Brotherhood War

The NCR-Brotherhood War, also referred to simply as the Brotherhood War, is a major conflict between the Brotherhood of Steel and the New California Republic taking place in New California and the Mojave Wasteland, thoroughly affecting and shifting the fragile balance of power in the surrounding region.

Background
The roots of the war lies in between the stagnation and slow decline of the Brotherhood of Steel after the death of Elder Rhombus and emergence of the New California Republic as the dominant power in New California. When confronted with an expanding and rising nation state, it resulted in the Brotherhood adopting a reactionary policy, attempting to seize any advanced pre-War technology, limiting and controlling access to such technologies, particularly that of any energy weapons, from within all of the known locations throughout the entire area where they operated within their reach. The NCR refused to accept the policy the Brotherhood attempted to impose on it, which resulted in a military confrontation. Although the NCR tolerated Brotherhood presence as late as 2241, military clashes between the NCR and the Brotherhood began and become commonplace not long thereafter. This gave way to a long and bloody war that took a considerable toll on each side.

Course of the Conflict
During the early years of the war, the Brotherhood was able to inflict heavy losses on the NCR, achieving numerous victories and successes in the opening stages of the conflict. However, despite enjoying a huge advantage in individual training and equipment, the Brotherhood was unable to match the New California Republic's manpower and ability to replace losses, and the tactical and strategic flexibility it provided. Eventually, the Brotherhood was forced into retreat and hiding. At least six chapter bunkers were wiped out by the republic, four destroyed by the Brotherhood in a last-ditch attempt to deny them to the NCR.

While hostilities continued in New California, the NCR recovered and focused its efforts on expanding eastwards, into the Mojave Wasteland and Hoover Dam. The subsequent occupation of the Hoover Dam brought the NCR into conflict with the Mojave chapter which had operated unrestricted in the region for years. After two years of guerrilla skirmishes, the NCR launched Operation: Sunburst to neutralize the chapter by way of a decisive offensive at HELIOS One. The indefensible nature of the solar power plant, inexperienced soldiers, limited manpower, and poor tactical decisions made by Elder Elijah were exploited by the NCR and its commanders. Concentrating a force that outnumbered the Brotherhood defense by a factor of between 15 and 20 to 1, the operation was a success. The Brotherhood was routed, losing significant numbers including over a half of its veteran knights and paladins. The survivors retreated eastward to Hidden Valley and enacted a strict lockdown. As they hid, the republic increased its military presence in the Mojave fivefold.

Outcome
Although hostilities continue in New California as of 2281, It is no longer considered a top priority conflict for the NCR. After years of warfare and attrition, the Brotherhood has been forced into hiding and retreated into their bunkers. Victory came at a significant cost in men and materiel, especially during bunker assaults, when platoons of troops were lost to eliminate a stronghold. In addition, veteran commanders of the Brotherhood War have been reassigned to other fronts, such as Colonel Cassandra Moore, after four tours against the Brotherhood forces, to refocus their attention and efforts on the NCR-Legion War.

Meanwhile, the Brotherhood in the West is dying out, effectively in hiding, with some of its most talented members going rogue instead of aiding the Brotherhood. The depletion of manpower has severely impacted its ability to wage war, with fallen veterans replaced by relatively inexperienced soldiers promoted out of necessity.

While the NCR has stopped actively searching for Brotherhood bunkers, they are still willing to continue their pursuit and elimination of the Brotherhood. However, despite ongoing hostilities between the factions, in the name of providing security against a common threat they are willing and open to the idea of making a local ceasefire and forming strategic alliance with the surviving chapter, so long as they are not conflicted in their shared goals and interests.

Notable battles
As part of the ongoing conflict, the Brotherhood suffered a loss at HELIOS One, forcing the Mojave Brotherhood chapter into retreat and hiding. In addition, six Brotherhood bunkers were destroyed during these conflicts, four of which were destroyed by the Brotherhood's own self-destruct systems.

