Description
During the Cold War, the Polish People’s Army (Ludowe Wojsko Polskie or LWP) maintained a massive, highly mechanized force designed to fight in a high-intensity, combined-arms environment.The Polish mechanized infantry squad (drużyna piechoty zmechanizowanej) was structured around rapid mobility, heavy organic firepower, and the ability to operate under NBC (nuclear, biological, and chemical) conditions.
Typically consisting of 9 to 10 soldiers (depending on whether they were mounted in tracked or wheeled vehicles), the Polish squad structure stood out from its Soviet counterparts in one major way: sustained firepower. While Soviet squads transitioned to the lighter, magazine-fed RPK, Poland chose to keep the heavier, belt-fed PKM (7.62mm) as the core of their squad-level firepower. This gave Polish squads significantly more suppressive capability.
Polish mechanized squad organisation:
(Position – Primary weapon – Role in squad)
Leader (NCO) – AKM / AKMS – commands the squad, coordinates with the vehicle.
Machine gunner – PKM (7.62mm belt-fed) – core fire support; provides heavy suppression.
Assistant MG gunner – AKM / AKMS – carries extra PKM ammunition.
Anti-tank gunner – RPG-7 & PM-63 RAK – hard target/armor defeat.
Assistant AT gunner – AKM / AKMS – carries extra rockets and protects the gunner.
Grenadier – AKM with Pallad 40mm – under-barrel grenade launcher for indirect fire.
Riflemen (1–2) – AKM / AKMS – close combat, security, and maneuvering.
Driver – AKMS / PM-63 RAK – operates the squad’s armored transport.
Gunner/Vehicle Commander – AKMS / PM-63 RAK – operates the vehicle’s turret-mounted weapons.
Set consists of 6 fine 3D-printed 15mm (1:100) scale infantry miniatures. Models are sold with print supports and need side-cutters and hobby knife to remove them.
Miniatures included in this set are riflemen armed with AKM/AKMS assault rifles.
Producer: ‘Oddział Ósmy’ sc Marcin Kaźmierczak i Tomasz Kołuda, ul. Piotrkowska 107, 90-425 Łódź, Poland
