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I have read the entire Gaunt's Ghosts series and thoroughly enjoyed all of it. One thing did bother me about book 8 though. Perhaps it was explained and I was half asleep while reading. Was there a reason put forward for why Gaunt and his plucky crew were sent to, let alone permitted to do the Officio Assassinorum's job? Wasn't this entire Emperor loving Imperial Organisation created for that exact task. Struck me as about as dumb as allowing Gaunt et. al. to do AdMech work, AdMech work that billions of lives depend on. What am I missing here? I am sorry if this question has already been addressed. Thanks.

Well that's easy, if the Assassinorium could handle it, there wouldn't be a book, let alone an arc!

But in all seriousness, its possible that this instance was not deemed worthy of the attention of the Assassinorium.

Two, it could be that the nearest operative was too far away to help the problem.



Three, why risk sending an operative which you've spent years training and equipping to a Chaos held world, on a mission he probably wont come back from when you can get a team of guardsmen to do the same exact job, with the same exact results, and a much lower risk for loss?

Rush timing makes a bit of sense. And I guess it could have been decided that there was no point to send in an assassin in the very likely event of failure, the damage would have already been done.

Are most Imperial Commanders even aware of the existence of the Officio Assassinorum?

Emperors Faithful wrote:Are most Imperial Commanders even aware of the existence of the Officio Assassinorum?

Good question. In this case I can only assume that Warmaser Macaroth was aware of the situation. If Officio Assassinorum service requests are not available to a Warmaster than the IoM has even more issues than I feared.

Assassins are a scarce resource and their use require the approval of the High Lords of Terra, so there may not have been time, or anyone available.

Like marines and Grey Knights and other high end units there just aren't enough of them.

Similarly the Rogue Trader RPG has stealth exterminous ships that can slip in and virus bomb a planet, presumably there weren't any available.

THe Imperium is not like a modern military, there are hidden groups, technology is not shared and not everyone has access to the same tools, no matter how important the mission.

Also it's later hinted in a later book the current warmaster might have wanted Gaunt out of the way.

Assassin's are even rarer than Space Marines and how many times have we seen loyalist Space Marines in the entire Gaunt's Ghosts run?


Automatically Appended Next Post:

Kid_Kyoto wrote:

Also it's later hinted in a later book the current warmaster might have wanted Gaunt out of the way.

It is? I though Macaroth liked Gaunt.

KamikazeCanuck wrote:Assassin's are even rarer than Space Marines and how many times have we seen loyalist Space Marines in the entire Gaunt's Ghosts run?


Automatically Appended Next Post:

Kid_Kyoto wrote:

Also it's later hinted in a later book the current warmaster might have wanted Gaunt out of the way.

It is? I though Macaroth liked Gaunt.

Nope, that was old Slaydo. He granted them settling rights on the first planet thet conquered.

KamikazeCanuck wrote:Assassin's are even rarer than Space Marines and how many times have we seen loyalist Space Marines in the entire Gaunt's Ghosts run?


Automatically Appended Next Post:

Kid_Kyoto wrote:

Also it's later hinted in a later book the current warmaster might have wanted Gaunt out of the way.

It is? I though Macaroth liked Gaunt.

Macaroth saw Gaunt as a challenger for some reason...
And as for the SM...
About 3 times at most... more likely to be twice and even then not up close, they're always seen from a distance.

purplefood wrote:

KamikazeCanuck wrote:Assassin's are even rarer than Space Marines and how many times have we seen loyalist Space Marines in the entire Gaunt's Ghosts run?


Automatically Appended Next Post:

Kid_Kyoto wrote:

Also it's later hinted in a later book the current warmaster might have wanted Gaunt out of the way.

It is? I though Macaroth liked Gaunt.

Macaroth saw Gaunt as a challenger for some reason...
And as for the SM...
About 3 times at most... more likely to be twice and even then not up close, they're always seen from a distance.

Zero! The answer is zero times for loyalists. They are mentioned once in Ghostmaker IIRC.

Anyways, I can't remember which book it was but one of the Generals (Van Voytz?) mentioned Macaroth liked Gaunt. Saw him as some sort of old-time cowboy who cared about things like "honour".

KamikazeCanuck wrote:

purplefood wrote:

KamikazeCanuck wrote:Assassin's are even rarer than Space Marines and how many times have we seen loyalist Space Marines in the entire Gaunt's Ghosts run?


Automatically Appended Next Post:

Kid_Kyoto wrote:

Also it's later hinted in a later book the current warmaster might have wanted Gaunt out of the way.

It is? I though Macaroth liked Gaunt.

Macaroth saw Gaunt as a challenger for some reason...
And as for the SM...
About 3 times at most... more likely to be twice and even then not up close, they're always seen from a distance.

Zero! The answer is zero times for loyalists. They are mentioned once in Ghostmaker IIRC.

