Brotherhood War

The  is a major conflict that has thoroughly affected the Core Region and its balance of power.

Background
Disagreements over the way pre-War technology should be handled in the wastes between the Brotherhood (proponents of them controlling and limiting access to it) and the New California Republic (who believe in freely distributing and using it) have led to conflict between the two factions. The war began sometime after 2242 and by 2281, at least in the Californian theater, it's far from over.

The Brotherhood enjoyed a considerable advantage during the early years of the war, as their advanced technology and high standards of training allowed them to inflict tremendous losses on the NCR's military. However, the NCR had a far larger pool of manpower from which to draw troops, while the Brotherhood remained a selective organization, allowing the NCR to easily replace it's losses while the Brotherhood became desperate. The Brotherhood fought fiercely, but in the end the NCR's numbers prevailed, and the Brotherhood forces were overwhelmed, forcing them into hiding. Having lost the surface, the Brotherhood prepared themselves to fight to the death as the NCR began to invade their bunkers. The outcome of the war is best illustrated by the Mojave Chapter of the Brotherhood of Steel. After taking heavy losses in the Battle of Helios One, they retreated to Hidden Valley and have remained in exile. The NCR success at Helios One is credited to their superior numbers (a 20:1 ratio), and the difficulty of defending the location.

Chronology
By 2231, Jeremy Maxson had assumed the position of Brotherhood High Elder. In addition to wanting to expand Brotherhood operations eastward, he was much more aggressive in his "hoarding" of pre-War technology. He wanted to restore the power of the Brotherhood by wresting all advanced tech from the hands of "lesser people" by any means necessary. Naturally, this led to disputes with the NCR, which had always been in favor of using advanced technology for the benefit of society (at least according to Thomas Moore, an NCR citizen, which is what he saw as the NCR's justification for trying to annex Vault City). Sometime after the destruction of the Enclave in 2242, a war broke out between the Brotherhood and the NCR. The exact year is unknown.

With their superior technology and training, the Brotherhood managed to hold out against the NCR, even coming close to total victory. However, it quickly turned into a pyrrhic victory for the Brotherhood as yet, their technological advantage was eventually outdone by the sheer size of the NCR's army; no matter how many troops the NCR lost, they always seemed to have more. The Brotherhood, on the other hand, were still a selective group, and thus, were short on replacements. With this discrepancy in troop numbers, the Brotherhood's defeat was inevitable. The length of the war is unknown, although Cassandra Moore was said to have served 'four tours against the Brotherhood', so it is likely that the conflict lasted for several years.

The Mojave chapter of the Brotherhood of Steel would still be fighting the NCR as late as 2274. After establishing a base at Helios One, the Mojave Brotherhood soon found themselves at odds with the NCR and its growing power in the region. Eventually, the NCR sought to control Helios One, and the Brotherhood, under the orders of their Elder, Elijah, refused to leave. This led to a confrontation between the two, and in the typical chain of events, the Brotherhood's superior technology was no match for the NCR's superior numbers.

Aftermath
Defeated in one of the bloodiest battles in the Brotherhood's history, in which over half of the chapter was killed, the Brotherhood retreated to the Hidden Valley bunker, where Nolan McNamara (in light of Elijah's disappearance following the battle) took the role of Elder upon himself, and placed the bunker under lock-down, stranding Brotherhood stragglers and ceasing contact with the outside world. Since then the Brotherhood's presence in the Mojave Wasteland has been confined to only a few scouting missions.

Elijah set up an outpost at an abandoned Brotherhood of Steel bunker, and later set off to the Big Empty in search of technology to eradicate the NCR, although he soon became more focused on other pursuits, such as the secrets of the Sierra Madre. The NCR held the power plant, but were unable to get it up and running. Its lack of a proper power output later made it a low-priority target for Caesar's Legion

By 2281 the war is a stalemate because of Brotherhood's cessation of attacks and withdrawal to their hidden bunker. The Courier must eradicate the chapter if pursuing the House or Legion storylines and has a choice between eradication or negotiation of a truce between NCR and Brotherhood during the Wild Card and NCR storylines.