
I’ve noticed somewhere a voice of someone interested in seeing a 1939-era Polish cavalry platoon for CoC.
Now, I can’t put it effectively through the CoCulator - I have no idea how to handle the horses - but I have come by a detailed structure of a Polish cavalry platoon as of 1939 (based on official Cavalry’s Regulations, 1938). So, I’ll write it done there, and hope someone can make it into a fully-fledged list

Polish Uhlan platoon, 1939 structure:
Note: all the platoon members carry sabres, so I skipped listing them for every trooper.
As for lances, 3 men in every line section (the front rank of it) were equipped with lances as per 1938 Cavalry Regulations. However, by 1939 the lances were considered outdated, and relegated to parade duty only (or at least, so claim the sources I’ve read). Some squadrons supposedly took their lances to war anyway.
Platoon HQ:
1 Porucznik (Lieutenant i.e. Senior Leader) with a Handgun
1 Wachmistrz (Wachtmeister - platoon’s senior NCO, i.e. Senior Leader) with a Rifle
2 platoon’s runners (messengers), Rifles
1 horse handler*
* I’ll be describing the role of horse handlers below
3x line section
1 sekcyjny (section leader, I can’t tell how independent he was so therefore he could be anywhere between Inferior and Superior Junior Leader), Rifle
3 Uhlans, Rifles
2 horse handlers, Rifles
Note: in section #2, platoon’s marksman (i.e. the guy who was the best shot in the platoon) was given with a wz.35 Ur AT rifle & a handgun.
1x MG section
1 sekcyjny (section leader), Rifle
1 MG team with BAR (the assistant had a Rifle, too, but under CoC rules that does not matter)
2 horse handlers, Rifles (they took care of the section’s pack horse, too).
I’d suggest using the 2 runners from the platoon HQ for the AT Rifle crew, this way we’ll have everybody accounted for, without having to gut the #2 line section. It is very small already, after all.
As for horse handlers: the basic mode of operation for the Uhlans was the mounted infantry tactics. Ride the horses for transportation, dismount, fight on foot. Remount for maneuver. After all, you can’t make much use of cover while on horseback…
But that meant someone had to take care of the horses when the section was in combat.
The structure and regulations do imply that one trooper was able to lead 3 horses (so, 2 horse handlers could look after all the 6 horses in a section). However, if the horses were to be kept in one place (or, perhaps, advance very slowly), one handler was enough for up to 6 horses.
Now, this could be dealt with in a number of ways in CoC:
[list*]Keep it simple - the section deploys on table entirely on foot, the horses are kept off-table. The section may be, then, 4, 5 or (not really realistic) even 6-man strong. I’d keep it to 5 men in such a case (the 6th is off-table, handling all the horses, and does not play any role in the game).[/list]
[list*]Keep it true to history - the section is 6-man-strong while mounted, but detaches a 1-2-man team to handle the horses when they dismount. Note that this was a well-practised maneuver (quite essential to the way Uhlans fought) so I believe it shouldn’t require the use of a Leader’s Command Initiative.[/list]
Command dice of an Uhlan platoon:
Can’t really say. The cavalry was considered an elite corps in the Polish Army, but I’m not sure how “elite” they were in terms of battlefield initiative (which is represented with Command Dice). I'm afraid they were not on the same level as late-war paratroopers and the like 9who get represented with 6 command dice in CoC).
I’d play it safe and go for 5 dice, myself.
However, to represent Uhlans espirit de corps and the extra training they got in close combat with their sabers (as a number of unlucky German infantrymen had experienced, a proper cavalry charge does hurt real bad even in the Blitzkrieg era. Of course, this requires an unprepared target - camped or on the march - and the element of surprise), I’d rate them as Aggressive Troops.
National Characteristic:
As you’ve probably noted, an Uhlan platoon has no integral light mortar, therefore they can’t make use of the National Characteristic presented in the Polish Infantry Platoon rules (“Granatnik- ognia!”). They’d need something else to give them an edge.
Can’t say I have an idea, really.
Support lists:
A cavalry regiment (though closer to a battalion in size) had organic support of:
Machinegun teams
Tachanka teams (a light cart with a MMG on it, capable of firing on the move. While primarily a Russian invention of the WW1 origin, there were purpose-built tachankas in Polish cavalry units. Think of it like a Jeep with a MG on it).
Wz.36 37mm Bofors AT gun teams
Engineers (however, I’d rule out the flamethrower teams. Flamethrowers were rare in Polish Army of 1939-era, and while a few infantry regiments had a small number of these, I have not found any mention of cavalry units being likewise equipped).
Bicycle-mounted infantry (platoon structure as per cavalry line section, except of course no handlers had to care for the bicycles…)
A cavalry brigade’s assets included:
75mm field gun teams
40mm Bofors AA gun teams
Armored cars (wz.34, only one brigade still had the older wz.29)
TK-3 / TKS recon tanks (while ⅖ of there were intended to be armed with 20mm wz.38 HMG/autocannons, in reality very few have been converted, so basic MG-armed TK-3 / TKS dominated).
Medics / stretcher-bearer parties.
Infantry sections (from a brigade’s rifle battalion)
Note that any other support options - especially tanks - were a part of a separate unit (in case of tanks - a detached tank company in most cases).
Also, there is no Forward Observer party included: a cavalry brigade lacked any mortars (except, perhaps, their own rifle battalion’s), so should a forward observer make it ot the table, it means a nearby infantry battalion is lending some fire support.
Cavalry as a support choice for a Polish Infantry platoon:
Well, that’s more as a curiosity, but a reconaissance company (in an Infantry Regiment) had a cavalry platoon, too.
It had 5 line sections and two MG sections (basically identical to cavalry line or MG sections). The main difference was the lack of designated horse handlers in scout line sections (so, my guess, dismounting and keeping the mounts out of harm’s way would require detaching a team with leader’s Command Initative). They don’t seem to have had sabers, and I wouldn’t count them as Aggressive Troops. Aslo, scratch the horse handler in platoon’s HQ.
The other platoon of a recon company was a bicycle platoon, consisting of two almost standard infantry sections, just riding bicycles.