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Will commissars wear matching colors to their army? Or are they always described as wearing black? I'm debating if I should paint them up to match my snow camo or not, same for psykers. Might just do it however I think looks good, but wanted to know fluffwise what the answer is.

I believe they were different colours to stand out. Because it is very rare for a commissar to be in command of a regiment, and it means that no matter where you are from, you know a commissar when you see one.

Also, it is because they are basically nazi extremists, and nazis love black trench coats.

 welshhoppo wrote:
I believe they were different colours to stand out. Because it is very rare for a commissar to be in command of a regiment, and it means that no matter where you are from, you know a commissar when you see one.

Also, it is because they are basically nazi extremists, and nazis love black trench coats.

This. Commissars generally have a definitive commanding look, I think to echo the "I am above you, my command is law" sentiment.

 welshhoppo wrote:

Also, it is because they are basically nazi extremists, and nazis love black trench coats.

Which to me is hysterical because Commissars were a Soviet rank (and still exist in the PRC and DPRK as I recall).

Nazis used to shoot them out of hand

Anyway the black coat is pretty much locked in stone, but most have their coats open so you can do the rest of the uniform in your army's colors.

I paint their pants the same way I paint the pants on my rank and file dudes, but the black coat and red sash are musts.

Black coat and cap as well as red sash are "standard" for commissars. Theyll also usually have gold trim on their coats, hat, and sash. Usually their uniform underneath incorporates similar colors. You'll also see steel or bronze colored breast plates sometimes. About the only time a commissar would incorporate part of the regiment's uniform would be purely functional gear, like Gaunt adopting the ghosts trademark camo cloak, or steel legion/death korps commissars using their regiments gasmasks. If your men have winter camo, you could perhaps give him a winter coat to signify that he has access to better cold weather gear. Look online for WWII winter German officers, I'm sure you could find a good one in a heavy fur coat that would look the part of a commissar quite nicely. That or greenstuff one onto a GW model.

One thing that can vary is I believe commissar cadets wore blue sashes. So if you wanted to portray a young commissar you could do that as a way to distinguish between a Lord commissar and a rank and file one leading a group of conscripts or something

Edit: Forgot to mention, this very specific reason. Much like the Soviet commissars of history they're inspired by, commissars wear a different uniform specifically so they stand out. Officially this is so they can be noticed at a glance by the men under their command and serve as a point of inspiration and bravery. Usually it just serves as an instant indication that you need to shape up or you will be shot. If a commissar was dressed in a uniform similar to that of his regiment, he would look like a regular officer, thus defeating the purpose of him being there.

The different uniform emphasizes the fact that he is not a part of the regiment, that he is an independent and ever watchful eye of the administratum ensuring each soldier does his duty for the emperor. Embrace this as a painter, IG can be very monotonous to paint so it's nice to have a commissar to mix it up every once and a while. I collected a bunch for that very reason (well, that and they're cool models.