I've never really liked Power Armor. Because of this I've never payed any mind to its Lore and function. Now, however, I'm interested and hungry for knowledge. Plus I'm doing my first RP with a Power Armored character.

So what is the extent of its power? I know in Lore that it says PA is capable of taking out entire villages but how exactly is this possible. What neat features does it possess and how was it used tactically in Pre-war times?

This helps http://fallout.wikia.com/wiki/Power_armor

Thank ya Pads.

No problem glad to help

PA is highly resistant to small-arms fire, so in my mind when people were talking of it's "power" the example was Fallout 1 era Brotherhood vs settlements like Junktown where the guards and most wastelanders only have common firearms that PA was developed to be used against. Tactically it is a replacement for traditional tanks, in my mind this is less the sense that people in PA are as strong as tanks, merely that the soldier in PA can weild weapons which are usually attached to such vehicles (Fatmen for example) but have the mobility of a person. Tanks and dense urban-combat don't go so well right? A man in PA can do the job of a tank whilst still retaining the abilities of a regular soldier.

And that's what makes Power Armor so superior.

what it eqaates to is that heavy weapons turn into "rifles" in terms of encumberance to PA equipped troops while they retain the human mobility factor while being practically immune to assault weapons and pistols. So your taling heavy machine guns rocket launchers and so forth wielded as if they where M-16's and such.

'Power' (in Power Armor) is short for 'powered'. The PAs' are essentially http://i271.photobucket.com/albums/jj125/Gizmojunk/PoweredExoskeleton.gif that avoid the wearer.

They are not so much 'worn' as they are 'occupied'; you wouldn't be able to tell this from the Bethesda PA models in their games, but you can get an accurate sense for them by watching the http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=geLiEiAiQJA.