Appearances
The NCR Brotherhood War is mentioned in Fallout: New Vegas.Fallout: New Vegas Official Game Guide Collector's Edition p. 43: "Brotherhood of Steel" "The Brotherhood of Steel is a militant organization devoted to the preservation of pre-war technology and human knowledge. Their professed mission is to preserve pre-war technology and human knowledge for the benefit of future generations. In practice, its definition of technology is strangely selective, ignoring basic but potentially useful technologies (genetic modification of crops and civil engineering, for example) in favor of combat technology such as energy weapons and power armor: and even now, nearly two centuries after the Great War, the Brotherhood zealously restricts the use and knowledge of such technologies to its own membership. ''The Mojave Brotherhood operated freely amid the Vegas wastes for several years, carrying out many reclamation missions without serious opposition. The balance of power shifted in 2251, when a large contingent of NCR troops entered the region and occupied Hoover Dam. Conflict was inevitable. Nearly two years of guerilla skirmishes culminated in a pitched battle at HELIOS One, a solar energy plant the Brotherhood had been refurbishing for several months with the goals of bringing it back online and activating its hidden offensive capabilities (the ARCHIMEDES II death ray). The battle for HELIOS One (Operation: Sunburst) proved a disaster for the Mojave Brotherhood. More than half its Paladins and Knights were killed. The chapter's leader, Elder Elijah, disappeared without a trace. The Brotherhood was driven from the facility, which suffered extensive damage. Survivors retreated to Hidden Valley.'' ''Since that defeat, the chapter's leader, Elder McNamara, has restricted activity outside the bunker to occasional reconnaissance missions and high-value raids. All operations take place at night, and engagement of NCR forces is strictly forbidden. Though the Brotherhood's ascetic lifestyle has prepared its members for a sequestered existence better than most, the passivity of their current situation has proved highly stressful."'' (Fallout: New Vegas Official Game Guide faction profiles)

Behind the scenes
(Josh Sawyer on forums.somethingawful.com) and the NCR's ineptitude in handling the currency crisis caused by subsequent inflation.
 * The conflict was intended to be content in the canceled Van Buren.
 * Josh Sawyer commented on the design and purpose of the war, stating that the depletion of manpower had severely impacted the Brotherhood's ability to wage war, with fallen veterans replaced by relatively inexperienced soldiers promoted out of necessity. He also mentions the concept ideas regarding the ramifications on the economy, including the NCR suffering on the economic front, with the Brotherhood attacking the gold reserves that backed the New Californian dollar Joshua Sawyer: "It happened during the BoS-NCR war. I believe Alice McLafferty mentions it, but I'm not positive. She doesn't detail the events in this much detail, but here they are: The attacks caused NCR citizens (and others who held NCR currency) to panic, resulting in a rush to reclaim the listed face value of currency from NCR's gold reserves. Inability to do this at several locations (especially near the periphery of NCR territory where reserves were normally low) caused a loss of faith in NCR's ability to back their currency. Though NCR eventually stopped the BoS attacks, they decided to protect against future problems by switching to fiat currency. While this meant that BoS could no longer attack a) reserves or b) the source of production (all NCR bills are made in the Boneyard), some people felt more uneasy about their money not having any "real" (backed) value. This loss of confidence increased with NCR inflation, an ever-looming spectre of fiat currency. Because the Hub links NCR with the Mojave Wasteland and beyond, the merchants there grew frustrated with NCR's handling of the currency crisis. They conspired to re-introduce the bottle cap as a water-backed currency that could "bridge the gap" between NCR and Legion territory. In the time leading up to the re-introduction, they did the footwork to position themselves properly. If some old-timer had a chest full of caps, they didn't care (in fact, they thought that was great, since the old-timers would enthusiastically embrace the return of the cap), but they did seek to control or destroy production facilities and truly large volumes of caps (e.g. Typhon's treasure) whenever possible."