Guards (Turbulence)

Guards are members of organized military forces that typically defended or controlled access to locations of interest, or protected certain individuals.

Typically comprising members of a local militia or governing body's military services, the colors and styles of their uniforms varied, denoting rank, allegiance, and combat specialization.

Factions

Wang-Wei Government

Two Wang-wei Soldiers (Right) guarding Wang Jing-wei and his associates

Soldiers and policemen of the Wang-wei Government are located around the map of Shanghai in Assassin's Creed: Turbulence and are the main types of enemies that Jonathan Griffon encounters in the game.

Wang-wei soldiers are commonly seen patrolling the streets led by an officer. Sometimes they would be found guarding locations such as Jessfield No.76. In the Chinese dub most of the soldiers spoke with Nanking, Ningbo and Suzhou accents. They are dressed in the same beige Nationalist uniform, albeit with a darker color scheme and have the five-colored pentagram, instead of the white sun on blue emblem of the Nationalists, on their helmets and caps. They are commonly armed with rifles such as the Karabiner 98K, Type 38 and the Hanyang. Occasionally they will be armed with Mondragon, MP-18 or MP-40. Very rarely there would be a Wang-wei soldier at a blockade armed with an FM-24/29. They will attack Jonathan with bayonets if he gets into melee range.

Wang Jing-wei's personal guard have a modified model of the Wang-wei soldier with black military boots, white gloves, a patch with the white sun with blue on red standard of the Wang-wei government on their right arm, and an officer's cap. They are always armed with the Mondragon.

Japanese Occupation

Japanese soldier with captive villagers in a village around Yan'an

Japanese soldiers are also seen commonly in Shanghai, and as patrols around the wilderness of Yan'an and Urumuqi. Most Japanese soldiers are seen patrolling alongside Wang-wei soldiers, as well as guarding blockades. On occasion Japanese soldiers could be seen riding in sidecar motorcycles in streets and sitting in transport trucks. They seen more often in these transportations in wilderness areas.

They are dressed in dark beige and olive drab WWII Japanese uniforms and armed with Type 99 and Type 38 rifles with bayonets attached. Sometimes they are also seen with Type 100 submachine guns, Type 99 and Type 11 machine guns. Some blockades will have a Japanese soldier mount a Type 92 heavy machine gun. If the player hides behind cover in combat, they will also throw grenades attempting to flush them out.

Tank crew members are rare variants of the Japanese soldier, spawning only around tanks in strongholds or when the player hijacks a Japanese tank. They are dressed in heavy brown coats and wear a black tank helmet. They are always armed with a Nambu pistol or a Type 26 revolver.

In the Chinese release they speak Japanese. In the American release they are voiced in English with a very heavy Japanese accent and dubbed by famous Japanese actor Hiroyuki Sanada.

Nationalists

The Nationalists replace the Wang-wei and Japanese soldiers as main enemies in Chongqing. They are also seen in skirmishes with the Japanese in Yan'an and Urumuqi.

They are similarly dressed as the Wang-wei soldiers except lighter and have the white sun on blue emblem on their helmets and patrol caps. They are also seen wearing side caps in addition to helmets and patrol caps. They are commonly equipped with Zhongzheng, Hanyang and Karabiner 98K rifles and occassionally MP-18, MP-40 and being almost the only source for the Thompson SMG besides military supply shops. Some very rarely are armed with FM-24/29 and Bren machine guns.

Chiang Kai-shek's personal guards are armed with M1941 Johnson rifles and is the only time seen in the hands of NPC characters. Since the guards are unkillable, the only way to unlock the weapon is still through storming strongholds. Nationalist tank pilots use the same model as the Japanese tank pilots and are also rarely seen. They appear in liberated strongholds around tanks. They are armed with Colt M1911 and Luger P.08 pistols.

