Combat armor

Combat Armor is among the best forms of protection in the post-War Wasteland. Although extremely expensive, the protection value of this armor and its variants is surpassed only by the few incarnations of power armor.

Construction
Combat armor was designed to sheath the human body as completely as possible in high durability armor. The primary skin of combat armor is composed of complex polymers and ceramics. This hard armor was manufactured as specific plates. The plates were manufactured with a matte-finish olive drab coloring suitable for woodland camouflage. These plates are affixed to a flexible body suit interwoven with thermal-dissipative membranes and bulletproof material.

The torso is covered by the primary armor assembly, including a split breastplate, pauldrons, gorget, and abdominal ring. The sleeves of the body suit are full sleeves, and include armor plate protection for the upper and lower arms, as well as gloves. The lower body is protected by woven trousers and incorporate no hard armor, save armored boots. In the interests of comfort and maneuverability, the armor encasing the foot and lower leg is articulated, not sealed. While this permits longer wear times and more comfortable and sure footing, it compromises the armor integrity. Consequently, water and other liquids can enter the armor and affect the user.

A helmet completes the ensemble. In most pre-War variants, the helmet is a ballistic assembly, designed to protect the wearer from projectile and energy weapon impacts, bladed weapons, blunt trauma, and concussion. An integrated polarized visor protects the user's eyes from the ordinary battlefield hazards of grit and dust, but also laser blindness and fragments. Helmets also incorporate a combination camera/laser rangefinder unit built into the helmet's right side, just above the ear. Those suits of combat armor surviving in the wasteland still have the housing for that equipment, but no suit has been documented as having working hardware. After the Great War, simpler helmets without the additional equipment are also common. It was common to see the US Army with this armor in many places. In Alaska, the US Army could be seen with winterized combat armor.

The combination armor layers of a suit of adequately-maintained combat armor conferred to the wearer significant protection against most types of damage, including laser, plasma, and blast damage - uncommon for personal armor. Yet, it did so without the extreme weight inherent in most battle armor systems of the 20th and 21st centuries. Combat armor provided outstanding protection at comparatively low weight but high comfort levels.

Variants
Aside from the basic version, there are several variants of the Combat Armor.

The first is the Mark II variant of the Combat Armor. Combat Armor Mark II is slightly more durable than standard combat armor, providing modestly greater protection against all forms of damage. It is distinguishable from standard Combat Armor by the bronze tone of the gorget. Another version, the Winter Combat Armor, was used by the United States during the Anchorage Reclamation campaign in Alaska.

The Brotherhood of Steel has also developed their own improvement on Combat Armor. Called, creatively, Brotherhood Armor, this version boasts significantly improved defensive ratings in all forms of damage. However, this armor did not see widespread use as its holdings were zealously restricted to the ranks of the Brotherhood and those who had been of unique assistance to the Brotherhood. Its distinguishing marks includes pale green/grey coloring of the armor panels, blue trim on the chest armor panels, a brilliant silver gorget and under-armor breastplate, and pronounced riveting on the pauldrons.

Private organizations, such as Talon Company and Reilly's Rangers from the Capital Wasteland, also have their own variants, Talon Combat Armor and Ranger Battle Armor, as well as public groups such as the Rivet City Security and the Tenpenny Tower Security (the Rivet City Security Uniform and the Tenpenny Security Uniform).

Pre-War users
Prior to the War, Combat Armor was nearly exclusively the property of military forces and police special units. Currently-available historical documentation shows users only in the North American continent, but allied nations were likely to posses identical or similar systems. Combat Armor was the de facto armor of the United States military, issued to all combat soldiers not in the Powered Armor units. Additionally, at least one Canadian partisan was caught on camera wearing a suit of combat armor.

Civilian ownership of Combat Armor was highly restricted. A special permit was required from the BADTFL for private ownership of advanced armors, including Combat Armor.

Considered to be the premier military body armor of wide availability at the time of the War, Combat Armor was nevertheless on its way to obsolescence thanks to the advent of the T-51b version of Power Armor.

According to the cancelled Fallout d20, the Combat Armor was developed in 2051 and a commercial version was available.

Post-War users
As with all commodities, rarity confers cost. The relatively scarce nature of Combat Armor makes it a valuable item in the Wasteland. Consequently, only those who are either very wealthy, very well-connected, very lucky, or very skilled own Combat Armor, and even for those persons finding a suit can be a task.

