Den Defense

Ezio and several Assassins defend a den.

When Byzantine Templars attacked an Assassin den, Ezio Auditore, Italian Mentor would engage in a Den Defense to keep the den under Assassin control.

The Process

During a Den Defense, Ezio would command and deploy Assassins units to defend from approaching Templar troops. The Assassins would position themselves on rooftops and behaind barricades and wait for the impending forces. Each Assassin had a combat speciality, from Crossbowmen to bombers . Barricades would also be placed to halt Templar progression. Morale is used to deploy Assassins and build barricades, and is gained automatically over time and occasionally from looting Templar corpses. Deployed Assassins would sometimes be killed and barricades destroyed, which would force Ezio to deploy replacements.

Ezio would sometimes participate in the defense more directly; he would fire his pistol at approaching soldiers, which would lead his own troops to attack the same squadron, or, occasionally, command a canon to be fired at a group of soldiers or a war machine.

The Templars would attack in several waves, leaving little time between each for the Assassins to prepare. The would advance up the street, pausing only when encountering a barricade. Dead soldiers would be looted for À, bomb ingredients or Morale. Once the soldiers would they reach the Den, they would begin attacking it, and would not stop until they ran the Assassins out, or were killed.

List of Assassin Units

• Assassin Leader: Leaders wouldn't attack the Byzantine soldiers, but they were vital, as other Assassins weren't allowed onto the rooftops unless there was a leader there. Leaders would also increase Morale over time.
• Barricade: Barricades would be placed in the streets to slow the Templars' progression to the Den. Assassins would be deployed to barricades to help defend them. Typically, one barricade would be placed in front of the Den, as a precaution at the start of the battle.
  • Greek Fire Barricade: A barricade mounting a flamethrower, with high damage and short range.
  • Machine Gun Barricade: A barricade mounting a repeating gun with average range, low damage, and high rate of fire.
  • Cannon Barricade: A barricade mounting a small cannon with long range and high damage, but has a very low rate of fire.
• Crossbowman: An Assassin wielding a Crossbow. Had a high rate of fire, but dealt relatively low damage.
• Rifleman: An Assassin wielding a rifle. Dealt large amounts of damage, but had a low rate of fire.
• Air Assassin: An Assassin wielding a Hidden Blade. Would air assassinate Byzantine troops. Couldn't attack again quickly, as they would have to climb back up to the rooftop.
• Bruiser: An Assassin wielding a medium weapon. Highly adept at melee, but had no ranged capability.
• Caltrop Bomber: An Assassin wielding Caltrop Bombs. While not dealing much damage, they would slow down Templars caught in its effect.
• Shrapnel Bomber: An Assassin wielding Shrapnel Bombs. They would deal damage in a large radius, but couldn't throw the bombs often.

List of Templar Units

• Militia: Weak and poorly armored, their primary danger was in their numbers.
• Almogavars: Well-armored brutes carrying heavy weapons, they would move slowly, making them easy targets.
• Riflemen: Equipped with a rifle, these Templars could return fire on your rooftop Assassins, but had a low rate of fire and weak armor.
• Bombmen: Slow and poorly armored, but were equipped with bombs that would make short work of barricades.
• Scouts: Poorly armored, but were fast and could climb over barricades.
• Stalkers: Highly dangerous in melee, they attacked Assassins on the rooftops instead of in the streets.
• War Machines: Heavily armored and slow, these were usually brought in at the very end of an assault.
  • Ram: A heavily armored battering ram, they were limited to melee attacks, but dealt high amounts of damage.
  • Greek Fire: A heavily armored platform with a flamethrower mounted on it. They dealt large amounts of damage near-constantly, but they were limited to close range.
  • Machine Gun: A heavily armored platform that fired projectiles over a long distance dealing average damage. They dealt small amounts of damage and were ineffective against barricades.
  • Cannon: A heavily armored platform with a mounted cannon, they had a very low rate of fire, but dealt extraordinary amounts of damage and had a long range.

Source

• Assassin's Creed: Revelations

Gallery

• Crossbowmen.
  Crossbowmen.
• 
  Ezio and several Assassins, defending a Den.