Operation: Anchorage



Operation: Anchorage is the first add-on for Fallout 3 which was released on January 27, 2009 for Xbox 360 and Windows. It is expected to be released for PlayStation 3 sometime in July, 2009, after it was pushed back from late June.

The add-on costs 800 Microsoft points. It has also been released as part of a retail 'add-on pack' allowing the DLC to be purchased without using Microsoft's LIVE service. The retail disk costs $19.99 (£15.99 in the UK) and includes The Pitt.

Story


In this add-on, 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 virtual reality simulation. 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 add-on is downloaded, the quest objective for Operation: Anchorage will be activated by a radio broadcast stating, "This is Defender Morrill, 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 add-on 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 (excluding quest items) and 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 add-on. 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 that yield the Covert Ops perk when all are collected.

Accessible outside the simulation

 * Gauss Rifle
 * Trench Knife
 * Chinese Stealth Armor
 * Winterized T-51b Power Armor
 * Jingwei's Shock Sword
 * Neural Interface Suit
 * Outcast Specialist Robe

Simulation-only items
Items which do not appear outside the simulation without the use of glitches or console commands:
 * Winterized Combat Armor(Accessible outside simulation by use of bug)
 * Winterized Combat Helmet(Accessible outside simulation by use of bug)
 * General Chase's Uniform (worn by General Constantine Chase)
 * General Jingwei's Uniform (worn by General Jingwei)
 * Army Mechanic Jumpsuit
 * Winterized Chinese Jumpsuit
 * Winterized Chinese Commando Hat

New allied NPCs

 * Benjamin Montgomery
 * General Constantine Chase
 * Lieutenant Morgan
 * Doctor Adami
 * Quartermaster
 * Strike Team
 * American Soldiers
 * American Snipers
 * American Inferno Units
 * American Launchers
 * American T51-B Units
 * American Power Armored Soldiers
 * American Grease Monkeys
 * American War Correspondent

New enemies

 * Chimera Tanks
 * Spider Drones
 * Chinese Soldiers
 * Chinese Inferno Units
 * Chinese Launchers
 * Chinese Snipers
 * Chinese Technicians
 * Crimson Dragoons
 * General Jingwei
 * Guard Dog

New areas

 * Bailey's Crossroads Metro
 * Bailey's Crossroads
 * Outcast Outpost
 * Contains the Anchorage Reclamation simulation.
 * If you have a follower, they will not be able to accompany you into the zone.

Trivia

 * The quest title "The Guns of Anchorage" is probably cribbed from thriller author Alistair MacLean's The Guns of Navarone, where a small, elite group of Allied commandos are tasked with destroying a series of Nazi gun emplacements.
 * The Trans-Alaska Pipeline System actually doesn't end at Anchorage but at Valdez, Alaska. The map shown by General Chase when he is giving out missions, the topography confirms you are located near Valdez, which is east of Anchorage.