I do, luckily. But looking at wikipedia, the US has only a few more, and Australia a few less. The UN recommends roughly 2 per 1'000. (~220 per 100'000, actually)
Seems fairly reasonable to me...

At the low end you have 48 per 100'000 in Mali. Which comes to 4 per 10'000, still.

Anyway, I'm drifting off-topic, sorry.

Since the question of soviet-era comissars was raised, let me make a small note.

As a person serving in ex-ussr military (namely Belarus) at the moment, I can guarantee that political officers are still there, they are not "comissars" anymore and mostly do the psychologist job - keeping young people armed with lethal weapons and put into stressful situations from doing stupid things... of course, in case of war they have other responsibilities.

We do have a standard of 1 political officer per company, and that standard comes from soviet army structure - it is not because company has just perfect number of troopers (indeed, infantry company is times more numerous than, say, tank company), but because 95% of all interactions between troopers occur within their company, and officer's job is to turn these people into one team, not to punish cowards and idiots, although it is sometimes nessesary for said job.

I don't know how western militaries solve these tasks, but maybe you can put these methods in your Only War campaigns as well.

Thanks for the input Chaplain. Thats very interesting.

Since the Idea of the Commissar is taken from Soviet era Military, I will defer to Chaplain's wisdom! Thanks for your input!

Seconded: Thanks for the input.

I don't think the Swiss military has political officers, though I'd have to ask my friends in the army, to make sure.

Like I said, in western militaries (I'm guessing here) same tasks are solved by military psychologists and chaplains. And boy do we have priests marching among Imperium's vast armies.

it is not because company has just perfect number of troopers (indeed, infantry company is times more numerous than, say, tank company), but because 95% of all interactions between troopers occur within their company, and officer's job is to turn these people into one team, not to punish cowards and idiots, although it is sometimes nessesary for said job

I think the company structure for infantry was the baseline - there was a study about humans bonding best in a circle that does not exceed 100 members. Whoever came up with this formation in the middle ages(?) arguably didn't have access to the same volume of psychological knowledge, but I would deem it possible that they simply went by experience and observation.

That tank formations use the same term for a much smaller number of members is, I'd guess, simply a result of their increased value (both in resources as well as an strategic asset), leading to a need for smaller units and higher ranks. From what I've seen, tank commanders are at least sergeants, fighter pilots are always officers, etc.

Since the Idea of the Commissar is taken from Soviet era Military, I will defer to Chaplain's wisdom! Thanks for your input!

Keep in mind that nothing in the real world is represented 100% "as is" in 40k, though. As previously quoted, the original creators of the setting imagined Commissars to be much less frequent than they were in the Red Army, so one should probably not look too closely at the source of inspiration. The Imperial Guard sadly doesn't use Blocking Detachments either ... however, frankly, I think they would be a cool addition!

Anyways .. go ahead if you simply like it more!

Like I said, in western militaries (I'm guessing here) same tasks are solved by military psychologists and chaplains.

Aye, and the regular officers. "Political education" is one of the courses in basic training in the German military, and when I was there it was held by the company's Lt (who was 2nd in command); I'm sure other nations have a similar program when training their troops.

Like I said, in western militaries (I'm guessing here) same tasks are solved by military psychologists and chaplains. And boy do we have priests marching among Imperium's vast armies.

The American Military has MP's (Military Police). While not officers like Commissars are it is a little known fact that one of their duties (At least as recently as the Korean war) was to shoot battlefield deserters when found! We also have Psychologists who ARE officers as you surmised but they don't shoot people (Usually! Nidal Hassan was a nut job himself!)

pedantic quibbling

Commissars are mainly a feature of the WWII Soviet Army, at which point it was no longer called the Red Army (there was no such thing after, I dunno, 1941). Their job was political propaganda, not shooting people. (That's what the NKVD was for.) The 40K designers were obviously mixing the two.

pedantic quibbling

it is not because company has just perfect number of troopers (indeed, infantry company is times more numerous than, say, tank company), but because 95% of all interactions between troopers occur within their company, and officer's job is to turn these people into one team, not to punish cowards and idiots, although it is sometimes necessary for said job

I think the company structure for infantry was the baseline - there was a study about humans bonding best in a circle that does not exceed 100 members. Whoever came up with this formation in the middle ages(?) arguably didn't have access to the same volume of psychological knowledge, but I would deem it possible that they simply went by experience and observation.

I'm surprised you don't know this one Lynata! The term "Company" comes from the Roman legion and was Originally called a "Century" These were obviously commanded by Centurions. As it happens, the Romans apparently hit upon the psychologically correct number of troops to form a common unit (Or more likely, they evolved into that point!).

Ah, interesting - I did know about the Roman military organisation (well, "knowing", as in: I've read stuff about it), but I was unaware that it was connected to the company of medieval Europe's militaries and mercenaries.

It would make sense if one evolved out of the other, though, come to think about it - after all, much of Europe effectively was Roman at some point in time, and let's not even talk about the political role and influence of the HRE, which emulated the original Roman Empire as much as it was able to (up to speaking Latin in the German court!).

Indeed. Although (just to be confusing) a Century had about eighty dudes in it.

It may have ranked up to 100 by the time you add in servants and non-combatant supernumaries.

And yes, the Marian Reform Legions were one of the first formally codified army structures in europe, and there was a lot of surviving military literature from the Empire, so - at least for the following millenium - most armies started by apeing them when organising large blocks of troops.

How many commissars do you guys think a penal regiment would have?

How many commissars do you guys think a penal regiment would have?

one if the rank and file have explosive collars and he has the switch.

If I was running the game then Id have at least one per platoon maybe even one per two squads

How many commissars do you guys think a penal regiment would have?