Communists

The Communist guerillas are the main guards in the urban area of Yan'an. They are also seen patrolling the wilderness in Yan'an and Urumuqi, fighting Japanese soldiers when they encounter each other. They will also aid Nationalists if they are seen fighting with the Japanese.

Red Army soldiers saluting Griffon for his efforts in the war

They are dressed in the blue uniform of the Communists with a red star on their patrol caps and wear a patch that reads "Communist Party（共产党）” on their right arm. They are also seen wearing the British Brodie helmet in addition to the pot helmet worn by Nationalist and Wang-wei soldiers. They are armed with Hanyang, Type 38 and Karabiner 98K rifles and occasionally they are seen armed with Sten, MP-18 and MP-40 submachine guns, very rarely they are seen with the Bren, Type 11 or Type 99 machine gun. Some soldiers carry Dadaos on their back and will attack the player with it if provoked and in melee range, otherwise they will produce a bayonet in melee.

Nazi Expedition

The Nazis are a minor antagonist faction that appears in the downloadable campaign The Jade Pendant of the Twin Fish and serve as the main enemies. They appear to belong to a branch of the Waffen-SS, given the SS symbol and totenkopf seen on their uniforms. They replace the Japanese in areas surrounding Luobupo and will fight both the Nationalists and Communists when they encounter.

They are seen most commonly guarding camping areas and excavation sites, supervised by an officer. They will also patrol the area in sidecar motorcycles and jeeps. At important locations they are also seen patrolling the area in personal tankettes. They are dressed in Afrika Korps uniform with dark khaki shorts/pants and shortsleeve shirts/dust jackets, leather boots and pot helmets, patrol caps, turbans and sun helmets with goggles and/or face covering. They are equipped with weapons from the original game such as Karabiner 98Ks, MP-18 and MP-40s, as well as new weapons introduced in the campaign pack such as the Gewehr 43 and StG.44.

The German soldiers are the only exception that was not redubbed in English in the American release and retained the German dub in the Chinese release.

Soviet Red Army

Soviet Red Army soldiers only appear in the Sequence Fall of the Last Dragon in Operation August Storm. They behave identically to the soldiers of other factions but are armed with Russian weapons such as the Mosin-Nagant, PPsh-41, SVT-40 and the DP. They are members of the Soviet Red Navy Marines, or colloquially known as the "Black Coats" due to their black sailor uniforms.

Specialized Types

Certain guards have specialized abilities that may grant them an advantage over the player in cases and often wielding special weapons otherwise not found on normal soldiers.

Officer

A Non-Commissioned Officer of the Wang-wei government standing guard.

Non-commissioned officers are seen with soldier patrols or in camps and strongholds where they would randomly converse with soldiers and walk around, similar to officers in previous games. They are also seen in places of interest or supervising choke points.

Officers are equipped with binoculars and could see players from a far distance in daylight. They are also armed with melee weapons that deal more significant damage than bayonets and could parry player's attacks, forcing players to to either break their defense or disarm them first. They could also counter counter-kills even if disarmed, but are subject to stuns, throws and firearm damage. They are also able to see through disguises and will investigate hiding spots when spotting the player.

The Wang-wei officer's attire is almost identical to the Nationalists, with an officer cap, a Mao jacket and black military boots, except dark green in color scheme. They are armed with Walter PPK pistols and cavalry swords. They are sometimes seen riding shotgun in a jeep.

The Japanese officers wear a beige colored officer's uniform with white gloves and a field cap with a star in the middle, some wear round-framed glasses. They are armed with Nambu pistols or Type 26 revolvers and Shinguntos. They could be seen in motorcycle sidecars or atop horses.

The Nationalist officer's attire consists of an olive drab Mao jacket, black military boots and a patrol cap with the white sun on blue emblem. They are armed with Luger P.08, Colt M1911 or Walter P38 pistols and cavalry swords.

