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Which commissar has your love and devotion? Just wondering. I personally wish they made a mini of Cain with a set of rules and such

Cain FTW. He doesnt even try to be heroic, and he ends up being heroic, while sounding like a man not in his dream job.

Ibram Gaunt. Kicking Chaos ass all over the Sabbat worlds.

Can I vote Yarrick? He's the only man capable of lasting more than a minute in a fight with Ghazghkull.

Both are rather overhyped and not fitting with what I imagine a commissar to be. Yarrick, Hark, and that commissar from Gunheads are all much better IMO.

The thing that strikes me the most and makes him more enjoyable is the fact he reacts normally like a human would in the setting (although he will never admit it haha). Unlike other unaltered humans who are all gun ho to stand up and die showing no fear..kinda boring that way. Cain has the most flavor IMO. Plus Cain has what Gaunt and the others will never have Jurgen


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 Dr. What wrote:
Can I vote Yarrick? He's the only man capable of lasting more than a minute in a fight with Ghazghkull.

Sorry I didn't include him in the poll, kinda spaced him out

I like them both. Coolyo is right, they aren't typical at all, but that's why I like them (except I include Yarrick in with them). I don't want to read about Joe Schmo sci-fi. I can't really decide between Cain or Gaunt, though. Their books are so different. (Although, if the poll were 'which would you rather serve under if you were a guardsman?' the answer would be Cain hands-down.)

Sad to see that Yarrick is left out in commisar vs commisar poll

Yarrick all the way!

But,.. i choose Gaunt,... simply because i havent read a novel where Cain is presented yet

The answer is Yarrick.

Probably my favorite guard character.

I think I like them both more or less equally and I voted thusly, although Gaunt will always hold a special place in my heart because the Gaunt´s Ghosts series was the probably the first piece of Warhammer fluff I really got into.
Besides that I think I liked Gaunt a bit more anyways. Though both Gaunt and Caine are mary-sues, the fact that Caine tries so hard not to try and still succeeds is somewhat stupid at times and makes him even more mary-sue-ish.
I mean when Gaunt and his men, after losing a gak ton of good characters, achieve something, it is made clear how hard he and his men tried. Caine on the other hand really doesnt want to do anything, probably has a hangover and just stumbles over victory. Its fun to read, but sometimes it just feels too over the top for me to get invested.
Just my 2cents

We all know that Commissar Holt is the only true commissar.

Novobazky - solely for his 'the shores of malik' speech in his last command!

Gaunt is great, the Ghosts just rock. Now Cain I love the comedy in the book.

 chapgrimaldus wrote:
Which commissar has your love and devotion? Just wondering. I personally wish they made a mini of Cain with a set of rules and such

Just use a Commissar model but with the Lord Commissar rules.

On-topic, both are entertaining to read.

Never understood the hard-on for Yarrick. He got his ass kicked by Gazzy, managed to fend him off from Armageddon with a massive, utterly massive army. Then he got his ass kicked by Gazzy again, and was spared because why not. So now he's surfing through the galaxy with the criminally insane Black Templars, questing for a third ass kicking from Gazzy.

Anyway, I like Gaunt way more than Cain, though his portrayal since Traitor-General has been pretty ass.

Well, the poll question asks which is the more entertaining to read, so I'll base my answer on that...I think the last couple of Cain books have been disappointing. The Last Ditch and The Greater Good promised Orks and Tau respectively but quickly swept them aside and just went down the route of having Tyranids as the main alien race (again - I find Cain's encounters with them since the first two omnibuses pretty dull whereas the books where he battles Orks, Chaos or Necrons are so much better). The footnotes now mostly seem to just drop in totally irrelevant information (OK, that sometimes that happened in the earlier books, but at least they were generally more amusing even when they were pointless). He often makes references to having encountered Dark Eldar, and that's the book I want to read...just give us a break from Tyranids, and especially Genestealers, for a bit.

That said I think it's only recently the quality of the books has tailed off, the earlier ones are much better. However, there's only one Gaunt book I find dull to read (His Last Command, though the parts where the squad from Traitor General are being debriefed/interrogated are good), so I'm going to have to say I think Gaunt's Ghosts make for the better read.

Sandy Mitchell has Cain talk about himself as not being brave or tough but then all the choices Cain ends up making in tight spots are actually brave and tough. I wish Mitchell would actually write him as a spineless coward rather than a modest hero. It kind of kills the joke that Cain is actually a super wonderful guy.

So my vote went to Gaunt, who is a cliche but at least Abnett is transparent about it.

For everyone carrying on about Yarrick -- he is so OTT, he makes both Cain and Gaunt look realistic.

Comissar Holt! Because he got me into 40k.

 Polvilhovoador wrote:
Comissar Holt! Because he got me into 40k.

Who is this guy? Where can i find a bit of fluff about him? Any novl or IG codex?