Around the time of the Vault Dweller, Combat Armor was extremely rare. The Gun Runners of Adytum owned and wore several sets, and a few merchants had a suit available for sale at extremely high costs. The armor was also used by the Hub police. By the time of the events surrounding the Chosen One, more suits of Combat Armor had been discovered, bringing the selling price down somewhat, but locating a set of the armor was still difficult. Shops in San Francisco often had a set or two in stock, but usually for $12,000 or more.

You are also able to get Phoenix Armor Implants and Dermal Impact Armor with the information received from a computer in the Medical area on the first floor of the vault in Vault City. Though both are quite expensive they do offer you 5% resistance in particular damage areas and do not drop your Charisma by 1 like their enhancement versions.

Fallout and Fallout 2
Fallout:
 * According to Fallout manual:
 * Combat Armor was standard police officers' and military troops' equipment,
 * BADTFL offices were responsible for issuing for general public a special permits for Combat Armors use,
 * Combat Armor was probably a part of standard Vault defensive equipment.
 * According to introduction movie a Canadian combatant executed by a US soldier was equipped with Combat Armor.
 * Wearable character armor.
 * Certain NPCs including some Gun Runners and possibly Blades armed by Gun Runners.
 * Brotherhood Armor was standard initiates' and knights' equipment.

Fallout 2:
 * Wearable character armor.
 * Vault City patrols - Combat Armor was probably a part of standard Vault defensive equipment (one suit possible to find in Vault 13).
 * New California Rangers - patrols and members present at Shady Sands HQ.
 * External gate guard at Shady Sands, NCR.
 * Mercenary raiders captains hired by John Bishop as well as some neo-Khan raiders, probably Darion's bodyguards, encountered on the third level of Vault 15 (one suit possible to find there).
 * Lower-level/lower hp light Enclave soldiers at Navarro.
 * Private Dobbs criogenized at Sierra Army Depot as well as other SAD personnel (3 suits possible to find there).
 * Special-encounter NPCs, eg. "raiders in a cave random encounters" and bounty hunters on certain experience level.
 * Possible to purchase at San Francisco.
 * Hubologist guards at the San Francisco facility all wear Combat Armor, although, curiously, field patrols wear common robes.
 * One suit of Combat Armor Mk II was possible to find at military "Toxic Caves" depot, one suit of Brotherhood Armor was stored at Brotherhood of Steel outpost in San Francisco.

Fallout 3
Combat Armor has the fourth highest DR for non-power armors, only lower than Ranger Battle Armor, Lag-Bolt's Combat Armor(only available with Broken Steel), and Metal Armor. It is fairly useful for early to mid-level characters, as it can probably be acquired before the Ranger Armor, and doesn't have the penalty to Agility that Metal Armor has.

The armor can be repaired with and used to repair all other combat armor variants, likewise the helmet can be used to patch up other combat helmets and be repaired with them.

Appearance
Though apparently intended to be the same combat armor used by characters from earlier Fallout games, all the Combat Armor available in the Capital Wasteland is short-sleeved, having only the shoulder pads and chestplates covering the torso, as well as the forearm guards. The Combat Helmet's shaded visor is also absent. Why this is so for armor in the northeast coast is unknown. Perhaps it was a cosmetic decision, to justify the removal of the left forearm of ALL armors when viewed on the player model. The Winterized Combat Armor variant used in the DLC looks the most like Combat Armor present in earlier Fallout titles, except for the snow-appropriate camouflage pattern and face-covering balaclava.

The helmet is olive drab colored and its shape resembles the current day PASGT kevlar helmets. The picture shown in the Pip-Boy is also very similar to the German Stahlhelm. Unlike its predecessor from Fallout and Fallout 2, the helmet does not have the glass cover over the eyes, although it can be worn with normal eyewear like eyeglasses.

Locations

 * Two Combat Armors can be found in the National Guard Depot Armory
 * Can be bought from Crow
 * A suit can be found in a locker near the entrance of Vault 108 along with a Combat Helmet
 * Can be bought from Seagrave Holmes

Van Buren
It was planned for Van Buren (the cancelled Fallout 3 by Black Isle Studios), that:
 * Combat Armor would be classified in the advanced armors category and would be possible to batch by the Prisoner,
 * The Enclave background character Arcade Grannon, as well as the lost Enclave patrol leader encountered in the Utah area, would be equipped with the Enclave Combat Armors,
 * General Coleridge's renegade NCR soldiers as well as NCR soldiers present in Hoover Dam would be equipped with Combat Armors.

Fallout Tactics 2
Prior to the project's cancellation, Combat Armor was to be a wearable character armor option (it was absent from Fallout Tactics).

Armor lists
Pancerz bojowy