Tanith First-and-Only

The Tanith First and Only is an Imperial Guard regiment formerly from Tanith.

Tanith Imperial Guard uniforms (both dress uniform and battledress) are dull black in colouration, including trousers with at least two pockets for items, and a long tunic, complete with matte gray body armour, webbing, a pack, and a helmet. However, most Tanith go bareheaded or wear the standard issue beret. The Tanith can also be identified by two 'trademark' items, the combination of which is unique to the regiment; a long knife known as a straight silver, and a camouflage cloak. The symbol of all Tanith Imperial Guard regiments was a small wreathed skull pierced by three daggers, although two of the daggers were removed when the original three regiments were amalgamated into the First-and-Only. In earlier novels, the cloak was described as being a "piebald, absorbent material the Ghosts rubbed local mud into". However, in later books the cloaks are made from Camoleoline, an unexplained material that changes colour depending on the location of the wearer.

The tenth year of The Sabbat Worlds Crusade was the first time the Tanith had been called upon by the Imperium to levy Imperial Guard regiments to support the crusade. The majority of the men who joined the Imperial Guard were militia-men, although some former criminals were present, and it can be assumed that other non-military members of the population were included. The soldiers were organised into three two-thousand man regiments; the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd of Tanith. A small number of artillery and armour units were also created, although they were intended for supporting roles. Following the reformation of the Hyrkan 8th, Colonel-Commissar Ibram Gaunt was assigned to lead the three regiments.

During the Founding of the three regiments, a Chaos fleet scattering from the recent Imperial victory at Balhaut manages to evade the Imperial Navy picket and head towards Tanith. Gaunt decides to abandon the world, trying to salvage as many fighting troops in the process instead of wasting them all in an effort to hold Tanith. The regiments are hastily loaded onto troop transports and shuttled to carrier-ships in orbit, but the Chaos attack occurs earlier than predicted. Of the six thousand men, less than four thousand are saved. The vast majority of the heavy equipment, along with the entire officer corps, is lost when Chaos makes planetfall. Gaunt survives, being one of the last off the planet, and reorganises the survivors into a single infantry regiment, the Tanith First-and-Only (more colloquially known as Gaunt's Ghosts. It is known that 'Mad' Hlaine Larkin was the first to use the term During the first Book Ghostmaker and it is a continuing thread through-out the next two books that Gaunt tries to truly make them 'his'.

The Tanith are unparalleled scouts, marksmen, masters of stealth tactics, and excellent light infantry, and are said to possess an unerring sense of direction, traits developed for survival on a planet where the forests actually move to conceal the path taken.

The regiment took heavy losses in its early actions, including the loss of three hundred during a friendly fire incident on Voltemand. Heavy casualties were also incurred during the effort to recapture the Forge World of Fortis Binary, so much so that by the time of the Ghosts' deployment on Monthax, they number less than 2,000. The casualties taken at Monthax and later Verghast were replaced by recruits taken from the destroyed Vervunhive, at which time female soldiers first joined the Tanith. The soldiers from Vervunhive use a different pin, adorned with the axe rake that Vervunhivers used in mining before their hive was destroyed.

The Sabbat Worlds Crusade
Ten years after "the Founding and the Lost", the Tanith have been involved in numerous campaigns for The Sabbat Worlds Crusade. After Gaunt and some hand-picked specialists are dispatched on a "suicidal" mission to Gereon, a world held by Chaos, the Ghosts are merged with another recon regiment, the 81st Belladon, to form the 81st/1st Recon.

18 months after making planetfall on Gereon, Gaunts mission team is retrieved by crusade forces. After inquisitorial scrutiny, the team members are sent back to the newly formed 81st/1st, while Gaunt himself is stripped of command rank and sent to be senior political officer of the Fortis Binars serving at Sparshead Mons. Shortly after taking his position with the Binars, Gaunt begins suspecting that the potentially sacred sites that the Imperial Guard is fighting over may actually be chaos artifacts. With evidence mounting, he contacts his Gereon team and determines that the artefacts are in fact, enormous Chaos traps. Gaunt is eventually reunited with his ghosts, and his evidence prompts the withdrawal of the imperial forces from the Mons.

Caught in a desperate rearguard action, and with time counting down to an orbital bombardment by the Imperial navy, Gaunts Ghosts are hard pressed to escape utter destruction. Only the valiant sacrifice of Colonel Wilder, the 81st/1st commander, his commissar, and the Belladon 1st company allows the 81st/1st as a whole to escape. Following his actions, Gaunt is again granted command of the Tanith, along with their Verghastite and Belladon compatriots. The regiment was reorganised so that the Tanith, Verghastites and Belladons were fully integrated with each other. Additionally, each group of men was represented by an officer directly below Gaunt; Major Rawne of Tanith, Major Kolea of Verghast, and Major Baskevyl of Belladon.

Known Theatres
The following are some of planets were the Ghosts have seen action in approximate chronological order: [[Category:T]]
 * Blackshard
 * Voltemand
 * Canemara
 * Bucephalon
 * Caligula
 * Fortis Binary
 * Menazoid Epsilon
 * Oskray Hive (Sapiencia)
 * Monthax
 * Verghast
 * Hagia
 * Phantine
 * Aexe Cardinal
 * Ancreon Sextus
 * Gereon
 * Jago
 * Balhaut