And again in Necropolis and once more in Blood Pact.
Some chapters are mentioned in Honourguard and another chapter whose Chapter Master is in command of an army group is mentioned in another book though i'm not sure which one.

purplefood wrote:

KamikazeCanuck wrote:

purplefood wrote:

KamikazeCanuck wrote:Assassin's are even rarer than Space Marines and how many times have we seen loyalist Space Marines in the entire Gaunt's Ghosts run?


Automatically Appended Next Post:

Kid_Kyoto wrote:

Also it's later hinted in a later book the current warmaster might have wanted Gaunt out of the way.

It is? I though Macaroth liked Gaunt.

Macaroth saw Gaunt as a challenger for some reason...
And as for the SM...
About 3 times at most... more likely to be twice and even then not up close, they're always seen from a distance.

Zero! The answer is zero times for loyalists. They are mentioned once in Ghostmaker IIRC.

And again in Necropolis and once more in Blood Pact.
Some chapters are mentioned in Honourguard and another chapter whose Chapter Master is in command of an army group is mentioned in another book though i'm not sure which one.

What do you mean by mentioned? Like literally just mentioned by a character? I mean mentioned as in having done something in the campaign. I think they mention The Dark Angels had left already in one of the worlds in Ghostmaker. The Iron Snakes did a lot in The Sabbat Worlds Crusade book but beyond that I don't think there was much else.

They mention that the Imperial Fists They mention an extinct chapter having accompanied Saint Sabbat on her original crusade in Honour Guard.
They mention an honour guard of White Scars bringing her body back to her homeworld in Honour Guard.
They specifically mention a captain of the Silver Hands (Not sure what chapter can't remember right now) as leading Gaunts section of the attack on Balhut and later dying in the attack.
They also mention a Chapter Master of a random chapter being in command of an army group in Sabbat Martyr (I think)

purplefood wrote:They mention that the Imperial Fists

Spoiler:

burn the heritor's body and the Spike in the end of Necropolis.

They mention an extinct chapter having accompanied Saint Sabbat on her original crusade in Honour Guard.
They mention an honour guard of White Scars bringing her body back to her homeworld in Honour Guard.
They specifically mention a captain of the Silver Hands (Not sure what chapter can't remember right now) as leading Gaunts section of the attack on Balhut and later dying in the attack.
They also mention a Chapter Master of a random chapter being in command of an army group in Sabbat Martyr (I think)

Well I'll reread the end of that one again
Not current campaign.
In Blood Pact or perhaps Sabbat Worlds?
not sure, can't remember either.

It's been a long time for me reading most of them so who knows.

If I recall correctly, the mission was deemed EZ and Gaunt was chosen because the chance of him returning alive was low. Van Voytz likes Gaunt although in another book Gaunt gets rather ticked at Van Voytz for what he put the Ghosts through.

Macaroth doesn't really like Gaunt because Slaydo liked Gaunt.



In the Saint they mention the White Scars, but they never actually show up. There are statues dedicated to them in the temple they hole up in for awhile.

Gaunt did indeed charge Sturm, but Sturm was captured by the Archenemy and they began to probe his memories. Gaunt had to finish his duty and kill Sturm, although:

.

That's what i said...
They mention them.
The SM captain that Gaunt mentions is definately mention in Blood Pact.
He doesn't talk about Balhut in any of the other books and i haven't read Sabbat Worlds.
More or less the SM forces in the crusade are at the front or have moved on from the Guard forces in the area when the Tanith turn up...
They also mention that a company of Ravenguard participated in a planetary landing during Ghostmaker... Corbec's chunk IIRC. Though that was only a rumour so go figure...

purplefood wrote:That's what i said...
They mention them.
The SM captain that Gaunt mentions is definately mention in Blood Pact.
He doesn't talk about Balhut in any of the other books and i haven't read Sabbat Worlds.
More or less the SM forces in the crusade are at the front or have moved on from the Guard forces in the area when the Tanith turn up...
They also mention that a company of Ravenguard participated in a planetary landing during Ghostmaker... Corbec's chunk IIRC. Though that was only a rumour so go figure...

Mkoll's I think. They missed a Dreadnaught.

KamikazeCanuck wrote:

purplefood wrote:That's what i said...
They mention them.
The SM captain that Gaunt mentions is definately mention in Blood Pact.
He doesn't talk about Balhut in any of the other books and i haven't read Sabbat Worlds.
More or less the SM forces in the crusade are at the front or have moved on from the Guard forces in the area when the Tanith turn up...
They also mention that a company of Ravenguard participated in a planetary landing during Ghostmaker... Corbec's chunk IIRC. Though that was only a rumour so go figure...

Mkoll's I think. They missed a Dreadnaught.

