Operation: Anchorage

Operation: Anchorage is the first downloadable content (DLC) pack for Fallout 3, and was released on January 27, 2009 for the Xbox 360 and Windows versions. The DLC costs 800 Microsoft points.

Story
In this DLC pack, the Brotherhood of Steel Outcasts are trying to acquire advanced military tools, and the only way to enter the vault containing these relics is by completing a military simulation only the player can enter. In the simulation the player fights in one of the greatest battles of the Fallout universe: the liberation of Anchorage, Alaska from invading Red Chinese troops. The simulation is set between June 2076, when the T-51b Power Armor was first introduced, and January 2077, when Chinese forces were completely driven out of Alaska.

Once the DLC is downloaded, the quest objective for Operation: Anchorage will be activated by a radio broadcast stating, "This is Defender Marill, any Outcasts listening on this frequency report to sector 7-B, Bailey's Crossroads. This is a high-priority message, backup is needed at our location. Any personnel listening on this frequency please report at once." A marker will appear on the world map but the player cannot immediately fast-travel to the location to begin the simulation. The DLC can be played at any time after the player exits Vault 101 at the beginning of the game. After completing the simulation, new equipment will be unlocked for the player to use in the rest of the game.

In the simulation, the player is stripped of any equipment and weapons and be forced to utilize the resources supplied throughout the simulation's environment. The Chinese Red Army is everywhere, and the player first has to secure the surrounding mountain side and then fight their way into the Chinese base. The player has to use a lot of their standard combat skills, along with several new tools that are only available in the DLC. These include interactive strike teams under the player's command as well as unique armor, weapons, and other exotic gadgets. Throughout the simulation various pieces of intel are also hidden, though as of yet it hasn't been discovered what collecting all of them yields (see bugs section for why this is important).

New features
New equipment:
 * Confirmed:
 * The Gauss Rifle
 * The Trench Knife
 * The Hei Gui Chinese Stealth Suit


 * Speculated:
 * The unused Army Power Armor
 * The unused Hat of the People, a unique Chinese Commando Hat

Equipment variants:
 * A winter-color variant of Combat Armor
 * A winterized set of T-51b Power Armor
 * All weapons also get a fresh look without rust or wear (seeing as how they hadn't been sitting in a wasteland for years during this time period)

New perks:
 * Covert Ops

New enemies:
 * A Chimera Tank
 * Spider mines
 * Chinese soldiers in winter garb
 * Chinese Stealth units (known as crimson dragoons)
 * No new creatures will be introduced in Operation: Anchorage.

Upon Completion of "Operation: Anchorage" you will gain access to a secure vault within the Brotherhood Outcast Outpost. Items obtainable here include:


 * Winterised T51b Power Armor DR: 45 WG: 40 VAL: 999 - Rad Res. +25
 * Winterised T51b Power Helmet DR: 10 WG: 4 VAL 120 - CHR +1, Rad Res. +8
 * Chinese Stealth Armor DR: 24 WG: 20 VAL: 358 - Sneak +15
 * Jingwei's Shock Sword DAM: 35 WG: 3 VAL: 358 - HP -2 (5s)
 * Chinese Assualt Rifle
 * Trench Knife
 * Mini Nuke
 * Plasma Mine
 * Energy Cell (120)
 * Missile Launcher
 * Missile (2)
 * Gauss Rifle DAM: 91 WG: 12 VAL: 358
 * Microfusion Cell (70)
 * Electro Charge Pack (70)
 * Flamer
 * Flamer Fuel (50)
 * Power Armor
 * Power Helmet
 * .31 Caliber Round (4)
 * Frag Mine (2)
 * Pulse Mine (2)
 * Frag Grenade (4)
 * Pulse Grenade
 * Plasma Grenade
 * Various Meds

Once you open this vault, some of the Brotherhood Outcasts are displeased that you are free to take whatever you wish from the stash. Expect to have to fight your way out.

Playing offline
While Games for Windows Live requires you to be online to in order to play Operation: Anchorage, you can find the DLC files (a main .bsa, a sounds .bsa, and an .esm) in the following folder
 * (Windows XP)
 * (Windows Vista)

If you copy them to your  folder, you will be able to play the DLC without activating Games for Windows Live.

Zones
-- Bailey's Crossroads Metro
 * There is a Nuka-Cola machine near the zone-in, and the Metro is full of [Feral Ghouls].
 * If you have a follower, they will not be able to accompany you into the zone.

Bugs
-- After reaching the Army base at the beginning of second section of the operation, it is possible to get behind the forcefield and walk freely around the open landscape. You are able to walk on almost all ground. It is also possible to complete the second section of the operation without firing your weapon by simply walking along the pipeline all the way to the Chinese HQ and activating the door from the inside. Though doing this will bypass the other mission objectives so you will not recieve the "Paving the Way" achievement, but you will recieve the other three.

-- When trying to re enter the simulation pod it will prompt you to have your neural interface suit regardless of if you have it on. Trying to sit in the chair will yield no action as pressing the use key will not allow you to sit back in it. This is either a bug or your simply not allowed to re enter the simulation which hopefully may be fixed in an update, so if you want to relive the adventure save well before you hop in.

Gallery
 Image:Fallout-3-20081210103254094.jpg|An artillery battery firing Image:Fallout-3-20081210103221985.jpg|General Chase surveying a map Image:Fallout-3-20081210103247375_(1).jpg|Technicians and a soldier in a set of T-51b Power Armor Image:Anchorage_Gauss.jpg|A soldier with a Gauss Rifle Image:Fallout-3-20081210103232438.jpg|The Trans-Alaskan Pipeline Image:Fallout-3-20081210103229031.jpg|A Chimera tank Image:Screen08B.jpg|A Chinese Stealth Suit Image:Chinese Base.jpg|The Chinese base Image:OA Vertibird.jpg|A VB-02 Vertibird Image:OA PA.jpg|Soldiers equipped with T-51b Power Armor and carrying Miniguns Image:OA General Chase.jpg|General Chase addressing the player Image:Screen07B.jpg|A soldier in winter combat gear