Fallout Lore: The Exiled Midwestern Brotherhood of Steel, Banished in Game and in Real Life

virus [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] hahaha foreign the Brotherhood of Steel in Fallout tactics the midwestern Brotherhood of Steel so to begin we must understand what might appear as a mysterious and unknown faction to many Fallout fans who haven't played Fallout tactics is why they exist the context under which they were constructed will Begin by going over their story and enemies and then go a bit further into their themes and use within the series we can refer to them as the midwestern Brotherhood of Steel because they occupy a region of the U.S known as the Midwest they are also sometimes referred to as the Eastern Brotherhood of Steel and I know you're probably thinking like what the hell the Brotherhood that's in the Bethesda titles is the Eastern Brotherhood of Steel the Lions Brotherhood but at the time of these guys existence the midwestern Brotherhood of seal they were the most East because the only other Brotherhood at the time in the series was the original Brotherhood from the West Coast the midwestern Brotherhood of Steel was formed due to disputes within the Brotherhood that we see reflected Furthermore with the state of the Brotherhood once we get to Fallout New Vegas the Brotherhood was split on whether they should remain shut-ins and hoard all the technology for themselves or if they should spread out and interact with civilians in a more direct way perhaps become a governing figure even in the end the original Brotherhood from Fallout 1 and 2 couldn't come to an effective compromise so the leadership that sought to maintain the secrecy and isolationist methods ordered those who wanted to change to the other side of the Wasteland as they were in the minority they constructed great airships to cover the incredibly harsh landscape that was the United States left in the wake of the Great War now this new Brotherhood was set to take off to the other side of the United States and on their great Airship Journey they find themselves in a storm Crossing what they deemed as the great mountains likely the Rocky Mountains losing ships and many members in the process they finally crash land on the outskirts of what remains of Chicago Illinois all hope was not lost however the the surrounding area offered the Splinter faction plenty of opportunity given they already disagreed with the traditional Brotherhood method of isolationism and Prejudice the midwestern Brotherhood began trading with the locals now the Brotherhood could use technology as a great bartering weapon rather than a great murder weapon once trade began doors were open to other forms of exchange soon protection from Raiders and a growing understanding of the Brotherhood of Steel from locals led to recruits being added to their ranks now Not only was the Brotherhood changing by interacting with the locals but they were also changing by working alongside of them and becoming one with the area they were now in now the Brotherhood based in Chicago was no longer a mysterious Force hidden away in a bunker they were more like the NCR or the legion with a standing force and control of an area with goals and motives for the greater region and not just getting a new Sci-Fi toy now the minority sent East for their rejected ideals and further ravaged by storm and destruction had finally gotten their ideals Justified to them after all that time and struggle this is not meant to paint them as the goody two shoes White Knight of the waste types Chicago has massive issues when the Brotherhood initially arrives so much so you might say there is no such idea of Chicago left anymore Raiders occupy much of the city's remains and the local civilians are in great need the newly established Midwestern Brotherhood sees this as an opportunity worth taking advantage of they know the locals are in need and they know they are their last best hope they use this to push their agenda whether it benefits the locals or not further understanding this Midwestern Brotherhood of Steel requires one to understand a bit about the game we see them in Fallout tactics the hint is in the name of the game this is meant to be a Fallout title that focuses on a gameplay Loop of clearing areas with a team of Brotherhood members no they're not all clad and classic power armor sported on the cover of the titles remember this Brotherhood recruits locals if we think of the Brotherhood of Steel by the time New Vegas takes place they remain in a state of hostility with the enormous NCR when we hear of them fighting we understand that the issue for the Brotherhood is that they are vastly outnumbered their limited numbers mean that most members can share the high-tech Gear with enough power armor and energy weapons to go around for the whole lot the NCR and Legion give their soldiers what they can with the hierarchy of the best gear falling to the higher ranks and the lower ranks getting the scraps so now we can try and understand the midwestern Brotherhood of Steel a bit better through that lens because this Brotherhood is more comparable to the NCR and the Legion in this way the higher ups get the cool Power Armor and guns but you'll have to work your way up to that point just like if you were doing an NCR playthrough on New Vegas you might start off with the basic Grunt Gear but by the end you'll come across some NCR veteran ranger armor and finally put an end to your impoverished look another aspect of understanding the midwestern