"As the Emperor protects, so must we." —Colonel-Commissar Ibram Gaunt
The Astra Militarum regiment known as the Tanith First-and-Only, officially called the Tanith 1st Regiment but better known as "Gaunt's Ghosts", was raised from the Frontier World of Tanith in the Sabbat Worlds Sector. The regiment has been heavily engaged in the combat to retake the Sabbat Worlds from the Forces of Chaos during the Sabbat Worlds Crusade. The regiment's nickname originally came about as a result of the name of their commanding officer, Colonel-Commissar Ibram Gaunt, and the disenfranchised status of the original Tanith soldiers after their homeworld was destroyed. It has proved to be a nickname of some further application, as the Verghastite personnel influx into the regiment also considered themselves "ghosts" due to the destruction of their home city, and the regiment as a whole is noted for its stealth and reconnaissance abilities being almost uncanny in nature.
The forest world of Tanith was destroyed shortly after the initial founding of the planet's first three regiments. The only survivors to escape the attack, the Tanith 1st, carry with them the wilderness skills learnt on their homeworld, making them a superb light infantry regiment. The Guardsmen of the Tanith First and Only wear distinctive Camo Cloaks and are renowned for their expertise in both scouting and infiltration missions. In addition to their normal equipment, each Guardsman is armed with a straight silver war-knife, unique to the Tanith regiment. Despite their limited numbers, the First and Only have been instrumental in multiple battles throughout the Sabbat Worlds Crusade. Led by the inspirational Colonel-Commissar Ibram Gaunt, and drawing new recruits from the worlds they fight to liberate and defend, the reputation of Gaunt's Ghosts' continues to grow with each passing deployment.
If the Imperial Guard is the so-called "Hammer of the Emperor," the infamous regiment known as "Gaunt's Ghosts" finds more in common with the medical scalpel: small, fragile, but incredibly deadly when employed correctly. Its Founding coincides with the complete destruction of the heavily forested world of Tanith, and this single regiment and its men contain the last living memories and traces of their world. Highly skilled in special operations, the Tanith First-and-Only display exemplary small-unit tactics, brilliant leadership, precise marksmanship, and uncanny stealth skills. All of these abilities were integral to their many achievements during their time of service as part of the Sabbat Worlds Crusade, a hard-fought effort to reclaim the worlds that bear that Imperial Saint's name from the Forces of Chaos.
Until the events that forged the Tanith First-and-Only, the Forest World of Tanith most notably exported the exceptional "nalwood," and otherwise went unnoticed amongst the numberless planets of the Imperium. Colonel-Commissar Gaunt arrived to take charge of his troops just in time for disaster to strike Tanith. A splinter Chaos fleet, fleeing from an Imperial victory, descended upon Tanith. Faced with a horrible choice of deploying his unseasoned troops in a hopeless defence of their homeworld or salvaging what he could, Gaunt chose to withdraw, and the new regiment escaped with just enough time to watch the Chaos warships utterly annihilate their planet.
Despite the trauma of losing their entire homeworld, the Tanith very quickly saw their first action on the fields of war. The Tanith were tested on brutal battlefields on Blackshard, Becephalon, Fortis Binary, and other worlds in the Sabbat Worlds Sector. Each time, they acquitted themselves well despite terrible foes and staggering odds, using their specialist skills to pull victories from the jaws of apparent defeat on numerous occasions.
Alongside their successes, the Ghosts' behaviour managed to earn them a number of enemies amongst the other forces of the Sabbat Worlds Crusade, including the Volpone Bluebloods and Jantine Patricians. The Ghosts negotiated these trials and tribulations, facing threats internal and external, and continued to survive to serve the God-Emperor thanks to their incredible stealth skills and the heroism of leadership figures such as Colonel-Commissar Ibram Gaunt, Colonel Colm Corbec, and Major Elim Rawne.
