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I was playing DoW Retribution and i was wondering how rare is a Lord Commissar? In 5th ed it says that at least one commissar is assigned to an IG regiment, in most cases it's several commissars. So say the number of total commissars = 3x the number of regiments in the IG, that's a lot. But given the nature of their duties how rare is it that one makes it to the rank of Lord Commissar? I can find nothing cannon on LCs aside from a paragraph in the 5th ed IG book.

Lord Commissars will pop up in any major warzone, they oversee the supreme commanders of an Imperial Guard/Navy deployment and will monitor the state of the overall situation whereas standard Commissars focus on the Regiment/Company level.

Harriticus wrote:Lord Commissars will pop up in any major warzone, they oversee the supreme commanders of an Imperial Guard/Navy deployment and will monitor the state of the overall situation whereas standard Commissars focus on the Regiment/Company level.

Ah ok that makes a lot of sense, thanks for the reply

And sometimes they have to take matters into their own hands, leading groups into a vital part of a battle while the commanders focus on the greater war.

Commissars are primarily advisers. So a junior commissar might advise a platoon commander, or a frigate captain; a senior commissar a regiment, cruiser shipmaster; whereas a lord commissar is beside a Lord General/Admiral, and may form part of a Warmasters retinue. It's all about scale, so in normal circumstance a Lord Commissar doesn't get to do all the cool summary executing, unless one of the staff officers makes a tactical blunder, in which case "relieved of command" *BLAM*.

What about General Commissars???

Are in charge of the commissariat as a whole, they are the people that commissars are answerable to, they preside over hearings for HIGH ranking officers and commissars, they are responsible for the organisation of the guard. Powerful Individuals indeed.

The kind of individual an Inquisitor would ask for assistance instead of order.

I still prefer the old commissars

Hlaine Larkin mk2 wrote:What about General Commissars???

This pops up in the Gaunts Ghost series. On occasion a commissar my be given direct command over a guard organization in lew of a guard office (ie Gaunt was given command of the Tanith regiment so he was gifted was the rank of Col.). Once they have a rank they are pretty much the same as any other guard officer; make command decisions, be promoted, eat better food, ect... The only real difference to them is that they still retain the authority of the commissariat, though they don't put it to use nearly as much because of the time the duties required of an officer takes. On that note once a commissar becomes an officer as well, the regiment will usually get a new commissar to fulfil the role that the previous one left vacant.

Where has Commissar Yarrick gotten to?

AwesomeFex wrote:Where has Commissar Yarrick gotten to?

You should be able to get Yarrick as a result of capturing most of the strategic points or something.

This thread had been really informative, thanks for all the replies. So then would you all say that it's a little un-fluffy to have a Commissar Lord on the front lines then? I mean I love the idea of this battle hardened commissar throwing out executes and rallying the front line troops but in the world of 40k is it safe to say that would be a rare sight? Maybe unless the situation was dire and the LC has had enough so he charges into the fray bolt pistol first?

well if you want a hard as nails Comissar just use the rules for a lord but say he's a regular. I'm pretty sure Gaunt had simillar stats to a lord so it would work well that way.

Ugly Green Trog wrote:well if you want a hard as nails Comissar just use the rules for a lord but say he's a regular. I'm pretty sure Gaunt had simillar stats to a lord so it would work well that way.

Nice! I am soooooo doin that, thanks