I just thought it was weird how the minutemen seem to be the only pure "good guys." I mean you got the psychotic institute that if they don't use you in an experiment they kill you. Then the brotherhood, scientific oppression. We all know how well that went during the crusades. And the railroad who on the surface their intentions seem noble but the way they execute it is no different than the brotherhood in the long run. Not to mention, well, "freeing" synths seems pretty insignificant compared to all the other issues. What Do you all think of the factions in their stand.

I notice that as well. BOS going the Golden Throne route in Wahammer 40k in this one. I wish they brought the BOS from FO3.

Heck no. I'm glad we finally got the Old School [censored] Brotherhood of Steel from Fallout 1 and 2 back.

I enjoy the fact that Bethesda took the time to make all the factions dirty at their core if you dig deep enough. There are no good guys. Even the Minutemen were corrupt and selfish. The only reason they are the good guys is you are leading them, and the rest of them are all dead.

Honestly I wouldn't compare Maxson's BoS with FO1 or 2 BoS, his chapter is more of akin to Mid-western BoS in that he is building a nation and recruiting outsiders based on a sponsorship program. There are many references to make a point that Maxson's BoS is not xenophobic isolationists but a chapter that is building a country, a ordenstaat much like the Teutonic Knights did.

Oh, they are definitely not the same. But they are a far cry from the lovey-dovey Fallout 3 BOS.

Every group has their pros and cons. Some more than others. Maxson's only flaw is that he's young and with that youth and badassery too sure of himself and is unwilling to compromise. Desdemona believes so much in her cause that it blinds her. Shaun is so out of touch that he doesn't realize that he's falling off the slippery slope. And the Minutemen are nothing without you, the Man/Woman Out of Time, and as soon as you're gone is susceptible to the same corruption that destroyed them the first time.

It's awesome.

The Minutemen are probably the least "evil" morally speaking. But that's only from an organizational standpoint, because they aren't so much a faction with an ideology as they are an ad-hoc loosely organized volunteer militia. Individual minutemen, or even groups of them, are quite capable of doing 'evil' things. Such as is proved in Quincy and Libertalia.

The downsides of the Minutemen aren't really 'moral' though, its more logistics. The Minutemen are under-equipped local volunteers. Farmers who've probably never done an honest days military training their life.

They don't have much of a military organization to speak of. The General is basically just a figure-head. Someone they don't have to listen to and only nominally agree is 'in-charge' of this loose collection of independent fighters. They actually can, and will, blatantly disobey your orders (as in the case of T.S. Wallace).

So they lose points for that. You, as a player, have make the choice of whether or not the "goodness" of the Minutemen is worth them being far less equipped and disciplined than say The Brotherhood or The Institute. There's also no guarantee something like Quincy won't happen again. And just like that, they'd be right back where they started.

Personally I wish there more diversity thinking in BOS then religious worship of Maxson. Also, I dislike the way Bethesda killed off Sarah Lyon.

I would say there probably is. Its just that Maxson chose only to bring those who are loyal to him with him when he went to the Commonwealth.

I'm not so sure I would call the Minutemen under equipped. Certainly they lack the power armor and vertibirds of the Brotherhood and the robot armies of the Institute, but look at what they do have. Many of them are armed with laser muskets. A well kitted out and fully charged laser musket packs quite a punch. Their rate of fire might not be as high as other weapons, but with precision they might not need it. I have seen such equipped Minutemen waste raiders. On top of that they have artillery. If they place their heavy mortar batteries well, they can rain destruction down on anything that opposes them.


So they may not be a match for some of the other factions, but they are more than ready for raiders and the like.

Yeah. Remember, the Prydwen is the FLAG ship, transporting the glorious leader into hostile territory. The crew was probably hand-picked.

Relatively speaking I mean. Certainly they tend have better weapons than alot of raiders and such, but The Brotherhood and Institute dwarf them when it comes to sheer military might. The Institute can throw hordes of expendable synths at an enemy, while the Brotherhood has its heavily-armored shock troops.

Even the Railroad seems to be better equipped. With Railroad Heavies and ballistic weave and the like.

That's more or less what I meant.

Edit: Granted they do have artillery, but really that's pretty minor in comparison with say, aerial combat support ala Brotherhood.

The Minuteman organization had become rotten to its core, willing to sacrifice each other and innocent civilians simply out of spite. They are now good because Preston basically commands his 'General' to be good. The SS has little say in the matter, which is why I find it difficult to enjoy this faction, even though I want to.

Which is why I find myself constantly gravitating back to the BOS, even though I am not a big Power Armor fan. At least with BOS, I have at least some influence, and can take some of the harsh edge off of them. Which, with my promotions, portends greater influence over them later.

I just wish all the factions had more choices in how to resolve conflicts with each other, besides total destruction.

