Great War

Today is October 23, 2025, and we now have 52 years left until the end of days and have started The Great War on October 23, 2077.

And always remember "War Never Changes"

Probably a dark and controversial topic. Could the events of the Sino-American war and the Great War nuclear holocaust truly occur in our real-world 2077 or no?

SIDENOTE: If this topic is too hot for discussion and if it gets locked by moderators, I won't protest against it.

Good idea or no? I dunno what it would be like but it would be a cool concept

Today is the -53rd Anniversary of the Great War of October 23, 2077.

I watched the tv series but i havent played the games (im planning to). Can someone explain to me the game lore of the bombs? Because i thought that it was established that china dropped them.

Recently, I made a post asking for your guys' ideas for a roleplaying playthrough of FO76, specifically for me and a friend, since we couldn't decide on how we would make our characters lore/personalities. I'm glad to say we did figure it out and are actually having a lot of fun with it. Here's what we came up with:

My character, Nick, is a young survivalist whose family comes from the now defunct Free States faction in Appalachia. After the Scorched attacked and killed most of his friends and family during the spread of the plague, he left Appalachia, only just returning after hearing rumors of people coming back to Appalachia. He strongly dislikes the government and various pre-war companies, who he blames for causing the destruction of the Great War. Not only does he dislike the government (and subsequently the Enclave, obviously), but he also dislikes factions like the Brotherhood of Steel, a faction that heavily reminds him of the same militaristic ways of the Enclave, and the Raiders (for obvious reasons). However, he respects factions like the Responders and the Order of Mysteries for attempting to do good and keep the peace.

My friend's character, Cyrus, has a very dissimilar upbringing, having been raised by a family of descendants of U.S. Military members. These members proceeded to establish caravans post-war selling weaponry, and are all very patriotic in nature, vilifying communism, holding a grudge against the Chinese for causing the Great War (while he blames China for the war, Nick blames the U.S.).

What are your guy's thoughts? Did we do good? Does it sound interesting?

In the Fallout series, we've seen Chinese remnants crop up around post-apocalyptic America every now and then, and even people like their descendants, the Shi, who have integrated themselves into the society their ancestors sought to destroy. On October 22nd, 2077, American forces reached the outskirts of Beijing as China was backed into a corner, and with nuclear devastation the following morning, they'd be cut off from the mainland with little to no way home leaving them stranded behind enemy lines, just like their opposites back home. How would American remnants fare in China? Those on the outskirts of or in Beijing would obviously be vaporized by the ensuing retaliatory strikes by their own country but its likely some had managed to evade the blast and possibly be in submarines at the time. Is there any lore on post-war Americans in China? I highly doubt it.

“Yippie yay! - There’ll be no wedding bells today~”

ICBMs drop in the distance, leaving large craters, apocalyptic landscapes, and shadows of people no longer.

“‘Cause I got spurs that jingle, jangle, jingle!”

Nuclear war ensues. America launches back its own nukes, the missile silos unleashing their payloads.

“As I go ridin’ merrily along~”

Civilians, soldiers, police, it doesn’t matter. They all watch as bombs hit southern Boston, then Washington, D.C.

“And they sing, ‘oh, aren’t you glad you’re single?’”

Vaults are sealed, bunkers are locked.

“And that song ain’t so very far from wrong…”

A lone farmer gazes on as America falls. Shaking, he pulls his 10mm to his mouth. Blood splatters the radio.

“Oh, Lillie Belle!

Oh, Lillie Belle!

Though I may have done some foolin'

This why I never fell…”

America has fallen.

Like I said. Just a stupid little thing.

So, I’ve told you all about the Guardsmen and shit but I’ve never told you about their General, Jonathan Hayes. A former soldier, he was turned into a glowing one after being knocked unconscious and thrown into a pile of leaking radioactive barrels. Here is his story…

[[WARNING! BRANEBRIAR1930 ASKING “WHY ARE YOU SO OBSESSED WITH SOLDIERS?” IMMINENT!]]

”We interrupt this program to warn of an incoming nuclear missile attack appearing from the People’s Republic of China. These missiles will make contact with: New York, Pennsylvania, Las Vegas, and Massachusetts. Their estimated time to make contact i-[CRACKLING NOISES ENSUE AS 5 OFF-DUTY SOLDIERS WHO HAS BEEN WATCHING THE TV STARE AT EACH OTHER IN HORROR.]

