Machine Gun
The Machine Gun was a ballistic weapon and one of the war machines designed by Leonardo da Vinci. Originally intended for use by the Borgia forces, the 16th-century machine gun was placed on a horse-drawn chariot, so that one could shoot at any targets that came within range. It was immensely powerful, slaying men and momentarily crippling horses with a single shot.
Later on, the machine gun was implemented by both the Assassins and the Byzantine Templars, during their conflicts in Constantinople over the various dens scattered throughout the city.
History[edit | edit source]
Colli Albani[edit | edit source]
Around 1500, Leonardo da Vinci was forced to create blueprints for a rapid-firing gun for the Borgia, and subsequently tasked his friend, the Assassin Ezio Auditore da Firenze, with its destruction. After assassinating the overseer entrusted with its location, Ezio traveled to the Alban Hills, where he managed to remain undetected while burning the blueprints for the device and setting off nearby barrels of gunpowder, destroying the main prototype.[1]
After witnessing another horse-drawn prototype ride off in attempt to salvage the project, Ezio chased after the carriage on horseback, narrowly avoiding being gunned down by the weapon. He eventually hijacked the chariot it was mounted on, and used the machine gun to fend off numerous mounted arquebusiers that attacked him.[1]
After losing his pursuers, Ezio detached the prototype from the horses of the carriage and ignited the gunpowder-laden chariot with his Hidden Gun. The resulting explosion destroyed the carriage and the machine gun, ensuring it could not be reproduced, whilst Ezio rode to safety, his mission accomplished.[1]
Constantinople[edit | edit source]
During Ezio's travels in Constantinople, machine guns were employed by both the Templars and Assassins during attacks on Assassin Dens. While the Templars made use of the machine guns by mounting them on war machines, the Assassins placed them on barricades. While both were equally effective against the enemy troops, they were less effective against structures or barricades that each side had constructed.[2]
Victorian London[edit | edit source]
In 1868, the Rooks gang member Nigel Bumble stole a Gatling gun—an early type of machine gun developed in the 19th century—from the rival Blighters gang, and subsequently presented it to the Assassin Jacob Frye. While testing the weapon, the vengeful Blighters arrived, and Jacob promptly put the Gatling gun to use against them. However, during the resulting train chase, the gun overheated and caught fire, forcing Jacob and Nigel to abandon the wagon it was installed on.[3]
Russia[edit | edit source]
In 1918, while traveling from Yekaterinburg to Kazan by train, the Assassin Nikolai Orelov used a machine gun to fend off an armored Templar train that attacked him and Anastasia Nikolaevna.[4]
Trivia[edit | edit source]
- Despite it needing a driver and a gunman, Ezio spent the first part of the escape steering the chariot, then later took over as gunman, much as he did with the Naval Cannon. However, this did not come without drawbacks, as the horses often sent Ezio crashing into buildings.
- When Ezio hijacks the chariot, he kills the gunman with his left Hidden Blade, and the driver with right, even if the player has not purchased the double blade.
- Successfully using and destroying Leonardo's Machine Gun grants the player the "Bang!" achievement.
- Despite being called a machine gun, the weapon seen in Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood fires in semi-automatic, rather than full-automatic. It is only a "machine" gun in the sense that one can fire several bullets at a time without having to reload.
- Leonardo's machine gun design in the game differs from the design he came up with in real life, which consisted of multiple barrels in one large rifle with a wheel, allowing the gun to fire several bullets at once, similar to the Maxim gun or a Gatling gun.
- A miniature replica of the weapon can be found at the armory in Ezio's Hideout after completing the Outgunned memory.
- The memory description of "Outgunned" claims that the Machine Gun can kill one hundred men in mere seconds.
Appearances[edit | edit source]
- Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood (first appearance)
- Assassin's Creed: Revelations
- Assassin's Creed: Syndicate
- Assassin's Creed Chronicles: Russia
References[edit | edit source]
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||