Commissar

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*"The first man gets the rifle! The second man gets the molotovs! If the one with the rifle gets killed, the one without the rifle picks up the gun and shoots! The one with the rifle shoots! The one without the rifle follows! If the one with the rifle gets killed ... "*

- Commissar during the Battle of Stalingrad

## Tactical Analysis

* **For Mother Russia!**: Commissars are charged with leading men into battle. They act as a focal point for the horde bonus, boosting any nearby infantry.

* **Don't Shock Me!**: Soviet Commissars are armed with Tesla Shock Pistols. While originally meant to deal with deserters, they are also highly effective at slowing down enemy units.

* **That one, Comrades!**: By pointing at an enemy with a coloured stick, Commissars can order Soviet forces to focus their fire on a single target.

* **Lend Your Support!**: Commissars need other units to back them up, since their Tesla pistols are incapable of directly harming the enemy and they have no other weapon to speak of.

## Operational History

**Commissars** have changed drastically since their earlier days. For decades, they were feared instruments of Lenin and Stalin's brutal will. They took it upon themselves to shoot any man found defecting or deserting and were above the normal chain of command. Due to vast shifts in Red Army policy, however, the Commissars have been split, between the simple Commissars tasked with handling the Conscripts while the Red Cadre leads the Regulars, are now much more respected. Commissars are now used to spread the Revolutionary spirit throughout the ranks, as was their original intent, by propaganda and example.

 File:SovietCommissarConcept.jpg
While Commissars still task themselves with deserters, their Makarov PMMs have since been replaced with Tesla shock pistols, which are glorified tasers since their generator is pathetically tiny. Though they initially kept their PMMs, Davidova explicitly saying that they are to be only used against the enemies only and using them otherwise is tantamount to murder. But after a report of Commissar Kubrik Chenkov having emptied his pistol on an entire Conscript platoon when they retreated in a battle turned south he was trialed and publicly executed by firing squad as an example, this and previous reports of the Commissars using their pistols to execute retreating forces, even after Chenkov execution, had her make a new law that bans Commissars from wielding firearms unless its a case of self-defense, and breaking said rule will result in being sent to the gulag, and if they kill their own forces, execution by firing squad. With only the Red Cadre, due to both their's and the Regular discipline, being allowed to use lethal forces.

And while useless in actual combat, it shocks and disables a running conscript (or even disabling a Sickle, if its crew gets a little "overexcited") so he, or she, can be more appropriately and humanely punished. This has also led to the in-joke amongst Conscripts of the deserter pleading *"Don't shock me, comrade!"*, something that Tesla Troopers tend to respond to.

## Behind the Scenes

The Tesla Pistol is based on the similarly titled weapon from the TV Series Warehouse 13.

## Just the Stats

 **Armour Type** | Infantry

 **Kill Reward** | 4800

 **DPS** | N/A