Gaunt because The lost was a incredible good read

What was that commissar that had the DRIVE ME CLOSER rule before the meme came out? dude was a laugh to play. He gets my vote

Manchu wrote:Sandy Mitchell has Cain talk about himself as not being brave or tough but then all the choices Cain ends up making in tight spots are actually brave and tough. I wish Mitchell would actually write him as a spineless coward rather than a modest hero. It kind of kills the joke that Cain is actually a super wonderful guy.

Not to mention Vail's frequent comments that he is one of the most skilled swordsmen in the segmentum...the only time I can remember him being a genuine coward is in the first short story (can't remember the name - the one at the start of the first omnibus) where his reaction to a Tyranid invasion is to jump in a Salamander and drive as fast as he can away from the fight.

Waaghboss Grobnub wrote:

 Polvilhovoador wrote:
Comissar Holt! Because he got me into 40k.

Who is this guy? Where can i find a bit of fluff about him? Any novl or IG codex?

He is from the game Final Liberation. Seeing as he appears in the cutscenes you should try searching Youtube for him. He definitely doesn't mess around.

I have a suggestion for the Cain lovers, read the short story "The smallest detail" by Sandy Mitchel, it's only a small e-book but really gives you insight to Jurgen's point of view

 Jimsolo wrote:
I like them both. Coolyo is right, they aren't typical at all, but that's why I like them (except I include Yarrick in with them). I don't want to read about Joe Schmo sci-fi. I can't really decide between Cain or Gaunt, though. Their books are so different. (Although, if the poll were 'which would you rather serve under if you were a guardsman?' the answer would be Cain hands-down.)

I prefer Cain, as for who would I rather server under? Gaunt. He's less likely to use me as a human shield.


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 chapgrimaldus wrote:
I have a suggestion for the Cain lovers, read the short story "The smallest detail" by Sandy Mitchel, it's only a small e-book but really gives you insight to Jurgen's point of view

Wish I could, but I loathe e-books. I wish BL would stop with this exclusive bs.

 Soladrin wrote:


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 chapgrimaldus wrote:
I have a suggestion for the Cain lovers, read the short story "The smallest detail" by Sandy Mitchel, it's only a small e-book but really gives you insight to Jurgen's point of view

Wish I could, but I loathe e-books. I wish BL would stop with this exclusive bs.

DL Calibre and the e-book then print it off caliber, (BTW The large pic of Jurgen is great now I know he is one ugly sod)

 chapgrimaldus wrote:
Which commissar has your love and devotion? Just wondering. I personally wish they made a mini of Cain with a set of rules and such

Your poll and your sentence equals 2 different things.


I find Ciaphas more enjoyable to read because of the humor but Gaunt has my devotion.

 Manchu wrote:
Sandy Mitchell has Cain talk about himself as not being brave or tough but then all the choices Cain ends up making in tight spots are actually brave and tough. I wish Mitchell would actually write him as a spineless coward rather than a modest hero. It kind of kills the joke that Cain is actually a super wonderful guy.

So my vote went to Gaunt, who is a cliche but at least Abnett is transparent about it.

For everyone carrying on about Yarrick -- he is so OTT, he makes both Cain and Gaunt look realistic.

I hate Cain for many of the same reasons.

He's by far one of the greatest duelists and shots in the guard, a brilliant tactician who can outmaneuver and defeat superior foes with plans concocted on the fly, a brave hero who will risk his neck for others at personal expense, and he manages to go beyond the impossible by banging such colorful women like Inquisitors, Tech Priests, and retired Sisters of Battle (Who knew that was the type of job you could retire to Hawaii from). Yet Mitchell has the gall to insult my intelligence by tacking on pseudo "flaws" in an attempt to hide this boring Mary Sue of a character as what he is, flaws that are not realistic in their execution, and really only serve as another way to make the character more "likeable".

Yarrick OTT? I dunno, he is a pretty hard as nails Commissar, but he never did anything so brash as actually kicking Ghaz's ass. He has lost every fight they have had, and that was after getting a Power Klaw that let him hit with the force of an avalanche.

Not so different, if you enjoyed Cain then doesn't he have your man-crush/ and or love? As far as devotion, buying more of his books means your more devoted. See the reasoning?


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Also to be fair he only slept with Amberly and The heir to some planet. The sister was involved with the administratum guy, and the tech-priest?? She may have been a little out of the norm but still didn't engage in bodily pleasures...cept' snacking a lot. As for Yarrik IMO he was way over the top, "hard as nails" commissars are a dime a dozen with fluff so he is one of the least likeable commissars IMO for lack of originality.

Cain - Wh40k needs more sarcastic heroes

 Waaghboss Grobnub wrote:

 Polvilhovoador wrote:
Comissar Holt! Because he got me into 40k.

Who is this guy? Where can i find a bit of fluff about him? Any novl or IG codex?