The Communist officer's attire consists of a light blue Mao jacket, black cloth shoes with leg bindings and a red army cap with a red star in the middle. They are equipped with Mauser C96 or Walter P38 pistols and Dadaos. They are also seen riding shotgun in jeeps or riding horses.

The Nazi officer wears an Afrika Korps officer's uniform with a brown dust jacket or short sleeve shirt, leather boots with leg bindings and a turban. They are equipped with Walter PPK or Walter P38 pistols and a machete.

Scout

Scouts are similar to the Agile guards in Assassin's Creed II, fast-moving adversaries that would give chase to the player once discovering them. They are able to climb and free-run faster than normal enemies and cannot be disarmed in combat and cannot be thrown. They are, however, susceptible to stuns and quick successive attacks as they are not as good in parrying. They will, however, attempt to dodge.

Scouts are often seen on rooftops in urban areas as well as around hiding places or atop higher ground. Some will also tag along with patrols. In some cases they are also seen with snipers.

The Wang-wei scout is armed with smoke grenades that they will throw to obscure the player's vision and follow up with a succession of melee attacks with his machete. He is also equipped with a pistol that he will use when the player has created enough distance between them. The Wang-wei scout could be identified by their light-green pot helmet with the five-colored star in the middle.

The Japanese scout is equipped with a Type 100 submachine gun, which gives him a firepower advantage over the player during chasing, discouraging the player to flee. In combat he wields a Shingunto which deals more damage than the machete but is slower and prone to quick successive assaults. He is dressed in a dark beige half-short sleeve shirt with an armlet of the emblem of the Imperial Japanese Army, leather boots with leg bindings, and a bandana with the emblem of the IJA.

The Nationalist scout tends to dodge very quickly but is able to be thrown, making him slightly more vulnerable in close quarter combat. However, he is equipped with an M1 Carbine which is very dangerous in middle to close range.

The Communist scout is similar in function to the Wang-wei scout, except more agile, dodging more often and unable to be counter-attacked. She is most easily identifiable as few of the female models used for guards.

The Nazi scout prefers to throw and stun the player, following with a succession of melee attacks.

Sniper

Snipers are highly-trained marksmen who are able to deal an enormous amount of damage over an extremely long distance. When the player approaches an area with a sniper present, they will be informed of the sniper's presence with a caution message on screen and it is advised the player stays low and utilize cover to their greatest extent. Snipers, however, cannot see faraway at night and needs to rely on spotlights. Their slow rate of fire also gives players enough time to escape should they be discovered. Snipers are easily killed once the player gets close enough, but will attempt to shoot the player with their sidearm if they get close.

Snipers are commonly located on top of buildings near a military outpost or stronghold, or other locations of significant importance. They could also be observed around the wilderness in bushes, atop high ground or hiding in trees. Their scopes will reflect sunlight during day which would potentially give away their position.

The Wang-wei, Communist, Nationalist snipers are armed with scoped 98Ks, the Japanese snipers are armed with scoped Arisaka Type 99s, while the Germans are armed with scoped Gewehr 43s.

Grenadier

Grenadiers are heavy shock troopers armed with grenades and machine guns. They are very dangerous foes in mid to close range, but are comparatively vulnerable in close quarter combat, with low-damaging melee attack and being susceptible to disarming. However, they are very resilient for the body armor they wear and could not be counter-killed.

Grenadiers are seen only when the notoriety level of the player rises above level 3, in which case some would be seen with patrols or standing guard at choke points. They will not, due to the heavy equipment they wear, give chase to the player if they manage to scale and would resort to shoot or fling grenades at them from below.

The Wang-wei grenadier uses the model of the helmeted normal soldier, but clad in a Japanese plated vest and plated shin guards. They are armed with an FM-24/29 or ZB vz.26 light machine guns and Type 89 knee mortars.

The Japanese grenadier uses the model of the helmeted normal soldier, clad in a Japanese plated vest and plated shin guards. They are armed with a Type 11 or Type 99 machine gun and Type 89 knee mortar.

