=][= Unit(s) of the week: Commissars =][=

[duz_]

It has come to the Commissariat's attention that some of you have not being keeping up with your regular training requirements. As such we intend to rectify this immediately by commencing an intensive re-education of the command corps. Failure will not be tolerated!

 

This will be a weekly series of threads aimed at discussing the units available to the Astra Miliatrum in 8th edition. This can become a resource for those finding their feet in 8th and our brothers in arms who have joined the fight in the glorious Imperial Guard.

 

This lesson we focus on our everyone's favourite morale boosters, Commissars.

 

Like their superiors Commissars offer a lot to boost the morale of a Guard army. Their aura allows nearby units to use their leadership of 8 and failing that their Summary Execution limits losses to only a single model, which is great for those 50 man White Shield squads. ;)

 

They have a similar statline as the Platoon Commanders, however lack the 5++ save which means this guys probably don't want to throw themselves into combat if they don't have to, despite having WS3+.

Fortunately at 30pts base they are 20pts cheaper than their superiors which lets you have a good smattering of them in your force keeping an eye on everything. You will need to be careful to keep these guys out of LoS of snipers and psychic powers, as most canny players have figured out how much of a force multiplier these guys can be! I usually have one of these guys tag along with my forward infantry squads. 

 

Which is your preference? The cheap and cheery (?) Commissar, or do you prefer the more stern and steady gaze of a Lord Commissar? 

[wulfgar hammerfist]

I prefer the cheap and cheery version and keep them out of sight as much as possible.

[Kinstryfe]

I prefer the cheap, generic version. I play by the mantra "you don't get promoted in the Imperial Army by being a hero." They skulk around and inspire other guardsmen to be heroes instead :)

[Gloomfoe]

Im mainly upset that they can't take chainswords. Weaksauce.

 

Id say cheap version with a boltgun instead of a bolt pistol is the best route. But Lord Commissars are fun HQ choices, and pretty awesome at combat.

[Truesight]

Unironically the best unit in the codex.  They have one job and do it superbly well.  Nightlords just got crazy combo's to reduce leadership, I've seen players able to reduce leadership by 5.  I don't care that my infantry have leadership 0 though.  *BLAM*

[Halfpint100]

I have toyed with both and that 5++ on the Lord can help also hitting on 2s. But they both do the same so I prefer the cheaper one. I run 2, one with conscripts and one with my squads in 3 double flamer chimeras

[Withershadow]

Commissar Lord is a great HQ to start another detachment if you don't need or can't use orders (like a outrider detachment for example).  He's a beast hitting with that powerfist on a 3+, and that refractor field comes in handy.

[CoffeeGrunt]

I find I need to fill HQ slots a lot, so I end u taking the Lord. Then again, maybe I'm just not taking Company Commanders...

[jaxom]

Taking advantage of their close combat prowess hasn't hurt me too much. I have my Commissar in my center/anchor/forward infantry squad (flamer, no heavy weapon) with a platoon commander nearby. The weight of choices for targets and activation order usually means the Commissar can get his attacks off before dieing and may even live if the opponent is more worried about the Guardsmen falling back, regrouping, and firing the flamer. The lack of an invulnerable save hurts the most, so I try to maximize the threat of everything else around him as distraction. Most local MEQ and armies with more secure leadership tricks (Synapse, Waagh/Strength in Numbers) see Morale as not-too-important and haven't seemed to internalized that there are low leadership armies and that without a Commissar the Guard is one of them. I expect snipers will eventually become much more popular.

 

I take the Commissar rather than Lord Commissar because I like using Knight Commander Pask and a Tempestor-Prime to order around my one unit of Grenadiers (Scions).

[TheShredder]

At the moment, I'm just using cheap Commissars. However, when we get our codex, I might well include a single Commissar Lord as my Warlord (if we get some good Artefacts and/or Warlord Traits).

Regarding cheap Commissars, whilst they might not be great in melee I've found them to be splendid caddies for Plasma Pistols (which are effectively a 4pt upgrade, since they replace their otherwise mandatory bolt pistols).

