Commanders (German: Kommandanten) are officers of the Nazi military and Police Forces that B. J. Blazkowicz encounters throughout his adventures in Wolfenstein: The Old Blood, The New Order and its sequel The New Colossus.

Overview

Commanders are easily spotted thanks to their peaked cap, lack of protective gear, the formality of their uniform and the radio chatter emanating from their glowing red headset which they use to summon reinforcements in the event of a shootout. They commonly serve as coordinating officers of other units on the field rather than actual fighters, and as a result tend to hang back and let their subordinates take care of the player instead of actually fighting. Their only line of defense is a handgun.

The presence of Commanders often means a stealth section is right up ahead where their (preferably silent) elimination is key to avoiding a drawn-out firefight. As they don't have a lot of health, a single Throwing Knife, Throwing Hatchet, or suppressed Handgun shot is usually enough. There are only a two times where the player will have to deal with Commander that is alarmed: one is at the ending of Section F after destroying the signal and the second one is in the ending of Lakeview District during the storyline, once the Eva's Hammer arrived in the New Orlean to evacuate the Horton's resistance group.

Unlike regular Soldiers, if a Commander detects the player, all of the other officers in the area will sound an alarm, though he can be silenced before he can do so if one reacts quick enough. Commanders are usually found working in pairs.

Commanders stationed in America in 1961 have several notable differences from previous Commanders. They have a parade uniform cord and a Feldgendarmerie (Field Military Police) gorgets on their chests. Their headset also lacks a red light and they wear a padded black duster. Atom Commanders wear a yellow hazmat suit beneath their dusters and a gas mask beneath their peaked cap. Venus Commanders have uniforms similar to the ones of Atom Commanders, but colored in orange instead of yellow. The Diaries of Agent Silent Death introduces Moon Commanders, who have the same uniforms as Atom and Venus Commanders, but colored white.

1946

• Commander 1946 (Jahr 1946-Kommandant)
• Off-Duty 1946 Commander

The Nazi Allgemeine-SS commanders in General Deathshead's regiment are pencil pushers with a sadistic streak. They would rather avoid getting in the line of fire, but are forced into action in order to get a promotion from their general. The radio headset attached to their peaked caps allows them to call for backup. The best way to deal with commanders is to take them out silently, before they sound the alarm.

The 1946 variant is only encountered in The Old Blood and the prologue level of The New Order before being replaced by their 1960 counterparts.

Two of the commanders encountered in the The Old Blood, appear in the Officers Quarters area of the castle. They are unable to call reinforcements due to a lack of headsets. These officers are minding their own business in the rooms of Helga von Schabbs and Rudi Jäger, where one is inspecting the fireplace in Helga's quarters, complaining about its poor quality of repairs, and the other commander is examining Rudi's bookshelf. The commander in Rudi's room is talking to himself and noticing an upside down book. If the player lets Blazkowicz listen to him, they can reshelve the aforementioned book and a secret door will open to reveal a hidden room. Both of those officers have unique stealth-kill animations that require Blazkowicz to attack them with a pipe. One in Helgas room involve BJ attacking Officer and breaking his head on the fireplace. One in the Rudi's room is killed by BJ by pushing him to the bookshelf and strangling him with a pipe before dealing final blow.

Commander in Rudi's Room

Commander in Helga's Room

1960

• Commander 1960 (Jahr 1960-Kommandant)
• Air Force Commander (Luftwaffenkommandant)
• Captain (Kapitän)
• Space Commander (Mondkommandant)
• Prison Commander
• Camp Belica's Commander

Even though their combat skills may be limited, Nazi Allgemeine-SS commanders are essential for coordinating tactical reinforcements. Through their communication headset, they can radio for reinforcements, and will continue to do so until they're dead.

Commander 1960s are encountered throughout the game after the completion of the prologue.

Commanders in the Nazi Air Force are often cowardly paper-pushers who got promoted because they had the right connections. They carry hand guns and try to stay behind the other soldiers as much as they can. The radio headset attached to their peaked caps allow them to call for backup. Just like normal commanders, the best way to deal with Air Force commanders is to take them out silently, before they sound the alarm.

Air Force Commanders are rare finds in the campaign. Only four of them are encountered throughout The New Order: at the end of the first London Nautica level, and at the start of the revisit, a few minutes before fighting against the London Monitor.

Kriegmarine Ü-boat captains of the Reich are tough-as-nails war veterans who would rather go down with their ship than surrender to the enemy. Ü-boat captains, during their training, are sent up to the lunar base to be taught the code for their vessel's nuclear shells, and then they memorize this code to prevent hostiles from taking control of those warheads. Only one captain is fought in the game, and despite his headset, he does not use it.

The Captain is encountered at the end of the U-boat level.

This variant of the commander is seen on the Lunar Base, and nowhere else. They use the unique Lunar handgun, which has a permanently attached silencer.

They are commanders of the internal security forces of Germany (SS-Ordnungpolizei). Unlike other commanders, they are more relaxed and easily dealt with. If they find the enemy, they ready a nightstick but act rather glitchy and cannot call reinforcements. One of this commanders is armed with Handgun 1946.

They are commanders of the security forces (SS-Totenkopfverbände) in Camp Belica under command of Irene Engel. Cannot be directly fought. The most well–known camp commander – The Knife. They wear an uniform the same as Bubi's, but with an officer cap and radio headset.

