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From Warhammer 40k - Lexicanum
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The '''Tanith First and Only''' are also known as '''Gaunt's Ghosts''', as nicknamed by [[Gaunts_Ghosts#Master_Sniper_.27Mad.27_Hlaine_Larkin|Hlaine "Mad Larkin" Larkin]], the Tanith Master Sniper. This 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 [[Verghast|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 Ghosts' eventually garnered a strong reputation after a number of actions, in particular the defences of Vervunhive, the [[Saint Sabbat|Beati's]] Shrine on [[Hagia]] and her apparent person on Herodor. Unfortunately, this success did not come without its drawbacks and the Ghosts suffered heavy casualties on a number of occasions. However, two large personnel intakes during the regiment's history (one from the citizenry of Vervunhive, the other from the folding in of the '''81st Belladon Recon''' regiment) managed to offset these losses.
==Appearance & Uniform==
[[Image:Tanith First.jpg|thumb|200px|right|The Tanith First on Hagia]]
The symbol Tanith uniform is black, with optional helmets for standard troopers and forage caps for the regiment's elite scout platoon. Camo-cloaks (made of all the original fictional material "cameleoline") are standard. Every soldier has a long, double-edged bayonet/combat blade the Tanith call Straight Silver. Their favoured special weapons include long-las sniper rifles and flame throwers, and portable missile launchers the Tanith Imperial Guard regiments was nickname "tread fethers". The cap badge for the Tanith is a small wreathed wreath-surrounded skull pierced by with three daggersbehind it; two each dagger representing a Tanith regiment. On the badge is the inscription "For Tanith, For the Emperor". After the destruction of the daggers were removed when Tanith 2nd and 3rd regiments, the original three regiments were amalgamated into Tanith snap off the First and Onlytwo outside daggers on their cap badges. The soldiers from Vervunhive use a different pin, adorned with the Verghastite cap badge is an axe -rake that Vervunhivers used in mining before to symbolise their former hive was destroyed's mining and industrial background. These pins and other badges that indicate rank or specialisation are dulled down with soot or boot-black to aid in stealth operations.
==Weapons & Equipment==
==Regimental History & Battle Honours==
The Tanith First and Only are best known for their participating in the [[Sabbat Worlds Crusade]], which began in 755.[[M41]]. During the Crusade, the Ghosts' expertise in covert operations was instrumental in the liberation of a number of worlds. However, rivalries with other, more illustrious regiments (in particular, the [[Jantine Patricians]] and the [[Volpone Bluebloods]]) often put the Ghosts at risk. The regiment took heavy losses in its early actions, including the loss of three hundred during a friendly fire "incident" at Voltis Watergate. 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 numbered only 1,500. 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.
As Tanith is destroyed, the Tanith First-and-Only has no homeworld from which to draw new recruits to replace losses. Instead, new Ghosts are adopted into the regiment as the series progresses. The two most significant drafts of new troops occur in Necropolis and His Last Command. At the end of the siege of Vervunhive, the megacity is left in ruins and disillusioned citizens of Verghast were given the opportunity to join the Imperial Guard under the Act of Consolation. This resulted in an influx of Verghastite soldiers, which brought females into the regiment. Several of these women became some of the regiment's best snipers. While Gaunt is on Gereon and the Tanith First is left without a senior commander, the regiment is merged with a Belladon covert unit and becomes the 81st-1st Recon. Following Colonel Wilder's death and Gaunt's return to command, the regiment resumes the name the Tanith First-and-Only. It is worth noting that following the merge with the 81st Belladon, the Tanith First's organisational structure changes; companies using alphabetical call-signs replace the previous numerical platoons. By the beginning of The Armour of Contempt, there are three cultural sections: Tanith, Verghastite and Belladon; led by Majors Rawne, Kolea and Baskevyl respectively (each is native to the section he commands).
Ten years after their founding, the Tanith had been involved in numerous campaigns during the Sabbat Worlds Crusade. Casualties weakened the regiment to the point where they were merged into another regiment, the 81st Belladon Recon, to form the 81st/1st Recon. Gaunt and a small team of Tanith soldiers had previously been sent on a high-risk covert mission, and upon their unexpected return found the regiment as they knew it gone. Most notably, it was now commanded by Colonel Lucian Wilder. Gaunt eventually managed to regain command of the Eighty-first First, but only after Wilder granted him field command before sacrificing himself in a heroic rearguard action.
==Postings and Garrisons==
==Notable Regiment Members==
