Now that Wastelanders has paved the way for individual NPCs, it just makes logical sense for the most iconic military in the franchise to eventually wade in.
However, even since the launching of Fallout 76 there’s been mention of the Brotherhood of Steel, and there are lots of easier things to do than attempt to repcon lore for this world in particular, such as buying Caps for Fallout 76.
Bethesda has tried to justify the group’s presence in the region in years past but today it feels like they’re going to move one step farther and just put them in there. However, will the Brotherhood of Steel fit into Fallout 76? Well, based on what Bethesda has said in the past, and the lore of the franchise, we can put together a demanding deadline to work out just how the Brotherhood of Steel could be in West Virginia at a much earlier point in Fallout history.
Back to the beginning
Before becoming the Brotherhood of Steel, they were only a group of soldiers that were headed by Roger Maxson, acting as guards to the base. Interestingly, scientists in the base were tinkering with all the FEV virus, the one that makes Super Mutants.
So just how does the group even get a foothold in the region? But what West Virginia did have prior to the bombs dropping was a small camp of soldiers known as Taggerdy’s Thunder. These soldiers were only stationed in the region involving deployments, and all they needed to do all day was run war games with different soldiers in the region.
When the bombs dropped on the united states, Taggerdy’s Thunder found themselves totally isolated. They have no direction from military higher ups, so they jumped on the radio and hunted for any sort of military authority so they could find some orders, and get to work.
While on the radio, that does the team find but Roger Maxson. Now, Maxson was really reaching out for anybody in Appalachia for a motive, but we’ll circle back to this in an instant. Over the span of the radio conversations, Maxson and the pioneer of Taggerdy’s Thunder, Elizabeth Taggerdy, figure out that they really know each other. Possessing both served in the army for a while, it is not tough to understand this as plausible.
However, 1 way or another, she’s to accept what Maxson has done. Given that the military has essentially been wiped out, she doesn’t have much choice.
It is possible to encounter the camp, and relics of this group, whilst exploring and playing in Fallout 76. When they had been based here, the team started reto recruithe soldiers at the local area that were also looking for some sort of overall leadership.
This way, you can see how the Brotherhood of Steel came to be in Appalachia without really hauling their metal-clad asses all of the way across the nation.
Maxson placed a Great Deal of trust in Taggerdy, and as a result, that the Appalachian Brotherhood of Steel wewasasically autonomous from the main group. Unfortunately for the other bands in Appalachia, Taggerdy was exceptionally military fofocusednd didn’t get along with, or wish to help, another factions you locate in Fallout 76.
On the other hand, the Appalachian Brotherhood of Steel did assist in the fight against the Super Mutants, and at one point they went out exploring to gather as much old technician as you can. This became an ideology of the main group , therefore it’d make sense for this splinter group to perform the same, after they’d been given orders.
This new location is a lot bigger, and you could also find it while exploring the world of Fallout 76.
Whilst the team had the weapons to frighten off the Scorchbeasts, they recognized them as a substantial threat.From this point, the West Coast Brotherhood of Steel did everything they could to help the Appalachian group fight against the Scorchbeasts. They didn’t send troops, but they did work on ideas to get weaponry, technology that might be able to resist the Scorchbeasts, and even delivered supplies over.
But, Maxson didn’t need Taggerdy to utilize the bombs, and urged her to use anything else.
They entered the lair of the Scorchbeasts, at a mission called Operation Touchdown. The thought was to finish off all the Scorchbeasts once and for all, where they dwelt, and it worked to some degree.
Following the assignment, no fresh Scorchbeasts emerged for about one week, but then new ones started to appear. That is kind of the end of this Appalachian Brotherhood of Steel. There are other bits and pieces of lore that suggest that some may have lived after the mission, but what points to the past couple of soldiers simply dying in epic one on one conflicts with a couple of Scorchbeasts. Either that, or they left to recuperate and prepare for their big return.
Together with the Wastelanders growth, there was one Brotherhood of Steel NPC added into the match. It seems like they are in the area to be able to come across the Appalachian Brotherhood of StSteelnd do not understand anything more about them than you could find out for yourself.
There aren’t any additional information on why Maxson was attempting to get in touch with somebody in the region, or that they were, however it’s interesting he seems to have been on the lookout for something from the very beginning.
Maxson’s motivations
First, he might have been attempting to secure the nuclear silos, because that fits in with the group’s ideologies. Maxson may likewise have been trying to learn where the FEV study in Appalachia was taking place, in an attempt to formulate a plan to prevent it.
As far as Maxson understands, the team is still battling against the Scorchbeasts, and if they’ve lost, someone still wants to manage them. The group might be coming to West Virginia to try to finish the job, then find out that some Vault Dwellers actually did all their work for them.
Unlike the later leaders we see in the Brotherhood of Steel, Maxson was concerned about collecting technology so as to help and protect those who have survived the bombs falling. Given this mindset, it would make sense that he would send as many soldiers as he could to Appalachia so as to protect against an exextinction-levelvent, which the Scorchbeasts are.
So today we have all that backstory out of the way, how can the Brotherhood of Steel fit into Fallout 76?
Best theories
The most likely alternative is a recurrence of the living members of Taggerdy’s Thunder, that became the Appalachian Brotherhood of Steel. These guys might have survived the first onslaught against the Scorchbeasts, and fled the area so as to regroup.This would fit thematically because every other faction also has a quest that sees players join them. Overall, this would cause an army of Vault Dwellers becoming soldiers for the cause, that will be able to fight from the Scorchbeasts.
It is possible that a group of soldiers could trek across the country to satisfy the Scorchbeast threat in Appalachia, but I think that it’s a lot more likely that this will be a re-establishment of this Appalachian Brotherhood of Steel. Together with Wastlanders incorporating human NPCs, there are plenty of people in the region to become soldiers, so it makes a lot more sense.
