Andale

Andale is a town in the south of the Capital Wasteland, touted by its residents as the greatest place on Earth. However, it seems that its purportedly inbred population harbors a dark secret. The town's name is a corrupted version of its pre-War name, Annandale, Virginia.

Andale is located directly south of Vault 101. The town is comprised of three intact houses on a street amidst the ruins of other homes.

Two of the host families, the Smiths and the Wilsons, seem to think it's still the pre-war era, while the third house is home to Old Man Harris, who warns you that they're stone cold killers and that you should run while you still have the chance.

Uncover the mystery
If you investigate the Smith's basement or shed behind the Wilson house you'll find them filled with dismembered bodies, and fridges full of Strange Meat. When you leave, the adults of Smith and Wilson families will confront you, and you can choose to accept their cannibalism, or condemn them, turning them hostile.

Residents

 * Bill Wilson
 * Martha Wilson
 * Jenny Wilson
 * Jack Smith
 * Linda Smith
 * Junior Smith
 * Old Man Harris - father of Linda and Martha
 * Mitchell - glitchy version of The Pitt

Speaking with the Andale residents will reveal that Bill and Jack are brothers, and that Linda and Martha are sisters. The Wilsons and Smiths expect Junior and Jenny - who are cousins - to marry when they grow up.

If you call Jack a "sick bastard" when he and the other adults confront you, he'll reveal more about the town's history. Four families survived the nuclear war and remained in Andale, but eventually took to cannibalism after their food supplies ran out. Since then, the murder and consumption of outsiders, along with inbreeding between the Andale families, have become a tradition passed down from generation to generation. Old Man Harris reveals that he grew disillusioned with the "Andale Lifestyle" after the death of his wife gave him time to reflect on all the innocent people the families have killed and butchered over the years. Perhaps as a joke from the game developers, they all vote Republican in their mock elections - since the only real life three Presidents mentioned in the Fallout Universe are Abraham Lincoln and Richard Nixon who were both Republican and George Washington who had no party affiliation. (This is actually untrue, as Thomas Jefferson is also mentioned.)

If you have the Lawbringer perk and decide to kill the Families each member will have a finger on their corpse. However, killing them does not give a Karma boost.

Like the members of The Family, the Andale residents have slightly higher than normal hit points (an apparent trait of Wasteland cannibals). However, they lack armor and shouldn't be too much of a challenge to kill.

Bugs

 * If you kill both sets of parents, leaving the kids with Mr. Harris, you can later kill Mr. Harris, and then the children will continue to live in Mr. Harris's house among his corpse and speak about him as if he were alive even with his corpse in front of them in pieces.
 * If you kill Mr. Harris, and then both sets of parents, the children will talk about how Mr. Harris told them their parents had left town, with Mr. Harris' corpse in front of them. Only Mr. Harris had died before the death of both sets of parents.
 * Some players arrived at Andale and the families were already gathered in front of the Smith house with their weapons drawn. Mr Smith confronts the player as if he/she has already been in the basement. Since the player cannot lie (pretend he wasn't in the basement) his way out of this conversation he will have to admit he was in the basement even if he was not.
 * Sometimes, if the player exits the Smith house or Wilson shed in sneak mode, the Andale families will be waiting, but the dialogue with Jack won't trigger automatically. Instead, the 4 Andale residents will simply stand in the middle of the street until the player speaks with Jack. If this happens, the player can wander a little into the wasteland and lure a group of random monsters into Andale, then watch them fight the Andale cannibals.
 * There is an exploit when you enter the Smith's house at night, and with the level 10 perk Mister Sandman, you start to murder the Smith's child. He will not die, making this an easy experience exploit glitch. This may cause game to crash,or you simply must load previous save. This may not work if you have killed the parents, as the Lone Wanderer may find that the children will be sitting in Old Man Harris' house every hour. This exploit has been patched in the Fallout 3 patch 1.1.
 * If you move the desk lamps when they are on, they will continue to shine in the same place. This leaves a triangle of illumination without a light source.
 * If you open the Refrigerator in the shed which has a bloody hand print on it, the hand print will disappear as the door opens, due to faulty decal placement.
 * When you ask Old Man Harris what he'll do after you've killed the parents, he'll state that he hopes the kids will "grow up to do some good for this place" (meaning Andale), but the text displayed says "grow up to go some good for this place"
 * If the player exits the shed and succeeds at the speech check, the residents may become stuck at their ambush positions. This does not seem to affect any future dialog.

Notable Loot

 * Grognak the Barbarian in the Smith basement, lying on the table closest to the door.
 * 80 pieces of Strange Meat
 * Several Rippers, Combat Knifes and Lawn Mower Blades can be found in the basement and the shack.
 * Nuka-Cola Quantum in an overturned truck under the highway north of Andale, towards Fairfax Ruins
 * Tales of a Junktown Jerky Vendor, in a vehicle part (bus or airplane) in a concrete ruin northeast of Andale, east of the overturned truck above. It's protected by a turret with a terminal. Sometimes the turret is destroyed during the Raiders' attack by the time you arrive (and the Raiders will attack you then).
 * Dean's Electronics east of the town in a truck on the road, south of the concrete ruins with a turret guarding it.

Appearances
Andale appears only in Fallout 3.

Trivia

 * Fallout 3 borrows names from several towns in and around the DC area. Andale likely refers to Annandale, Virginia, a suburb of Washington DC which is near Falls Church, but not in Arlington as the in game map suggests.


 * Andale, in Mexican Spanish means "come on!" and it's written Ándale. Note that the pronunciation for the Spanish word is not the same the NPCs use.


 * The town and its residents along with their actions are most likely inspired by the 1989 film "Parents," in which a disturbed young boy living in a 1950s suburbia suspects his parents of cannibalism.


 * It's very likely that James Hargrave's father, missing from Rivet City, was killed here. One of the Andale men comments to the Vault Dweller about victims' excuses, including, "Oh, not me, I have a kid in Rivet City." One of the bodies in the basement also looks somewhat like James too. (There is a Grognak the Barbarian comic book by his body, possibly a gift he was going to give to his son.)


 * It's possible that the Strange Meat Pie is a nod to Sweeney Todd: Demon Barber of Fleet Street


 * The events in the town also bear some resemblance to the film "Soylent Green".


 * If the Smiths son sees you killing his parents with a ripper he may say "can I try"


 * Bill Wilson and Dr. Bob "Smith" are the names of the co-founders of Alcoholics Anonymous.