DBA Armies

III/63 EARLY POLISH 960 AD - 1335 AD

This list covers Polish armies from the coronation of Mieszko I until the reforms of Casimir the Great. Having a king did not imply having a unified state. It was only under Boleslav I in 1024 that the last of the western Slav tribes were incorporated in the state; and when not actively engaged in civil war it usually functioned as a plethora of duchies ruled by members of the Piast dynasty. Military organisation was based on the druzyna “brotherhood” of paid armoured cavalrymen (who evolved into feudal knights), supported by a levy of all freemen, who served as unarmoured infantry with spear or bow, axe and shield under village headmen. The Poles were fond of ambushes, especially at river crossings, but for pitched battles formed with druzynnik in the centre, spearmen on their flanks or later behind them and archers on the wings. The Teutonic Orders described Polish ambushers with long axes as “murderous rustics” References: Armies of Feudal Europe 1. Heath, Armies of the Middle Ages Vol 2 1. Heath.

III/63a — Polish Armies 960 AD - 1200 AD

List: 1 x General (Cv), 2 x druzynnik (Cv), 4 x spearmen (Sp), 4 x archers (3Bw or Ps), 1 x slingers (Ps)
Terrain: Forest
Aggression: 2
Enemies:
Allies: III/1c or III/40b or III/48 or III/68b

III/63b — Polish Armies 1201 AD - 1335 AD

List: 1 x General (3Kn), 2 x druzynnik (3Kn), 1 x Lithuanian, Hungarian or Cuman mercenaries (LH), 3 x spearmen (Sp), 1 x “murderous rustics” (3Bd), 3 x archers (3Bw or Ps), 1 x slingers (Ps)
Terrain: Forest
Aggression: 2
Enemies:
Allies: III/68b or IV/30