[Stylian_StHugh]

Unless you're facing leadership shenanigans, I find Commissars lackluster: if a squad has taken fire, chances are it's already dead. The exception to this is babysitting Conscripts or Vet firebases

[TheShredder]

Unless you're facing leadership shenanigans, I find Commissars lackluster: if a squad has taken fire, chances are it's already dead. The exception to this is babysitting Conscripts or Vet firebases

 

My concern is that without them my opponent could just damage several of my units and let the subsequent Ld tests cripple them. 

 

However, I've certainly asked myself more than once whether they're worth it. I use 3 of them totalling 93pts and the average cost of one of my Infantry Squads is ~60pts ((67+67+47)/3). So, in order to be worth their cost, they'd have to save about 15 men each game (notwithstanding stuff like keeping a critical unit on an objective or keeping a unit in melee alive to stop the enemy consolidating into a different unit). 

 

I think I might keep a tally of how many men they save. If it's far less than 15 I'll try some games without them and see whether or not that causes any issues. 

 

The only other thing is that they're useful for providing mandatory Elite slots in a Brigade, but with all the other cheap Elites we have, I can't imagine that will be much of an issue.

[Tirak]

So, I need to dredge this thread back up because I've got a problem with my Commissars. The standard Commissar comes equipped with a Bolt Pistol and is reasonably priced. However GW doesn't sell on their main site a Commissar except with Powerfist, a Powersword and Pistol, and a Lord Commissar. Does anyone know where to get peaked commissar capped heads?

Edited September 22, 2017 by Tirak

[Tyr13]

The Ogryn sprue has one, attached to a skull (its a part for building Nork, so lots of people should have extras). You could also possibly use the various tank-commander heads. The one on the baneblade sprue, for instance.

Apart from that, you could try some WW2 stuff, though it might be hard to find them as singles.

[duz_]

Yeh I'd use commander models, or scion models

 

I wish Commissars could take a simple Chainsword... or close combat weapon at the very least.

Thas what my old Mordians and Praetorians come with and I want to be WYSIWYG for tournaments!

 

Or just convert the scrawny plastic one they have!

Edited September 22, 2017 by duz_

[Halfpint100]

I have one of the old metal ones with just a bolt pistol. You could always try ebay for one? Has his fist behind his back

[Dr_Ruminahui]

That one doesn't have carapace though, so isn't WYSIWYG for a Lord Commissar.  Works great for a regular commissar, though.

 

Perhaps the easiest solution is to paint their "regular" close combat weapons in a funky colour to make them into power weapons - that's want I should do with my commissar with an axe, who unfortunately is a lord due to his having a breastplate, despite being much less impressive than the "arm behind back" commissar.

[duz_]

Carapace has never really been a item that people have complained about. Just like all SMs have pistols... somewhere ... apparently ...

[Halfpint100]

To this day I have always played lord commies having a 5+ save.... oopsie! now I need to remember they have a 4+

 

Also lord commies have a power sword anyway, so you would need to have a bolt pistol/ power sword one. I use commissar gaunt as my lord commy

[Guardsman Bob]

Hey Tirak, Forge World has death korps Commissars. As Halfpint said eBay, it looks like Guard stuff is finally showing up in quantity there. again. People who've bought the Storm Tempus box sell the spares (I kept mine because they convert to a power axe very easily) which have the option of Bolt Pistol or Plasma Pistol.

[Guardsman Bob]

As far as the, "Lord Commissar verses Commissar," goes I'm more influenced by the need for HQ or Elites while building detachments. Gotta love walking into a game with four times the Command Points of your opponent.

[Withershadow]

Man I can't wait to get our unique stratagems. I am hoping they are more like AdMech than Chaos, and there is a fair share for vehicles and Infantry. I would love some kind of chimera stratagem that lets you pop the hatch for old school drivebys.

 

I don't really care about the Conscripts because I play the manliest of Regiments that abides no such thing. I'd be okay with Scions getting a little more expensive if their Ld improves. At the very least I expect plasma guns to go up to 10ppm. Mortars probably should too.