No that chapter was never named. The chapter described had smashed the strongholds and left leaving the guard to cleanup operations.
Corbec's bit where:

purplefood wrote:That's what i said...
They mention them.
The SM captain that Gaunt mentions is definately mention in Blood Pact.
He doesn't talk about Balhut in any of the other books and i haven't read Sabbat Worlds.
More or less the SM forces in the crusade are at the front or have moved on from the Guard forces in the area when the Tanith turn up...
They also mention that a company of Ravenguard participated in a planetary landing during Ghostmaker... Corbec's chunk IIRC. Though that was only a rumour so go figure...

I was agreeing with you on that and citing the specific part.

Haven't read Ghostmaker, my friend started me off with 'Only in Death' and I progressed from there. Can't say much about Ghostmaker.

halonachos wrote:

purplefood wrote:That's what i said...
They mention them.
The SM captain that Gaunt mentions is definately mention in Blood Pact.
He doesn't talk about Balhut in any of the other books and i haven't read Sabbat Worlds.
More or less the SM forces in the crusade are at the front or have moved on from the Guard forces in the area when the Tanith turn up...
They also mention that a company of Ravenguard participated in a planetary landing during Ghostmaker... Corbec's chunk IIRC. Though that was only a rumour so go figure...

I was agreeing with you on that and citing the specific part.

Haven't read Ghostmaker, my friend started me off with 'Only in Death' and I progressed from there. Can't say much about Ghostmaker.

Probably best to start off from... well the start really.
You miss some really key stuff otherwise...

Abnett should really do some interaction between the ghosts and marines, I've always been interested on how the guard view the Space marines.

Anyway, the question's been answered, Assassins are for really big jobs that require High lord approval, and in the imperium that can take a decade. Gereon needed to be done ASAP.

What I want to know is how the hell they got the ghosts on world?

EmilCrane wrote:Abnett should really do some interaction between the ghosts and marines, I've always been interested on how the guard view the Space marines.

Anyway, the question's been answered, Assassins are for really big jobs that require High lord approval, and in the imperium that can take a decade. Gereon needed to be done ASAP.

What I want to know is how the hell they got the ghosts on world?

Very small transport craft and a shuttle.
Apparently the world had been recently invaded so the Chaos forces hadn't yet managed to get complete and total control of space yet.

IIRC in the later books, I think possibly towards the end of the Lost arc that an Imperial commander mentions that Macaroth is actually quite fond of Gaunt these days and regards him of something of a usefull curio, at staff dinners he asks for news about what Gaunt has been up to.

Originally Gaunt was unfavoured by Macaroth as most of Slaydo's old favourites were. I believe this to be because Macaroth wished to establish himself as the new warmaster without "help" from Slaydo's old guard. I dont think this means that Macaroth disliked any of them, just that he wanted to do things his way.

Yeah, Macaroth always want to hear about Gaunt's latest crazy adventure.

Ah, indeed 3 chapters serve in the final days of the Verghast war. Iron Snakes, IF and some other guys. Good call purple. Nonetheless, I maintain the number of marines The Tanith themselves have ever laid eyes upon is zero. Mainly because the Gaunt's Ghosts series is meant to be the Guard's show.

Yes, the problem is that many people fail to realize how incredibly rare Space Marines are in the Imperium.

Emperors Faithful wrote:Yes, the problem is that many people fail to realize how incredibly rare Space Marines are in the Imperium.

I recall (I start too many posts this way) some fluff about the Imperium worrying that perhaps the Nid threat is so great that a 500% increase in military production is required. Would that be 5 times as many SM chapters or a variance of 5k battle brothers per chapter until the extra-galactic insect issues are resolved? Or did this dictate not apply to the SM chapters?

I think Gaunt volunteered to go on the mission,even though it was EZ.In order to rectify his earlier 'mistake' in letting the General live in the first place.

UselessSage wrote:

Emperors Faithful wrote:Yes, the problem is that many people fail to realize how incredibly rare Space Marines are in the Imperium.

I recall (I start too many posts this way) some fluff about the Imperium worrying that perhaps the Nid threat is so great that a 500% increase in military production is required. Would that be 5 times as many SM chapters or a variance of 5k battle brothers per chapter until the extra-galactic insect issues are resolved? Or did this dictate not apply to the SM chapters?

I don't remember being 500%, but I do remember that it was suggesting what the Ultima Segmentum would have to do (not the entire Imperium). I also don't know if the Imperium actually has a mandate that only roughly 1000 chapters may be kept, or if this is all that they are capable of maintaining. But, if there was an increase in the Ultima Segmentum based chapters it would be in chapters, not size of chapters (as the size of chapters is in fact mandated).

Emperors Faithful wrote:I don't remember being 500%, but I do remember that it was suggesting what the Ultima Segmentum would have to do (not the entire Imperium). I also don't know if the Imperium actually has a mandate that only roughly 1000 chapters may be kept, or if this is all that they are capable of maintaining. But, if there was an increase in the Ultima Segmentum based chapters it would be in chapters, not size of chapters (as the size of chapters is in fact mandated).

Found it. The Stark Report, Tyranid Codex 3rd edition. Seems to say 500% more new IG Regiments.