Tanith (Warhammer 40,000)
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Tanith was a world in the fictional Warhammer 40,000 universe. It is the lost homeworld of the Tanith First-and-Only Imperial Guard regiment, having been destroyed by Chaos during the Sabbat Worlds Crusade.
The Tanith First-and-Only are the primary focus of the Gaunt's Ghosts series of novels, written by Dan Abnett.
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[edit] Geography
Tanith was a heavily forested "Civilised World" of the Imperium. The world's capital was Tanith Magna, and the planet's leader was known as the "Elector". The world was divided into provinces, and each province is based around a bastion-city.
There was at least one large body of water, which supported a sea-fishing industry.
One of the unique features of Tanith was that the forests of nalwood (pine-like trees) are capable of moving, quickly obscuring the paths of those that travel through it. This resulted in the development of an unerring sense of direction and location in humans native to Tanith. So that the Tanith are claimed to Never Get Lost. Visitors to the world were traditionally assigned an attendant, who will play the pipes to lead visitors through the forests. An example of this was Brin Milo who attended Colonel Commissar Gaunt, prior to The Fall and During the Founding. Nalwood is also of high quality, and is one of Tanith's primary exports.
[edit] Society and culture
The inhabitants of Tanith are described as being of pale complexion, with dark hair, and appear undernourished to offworlders. Blue eyes are common. Their accent is described as "lilting, sing-song". Men commonly possess earrings and blue-ink tattoos.
The Tanith take many elements of the Scottish Highlands, including the use of bagpipes, daggers similar to the sgian dubh, and the Gaelic prefix of "Mc" for ancestral names (in this case corrupted to "Mk"). One major character, Oan Mkoll, appears to share his name with Scottish folksinger Ewan MacColl. Elements of Welsh can also be found in some words and names.
Old Tanith legends speak of woodsmen (the Nalsheen) trained in a martial art called cwlwhl, (pronounced 'kil-ill') an almost unbeatable fighting form based on the use of a bladed staff. This fighting form was believed lost, especially after the destruction of Tanith. However the Tanith Scout Mkvenner is revealed to be trained in the art of cwlwhl, though he doesn't like to admit to it due to never completing his training and the stigma of belonging to the order. His training becomes evident when he defends entire squads from many enemies with just a bayoneted rifle.
Sacra is an alcoholic beverage popular on Tanith. It is not unique to the world, and can easily be found on other planets in the Sabbat Worlds.
The standard swear word on Tanith is "feth". It is usually assumed by off-worlders, including Gaunt himself at one point, that the word is the equivalent of fuck, and indeed it is used as a general curse word, but the word actually refers to the name of a Tanith tree-god.
[edit] Military
The main military force on Tanith is the Tanith Militia. Each city and/or province has its own militia.
It is not clear if Tanith has orbital defences, but if they existed, they were minimal at best.
[edit] The 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).
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 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 number 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. The soldiers from Vervunhive use a different pin, adorned with the axe rake that Vervunhivers used in mining before their hive was destroyed.
Ten years after "the Founding and the Lost", the Tanith have been involved in numerous campaigns for the Sabbat Worlds Crusade. Casualties have weakened the regiment to the point where they are merged into another regiment, the 81st Belladon Recon, to form the 81st/1st Recon. Gaunt and a small team of Tanith soldiers are sent on a high-risk covert mission.
With the safe return of the Tanith stealth team and the death of his replacement Officer Commanding, Gaunt reformed the First-and-Only from the 81st/1st. The regiment was reorganised so that the Tanith, Verghastites and Belladons were fully integrated with each other. Additionally, each race of men was represented by an officer directly below Gaunt; namely Majors Rawne (Tanith), Kolea (Verghast) and Baskevyl (Belladon).
[edit] Miniatures
Rules for the use of the Tanith as an army were published in White Dwarf (UK 269, US 268), and a limited number of metal miniatures were produced (a box set of six special characters, and four 'standard' Tanith, including one of the few female Imperial Guard miniatures produced).
With the release of most recent Codex: Imperial Guard (Chambers, Haines and Hoare, 2003), these rules have been superseded by a specific series of 'Doctrines' special rules used to recreate the Tanith. Of the miniatures, only Colonel Commissar Ibram Gaunt is still readily available on shelves, as he is now an individual special character.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- Chambers, Andy; Haines, Pete, and Hoare, Andy (2003). Warhammer 40,000 Codex: Imperial Guard, 4th Edition, Nottingham: Games Workshop. ISBN 1-84154-410-8.
- Abnett, Dan (2000). First and Only. Nottingham: Black Library. ISBN 1-84416-164-1.
- All other books in the Gaunt's Ghosts series by Dan Abnett, published by Black Library
- Abnett, Dan (2005). The Sabbat Worlds Crusade. Nottingham: Black Library. ISBN 1-84416-249-4.