“Jesus, they actually did. They actually fucking did it…” one gasped. This is General Hayes, or as he was known as back then, Lieutenant Hayes. Three of the soldiers are lost to time, with only one surviving alongside Hayes. This man’s name is Pvt. Gabriel T. Adams, who is the current 2nd-in-command of the Guardsmen. “There’s no way in hell, man, no way in hell. This has gotta be a prank…” then they heard it, a large explosion from outside. They all rushed out to see a mushroom cloud rising from south Boston. “My parents were down there…” one of the men cried. “My sweet old parents, they couldn’t even hurt a fly if they tried to! And those fucking reds dropped a bomb on their heads…” he sank down, sobbing. The rest watched on, listening to the explosions that rocked the Earth, as bombs struck Pennsylvania, Washington, and Vegas. Then… complete silence. They all thought it was over when they heard the silos opening across the nation as the United States and the People’s Republic of China exchanged nuclear bombs in what would be known as the Great War. After a while, there was only silence. Complete silence. Eventually, one of the soldiers broke it. “…it’s so quiet.” “Yeah, that’s obvious, ain’t it, poindexter? The world just fuckin’ ended!” “No shit, Sherlock!… fuckin’ hell, man…” Lt. Hayes glanced towards his men, sorrow in his eyes. “Gather what supplies we can, put on your uniforms, and get into those T-60s. Adams and I will use the T-51s.” With that, they gathered what they could and marched out into the newly-named Wasteland. After a while, they found a military checkpoint being mobbed by survivors. “WHOA, HEY! CALM DOWN!” The civilians quieted and stared fearfully at the soldiers, afraid of what was to happen. They aided the soldiers at the checkpoint and evacuated the civilians using APCs and a truck that were somehow not disabled from the EMPs. (Plot armor?) eventually, they evacuated all of the survivors to an evacuation point the checkpoint soldiers had set. “Hey, thanks for the help. So, you actual soldiers?…” Lt. Hayes glanced at his men. “We’re from the missile silo up north. Yeah, the sappers rolled those fuckers out and threw ‘em. Hope those commie bastards are in hell.” The soldier grinned, but it faded quickly. “Shit, it must be scary out there. Those rumblings musta woken up every baby in the goddamn world.” Hayes’ men laughed at that. They eventually moved on, exploring the new world.

FAST FORWARD TO 2094…

Hayes and his men had been traveling for 17 years, and were down to three men. The two men had died fighting several large, irradiated crickets and had been buried next to each other. Their armor was bust, too, since their fusion cores had run out of juice and they couldn’t find anymore. Eventually, they reached a disposal site that was owned by Mass Fusion. “What a dump. Wha- HEY!” Behind Lt. Hayes’ back, the soldier had knocked out Adams with the butt of his rifle. He picked up Hayes and threw him into a pile of radioactive barrels. He hit his head hard, losing consciousness. Hayes was hidden by the barrels. Eventually, Adams woke up and thought the two had abandoned him. He swore revenge and continued trekking the treacheries of what used to be America.

SKIP TO APRIL 9, 2094, 4 WEEKS AFTER HAYES WAS KNOCKED OUT…

Hayes woke with a start. He smacked his head on a barrel and groaned. “Ow, fuck! What the-“ startled, he pushed the barrels off and discovered that his head was splitting with pain. “Fuuuuuck…” he moaned. “What the hell happened…?” Hayes sat up, wondering how the hell he got there. Climbing out of the barrel stack, he slipped and nearly slid into the radioactive waste around him. He carefully picked himself up and stood. “Adams… it had to have been him. I knew he was acting weird…” Hayes, alone and forsaken, traversed the cracked roads, looking for food and supplies. Eventually, he found the one thing that he remembered the most; the bomb that destroyed south Boston’s crater. It was gigantic, so he couldn’t see past the rims. Hayes unfurled his old sleeping bag and decided to stay there, thinking, “a little radiation won’t hurt… right?” He stayed there for 9 months, noting that his skin was shriveling and turning a slight shade of green. Eventually, after 8 3/4 months in the crater, he discovered that he was now glowing. “What the fuck… I became a fucking glow stick over night.” He left the crater, fearing for his life. From that point on, not much is known other than the fact that he founded the Guardsmen in 2095.

Did anyone win? An obvious stalemate? Would some countries remain unaffected? (Australia?), And have remained with large populations and prosperous?

I kind of hoped the pre-war opening would last longer than just under 10 minutes, and would allow us to get used to the new mechanics like speech. I would have loved to immerse myself in the pre-war world.

