# Gaunts Ghosts: Gereon mission team choices



## Angel of Blood (Aug 18, 2010)

IMPORTANT

Ok so first off this is going to have spoilers for the Gaunts Ghosts seires up to and including Traitor General, the first book in The Lost arc. So if you have not read up tp this point i would advise you didn't continue

SPOILERS AHEAD.


So with that out the way, for those of you who have read Traitor General, what did you think of the choices for the team members Gaunt picked. We'll stick with 12 being the operative number to keep things simple. Would you have picked any other team members and why? Why do you think these Ghosts were picked and do you think it was the right decision. 

I personally think the team was spot on and i wouldn't have made any changes myself. Will explain now why i think these individuals were picked, expanding past the fact that they are pretty much the core characters anyway, they all still had the key skills.

Gaunt: No need to explain here

Rawne: Team needed a second in command, i feel Rawne is a better choice than Daur or Kolea. He has alot more combat experience than both of them for one. We know he is an excellent tactitian(although Daur is of course aswell) But i think he get's the edge over the other two by being more of an expert in demolitions, due to his questionably criminal background he is already skilled at knowing how to evade the law(or ruling body in question) He is ruthless to an extreme, something the mission definetly required. Again i think he is just a better choice for a full on stealth mission than the other two.

Mkoll: Obvious, doesn't really need much explaining at all. Without a doubt the best stealther in the regiment, vital to the mission.

MkVenner: Argueably on par with Mkoll and likely the best combatant in close quarters in the regiment. Excellent fall back should anything happen to Mkoll

Bonin: Rounds off the scout team nicely. I always believe Bonin to be the third best scout in the Tanith and i think he probably edges out past the likes of Hwlan and Caober. His lucky streak can't do anything but help either.

Beltayn: Need a vox-operator and i imagine Beltayn is certainly one of the best, if not the best. He's also been groomed by Gaunt and is one of the best troopers in the Tanith aswell. Plus he knows Gaunts ins and outs more than almost anyone else.

Larkin: Need a marksman, Larks is the obvious choice. Despite Neesas skill i would still say Larks is without a doubt the best marksman.

Curth: Need a medic and a very good one at that which is why i think she would edge out over Lesp and the other orderlies. Dorden can't be taken, for one due to his age and more importantly, the Geroen mission is no place for a staunch non-combatant. Although argueable Mtane could have been taken instead as i imagine he is a far better combatant than Curth. But he is rarely ever mentioned and although i've tried to ignore this in the choices, this team really was only for the well known.

Brostin: Need a heavy/special weapons specialist. From what i gather Brostin is probably the best one with Bragg gone, being one of the larger men in the regiment. He is also clearly the best flame-trooper.

Feygor: I would say he was included for a few reasons. He is like Rawne obviously very good with explosives and picking locks etc having come from the same crminal background and like Rawne is just as ruthless. I also imagine he was taken as he would be one of the few who could reign Rawne in and vice versa.

Criid and Varl: Both round of the 12 very nicely. Both are easily two of the best 'basic' unspecialised troopers/sergeants in the Tanith and compliment each other well. Domor i could see being left out due to his eye implants, we know they can become corroded and i doubt they would want to risk that happening on a Chaos tainted world. Arcuda, Raglon, Meryn and the others whilst good are imo not as good as Varl and Criid, and Meryn is just a complete fethwit by this point.

Gaunt reasoned he couldn't take both Caffran, and here is the one place i could see a change. I think Gaunt could have taken Caffran instead, but at the end of the day its six of one, half a dozen of the other with the two of them.

So yeah, what are your thoughts. Again try and keep the 'because they are the readers favourites and most well known' side of the choices out of it as best we can, again i realise this also played a large part, but lets just take it from the skill side of things


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## darkreever (Apr 3, 2008)

Personally I rather liked the choices made. A big thing to keep in mind is that it was a high priority mission and the best troopers needed to be taken; though the downside is that this was, for all intents and pruposes, a one way trip.

Of all the choices though, some felt more obvious than others; like Mkoll and Mkvenner and Larkin. The best at what they do, fairly close to Gaunt, and very big in the series. Then you had some who's given explanation made sense, like Curth, Feygor, and Criid but not Caffran; Dordon was to old and unwilling to kill, something that Curth did not share, Rawne needed a cronie he could count on, and Gaunt knew about Caff and Criid's children. There was no way he could take them both away, and end of the day they had access to female all-round troopers and Criid was one of the best.


But of them all, Rawne was the most interesting of choices. Given his past with Gaunt, you would think him the last choice. Truth be told though, his being chosen spoke volumes, at least to me. This was a high priority mission, and Gaunt trusted Rawne enough to reign himself in for that. Plus, of everyone there Rawne fills many important roles. He is one of the few who will stand up to Gaunt, on a similar playing field when it comes to leadership, one of the best 'bodyguards' (after all, if someone else kills Gaunt then how can he do it?), and his devotion to the remaining Tanith makes him a natural survivor.

I do like their return, and the visible changes with Rawne. How he fills the role of commander much better (shouldn't be to hard to remember that bit in the series when he is called to the task) and has mostly put the past behind him for the betterment of everyone.


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## Mob (Nov 14, 2010)

Wait, isn't Mtane dead? Who's the Ghost medic that gets shredded by Heritor Asphodel? I must be mis-remembering who that was.

Apart from Curth, Criid was the only one I recall questioning when I first read it, and Gaunt pretty much explains why she's there, so fair enough. Curth I thought was down to a (sorry) deficiency in the real-world character roster. She's a surgeon, a rear-echelon type and not really presented as a field-medic. But the plot needed a medico and she was the most realistic choice. Her personality brings something different to the mix...

I still think Caffran was a more operationally sound choice - he's been in a fireteam with Rawne, Feygor and Brostin for years, and as a Ghost is a sounder choice for an EZ infiltration than a gangbanger - but Criid's inclusion was very smart in where it took (sorry) the narrative arcs of the characters.

If Rawne wasn't there I would've cried foul. The man is perfect for that kind of mission.
Apart from his succeptability to psykers, come to think of it...


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## Angel of Blood (Aug 18, 2010)

It's Gherran who gets killed by Asphodel. Mtane still gets the very random mention here and there. I agree with you Caffran though, i was pretty suprised he wasn't included given the reasons you've stated above. But Criid was still a very good choice.

Anyone else a little disapointed that the Gereon teams new personaliltys and attitudes faded a little too soon or pretty much completely after they came back. I really liked it when they came back in _His Last Command_ and were all clearly changed and different to the other Ghosts, but it pretty much only lasted the duration of the book. I dunno, i just wanted to see more of them staying close together when possible, shunning others in their own way, or doing the classic "you weren't in Gereon" alot more, made have made them unlikeable to some of the Ghosts, but they did go through a massive ordeal and life changing experience. I know they did alot of the above, but i just think they seemed to get over it a bit too fast.


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## NiceGuyEddy (Mar 6, 2010)

Practically speaking I was surprised there wasn't more verghast. Many of them have first hand experience at guerilla warfare...


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## Angel of Blood (Aug 18, 2010)

I know what you mean, but this was a stealth mission through and through, and for all the Verghasts stealth skills i still firmly believe the Tanith are better, hell Criid being a Verghast could have been half the reason she was on the team aswell, so that it wasn't a full on Tanith only mission along with Curth


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