When a Commandos map is wrapped in docks, rivers, or open sea, one specialist suddenly owns the board: the Marine—James Blackwood, better known as "Fins." He is the squad's amphibious problem-solver, the man who treats water as cover instead of a dead end.
Blackwood appears in Pyro Studios' Commandos: Behind Enemy Lines (1998) as the Navy-trained infiltration expert. Where the Green Beret clears alleys with a knife and the Sniper clears rooftops with a rifle, Fins clears the wet approaches—harbors, canals, and shoreline patrols that punish anyone stuck on dry land.
His toolkit is built around mobility and silent water kills. He can swim and dive where other commandos cannot follow, using submerged routes to bypass guards who never look down. The harpoon is his signature ranged answer: a quiet puncture for enemies who would otherwise force a loud gunfight. On maps that include boats, piers, or island objectives, he often becomes the opening move of the entire plan.
Personality fits the nickname. Fins is practical, salt-stained, and mission-first—less the squad's blunt hammer than its key to locked geography. Many classic missions feel unfair until you realize the designers expected you to go under, around, or through the water with Blackwood leading the way.
New players sometimes leave him idle on land-heavy missions. The better habit is to ask early: Is there a wet flank? A docked boat? A patrol that only watches the bridge? If yes, the Marine is not optional flavor—he is the difference between a forced frontal assault and an elegant infiltration.
Pair him with the Green Beret's knife work and the Sniper's overwatch, and Commandos' harbor missions suddenly click. Want to see it in action? Read the Green Beret guide next, then browse Commandos: Behind Enemy Lines videos on this site and watch how often the winning route starts in the water.
Watch gameplay videos — browse the full Commandos Behind The Enemy Lines archive on this site.
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