1961

• Commander 1961
• Atom Commander 1961
• Venus Commander 1961
• Moon Commander 1961

During New Colossus commanders changed drastically. They still act as supporting enemy for others, but in many ways differ from their predecessors.

In appearance they now wear Wehrmacht Field grey Waffen-SS uniforms with iron cross, over it they wear dark grey duster coats. On their chests they wear Feldgenadrmerie gorget and device on shoulder appearing to be kind of radio equipment. On back they wear small metal device, containing Enigma Codes. On head they wear peaked caps with SS skulls and radio device on side of it.

In combat they use Handguns 1960, that they carry in hand at all times, even when patrolling. When passive they carry it lowered, by their leg, when triggered they carry it up, by the head. During combat they move back from the fight, constantly calling in more and more soldiers. As soldiers they called are killed, their calls for help become more and more desperate and furious. After all of available troops have been killed, commanders will move closer to BJ's location to finish him.

Commanders positioned in toxic areas, such as Manhattan or Roswell after nuke was detonated nearby dress in yellow hazmat suits and gas masks, over with they wear coats, gorgets and peaked caps. This protective equipment may make them a bit stronger than regular counterparts, while still using Handgun 1961.

They behave the same as normal commanders, but more often than regular commanders they can be found patrolling areas with Kampfhund or Laserhund by their side. They call in Atom Soldiers instead of normal ones.

Commanders stationed on Venus wear the same uniforms as Atom ones, but recolored Orange, and they wear those protective suits even in-doors, where many Venus Soldiers tend to take them off there. Otherwise they function the same as normal commanders and use the same 1961 Handguns.They call in Venus Soldiers instead of normal ones.

Commanders found on Moon Station. They wear the same hazmat suit as Moon and Venus commanders but recolored white. They still use Handguns 1961 and call in Moon Soldiers instead of normal ones.

Strategy

• It's best (and sometimes absolutely necessary) to kill them in the area so they won't sound off the alarm.
• Some Commanders will charge at the player once you killed all of their reinforcements, this is noticeable on their radio chatter (as the numbers slowly go down towards your position).
• Once the player leaves the Commander section with them alive (or going on alert), they will disappear from that section and allow the player to go back to collect supplies. This comes in handy in The New Colossus if the player needs ammo for the next section. If the Commander sounds the alarm, the player can leave the area and their radio will disappear alongside reinforcements. That being said, robots and creatures (e.g. super soldiers) will stay if you return.
• If the Commander sounds the alarm, it's best to find a place to hold ground and funnel the reinforcements to you.
• The player can avoid most Commander sections by sneaking around the area, only having to kill a few enemies to get to the next section. That being said, most commanders will sound the alarm in un-skippable fights, an example is the Commander at the end of Section F.

Trivia

• There is a Commander positioned in a hidden area during the prologue. After sneaking through a painting, you will come upon a room with this Commander talking to Deathshead via phone. If you stay there and listen, the Commander will start talking about his family and his wife's pregnancy. He then suddenly panics after this, and begins to assure Deathshead that everything is under control, and that the attacking Allied troops will be dealt with. Also, he is the only commander armed with an assault rifle encountered before the time-skip.
• The Nazi Chief of Science is presumably another Commander type in a similar vein to the Lunar variant judging by his uniform and headset. However, the Chief is not fought directly and only appears as a corpse. He is viewable in the Characters section, where his uniform is white with small dashes of yellow with a black 1960 variant of the luger holster
  • Despite his massive build, Blazkowicz is somehow able to fit into the normally slim outfit of the Chief of Science.
• There are no Commander models specific to the Afrika Korps or the Kriegsmarine, though the U-boat Captain can arguably be considered one for the latter. A standard Commander appears at the beginning of the level, though.
• In The New Colossus, they have a different animation when not aware of the player. While they patrolled with a holstered pistol in The New Order and The Old Blood, in The New Colossus they have their pistol drawn and in their right hand at all times, with their left hand behind their back.
• There are some commanders who can't be avoided and unavoidably sound off the alarm in The New Colossus (e.g. Section F after killing Fischer).
• In Chapter 12 from The New Order, there are apparently no commanders. This statement is false, since you can find one near the end of the level. He'll be sitting on a inaccessible area of the bridge, just sitting down watching the sea. You can't interact with him, except for killing him.
• Commanders can use assault rifles, if there is one.
• 1946 Commanders wear the same uniform as the real life Allgemeine-SS.

Gallery

Commanders in different uniform. The two on the far right are the Chief of science, and the Lunar commander variant, which uses a silenced pistol.

Prison commander.

Commander in Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus.

Atom Commander by Vidar Rapp

Venus commander

Moon commander with Handgun 1961

Detail on the parade cord and Feldgendarmerie Gorget

Commander models differences (from 1946, 1960 to 1961) Note the lack of a red light on the 1961 commander's headset.

A commander in Area 52 (far back).

B.J. axing a Commander in Section F.

A commander in The Old Blood (on the right).

B.J. killing a Commander with a throwing knife in Wulfburg.

Unique Assault Rifle wielding commander encountered in New Order

BJ fighting a group of enemies in The Old Blood, along with a commander(top right).