Ibram Gaunt

Colonel-Commissar Ibram Gaunt is a character in the fictional Warhammer 40,000 universe, in which he is the commanding officer of the . He is one of the main characters in Dan Abnett's Gaunt's Ghosts novel series, and is also featured within the Warhammer 40,000 game as an Imperial Guard special character.

Early life and career
Gaunt is a true Imperial Commissar, a strong, charismatic, politically-adept man, who dispenses his duty of maintaining order and discipline in the ranks of the Imperial Guard (the standing army of the futuristic empire of Humanity) with vigour. Unlike most Commissars, however, he is portrayed as a kind soul with a sympathetic trigger finger, someone who (like his mentor, Oktar) could understand the psychological dividing line between fear and bravery and use his skills of oratory to turn the former to the latter - only then turning to execution as a last resort tactic.

Gaunt is the orphaned son of an Imperial Guard officer. He was raised and indoctrinated in the Schola Progenium (one of many officer/commissar/stormtrooper training schools scattered throughout the galaxy), on the world of Ignatius Cardinal, where he was occasionally visited by his uncle, General Aldo Dercius of the Jantine Patricians (a regiment of the Imperial Guard). After the death of his father, he learned he had been an Imperial Guard hero, but the true circumstance of his death were hidden from him for many years.

As a Commissar-Cadet he served under Commissar-General Delane Oktar, gaining full rank status of Commissar at Oktar's death-bed on Gylatus Decimus. He had served as a political officer with the Hyrkan 8th Regiment, from the regiment's foundation to their victory on Balhaut, a world reclaimed by the Imperium during the Sabbat Worlds Crusade (a massive crusade of religious significance to reclaim worlds lost to Mankind's greatest enemy, the forces of Chaos). After this victory, Gaunt was granted the rank of Colonel-Commissar by Warmaster Slaydo (another death-bed promotion), along with command of the three new regiments from the world of Tanith.

Gaunt discovered the true fate of his father in wintry Darendara two years prior to Commissar-General Oktar's death. Major Gaunt of the Jantine Patricians had served on a mission on an enemy-held world called Kentaur leading the elite attack, but had been abandoned by General Dercius and left to die. Tracking down his uncle, Gaunt exerted his authority as an Imperial Commissar and attempted to bring Dercius to justice for his failure. He dueled Dercius with chainswords (heavy, chainsaw weapons). While killing Dercius, Gaunt suffered grievous injuries and gained the ugly, recognisable scar across his stomach (referred to several times by observers). This event earned him the hatred of the for some years after, which leads to the first novel, First and Only (Abnett, 1999).

The Tanith
During the founding of the First, Second and Third Tanith Regiments, a Chaos splinter fleet managed to slip past the Imperial Navy's picket line, which had folded on itself as the new Warmaster Macaroth eagerly pressed into the Sabbat Worlds to take advantage of the victory at Balhaut. Left defenceless, Tanith fell to a surprise Chaos attack. Gaunt ordered the forces of Tanith to retreat, depriving them of the chance to fight and die for their homeworld. The retreat was costly; from three entire regiments there were less than four thousand survivors, and not a single officer of the three regiments made it off Tanith.

While waiting for orders, Gaunt was instrumental in the reorganisation of the survivors, reorganising the men into the Tanith First-and-Only, and promoting the non-commissioned officers and soldiers who had shown initiative and leadership during the retreat and subsequent reorganisation to officer positions. The Tanith were ordered to the world of Blackshard, and during their successful first engagement were dubbed "Gaunt's Ghosts", a moniker that would stick with the regiment for the duration of its existence.

Gaunt is considered to be an unconventional but effective leader, slowly winning the devotion and respect of the soldiers who initially hated him for letting their homeworld fall to Chaos without a fight. He is feared among the upper echelons of the Imperium almost as much as he is feared by the forces of Chaos, as he is a model for honour and defiance of corruption in all forms. He is respected by many soldiers and commanders because he leads from the front, attacking the enemy alongside his men. He gained great respect with his men and the new recruits for the Tanith First-and-Only when he killed the Chaos warlord Heritor Asphodel during the battle for Verghast.

