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Fans ofWarhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader’s setting are no doubt familiar with the black-clad Commissars. Charged with maintaining discipline in the ranks of the Imperium’s vast military, they’re known for their unflinching devotion to duty and their absolute intolerance for incompetence, cowardice, or insubordination. Famously, Commissars are known to shoot fleeing soldiers to cow the others into staying at their posts.
One of the available Origins for the Lord Captain allows them to have been a part of the Officio Prefectus, having distinguished themselves on the battlefields of the galaxy. None of the playable companions are Commissars, so if you want one on your team you’ll have to roll one yourself!
This build centers onenhancing other party membersandgranting them additional actions. As you level up, you’ll be able toincrease the rate at which you gain Momentumfor your team by increasing everyone’s Resolve!
Homeworld
By far the best Homeworld for a Commissar is a good old-fashionedImperial World. If you’re looking for raw numbers,take Fellowshipas your bonus Characteristic from Humanity’s Finest. The Archetypes you’ll want to focus on use Fellowship almost exclusively to determine their effectiveness, and you’ll be able topass Social Skill testswith little problem.
As soon as you’re able, takeReady To Servefrom your Homeworld Talents. Combined with the primary strategy for this build, it will give your entire team a large increase to their total Resolve gain in each fight, allowing more Heroic Acts.
Archetypes
A Commissar can excel in nearly any Archetype, butOfficeris the starting option that plays to their strengths the best. Between the additional AP and MP that you’ll be handing out withAt All Costsand the extra turns granted by the Officer’s suite of abilities, your team will be able to get into position, apply buffs and debuffs, and perform more attacks overall during a single battle.
Your goal when leveling up is toprogress to the Master Tactician Archetype.Like Officers, Master Tacticians rely on Fellowship, and you’ll be able to use the extra Momentum you’re getting from the team’s high Resolve togain and use stacks of Tactical Advantage.
Characteristics
As stated before,Fellowship is your most important stat.Commissars lean slightly toward melee, but you’ll want tobalance your Weapon Skill and Ballistics Skillsince you’ll likely need both.
Willpowerhelps improve some Officer abilities, and is generally good to have when fighting psykers and Warp entities.
You can get away withignoring Perception and Intelligence, but it will be a good idea to have companions who can make up for it as a permanent part of your team.Pasqal and Cassiaare good choices for this, and since the Lord Captain will be using Officer abilities, Cassia will be free tofocus on developing her unique Navigator powers.
Gear
It’s hard to argue with a goodChainswordas your primary melee weapon, but ultimately your choice of close-combat gear is a matter of preference. The real question iswhat kind of ranged weapon you should use, either a pistol to wield in your off-hand or a full-sized firearm for your second gear slot.
The most important factor is that your ranged weaponhas a single-shot attack.That rules out area weapons like Flamers. Bolt weapons are probably the best choice overall, but they’rerare enough that you may have to choose between giving them to the Lord Captain or to Argenta.
Solid-slug weapons likeStubcarbinesorAutogunsare the next best option after Bolters, and they have the added benefit ofhaving additional penetration.Note, however, that even if a bullet passes through one enemy and hits another,only the attack’s primary targetwill trigger At All Costs.
Las weapons have low damage and armor penetration, so it’s very worthwhile tokeep a Laspistol equippedin case you need to zap a teammate for At All Costs; they’ll barely feel it!
Since Agility isn’t one of your main Characteristics, your Commissar will be a great candidate for gainingHeavy Armor Proficiencyand using the extra protection to shrug off attacks. Cover and the parry bonus from Weapon Skill will help keep you safe as well, even though you won’t be doing a lot of dodging.
Once you’re on the battlefield, remember tostay close to the other melee characters. This ensures that they’re in range of your abilities, and lets you get the Melee Superiority bonus while denying it to your enemies.