I've always been a minutemen kind of guy.But if we are to believe that whoever takes down the institute gains control over the commonwealth,than I prefer the BoS ending.I'm not a huge fan of their methods.Killing the railroad is something i don't enjoy doing.I mean the only member I can stand in their group is Deacon,but still.When you complete the game with the minutemen you either end up destroying the BoS in the region or in an awkward situation.A fully armed warblimp was mobilized to the commonwealth with the objective of taking out the Institute.Instead a bunch of farmers with laser muskets steals their prize from under their nose.It just feels like something bad is bound to happen in the future.An incident or something.When you talk with BoS members they sound kind of pissed of.

When you complete the game with the BoS you don't sense hard feelings from the minutemen.The Minutemen can continue doing their thing without interfering with the BoS """""occupation""""".

It feels like leaving the responsibility of all the commonwealth in the hands of the minutemen is a great risk.

I don't know.Really.

Bravo Bethesda.

Bravo.

EDIT:Using the "Internatinalized" meaning of bravo feels kind of wierd being Italian lol

Also.The Commonwealth? "This ain't no place for no hero".

The wasteland is the kind of place where heroes end up in a ditch when they try to impose their Good Karma on the region.

That's where the artillery comes in. None of the other groups really have an equivalent to it. It really gives them the ability to turn any are into a meat grinder.

Since you're the only active minuteman, they're whatever you are. If you decide on shooting each and every settler to make use of their workshop, then that's the minutemen. If you decide to help with the millionst kidnapping - that's the minutemen.

I'd say the Brotherhood's Vertiberds and the Institutes teleportation would be more advantageous than artillery.

I really feel the minutemen were not meant to be a main questline. They only felt like they were the player going around gathering up settlements. After all, the MM 'general' position is mostly an empty position when the 'army' you command consists of farmers who would do just as well being minutemen defending their own settlements/farms as any other one.

They really aren't. The Minutemen are intrinsically tied to the settlement system. According to Todd, settlements are entirely optional (settlements, not building). That makes the Minutemen also optional and not a core part of the game. You can completely ignore them and they will never be a thing.

I'd say the FO4 Brotherhood is closer to http://stalker.wikia.com/wiki/Duty from S.T.A.L.K.E.R. than they are FO2/NV's BOS.


Seriously, the parallels are extremely uncanny.

1. The Brotherhood is hording or destroying technology to keep it away from civilians and opportunists who would misuse it. Duty dedicates itself to hoarding dangerous artifacts (and handing them over to the ecologists... scribes in the BOS equivlent) and confiscating important documents. It seeks to destroy or contain the Zone for the benefit of all mankind because it is dangerous.


2. The Brotherhood is on an anti-mutant, anti-raider crusade. Duty... is also on an anti-mutant, anti-bandit crusade for roughly the same reasons (though with them there's really no such thing as a "good mutant".)


3. Both got started by military deserters and are basically a paramilitary outfit. But what make's FO4's version interesting is that both actively recruit from wastelanders/stalkers.


4. Both are fighting a very technologically advanced foe that uses what are essentially automatons (Synths in the BOS's case, Monolith cult in Duty's)


5. Both love to ride around in heavy powered armor (Exoskeleton in Duty's case)


6. Other than above enemies, both have a team of anarchists as a foe (Railroad in BOS's case, Freedom in Duty's)


7. Both have black and red as their primary colors.

I get the feeling that if the BOS and Duty were ever to meet, they'd be best buds.



This is utterly ironic, since Duty is partially based off of the BOS.

This is why I wish you could make the Minutemen into a personal army. Get them to volunteer and once done they're your soldiers and the settlements are yours. It's essentially the building block for creating a unified country. Way I see it the Minutemen are just a means to take power in the Commonwealth and to set yourself up as a leader.

I like the Minutemen and I do find them to be the "good guys"

They are not driven by ideals that put people in harms way.

BoS want to destroy everything.

The RR destroys the BoS and the Institute.

The Institute... well my play through was peaceful. I was not asked to kill anyone until it came down to the wire. Them or the RR and after what the RR, this unknown secret group did to the BoS... well I chose to keep the Institute alive.

I even managed to bring peace to the MM and the Institute which I thought was a nice way to wrap things up.

You can bet that as soon as the GECK is released, a "Minutemen Commander" mod will be released, similar to Enclave commander mod from FO3. We should be able to have squads of MM solders with us as the general. Hopefully we can get a proper way of calling in artillery strikes instead f using the stupid smoke grenades.


I'm Minutemen all the way in my current (and only) play through. A loosely linked confederation of settlements with a common militia is how I'd like to see the commonwealth turn out until a stronger, local government can be established.


I just wish that I had more control over my forces as the general. It would make it feel less like I'm the only Minutemen. Mods will surely correct this soon enough.

oh man I want a Brotherhood Commander mod so bad.

Ad Victoriam, motherlickers.

I hope the minuteman ending becomes cannon