I've been writing a Fallout short story based on the Outcasts on and off for my own amusemant, and something occurred to me; are we ever given a concrete number (in FO1, FO2, Tactics, FO3, FONV, Bible, anything) as to how big the Brotherhood of Steel is? I want to make sure I keep the size of the DC Outcasts accurate and believable, but there doesn't really seem to be a hard baseline for this.

Is this something that I'll simply have to use my own judgement for, or have hard numbers been laid down at some point?

Well, Back West, I'd say in the high hundreds to low one thousands, seeing as ther BoS is on the Decline. As to Lyons chapter, I'd say somewhere in the high hundreds, seeing as they conscript locals. and as to the Outcasts, I'd say make it roughly one hundred and fifty spread around the Capital Wasteland, maybe less. Because the groups that left were hardliners and all of them are likely to be 'original' BoS men from California.

Sounds about right to me, that's roughly what I figured the numbers to be, seeing as Western BoS seem to have taken very high casualties in their fight against the NCR, and Lyons BoS sustained heavy losses even as they were recruiting.

In the west their numbers, at best, would be only a few thousand men. Lyons' chapter seems to have several hundreds.

Fallout 3 tells us Lyons went to DC with a contingent of BoS. So maybe a couple hundred. The Outcast took off one night with alot of Lyon's tech and supplies and judging by the amount of them I would say at least a 3rd of the Original BoS that came with Lyons are now the Outcast. Lyons lets in outsiders but mosly small children from the people they killed, like the kids taken from The Pitt. I don't think they let in any Tom, dike and Harry off the street in. They don't let us in.

Western BoS have been around since 2077, long before NCR. Their search for Tech took them all over California. They have chapters, one is in the Mojave. That Chapter alone has a couple hundred. Fallout 2 we saw they had a bunker in the Den and one in San Francisco. Fallout Bible says they have a State within NCR around Lost Hills. Brotherhood used to trade with outsiders in Fallout for supplies and water.

Midwestern Bos were those inside the Brotherhood that wanted new blood, to let in outsiders. The Elders debated the issue alot. Never coming to an agreement, but they did come up with a special mission for the ones wanting new blood. They built air ships even though they knew there was a great chance they would run into a storm :shifty: They sent them East over the Rockies to follow the Remnants of the Master's Armies. The Ships did run into a storm and they crashed outside of Chicago. What was left set up a base and started trading tech to the locals and started training them. As they moved West they gained even greater numbers and started letting ghouls join. Soon they ran into the Mutant Armies. They fought them, won and let super mutants join. Then they came across Robots. They fought them and won and took control of the Calculator. Note: Only the Elite Units of the MWBoS get power armour and the best weapons.

Fallout 3 tells us they have fallen on hard times since the events of Tactics 79 years before the Events of Fallout 3.

"While checking out his repaired Armor" Much better, much much better. Anyways, I was never made privy to the amount of chapters, Besides our main Chapter at Lost Hills. I do not know the status of any of the chapters out west really, even Broken Hills to my Regret. While out east, I know with the conscription efforts in effect, the numbers are constant, and though there are casualties, they are being trained well enough to try to deal with the Mutant onslaught, while the Outcasts, while i have no problem with them myself, are still trying to get out west, but with the discovery of where the Mutants are coming from, and the search for tech to take with them, i their complaints are not as bad as they have been before, though i could be wrong.

Anyway, that is all i know off hand from all the reports i have seen so far. If i learn anything else, i will let you know unless it is a secret i cannot tell, even we have those still.

(I got to agree with the counts above, that out west, the counts of the Bos is at best, maybe a couple thousand, even with Broken Hills. As for out east, even with the outcasts, at best it is a few hundred, no more than four to five hundred.)