A popular joke among enlisted men is that there is nothing more dangerous than a junior officer with a map. While the Comms Veteran holds no especial rank, they do have a map and they are dangerous, in their own way. Notes about the model under the cut, but first:
- Yes, I know the flares are fastened horizontally and they should be vertical. I was young and foolish and assembled the cursed thing at 2:00 AM.
- The map was fun to paint, even though you can't actually see much of it in the pictures. I imagine someone with better brush control and more patience could do a lot more with it!
- I didn't realize until painting the model that the veteran has an actual telephone receiver connected to the voxcaster on their back, but it's a nice touch.
The Comms Veteran is a Support Veteran that you ideally want alive through Turn 4. There's no difference in defenses or armament - they're still 7 wounds with a 5+ save, wielding a bog-standard lasgun - it's the radio that you want up and running. To explain precisely why you want the radio cranked, remember what we discussed in the very first Kriegpost - the Veteran Guardsmen are very good at taking orders, and the comms vet ensures every veteran gets orders.
At the start of every Turning Point, your Sergeant Veteran (if they're alive) can give Guardsmen Orders to everyone within 6" of and visible to the sergeant vet. The orders take the form of one of four buffs:
"Move! Move! Move!"
- Add 1" of movement to each affected operative.
"Take Aim!"
- Re-roll all shooting attacks that land on 1, excepting mortar barrages, remote mines, and airstrikes.
"Hold Position!"
- Re-roll all defense dice that land on 1, so long as the affected operative is in cover and defending from a shooting attack.
"FIX BAYONETS!"
- Re-roll all melee attack dice that land on 1.
As you might imagine, getting these orders out to every operative rather than just those clustered up next to your sergeant is vital to getting the most out of a Veteran Guardsmen kill team. The Comms Veteran can, at the cost of one AP, relay a guardsman order when it is issued. Relayed orders are issued to all friendly operatives, regardless of visibility or distance. This ability alone is critical, allowing distant snipers the same re-rolls as the melta gunner with their barrel jammed into a hostile's snout - but the comms vet can also, at the cost of one AP, grant an extra AP to any visible guardsman within 6".
An extra action point can do a lot of heavy lifting during a given activation - a trooper could complete a mission action, dash into cover, or make a desperate charge after closing a hatchway and softening the target with laser fire. It's not out of the question to see a comms vet stay completely still through three or even four turning points, spending all their AP relaying orders and boosting the AP of their fellow guardsmen. I don't usually get this deep in the weeds in rules talk, but that radio isn't scary until you know what's playing.