Nellis Air Force Base is a pre-war military facility that was, prior to 2301 occupied by the xenophobic Boomers, a faction originating out of Vault 34.
Overview[]
Sometime after the Boomer's ammo supply ran out (5 years as stated by Raquel), The NCR launched a surprise attack and managed to wipe out all the Boomers.
At the time of the Survivors arrival, Nellis is under occupation by personnel of the Royst-Bernard Expedition, whose forces in the area include veteran rangers as well as a significant population of NCR troopers. The NCR has commandeered the bases artillery and will open fire on anybody who appears to be approaching the facility. It is also worth noting that the NCR occupants here have a preponderance of heavy weapons such as Missile launchers and Miniguns due to having looted Boomer munition stores.
The Boomers themselves can be found in the western part of the facility, having been wiped out to the last by the NCR. The presence of a flatbed truck and several veteran rangers in this area implies that the Boomers were disarmed before being driven to a remote area of the base and executed en masse though this is purely conjectural.
Tactical Considerations[]
Due to the artillery cover and the presence of heavily armed troops at the main gate, it is not practical or wise to attempt to pick off the NCR personnel from a distance outside the base. The main gate is also protected by a Very Hard lock (though a key can be found at the NCR Embassy on the Strip) so attempts to power through the main entrance will be upset by this. The most prudent strategy is to use the rocks and bluffs on the east side of the facility to as cover, picking off the patrolling Mister Gutsys and the NCR patrols near the gate before proceeding westward. Though a high-risk target, Nellis contains ample amounts of food, water, ammunition and Thorazine.
After drawing the gate guards away from front gate, the judicious use of a stealthboy and lockpick magazine can deal with the locked gate at night. Finding an empty, nonvisited building to lay down bedroll kit during the day and explore at night will prevent firefight in case you dont want to risk just that much firepower. Medical Station, Loyal hut, Workshop, and NellisBarracks04 seem to be such buildings. Failing that, you can always travel to northeastern's Array and bed down outdoor in a nook somewhere.
Trivia[]
- The Quonset hut containing the Boomers mural has been scrubbed and is now occupied by an NCR veteran ranger and two troopers
- Due to many of the NCR personnel being re-purposed Boomers from the original game, several of the troopers and Veteran rangers are comically short, having been adapted from Boomer children
- The Boomer quartermaster is alive and non-hostile though he will refuse to trade with the player. He can be killed with no loss of sanity. As of 2.0 and maybe a combo of fix mods, he is named NCR trooper, but speak standard dialog about cant trade until Pearl say so
- The bug of using Vat to melee attack an enemy on the other side of the fence can be used to pass over this obstacle. Most convenient targets are the robots on the northeastern quarter.
- Pearl's journal was not on her body but the female corpse nearby. The whole corpse pile is on west-southwestern part of the map, with nellisbarracks02 is the nearest building.
- The massive maize storage in the bio refinery hut was changed into caps, implying the facility's production was in full, no idle ingredient inventory.
- Everyone with one exception in Nellis area can be killed, silently or not, without affecting Nellis rep (neutral). Except nellishangar1 with NCR troopers from reused jack and maybe loyal who are original boomers' faction. The robots outside sometimes can affect rep, though not if soundlessly assassinated.