I hope nobody minds, but I decided I would try to test this myself, since I have the GECK. I created a simple interior, with no cover. I created two squads, one of the Brotherhood of Steel and one of the Enclave. I ensured that both of them would be equal level. I then gave them both Laser Rifles and Leather Armor that each had 100% health condition. The Enclave won overwhelmingly, with four of them still alive.

However I later discovered why, the Brotherhood of Steel soldiers had a Energy Weapons skill of 16, while the Enclave had the skill of 44. They had nearly equal skill in Small Arms with the BoS at 44 and the Enclave at 47. So I gave them each Assault Rifles instead of Laser Rifles. When I tested again the results were random.

In test one the Brotherhood of Steel won, with three soldiers remaining. In test two the Enclave won with three soldiers remaining. In test three the Brotherhood of Steel won, with one soldier remaining.

Interesting...

One on one, the Enclave soldier is better trained and equipped. Add as many soldiers as you want, it's still the same.

So, to make it fair you have more soldiers on the BoS team, and see who wins.

But if you just give both sides he same armor, weapons and stats, then all you have are clones with different names and it will be chance that decides who will win, not skill.

And as you saw, the Enclave's specialization is Energy Weapons. That's why they always win against the BOS. But giving them weapons that they wouldn't ever actually use makes the results you got with Assault Rifles useless. No offense of course.

There's nothing in the game that implies the Enclave is really done for. There was going to be an Enclave presence in Van Buren, albeit much smaller than F2.

By Fallout 3 standards it's a pretty pathetic brawl overall, by Fallout 2 standards, the Enclave would be absolutely unstoppable. There's nothing the capital wasteland could throw at the F2 Enclave that a single patrol couldn't vaporize within one round of combat.

Cheers for the link, I'm gonna see how it looks and feels. Quite like the idea of losing the Pip-Boy, me thinks my LW's wrist is manky by now.


The Enclave are made hard because they appear late in the game, me thinks, not because they're better soldiers compared to the BoS. It's purely for difficulty value. I'm sure if the roles were reversed and it was the BoS who arrived late and the Enclave who'd been around from day one, then the BoS would arrive as the stronger NPCs. Consider where the Enclave are coming from. For most it's probably direct from training. Not from combat. Whereas the BoS of DC have been fighting an ongoing war with Super Mutants for decades. The initiates are trained in actual combat, not in training scenarios. They'd be battle hardened and extremely savvy on any battlefield, and comfortable engaging any enemy with whatever tech in any scenario.

Take into account the sheer number of Enclave who arrive in vanilla across the Wastes, and consider how much of their tech would be taken up by savvy Wastelanders. More than most of it would into BoS hands. Wastelanders would be leaving mines for patrols, taking out commmand consoles to effectively cut them off. Groping all that fandangled shiny tech with cap Nuka symbols shining in their dust-encrusted eyes. Outcast and BoS encounters would be plentiful and even with Deathclaws unleashed the Enclave would have a hard time getting a foothold anywhere. FOFTW is probably right when he said the Enclave would just flatten the Citadel with vertibird squadrons, though.

But anyway, this isn't about canon and who has what. The OP just wanted to know which faction would win in-game if you pit them against each other. Enclave have kicked ass to the very end. They're superior across the stats, SG and EW are maxed aren't they? Compared to the BoS 70 - 80 SG, EW. S'a win for the Enclave, for the OP. But in any other circumstance, like a real conflict, I'd have the BoS down for the win. If only for having local support, and because the Wastes isn't kind to new arrivals with dodgy little command posts.

You have a point . Honestly the Enclave would win in most battles because their soldiers have higher levels. The highest leveled Brotherhood of Steel soldier I could find was a level 11, while the Enclave peak at level 17. 24 if you have the Broken Steel DLC. I had to go all the way down to level 4 to ensure both squads were on a equal level. I was merely testing if in a fight where both squads had equal weapons, armor and level who would win. Unsuprisingly it is random .

I know what has to be done....

"On the second season premiere of Deadliest Warrior, we settle a squabble between forums users to see who is deadlier, Enclave or BoS"

lol, I love that show. Viking versus Samurai made me chuckle. You know they'd have the Enclave winning though, it works like the stats on the game. Better armour and weapons = win. They haven't compared the Saxon spears to the Norman horseman, or the British Redcoat to the American Revolutionary, or American GI to a VC soldier... but me thinks the results would be wrong if you consider the circumstances/tactics/battlefields, and not just the equipment.

Eyebots are good scouts but they don't last long when a Mutant spots them, aerial recon would be their best bet but things look different when you get on the ground. Enclave seem more like strike troops, like special ops, than a regular standing army doing the grunt work every single day against enemies on terrain they've come to call home. ^_^

I read this pretty much all the way through. The Enclave is somewhat cool but, they are clearly evil. So, where is the favorism for them? I have however been helped a few times by Eyebots. Raiders, mutants, crazed wild life have been shot by a helping eyebot. But, for the most part the Enclave acts like Nazis from World War II.

This thread isn't about who is good/evil, cool or otherwise. Simply who is better in an even fight.

In an even fight I belive the BoS would pound the enclaves face in, one on one with fist. BoS have more to fight for.

You're forgetting that an Enclave soldier has professional military training.

Yes, but his post meant that the BoS can win because they know Judo, tiger-crane style and eagle claw! :toughninja:

And the BoS don't?

Brotherhood of Steel do not. They know how to pull a trigger and aim at people, not near the training of Enclave. Enclave spend years learning how to repair energy weapons, how to use them, how to aim while running, how to wear power armor, how to fight when unarmed, how to fight with combat knives. Enclave are far better trained, no contest.

I think we're all taking this a wee bit too seriously. Honestly, who gives a [censored] which imaginary faction would fare better in a real end-of-world situation? Let's get the thread back on track.

Later on I'd like to pit the Lion's Pride against a similar number of Enclave soldiers.

*light grumbling*

Well, I don't recall all that being mentioned in the game.

Don't forget to set them Seti already tried to pull a fast one on us with that one...

The BoS are descended from members of the U.S. army. They have training and maintain the secret to wearing power armor.

I honestly didn't even think about that when I said what I said.

Cool, give 'em helmets though, they don't wear them in-game so the PC knows who TF is who. Me thinks they would for a scuffle really. :twirl:

How about Lyons' Pride challenge the Sigma Squad?

Most of Lyon's BoS are wastelanders, though. Real BoS Vs Enclave would go either way. Enclave Vs Lyon's.... Eh...