Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

Here is the situation. There is a squad of guardsmen with a regular commissar who are joined by a Lord Commissar. Everyone in the squad is dead except for the 2 commissars. They are required to take a leadership test and ,despite the statistical improbability, they fall back. I understand that according to the rules neither executes the other and they fall back like normal.

The real question I have is what would happen according to canon.

Would they execute each other?

Or would they both just awkwardly glance at each other and pretend it never happened?

Or something completely different?

To withdraw in disgust is not cowardice.

I would imagine the commissars would have done exactly as you have described, fought to the last man and then, for tactical reasons, fallen back. Commissars execute troops that simply run away, not those that are falling back in an orderly manner whilst still facing the foe.

Here's how I see it going down.

Commissar: "Sir? What do we do?!"

L. Commissar: "There comes a time when presence of mind is shown by absence of body."

Commissar: "What?"

L. Commissar: "Lets get out of here!"

 Furyou Miko wrote:
Here's how I see it going down.

Commissar: "Sir? What do we do?!"

L. Commissar: "There comes a time when presence of mind is shown by absence of body."

Commissar: "What?"

L. Commissar: "Lets get out of here!"

Exalted!

Yeah, pretty much this

The likelihood of a commissar retreating is less than that of the Emperor (honoured is His Name) suddenly jumping of his Throne to dance the kazachok with a group of Great Unclean Ones.
A true commissar would never retreat. They would call in an orbital strike at their own position. Anyone who suggests otherwise is clearly a traitor and a heretic and should report to his local commissariat in order to be purged.
Commissars never retreat. They conduct a tactical reverse advance.

 Iron_Captain wrote:
The likelihood of a commissar retreating is less than that of the Emperor (honoured is His Name) suddenly jumping of his Throne to dance the kazachok with a group of Great Unclean Ones.
A true commissar would never retreat. They would call in an orbital strike at their own position. Anyone who suggests otherwise is clearly a traitor and a heretic and should report to his local commissariat in order to be purged.
Commissars never retreat. They conduct a tactical reverse advance.

Tactical reverse advance XD

If there are no Grunts to see it happen, tactical retreat is a viable option

If there are grunts there to see it happen, a tactical retreat is always an option.

Commissars are there to punish cowardice, not good tactical sense! Otherwise they'd Execute the moment you tried to move a squad away from the enemy!


Automatically Appended Next Post:
If there are grunts there to see it happen, a tactical retreat is always an option.

Commissars are there to punish cowardice, not good tactical sense! Otherwise they'd Execute the moment you tried to move a squad away from the enemy!

It's not a tactical retreat... They are just going the long way around the planet to attack from the rear...

Its 40k so it depends

Some Commissars would liekly see this as their moment to drw the Emperors attention (likely the ones who got their units killed)

Or they are just going back to get more men......

Or one is the Hero of the Imperium and has more sense than most..............and makes a call based on the actual tactical situation