However, some characters in the novels, such as Commissar Pius Kowle consider his unorthodox approach and rank problematic, as in many ways he fails in his duty as a Commissar, being compassionate and understanding rather than draconian and unswerving. His dual position as a unit commander as well as a political officer is unique both in the novels and the Warhammer 40,000 continuum; in Honour Guard Lord General Lugo comments on the situation after Gaunt is blamed for a disastrous assault on Hagia:

However, Gaunt's ability as a leader is rarely questioned, indeed in The Guns of Tanith he is offered a promotion to Lieutenant-General, but to assist his duties as a commissar, Viktor Hark was introduced to the regiment in Honour Guard.

Thus far, up to and including the novel Only in Death, the Tanith First-and-Only have been fighting in the Sabbat Worlds Crusade for approximately thirteen years. They have seen combat on several worlds, including Fortis Binary, Menazoid Epsilon, Monthax, Verghast, Phantine, Hagia, Herodor and Ancreon Sextus. However, due to the inevitable casualties, and the lack of a homeworld from which to draw new recruits, the regiment is constantly dwindling in size. This fate was held back for a time by the mass-recruitment of survivors from the hive-city of Vervunhive, on Verghast, but even with these reinforcements, it was only a matter of time before the Ghosts shrunk below the size of a feasible military force. To solve this problem, the Tanith First was disbanded and folded into the 81st Belladon Recon under Colonel Wilder to form the 'Eighty-first First'.

Recently, the upper echelon of the Imperium's suspicion and unease with Gaunt's unorthodox command approach had reached a boiling point after his return from his Vermillion-level mission (coded EZ for Extremely Hazardous/Suicidal) on Gereon. Afraid that he and his team were "tainted" during their extended stay on a Chaos held world, and because the Tanith First was folded into the Belladon 81st and technically did not exist any more, many high ranking officials decided to strip Gaunt of his command position and revert him back to his original Commissar status. Gaunt eventually manages to regain command of the Eighty-first First, but only after Wilder grants him field command before sacrificing himself in a heroic rearguard action.

Gaunt manages to keep his command, and renames the unit back to the original Tanith First-and-Only. He leads the newly reformed unit to help liberate the Chaos-held world of Gereon, where he led the insurgency raid to assassinate the traitor general Noches Sturm. There are two reasons for the imperial guard wanting to return Gereon, Gaunt wants to return because he left several members of the original infiltration team behind on Gereon to help train members of the resistance. But the real reason behind the Guard wanting to return is that the Inquisition believe there may be something on the planet that will help the imperium to fight the taint of chaos. There have been chilling hints through dreams and premonitions described in the books that Gaunt will die sometime in the near future.

During the Tanith's actions on the Fortress World of Jago, at Fortress Hinzerhaus, Gaunt is captured by Blood Pact forces during a heroic defense of the Fortress' ramparts, and is tortured by the enemy. These tortures resulted in Gaunt losing his eyes, requiring them to be replaced with augmetics. He is rescued by Ezrah ap Niht and Scout-Sergeant Mkoll during a revenge mission.

Wargame rules
Ibram Gaunt can be taken as a special character in an Imperial Guard army. The rules were initially released in White Dwarf Magazine, and were edited and reprinted for the 2003 Imperial Guard Codex.

In game terms, Gaunt is represented at a point between the siege at Vervunhive and receiving his Vermillion-level mission. As befits a special character, he has superior gaming stats, and several specialised rules, some of which also affect other soldiers in the army. He is also unaffected by some of the special rules that restrain normal Imperial Guard Commissars, displaying the side effects of his double rank. In order to receive the special character benefits Gaunt must be deployed along with the complete Tanith "Ghosts" package.

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