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The "Death Pistol" is a nickel-plated Colt M1911 owned by Matthew Baker. On the slide is inscribed "To Matthew: Brothers In Arms". It is used by Baker, among many other characters, throughout the series.

In 1929, Baker's father, Colonel Joseph Baker, gave him the pistol. Baker's mother didn't allow him to keep it, forcing him to return the pistol to his father.

Baker's father was later killed in combat while firing the same pistol, which was later acquired by George Risner - Matthew Baker's close friend.

The pistol would be blamed for plaguing the paratroopers of Third Platoon with bad luck; everyone who touches it (except Baker) is killed shortly afterward. Mike Dawson in particular believes this legend completely.

The pistol appears in every mainstream Brothers in Arms game, but its in Hell's Highway that the legend is being widespread, although no one dies to that pistol in Operation Market Garden. However, Baker is the only person who wields it at that time and he was known to be immune to the alleged curse.

Suggested Tactics in Gameplay[]

While it mostly is comparable to the Colt 1911 from previous games, the Death Pistol has a higher rate of fire and somewhat better accuracy, since it gets its own dedicated slot now, the Death Pistol makes an ideal back-up, especially in Authentic where you are unable to see your ammo reserves, the Death Pistol, while inferior to most other weapons, can always be drawn if you find yourself out of ammo and it's extremely unlikely the player will deplete all 20 Death Pistol Magazines in addition to their primary weapons before finding more guns to get ammo from or an ammo crate.

Therefore, while it shouldn't be used first outside of Novelty, it can always be relied on if you find yourself short of ammo or need to engage in close-quarters and your only primary weapon with ammo is the Kar98K.

Deaths[]

  • Unknown date: Baker's father is killed holding the pistol.
  • D+0: After examining the pistol the day before with Risner, Muzza dies on the plane by a piece of flak to the chest.
  • D+1: Risner is killed by overwhelming German forces while firing the pistol.
  • D+3: Allen retrieves the pistol from Risner. Both he and Garnett handle the gun in front of Leggett. Allen and Garnett are later ambushed by German troops and are killed. Desola picks up the gun briefly, then puts it down. Leggett then acquires the handgun.
  • D+4: Desola is ripped apart by a German stuka bomber.
  • D+7: Leggett is killed by a tank on Hill 30 firing the pistol. Baker retreves the pistol.

Unearthly Powers[]

Despite its supernatural belief, it should be noted that although six deaths in the platoon during Overlord were involved with someone who handled the pistol, there were many other casualties. Rivas and Obrieski were not shown to have handled the weapon, while almost all of First Squad was eliminated on D-Day.

Baker's inspirational speech after the Allied failure in Market Garden suggested that the pistol became thought of as supernatural simply because the platoon wanted something to blame. He relinquishes the weapon after the speech to emphasize his speech and signify the end to the myth surrounding the pistol, tossing it out of the camp and declaring "It's just a Goddamn gun!".


Sources[]

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