Brotherhood of Steel is understanding their enemies I've mentioned the more generic Raider types but there are a few others the Beast Lords for one are a group of mutant cannibals who can control certain creatures telepathically this includes giant cockroaches not to be confused with rad roaches giant wasps Komodo dragons Brahmin dogs wolves giant rats and rat scorpions they also control some death Claws by holding a mother of the pack captive but they don't have any actual control over them outside of this circumstance the midwestern Brotherhood of Steel LED primarily of course by the player character known as the warrior in this Fallout title destroys an opposing a group of Beast Lords in the town of Quincy Illinois and then further routes them out to exterminate them and stabilize the region there's also gamerin's Army who have a pretty fascinating tale gamerin was a super mutant who led a group after the fall of the master and his army the main antagonist of the original Fallout he's not Cameron anymore though if you remember how the Brotherhood of Steel got to Chicago in the first place you'll recall that there was a storm that wreaked havoc on their airships as they cross the United States one of the airships landed in a region known as the belt likely referring to the Rust Belt a region in the United States it's called this because the region suffered heavily after the beginning of the decline of the United States industrial industry after 1953 the rust and Rust Belt refers to the Urban Decay of what is left of the structures where the industry once existed you can imagine how horrid a region that had already had areas that looked post-apocalyptic might look after an actual apocalypse anyway back to gamerin and his army once the Stray airship crashed a paladin by the name of Latham survived and came across gamerin in his army he challenged Yammer into one-on-one combat and despite suffering a serious head injury defeated the mutant shockingly upon this Underdog's Victory the now severely brain-damaged and spiraling Paladin assumed control over a super mutant Army which he developed over time and grew to great strength unfortunately as his army grew so did his mental instability he became more and more deranged thinking he truly was one of them you might think of it as a Chris haverson situation on steroids obviously despite this tragic tale of Paladin Latham he was ultimately destroyed by the midwestern Brotherhood of Steel however some of his mutants were able to join and his lasting impact would benefit the Brotherhood in defeating their next enemy next up is the calculators Army and the calculator himself this would be the midwestern brotherhood's greatest threat after the Brotherhood of Steel discovered the calculator's robot army had captured a merchant they traded with regularly and knew well they realized that him being interrogated by the calculator could be their entire undoing all of the sudden the quarrel they had with the Brotherhood of old the Brotherhood back West was right back in front of them they opened their doors to Traders and now it was biting them in the ass Unfortunately they didn't realize how much worse it was than just some Merchant the Brotherhood discovered not only a mass grave with over 300 bodies in it upon trying to find this Merchant but also the body of the guy who's been giving you missions throughout the entire game and debriefing you the general of the Brotherhood of Steel has been mutilated and lobotomized they would then have to fight their General turned brain bot as well as the other many varieties within the calculators Army eventually the warrior and his Squad under the midwestern Brotherhood of Steel would defeat the calculator and Destroy his plans of ending Humanity in his base of Vault zero this is not achieved without loss however as the Brotherhood of Steel would suffer greatly in the wake of this war both in numbers and in mind the calculator's Army were Superior to them they became hit and run Guerrilla fighters who had to basically blow up the death star or lose the war in the end you can imagine what this might do to a faction and group of people who is so used to having the technological advantage over their enemies up to this point they hadn't seen anything like this or faced another faction or group that could defeat them in one-on-one combat because they had much better technology than them it made them feel vulnerable and exposed and it humbled them they lost significant leadership in the war as well as region control yet the warrior or the player character would now become the general and he would lead the Brotherhood to re-establish control and health over time the Midwest Brotherhood also faces enemies such as the reavers as well as a gang known as the red Stingers that causes some issues inconveniently at the time of the calculator's army being introduced much of what we have covered about this faction isn't Canon anymore Bethesda has decided to mostly reduce the story and narrative editions tactics provides to the series while alluding to some sort of mysterious presence in more recent titles so canonically they exist but the story of tactics does not necessarily unless the context in which we understand them through in the lens the game provides of them is relatively useless going forward I know that seems a bit dreary to sort of wrap up the explanation of a faction in this way but to expand on this tactics as I mentioned starts off in Chicago but really you travel a massive amount of territory in the