTERY

TPL117

BRDM-2

SCOUT PLATOON

TPL119

LUDOWE WOJSKO POLSKIE

SA-8 GECKO

SAM PLATOON

TPL127

BMP-1 OP

TPL125

WARSAW PACT

ALLIED FORMATION

GROUND ATTACK

REGIMENT

RED BANNER

YOU MAY FIELD

ONE WARSAW PACT

FORMATION AS AN

ALLIED FORMATION

SU-25 FROGFOOT

AVIATION COMPANY

TS116

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