My personal assessment: One. Plus a section of Provosts to keep the prisoners in line whilst they're being transported from one hellhole to another. Of course, they'd never leave the Naval starship. Their lives are too costly to throw them away on the kind of missions that Penal units are tasked with. Here, the Commissar acts merely as an administrator, whilst the actual enforcement of discipline and mission orders is carried out by a custodian officer the unit has been entrusted to. Example: Colonel Schaeffer and his Last Chancers, aka the 13th Penal Legion.

And of course the Commissar would be able to detonate all explosive collars if the custodian is murdered by the troops.

"New Legionnaires have their heads shaved and tattooed with their unit insignia. Explosive collars are clamped around their necks. The collars are a disciplinary device, primarily designed to discourage a prisoner from attempting to escape. The blast from one is directed inwards and will have little effect on anyone standing nearby, other than showering them in a fountain of blood and gore. In battle, the collars are detonated by a Penal Custodian when discipline needs to be enforced without destroying the troopers' morale."

- 5E C:IG

What if it's one of the combat drug regiments, not the explosive collar ones a la Savlar?

From lexicanum: http://wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/Commissar#.U3mZayh1Ojk

When a Commissar decides that a Cadet has failed in his duty to become a Commissar, but has not shown cowardice or insubordination, the Cadet is relieved and may be either sent to a Stormtrooper unit or become an officer in a penal battalion .

The commissar in a penal legion/regiment/battalion is there as a punishment. He is no more likely to get out of the unit alive than any penal trooper and is by all odds a cynical and fatalistic fanatic hoping to find redemption in death. They may be a bit less expendable than the penal troops but they are certainly expected to die in the front line.

Actually, the first Last Chancer's book specifically mentions that a certain penal battalion was ordered to do a diversionary attack and their commissar would ensure that they would die to the last man rather than retreat, the implication being that his death was part of the plan as well and he had no problem with it.

the implication being that his death was part of the plan as well and he had no problem with it.

Every commissar, worth its Coin, should accept death as part of the plan when it is about a mission. In that regard he is no more fatalistic than a commissar in a line infantry regiment that takes the first step out of a trench with a frigging huge banner that tells everyone on the other side "shoot me".

As long as the mission is worth it, any commissar would sacrifice a regiment and himself, being in a penal legion just makes it easier for you are not loosing a valuable asset. Thats why you would not stuff such a regiment with several commissars, the administratum wants the bill to be as cheap as possible while keeping some basic efficiency.

What if it's one of the combat drug regiments, not the explosive collar ones a la Savlar?

Ooh, tricky. I guess I would handle it like an ordinary regiment, but with lapsed discipline - so, the upper end of the spectrum, with about 0.5-1 per company?

The commissar in a penal legion/regiment/battalion is there as a punishment.

I don't think Commissars being punished remain Commissars. The (fan-edited and slightly altered) text from Lexicanum is a reference to the White Dwarf Article on Commissar Training Squads, and personally I'd interpret "officer in a penal battalion" to refer to a Guard rank like company captain or some such, but not a Commissar position.

(and am I the only one thinking that Hero's coat looks like a [ex-]Commissar's?)

As long as the mission is worth it, any commissar would sacrifice a regiment and himself, being in a penal legion just makes it easier for you are not loosing a valuable asset. Thats why you would not stuff such a regiment with several commissars, the administratum wants the bill to be as cheap as possible while keeping some basic efficiency.

My opinion as well. Commissars "die easily", but there's no reason to just throw them away when they can be of better use in a real regiment that will not lose 2/3 its men in the first deployment. The Imperium has invested too much in them for that.

I'd imagine that you probably pissed someone off or graduated last in your class or something to get sent to hang out with a penal regiment. Not quite as likely of a death sentence as being assigned to the Catachan Devils, but still no fun.

Kind of makes me laugh, because some assume that the Commissar is being punished, or that they must be viewed as lesser quality to get this job. Your average Guardsman is an untainted, Emperor-fearing, trained soldier, and might only need a Commissar as an occasional reminder, while the Penal Legionnaire is a conniving, potentially murdering whack job who might only be there because they are already wearing Battle Royale collars, or maybe because they actually DO want the Emperor's forgiveness. This job seems more for the hardened, already-tested Commissars, men and women who have already had to put down more agreeable troops, knowing that these "soldiers" would run, defect, or worse given half a chance. If many Penal Legions weren't sent on suicide missions, and I doubt all of them are, I'd say only the best Commissars would get this job, as they might be among the few figures able to get through all the jerk-off in these blighted souls' heads, and still scare them enough to pull some obedience out. PLs flip the aquilla to Arbites, and they have carapace armor, shock mauls, possibly bolters or shotguns, and the Commissars who get this detachment can still somehow demand, and receive loyalty out of them. My feelings, anyway.

It's a good point - kind of looking at it from the opposite direction, but valid in its own right.

It pretty much depends on who you think plays the largest role when it comes to keeping the troops in line during deployment. In my little version of the setting, this would be the Penal Custodians, hard-bitten vets like Schaeffer who act like a Commissar even though they're not. I'll freely admit that the only thing I can base this interpretation on is a very short story in the 3rd Edition Guard Codex, though. Penal Legions have never been described in great detail, or at least not in the studio material. Black Library might have more on the subject, but then again, different authors may promote different ideas there, too.

It's up to us to choose - the most important thing is that, internally, our preferred vision of the setting is consistent and makes sense. Everything else is just preferences, and there's little to no accounting for taste.

There are roughly "more" than a few ten-thousand penal legions around, I bet some of them work as you think they do.

As long as you can explain it, and as long as it stays true to the overall theme of the setting everything works.

We also have such things like the Terrax Guard where roughly any single Guardsman would qualify for commissar.