game all the way out to Colorado and Kansas I want to preface this information although it's not terribly important to the game of tactics but because it's more important to what we can say about the midwestern Brotherhood of Steel and the modern timeline you might think damn it how dare Bethesda erase most of tactics game additions to the series even though it's not as loved as The Originals it's still something in reality at least given where the series stands now the game isn't Canon because of New Vegas it would seem now I'm not saying that is the only reason that tactics isn't Canon and I'll get into that a little bit later but from what we understand Caesar controls Colorado and New Vegas is entirely Canon so there's an overlap there you can't have Caesar having a history in Colorado and the midwestern Brotherhood of Steel also occupying the region while the calculator and his army are also in the region there's just a little bit too much overlap and Chaos going on there so it doesn't make sense from that perspective to keep These two factions or three factions whatever the game adds from tax tactics as well because of the enemies of the midwestern Brotherhood of Steel and then have the legion there there's just a bit of a conflict and narrative and I don't think it's something that either obsidian or Bethesda really wanted to deal with from a narrative perspective going forward in the series it seems that tactics made this region too volatile and active yet didn't provide the substance obsidian nor Bethesda were interested in sticking to this is not a review of tactics although I plan to do that later however if you have played you will know that tactics Strays from the series core ideals in a pretty egregious way while Bethesda is not absolved of this either tactics does not provide you with the choices of the mysterious Wasteland seemingly bursting with interesting life and compelling context Fallout tactics is a half-baked turn-based or real-time quote-unquote tactical shooter sort of I don't hate it I actually enjoyed a lot of my time with it that doesn't make it untrue to call it what I just did the creators of Fallout have limited options as to where they might take the series next and frankly I agree with their decision to remove this canonically I'll also perhaps controversially add that I think most of the East Coast Fallout Games should get the same treatment the midwestern Brotherhood of Steel maintains and reinforces the aesthetic of medieval knights in a Sci-Fi based post-apocalypse Tim Kaine one of the original creators of Fallout has cited their influence coming from the post-apocalyptic sci-fi novel A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter Miller JR this book discusses the importance of the combination of Science and Faith to better Humanity this is represented in the Brotherhood in a Litany of Twisted ways the medieval European nightly look can be seen all throughout the characters within the midwestern Brotherhood we can apply this to another analogous historical perspective much like the expansionist ideals of certain religions at the time the midwestern Brotherhood of Steel represents the technological Crusaders seeking to spread their control through their dogma of advanced technology and the benefits it brings primarily safety to civilians this however results in a cast-like system with the Brotherhood of Steel of course on top there's civilians below them and then furthermore to their disdain tribals below them all tribals within Fallout are groups of people who have been separated from what most of us might consider civilization for so long they have developed unique languages and cultures this is consistent throughout the West coast-based Fallout entries as Fallout 2 even as you begin as a tribal and New Vegas takes you to Zion National Park in Utah where there are multiple tribal groups some ACT much like Raiders in the series others act just like any other non-hostile NPC as stated previously this Brotherhood also accepts many of the wastelands inhabitants into its ranks including goals super mutants and intelligent death claws even they are the opposite of the original Brotherhood they are open and willing to join anyone and everyone into their cause they absorb other groups not too unlike Caesar's Legion they destroy their leaders their identity and consume those willing into their ranks while killing the rest there's even an instance where the Midwest Brotherhood of Steel crucifies some people individuals of the red Stinger gang mentioned earlier understanding this faction has been pretty interesting there's limited information on them as most of it if not all can be gathered from a single game in the entry while I don't disagree with them mostly being removed from Canon despite minor references in later titles the unique power armor is perhaps the best looking in the series subjectively of course and their relative mystery to most fans of the series adds to the world of Fallout whether it's Canon or not I hope you enjoyed it and if you have anything to add please comment below I'll leave you with a few quotes from within the faction there's strength in numbers there is always another enemy foreign [Music] foreign

Channel: Vegas Ranger

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Keywords: midwestern brotherhood of steel, fallout tactics, fallout, fallout tactics lore, fallout lore, fallout tactics story, brotherhood of steel

Id: wy1c3FJHZkM

Length: 15min 48sec (948 seconds)

Published: Sun Aug 27 2023