| “ | I can make armored cars, safe and unassailable, which will enter the close ranks of the enemy with their artillery, and no company of soldiers is so great that it will not break through them.
— Da Vinci's letter to Ludovico Sforza
|
” |
Leonardo da Vinci's tank was a fighting vehicle found in the concepts of Leonardo da Vinci's sketches. The blueprint for the "tank" in Leonardo's notebook, is flawed, with the gears arranged in such a manner that any movement on one crank would cancel out the other, making the vehicle immobile. It is believed by many scholars that Leonardo intentionally sabotaged the vehicle, as he was a pacifist at heart and realised the terrifying potential of his invention.
The vehicle was covered in wooden armour, and possible metal plates, sloped at an angle, designed to protect the vehicle from projectiles such as musket balls and crossbow bolts. The vehicle was powered by four men turning cranks inside the vehicle, which drove four large wheels, allowing the vehicle to slowly roll across the battlefield, firing its cannon, arranged in a ring around the tank to allow it to fire in all directions. Da Vinci's tank was to be directed by a commander in the upper turret, which housed a number of vision ports. It is also might have been possible to fire a smaller weapon, such as a musket or crossbow, from these ports.
Battle vs. Helepolis (by SPARTAN 119)[]
The Helepolis rolled towards a castle gate, firing its catapults and ballistae as it went. Out from the castle gate rolled out Da Vinci's "Tank". The tank slowly moved towards the Helepolis as a number of large rocks landed around it, one of them missing only by inches.
The "Da Vinci Tank" returned fire with its front cannons, but the balls bounced off the steel plates of the front of the Helepolis. As the two siege engines got closer to each other, two of the ballistae on top of the Helepolis fired. The bolts pierced the armor of the "tank", one of them killing a man inside the "tank", but the war machine kept moving.
A soldier in the upper observation turret fired a matchlock musket out of one of the view ports, hitting an ballista operator on the top of the Helepolis, killing him. The "tank" kept moving forwards, firing it battery of cannon into the side of the Helepolis's wheels. It took a few hits, but soon, the wheels on one side were blown apart or dislodged as the axles were destroyed. The supports on one side being blown out from under it, the Helepolis fell to one side like a felled tree, breaking apart with a thunderous crashing sound as it hit the ground.
WINNER: Da Vinci's "Tank"
Expert's Opinion[]
Da Vinci's Tank won due to greater overall firepower and mobility. Its weapons were marginally more accurate than those of the Helepolis which were only good at engaging stationary targets.
To see the original battle, weapons, and votes, click here.
Battle vs. Mughal War Elephant (by SPARTAN 119)[]
No battle was written.
WINNER: Da Vinci's Tank
Expert's Opinion[]
The experts believed that Da Vinci's "tank" would prevail because of the 360 degree firepower of the tank's cannon battery, as well as the fact that, unlike an elephant, the tank can't go berserk if it sustains damage.