Minefield

Minefield is an abandoned settlement filled with, as the name suggests, frag mines. Travelers approaching the area must avoid the mines as well as rifle fire from a sniper named Arkansas, who will not only shoot at intruders but will also attempt to detonate nearby cars with a well-placed shot to the engine.

Background
Ridgefield was a settlement full of military survivors who found the hill nestled settlement about 100 years after the bombs fell. One day the slavers of Paradise Falls came to the town hidden in the hills, gunned down anyone who stood in their way, and enslaved the rest of the inhabitants. Arkansas was a boy when they came and was able to evade the slavers. When Arkansas grew up he spread rumors that the town had inhabitants in it once more. So the slavers arrived once again and were killed by Arkansas' traps as revenge. Since then, Arkansas has remained the town's protector, shooting or blowing up any intruders.

Common belief in the Capital Wasteland is that this settlement is haunted, presumably because of the sniper firing on anyone who tries to enter the village.

Layout
Minefield consists of half a dozen houses built around a curving road, with a playground in the middle between the road. Mines are situated on the road, so be careful. Also, the sniper Arkansas is situated in a destroyed house roof overlooking the road.

Minefield homes
The settlement has four explorable houses: Benson house, Gibson house, Gillian house, and Zane house, all of which contain valuable loot, including pre-War books, medical supplies and an R91 assault rifle. The interiors follow the same basic plan as houses in Tranquility Lane and Higgs village in Old World Blues.

Each home contains an easy-locked safe. In the Benson and Gibson houses, the safes are behind an upstairs dresser and contain pre-War money, ammunition, and (occasionally) a Stealth Boy. In the Gillian house, the safe is upstairs under the double bed, while in the Zane house, it is behind the dresser in the ground-floor office. All houses contain at least one pre-War book and one skill book.

Notable loot

 * There are four skill books and nine pre-War books in Minefield:
 * Zane house (average locked): A Pugilism Illustrated can be found in the children's room on a teddy bear's lap. A pre-War book is located in the front room.
 * Gillian house (average locked): Two pre-War books are in the front room, one on the bookshelf and the other on a table. A Grognak the Barbarian can be found on the child's bed upstairs.
 * Gibson house (very easy locked): A copy of Tumblers Today is on a desk, and four pre-War books can be found—one in the front room, one in the children's room on the bookcase, one in the master bedroom's bathtub and the bedside table.
 * Benson house (hard locked): A pre-War book is on top of a ground floor bookcase, while a D.C. Journal of Internal Medicine and a pre-War book is located in the upstairs master bedroom.
 * At least 56 active frag mines can be found scattered around the town.

Related quests

 * Wasteland Survival Guide
 * Strictly Business

Appearances
Minefield appears only in Fallout 3.

Behind the scenes

 * The names of the houses in Minefield are references to the Hideo Kojima game "Snatcher". In the Capitol Post building in L'Enfant Plaza, a decapitated body sitting with its head between its legs can be found, with a note on it that says "SEARCH THE HOUSE". This is identical to a scene in "Snatcher". The house in the game also had a miniature house model. "Gibson" refers to Jean Jack Gibson, the character from Snatcher. The "Gillian's House" refers to "Gillian Seed", the protagonist of Snatcher. "Benson" is the name of two characters from the game as well (either Benson Cunningham- the chief or Harry Benson- the engineer). The name of the last house, Zane, is however not used in "Snatcher".

Gallery
Минное поле Minefield Minefield Minefield