The Best and Worst Military Factions in the ‘Fallout’ Universe

Surprised by how popular “Fallout” suddenly is? The classic video-game franchise is now an Amazon Prime TV show, a comic-book series and an inspiration for toy lines. A recent main title in the series just got a big update, and Bethesda Softworks says that there are more than 5 million new and recently returning players in the games now.

But for new players and viewers, it may be hard to suss out what’s going on with the many, many factions in the nuclear wasteland that used to be America.

Some of the most important and longest-lasting factions in the series are either unsurprisingly great or surprisingly horrible on the battlefields of the “Fallout” universe, as well as in the actual gameplay. Here are some picks for the best and worst military factions in “Fallout.”

Brotherhood of Steel

The Brotherhood of Steel is, at least on paper, one of the best-organized and most effective fighting forces in the Wasteland. Formed by secessionists just before the Great War, the Brotherhood of Steel deliberately created its own mythology to hold people together. The mythology endured, holding the organization together for more than two centuries and counting.

Knights and Scribes of the Brotherhood have the only true combined arms force, with knights wearing power armor backed up by squires and scribes with small arms while vertibirds ferry them into and out of combat and provide close-air support. (This can be insanely fun. Combat just hits differently with two vertibirds supporting you with miniguns.) The Brotherhood even has a massive airship, the Prydwen.

But for all their awesome logistics, lineage and varied units, many knights get too reliant on their armor and are slow to take cover, even when facing anti-armor weapons. While Paladin Danse -- the character in “Fallout 4” that most players will spend the most time with -- is great in a fight, he rarely maneuvers all that effectively.

Review: Fantastic according to the lore, but often unimpressive in actual gameplay.

New California Republic

The most significant military force of the New California Republic is the NCR Rangers, a group that started independently as anti-slavery fighters and grew over decades to become skilled commandos in charge of protecting the borders of the republic. These light troops work with local forces where possible, can be spies and saboteurs when necessary, and are known for always getting the job done. They typically fight with light armor and firearms, including assault rifles and pistols as well as mini-guns and antimaterial rifles.

The Rangers are easily one of the greatest light infantry units in the “Fallout” universe, but they need serious tricks to survive when heavily outnumbered or outgunned. During the First Battle of the Hoover Dam, Rangers lured a massive Legion force into Boulder City and demolished the entire town to kill them.

An important caveat: The NCR struggled in the years after “Fallout: New Vegas.” By the time of the “Fallout” TV show, the NCR appears to barely be a shadow of itself, and the only sign of the Rangers is a potential veteran wearing Ranger armor and carrying a shovel.

Review: Impressive in the universe lore, and they perform about as well in the games as they are described in lore and in the TV show. But their success in the first few “Fallout” games led to them being a prime target for rivals, and (spoiler) its capital suffered a nuclear strike, crippling the faction despite battlefield successes.

The Enclave

The Deep State in the Fallout universe formed a shadow organization known as the Enclave to take over during a nuclear apocalypse ... and then it attempted to trigger that apocalypse.

(Who triggered the apocalypse is an oft-discussed topic in “Fallout.” China, the Enclave and Vault-Tec are all leading contenders at this point.)

Regardless of whether the Enclave triggered the war, its powerful members got to safety in the days before the strikes started and then used vault populations for social experiments. Post-war, the Enclave attempted at least once to kill all non-Enclave sentient life and at least once to enslave the rest of humanity by stealing a massive water purification project for itself.

The Enclave is typically weak militarily, though it formed strong defensive lines in “Fallout 3” and succeeded in some raids. Overall, the Enclave often relies on big schemes or scientific advances to overcome its weaknesses on the battlefield.

Review: Despite the Enclave often being the “big bad” in games, they are never all that impressive in the game or in much of the universe’s lore. The fact is, the Enclave, like many real fascist organizations, seems to assume that it’s superior and will always come out on top. But it rarely puts in the work or gets the results.

The Unity/The Master's Army

A hallmark of the Wasteland is the super mutants that wander it, thanks to the Forced Evolutionary Virus. But the super mutants started as -- and largely continue to function as -- an organized group. The Master, a mutant himself, attempted to create a post-human master race known as the Unity or the Master's Army, and they would all be linked together mentally. The player prevented this in the original Fallout, but the Master’s creations still wander the Wasteland. Super mutants created by other groups often join with their kin.

The greatest of the Master's creations are super intelligent super mutants known as the Nightkin. All mutants are strong, resistant to radiation and have high endurance, making them excellent fighters. They pose a marked threat, especially when fighting as tribes with advanced weapons.

In a recent “Fallout 4” playthrough by this author, the super mutants were the first group to effectively use cover against the Sole Survivor.

Review: The super mutants are effective but fractured. Despite literal super strength and a number of super-intelligent leaders, extreme mental illness and a tendency to fracture into smaller groups prevent a true rise of the Master’s Army. They’re fun to fight against, but don’t expect them to really take or hold ground again. (Bethesda, prove me wrong in “Fallout 5.”)

The Legion

Caesar's Legion is one of the most loathed factions in the “Fallout” universe. Most players first interact with them by accepting a quest related to the Massacre of Nipton or simply stumbling into it in “Fallout: New Vegas.” The Legion punished the town for "profligacy” (wastefulness or licentious behavior).

The Legion has some weaknesses at long ranges, as it has few well-maintained firearms and bans combat robots and performance-enhancing chemicals. But it performs amazingly well at short ranges and is successful at mid-ranges, and its legionnaires are some of the fastest light infantry in the Mojave Wasteland. Adventurers either need to join the Legion or else pick their battles very carefully.

Review: The Legion is a fairly bit player in the universe lore, but it really shines during in-game combat in “Fallout: New Vegas.” Though morally repugnant, the Legion is a militarily impressive faction.

The Minutemen

Based in and around Boston in the "Commonwealth" that used to be Massachusetts, the Commonwealth Minutemen are essentially the opposite of the Legion. They have noble goals but a terrible history in combat.

When the player meets the Minutemen, there is seemingly only one active Minuteman left in service, Preston Garvey.

All the rest of the Minutemen either disbanded or died in about five years between 2282, when a popular general died, and 2287. If your military outfit can't survive the death of one senior officer, it's probably not well-organized. Worse, while the Minutemen have acceptable armor, all members use an iconic but underwhelming crank-operated laser musket.

The people of the Wasteland deserve better than the Minutemen, but they're unlikely to get it.

Review: One of the morally best factions, the Minutemen are militarily ineffective unless the player carries them to victory. But even that moral superiority needs an asterisk: computer log entries in “Fallout 4” reveal that some of the final Minutemen besides Garvey regularly accepted bribes to ignore raids or even assisted raiders in attacking settlements in exchange for cuts of the loot.

War … war never changes.

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