The Nationalist grenadier uses the model of the helmeted normal soldier, clad in a British plate cuirass and knee guards. They are armed with an FM-24/29, Hotchkiss M1914 or Madsen machine gun and shrapnel grenades.

The Communist grenadier uses the model of the Brodie helmet soldier, clad in a Soviet Sn-42 body armor. They are armed with a DP, Bren or LS M/26 machine gun and cluster grenades.

The Nazi grenadier uses the model of the helmeted soldier with goggles and a facemask and Afrikan Korps camoflauged jacket, clad in a three-piece breastplate and shin guards. They are armed with a MG34 or MG42 and cluster grenades.

Flamethrower

Flamethrowers are specialized types of grenadiers armed with a flamethrower. They are one of the rarest guards seen in game as they will not appear as city patrols and are only spotted in the wilderness with small army detachments after Sequence 4, regardless of player notoriety. The are seen in early game in strongholds.

Flamethrowers are very dangerous as their flamethrowers could deal a stream of high damage to players if not dodged quickly enough and could easily kill the player in one or two seconds. However, they will need to stand still and ready their weapons before they could attack, providing the player the chance to take cover, and their movement is slowed down to walking when firing their weapon. They are very heavily armored like the grenadier, but the gas tanks they carry on their backs are their weakness.

Flamethrowers use the model of the grenadier except with their faces covered by a gas mask and armed with a flamethrower.

Anti-Tank

Tank hunters are infantrymen trained to damage armored vehicles. They are extremely deadly to the player when they are in vehicles, as well as on foot, but have very low attack rate. Their anti-tank rifles could kill the player with one shot in any body part, thus it is advised that the player keeps mobile whenever encountering tank hunters, as their weapons take a long time to reload.

When in armored vehicles, the player is advised to watch for the sparkles whenever they are hit with the weapon so as to discern the location of the tank hunter. It is relatively safer for the player in armored vehicles as it would take ten to twelve shots to destroy a tank and six to eight shots for an armored car. However, tank hunters are still able to disable the movement of a tank with two shots to the tread.

The Wang-wei, Nationalist and Communist tank hunters are armed with the Boys Anti-tank rifle, the Japanese are armed with the Type 97 and the German tank hunters with the Pzb.39.

Kempeitai

The Kempeitai are the military police of the Imperial Japanese Army and are only encountered when the player's notoriety level increases to 4. They form patrol groups of six and are seen with the normal patrols or on their own. After Sequence 4 they will appear in the city as patrols regardless of the player's notoriety. A few are also seen around No.76, guarding the compound. Killing one will immediate raise the player's notoriety to 3.

The Kempeitai are not so dangerous as the grenadiers on their own; however, they are almost always seen in groups of six and will attack the player at the same time when provoked. They are able to counter counter-kills and will parry the player's melee attacks. They will flip over the player when attempted of being grabbed. The best strategy is to isolate one member at a time to fight while parrying the attacks of the others, and keep a short distance from all of them to prevent them from using firearms on the player.

The Kempeitai have a darker green military outfit than the normal Japanese soldiers with two stripes on their collars, officer caps with a red band and a star in the middle and black knee-high military boots. They also have on their right arm an armlet with the kanji of "military police (憲兵）”. They are also seen wearing olive drab raincoats during rainy days. They are armed with Type 99 and Type 38 rifles, Nambu pistols or Type 26 revolvers and a Shingunto for close quarter combat.

Stormtrooper

The Stormtroopers are paramilitary, light armed shock forces serving as a wing under the SS of Nazi Germany in WWII and function similarly as the Kempeitai in the campaign The Jade Pendant of the Twin Fish.

Although better armed and equipped than the Kempeitai, Stormtroopers are generally easier to defeat due to their tactic of taking on the player with two soldiers at a time while the others provide fire support. However, the player should be aware to not be lured out of cover by the troopers else be cut down quickly by gunfire. The Stormtroopers are also more armored and execute quicker attacks than the Kempeis, making them harder to kill and more fail-dangerous.

