Tank

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Patience, brothers. Soon we will reveal the secrets of Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood of Venice.

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"Leonardo expects me to maneuver this? No instructions. Of course."

―Ezio Auditore first laying eyes on Leonardo da Vinci's tank.^[src]^-[m]

A tank is an armored fighting vehicle intended as a primary offensive weapon in front-line ground combat. Tanks are designed to balance heavy firepower, strong armor, and battlefield mobility provided by tracks and a powerful engine; their main armament is often mounted within a turret.^[1]

Although modern tanks were only invented in the 20th century, similar vehicles had been envisioned centuries earlier. Most notably, the Renaissance polymath Leonardo da Vinci developed a man-powered, wheeled fighting vehicle surrounded by cannons in the late 15th century.^[2]

Operated by three or four people, this early tank prototype was designed to intimidate and scatter an entire opposing army. Its cannons were arranged on a rotating circular platform that allowed for a 360 degree range. The entire machine was hooded by a protective cover, which was reinforced with slanted metal plates to better deflect enemy fire. A sighting turret on top allowed the coordination of cannon fire, as well as the steering of the vehicle.^[2]

History[edit | edit source]

Renaissance[edit | edit source]

In the early 16th century, the Borgia forces in Rome acquired the designs of a prototype tank envisioned by Leonardo da Vinci, after the inventor was forcefully employed by Cesare Borgia. The Borgia subsequently manufactured a number of such tanks to strengthen their army, which were stored at Mount Circeo, southeast of Rome.^[3]

In 1502, Leonardo tasked Ezio Auditore with finding the plans for the tank, as well as other war machines, and destroying them. Traveling to Mount Circeo, Ezio followed an engineer without being detected, until they reached the factory where the tank and other weapons were being produced. Upon interrogating the engineer, Ezio discovered that the schematics for the tank, as well as three captured mercenaries, were being kept within the factory.^[3]

Ezio made his way through the base until he found the plans, and promptly burned them. Upon finding the captured mercenaries, he killed the guards patrolling the area in order to free them. The mercenaries then led Ezio to the tank by taking an underground tunnel system.^[3]

When they reached the war machine, Ezio used the tank to destroy the factories and the other tanks being produced. He and the mercenaries also took on and destroyed several other working tanks that attacked them. Once all enemy machines had been destroyed, Ezio also destroyed the tank he had used, as it was far too dangerous to keep, should the Borgia attempt to reclaim it.^[3]

20th century[edit | edit source]

In 1916, during World War I, a number of tanks could be found on the streets of London, specifically around Tower Bridge. The British Assassin Lydia Frye came across several of these tanks during her time operating in the area.^[4]

In 1918, after Nikolai Orelov betrayed the Russian Assassins and helped Anastasia Nikolaevna escape from their laboratories at the Moscow Kremlin, the Assassins sent a tank to attack the pair in retaliation.^[5] Nikolai lured the tank away from Anastasia and had it chase him to a construction site, where he managed to destroy the vehicle by firing on its weak spots with his rifle.^[6]

Tanks were also widely used during World War II, and were a common sight in Paris during its occupation by Nazi Germany.^[7]

Trivia[edit | edit source]

Though the tank appeared in Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood, Leonardo was historically unable to build the war machine.
The tank designs in real life actually had more cannons and a different hatch.
The designs of the tank had the gears deliberately positioned to render the tank unable to move. This is widely believed to have been misinformation deliberately placed by Leonardo, to prevent the design from being misused if it was stolen.
To achieve full synchronization for the tank memory, Ezio must operate the tank without being hit.
Successfully using and destroying the Tank granted the "Kaboom!" achievement.
If the tank suffered damage, some of its cannons would become unusable, slowing the tank's rate of fire. This was because the tank's rotating belt had to skip the damaged cannons until a usable one was aligned for firing.
A miniature replica of the tank could be found in the armory at the Tiber Island headquarters, after the completion of the Hell On Wheels memory.
Though the engineer told Ezio about three mercenaries who had been captured, only two spoke to and joined Ezio to operate the tank. The third was left either sleeping or dead within the prison cell.
While only three men were required for Ezio to operate the tank, historically, four were needed for the tank to move.
If the production of the tanks had continued, Cesare would have used them as the centerpiece of his army during a surprise assault on Sicily.
Just before destroying the tank, Ezio admitted, "I wish I could keep you.", making it the only invention that Ezio actually liked unlike the others.