Commanders

The impact of the Commander in a game is significant. As a result careful micromanagement of the commander can be the difference between victory or defeat.

Commanders are multi-purpose, with many roles
In the early game, commanders are far stronger than most single squads. This can be used to your advantage when fighting over map control.
 * Dueling commanders
 * Disruption of gun lines
 * Auras
 * Destroying vehicles, structures, daemons
 * Absorbing enemy ranged attacks
 * Providing safe line of sight
 * Dealing morale damage

Dueling
Dueling refers to fighting 1 versus 1, commander vs commander.

HP is the greatest indicator of dueling success, but there are caveats
In order of starting maximum HP:

Advantage shifts with hero wargear
Whoever has the most hero wargear tends to win commander duels.

Melee DPS vs Commanders (Ordered by maximum HP)
 * Weapon 1 is the initial weapon that the hero gets. For instance, the Archon's Power Scythe.
 * Weapon 2 is after the first hero weapon upgrade. For instance, the Chaos Lord's Accursed Crozius.
 * Weapon 3 is after the second hero weapon upgrade. For instance, Force Commander's Daemon Hammer.
 * Big Mek lacks a second wargear, so avoid dueling with him late game.
 * Some commanders out scale others in terms of damage output, but start off weaker.
 * The benefit of quickly getting the second hero weapon varies by hero. For Necrons and Sisters it is really important.