The Stormtroopers are could be identified by the one-piece cuirass and shoulderpads and red keffiyehs around their necks, in contrast to the beige colored of regular soldiers. They are dress in the Afrikan Korps camo uniform with goggles on their helmets and brown, knee-length combat boots. They are armed with MP-40 and MP-18s, Walter P38 or Luger P.08s and a machete for close-quarter combat.

Expert Types

Expert guards are high-ranking guards, who are the most skilled and well-equipped of their time. They often possessed several of the qualities of specialized guards, and were limited in number.

Special Agents

Special Agents refer to field intelligence operatives of the various organizations that were active in China during the time, fighting a secret war amongst themselves. They are the expert guards for the Wang-wei government and the Nationalists, and will fight the players when they reach a notoriety level of 5 in Shanghai and Chongqing.

Special Agents come in groups of four and are similar to the Gang Leaders in Assassin's Creed: Rogue. They behave like highly-trained assassins, being able to free-run and scale buildings almost the same speed as the player. They are able to hide in cover and hiding spots and will even be able to assassinate the player with the given condition, resulting in instant desynchronization. In combat they will attempt to grab and throw the player and even disarm them (in which case the player would be forced to fight with their hidden blade). They are also equipped with smoke grenades, much like scouts. Despite their similarities in ability to the player, they have comparatively less health and could be disarmed, the are also vulnerable to stuns.

The special agents are clothed in civilian clothing, often a middle to high class one, with fedoras, peaked caps, round-framed sun glasses, shirt and ties, suits, trenchcoats, leather shoes. They may also be dressed in the clothes of factory workers, with checkered cargo pants and shortsleeve shirts, making them hard to identify from civilians. They are armed with higher-end handguns such as the Browning Hi-Power, Smith & Wesson Model 10 and the Walter PPK, as well as small arms such as the M3 Grease Gun and Sten SMG, and even shotguns such as the Browning Auto-5 or the Winchester Model 1897.

There is also a rare OSS variant of the Special Agent, appearing to assist the player in a few missions. Outside of mission two could be found in front of the OSS headquarters in Shanghai standing guard. Attacking them result in behavior identical to the Special Agent, but will not raise the notoriety level of the player when killed. They are white caucasian males dressed in a brown shirt, dark brown cargo pants, light brown leather shoes and a peaked cap. They are also seen with black wind breakers, beige trenchcoats, cyan short-sleeve shirts and fedoras. They are armed with the High-standard HDM, one of the few suppressed weapons players could access in game, or the M1928A1, the 50-round ammo-drum and foregrip version of the Thompson.

Red Guards

Red Guards are Communist partisans specially trained in unconventional warfare, reconnaissance and sabotage and are arguably the special forces and intelligence agents of the Chinese Red Army. They appear in a few missions as allies assisting the player. Normally they would appear to fight the player if their notoriety level reaches 5 in Yan'an. They are also at times seen with forces patrolling the wilderness.

The Red Guards have the lowest health and armor amongst the expert guards. However, they have excellent spotting range and are equipped with weapons to engage the player from afar, making them arguably the most dangerous type of guards towards the player on foot, due to their high damaging ranged weapons that could drop the player in a few shots. They, however, share the weakness of snipers as they require long reload times before they could fire their next shot. They are not, in any sense, weak in melee, as their high damaging Dadaos could kill the player easily and their heavy melee attacks could only be partially blocked.

