Camp Forlorn Hope

Camp Forlorn Hope (sometimes shorted to "Hope") is a New California Republic Army main camp on the banks of the Colorado River south of Hoover Dam in 2281.

Background
Established in 2274, shortly after the NCR secured Hoover Dam, the camp was set up around a water source, the Forlorn Hope Spring in an effort to quickly secure the shores of the Colorado River downstream. The haste is evident in the mixture of tents, tin shacks, rubble, and sandbags that make up the Republic's primary camp in the southeastern Mojave. The camp was never overhauled due to more pressing concerns, be it Operation: Sunburst, the First Battle of Hoover Dam, or implementing General Lee Oliver's defensive strategy. Unfortunately, this neglect hamstrung the camp's ability to respond to the Legion's attacks. When Camp Searchlight fell and Legion overran NCR's fledgling outpost at Nelson, Camp Forlorn Hope suddenly found itself on the front line, incapable of effectively securing the shores of the Colorado River or dislodge Dead Sea's garrison from Nelson.

The shutdown of the I-15 and Legion raids up and down Highway 95 have strained the supply situation. Water is plentiful, but everything else is in short supply, including food, ammunition, and men. Skirmishes in the no man's land between Nelson slowly deplete the ranks of troops stationed at the camp and the armory. Morale is at an all-time low, made worse by the Legion's deliberate maiming of soldiers they fight, who are then left to die in the desert sun with booby traps strapped to them. It comes as no surprise that to most soldiers, a posting at Camp Forlorn Hope is effectively a death sentence.

The commander of the camp, Major Polatli, blames the ineptitude of the army's highest commanders for the mismanagement of the situation at Forlorn Hope. However, he doesn't plan to sit idle while a legionary comes to slit his throat. He has prepared a plan to turn the situation around, including increasing his troop numbers, restoring supply lines and getting the camp into fighting shape so that he can retake Nelson and secure the army's flank in the inevitable battle for the dam.

Layout
Established on a small mesa overlooking Lake Mohave and the Colorado River, around the aforementioned Forlorn Hope Spring, the camp is a ramshackle collection of tents, shacks, and salvaged buses. The camp is roughly divided into two halves by the freshwater creek emptying into the river below.

The northern half of the camp contains the spring itself, with the main barracks, jail, and latrines next to it. The medical center staffed by Dr. Alex Richards is located at the northern entrance and the makeshift guard post and graveyard stretching behind it. Directly next to the medical tent is a shack, with the command center overlooking the river in the southeastern corner of the camp. Major Polatli can be found here along with Tech Sergent Reyes who coordinates radio communications.

The southern half of the camp is particularly crowded. More improvised housing sits along the western edge together with a single tent, opposite the mess hall. Behind the mess hall is the storage shed with a Very Hard lock. The quartermaster's tent is across the path. The quartermaster, Carl Mayes is found here. Further south is five more tents squeezed in between the defensive wall and flanked by bunkers. Beyond that are the frontline and the desolate stretch of no man's land leading to Nelson.

Notable loot

 * Big Book of Science - On a table in the southeast corner of the command center, must be stolen.
 * Sunset Sarsaparilla star bottle cap - On the table, inside of the mess hall in front of the entrance.
 * Nine Forlorn Hope letters are found scattered around the camp.
 * Forlorn Hope mandate - On the table on the center, inside of the command center

Appearances
Camp Forlorn Hope appears only in Fallout: New Vegas.

Behind the scenes

 * Camp Forlorn Hope is named after the real world Forlorn Hope Spring in the same geographical location in Clark County, Nevada.
 * Lead area designer Charles Staples worked on Camp Forlorn Hope, conceiving the location alongside Joshua Sawyer. Staples then did most of the core design work and dialogue for the camp, which took a long time to develop.
 * A "forlorn hope" is a body of troops chosen to take the leading part in a military operation, such as an assault on a defended position or as defending a hazardous position, where the risk of casualties is high.

Bugs

 * The first time traveling to Camp Forlorn Hope, if approaching from the south, sometimes a Legion patrol will spawn inside the base, resulting in a battle between the NCR and Legion - if the Legion patrol kills any quest non-player characters during the battle, this result in failed missions. Reloading and approaching from a different direction (north or west) seems to prevent the Legion troops from spawning inside the base.
 * After accepting any mission at the Camp Forlorn Hope, whenever you're outside, everything appears in a violet haze very similar to that of Camp Searchlight's green haze.
 * Members of the 1st Recon, after arriving at Camp Forlorn Hope, may continue to speak as if they were still at Camp McCarran, fighting Fiends.
 * Soldiers killed here may (re)spawn with more than one dog tag.
 * After examining Dr. Richards' patient closest to the door of the medical center, a Powder Ganger and two Great Khan soldiers may enter the tent, attacking Dr. Richards and the player depending on reputation. They stay in the tent and no more can be seen elsewhere in the camp.
 * The rangers that spawn in the east-facing and south-facing sniper nests may be unarmed.
 * Sometimes, when you fast travel, everyone at the camp will become hostile.
 * Just west of the camp where the Courier must find the supplies during the quest Restoring Hope, the same nightkin from the one in Novac might spawn in a rock.
 * If you experience lagging from time to time during gameplay, Camp Forlorn Hope will give you the most lag while you're outside. This will sometime stop if you enter one of the buildings but will resume as soon as you exit it. Loading a previous save within the camp does nothing, nor does quitting to the game's main menu and loading the game. The only fix if you intend to stay in the camp would be to exit the game entirely and restarting it, though the lagging may resume if you enter and then exit one of the buildings.