Due to the lower susceptibility of women, the Red Guards are the few female enemies in the game. They are dressed in more civilian clothes with grey or brown shirts and jackets, grey baggy cloth pants with rolled up legs, black cloth shoes, woven grass sandles or bare feet. They are always seen wearing a blue Red Army cap with a bobcut, bun or twin pigtail braids. They have either a band of machine gun bullets or steilhandgranates strewn across their breasts. They are equipped with Karabiner 98Ks or Mosin-Nagants, PPsh-41 or MP-18 SMGs and Bren or DP machine guns, at least one member in the group will be carrying a Type 97 anti-tank rifle. They are also armed with a Mauser C96 or a TT-33 and a Dadao for melee combat.

Kuteitai

Kuteitai is the Japanese word for paratroopers and is used as an umbrella term referring to the airborne special forces of the Japanese army. From the uniform and emblem seen on the Kuteihei in game it could be determined that they were members of the Rikusentai, the Japanese marine paratroopers, who were largely deployed in coastal cities such as Shanghai during early stages of the war as light armed shock troops.

The Kuteitai will appear to confront the player once their notoriety reaches level 5 in Shanghai, patrolling in groups of five. They will attack the player spontaneously when they discover them and due to their powerful firepower and high rate of fire it is advised to fight them in melee one at a time since they are less armored and deal comparatively lower melee damage. However, they are very agile and could block all frontal attacks and able to dodge very quickly. They will also grab and throw the player. They are susceptible however, to stuns. It is also not advised to deal with these enemies in armored vehicles due to them being armed with anti-tank weaponry.

Unlike normal Japanese troops, they could be identified quickly by their blue-greenish uniform and leather vest. In addition, they wear a beige colored German pot helmet instead of the regular Japanese Type 3, with webbing and the Japanese marine emblem of a yellow anchor on light blue in the middle. They also wear laced high brown leather boots and brown leather gloves. A bandolier of Type 97 grenades is strung across their chests. They also have the Kyokujitsu-ki and a white anchor emblem sewn on the right arm of their jackets. They are armed with the TERA rifle as well as experimental weaponry such as the Type 1 and Type 2 submachine guns. At least one member of the five-men group carries a Type 4 rocket launcher, the only one that appears in the game. In addition, they are armed with a Type 26 revolver or Nambu pistol and a bayonet for melee.

Fallschirmjäger

Fallschirmjäger is the german term of paratroopers and have come to refer to airborne special forces of the German Luftwaffe. They are elite troopers appearing in The Jade Pendant of the Twin Fish as the expert trooper for the germans, appearing to hunt the player down when their notoriety level reaches 5. They are also rarely seen at camps and excavation sites conversing with one another, as well as patrolling the area of Luopubo in jeeps.

Like other expert guards, the fallschirmjäger are the most versatile and difficult enemies to deal with, as they combine most of the abilities of other guards. Heavily armored but at the same time agile enough to chase down the player and dodge attacks, they are incredibly resilient and skilled in melee combat, able to deflect attacks against them. They will also attempt to grab and throw players in melee. Their machine guns are also dangerous in long-range, able to mow down the player in several seconds. In addition, they can also mount horses and attempt charging attacks towards the player with their machetes like officers.

The fallschirmjäger could be identified far away due to the white agals they are wearing. They are clad in a three-piece breastplate and double-layer shoulderguards, as well as shinguards. They wear a cream colored bisht under their armor and over their Afrikan Korps uniform and a leather dust-mask with a beige keffiyeh that obscures their faces. A belt of machine gun bullets is hung across their breastplate. They are equipped with the FG-42 light-weight machine guns, grenades and a machete for close quarter combat.

Trivia

• The Wang-wei soldiers are often depicted with the five-colored pentagram to distinguish them between Nationalist soldiers, which is historically inaccurate since the five-colored pentagram was the emblem of Manchukuo, the Japanese puppet state in northeastern China. Wang, who considered their government the true Nationalist government, used the same white sun with blue on red emblem as the Nationalists.
• The German soldiers' uniforms are based on that of the Afrikan Korps, which is understandable due to the desert environment of Xinjiang and the fact that the Germans did not develop a military uniform for the Asian theatre.