In fallout, the nuclear exchange happened on Saturday, October 23, 2077. But what if the war actually happens on that date in real life? Caused by a hostile country, or perhaps provoked by a secret government calling the shots or by something more sinister?

Topic submitted by Road Warrior-NCR Patriot

Non-canon information is marked with an X and italicized.

With the supply of resources across the world declining, causing a global economic crisis, many countries turned against one another to take what was left. Two of these were the United States of America and the People's Republic of China. As the two superpowers fought a decade-long open war in Alaska and Asia, a simultaneous secret conflict was taking place on the American mainland. Chinese operatives were sent to infiltrate American society to steal secrets and sabotage their enemies on their own soil.

The Intelligence Community

China kept a number of spies active in both the United States and Canada as part of a large espionage network. In 2062, agent Wan Yang was arrested in connection with a sabotage effort in Niagara, New York but soon escaped. She was later recaptured and sent to the Turtledove Detention Center in Maryland when the government received reports of Chinese spies in the state. In 2075, just under two years before the Great War, the US Department of Intelligence learned that China's stealth capabilities were so far ahead that it was possible large scale operations could be taking place on American soil without leaving any evidence. Indeed, the government was unaware of the construction of a Chinese facility in the Deep, a cave system underneath the Whitesprings resort in West Virginia and near a Vault for Enclave personnel. Companies like Mama Dolce's, Happy Liberty Imports, and L.O.B. Enterprises served as fronts for Chinese operations on American soil. Agents there received equipment and other resources to prepare for future fighting, spread propaganda, and conduct research. At the Mama Dolce's Food Processing facility in Morgantown, West Virginia a secret base was built underneath that eventually came to be used as a staging grounds for the Great War. One of its goals was finishing work on the "liberator" robot, which was meant to be deployed before Chinese forces invaded.

Invasion of Alaska

In response to the sabotage of their deep sea oil reserve, China invaded Alaska and seized control of its oil supply. In addition to its general armed forces led by General Jingwei the invasion also involved the Crimson Dragoons, Chinese stealth operatives using advanced "Hei Gui" suits granting them near invisibility. The US military captured several of these suits and in collaboration with RobCo attempted to reverse engineer the technology. However, the new devices, dubbed "stealth boys", were largely inferior to the original Chinese designs. During the conflict, Chinese forces in Alaska received a report from spies in Washington D.C. that the US had managed to steal and successfully replicate their research into an advanced laser weapon. They discovered that the weapon was being used in a project at the Pentagon called "Liberty Prime".

Incident at Hoover Dam

XAt some point, the PRC learned of the existence of the Forced Evolutionary Virus at a hidden facility inside Hoover Dam in Nevada.X Several Crimson Dragoons were sent to sabotage Hoover Dam but failed. Their Hei Gui suits were captured and later used to identify the uniforms worn by Dragoons in the invasion of Alaska, which US forces had not yet widely encountered. One suit was still being stored at the dam two centuries later when New California Republic forces claimed ownership of the place.

Submarines

China deployed several submarines into US waters on both the East and West Coast for various missions. One of these, the SSN-37-1A, was assigned to patrol along Virginia and Maryland. The sub was captured by the US and its sailors were killed or interrogated for information. In order to keep the sub out of enemy hands, China sent agent Jiang to pose as a deserter to gain access to the sub and destroy it. The US government accepted Jiang's help, but the spy died before he could complete his mission. By 2075 the Department of Intelligence's predictive analytics machine, using information uncovered about a Chinese submarine force nicknamed "Ghost Fleet", theorized that there was a high chance China had somehow managed to apply its stealth technology used in Hei Gui suits to its subs.

Betrayal

The PRC was not known for being kind towards its own operatives. Occasionally, extraction from America to return home was deemed unnecessary, leading agents to be killed at the end of their mission. At the base within the Deep, enforcement of rules was so harsh that agents could be executed for possessing unauthorized items or not having their IDs readily visible. While stationed in America, the Crimson Dragoon agent Mochou and her lover, another Chinese spy, realized that the PRC did not care about its own people and deserted. When China did fire its nuclear arsenal, agents in America were caught off guard. Even at Fujiniya Intelligence Base in West Virginia, where invasion plans had already been set, the announcement that nukes were being launched was never sent. The Chinese remnants in America were left without any direction from the PRC, but continued to fight long after the Great War obliterated America, China, and most of the world with them.

What do you think of how Chinese spying before the Great War is presented in Fallout? Anything that surprised you about the topic?

And if there's any lore topics you want to see a deep dive into next, feel free to suggest it.

Sources

• Dick Richardson dialogue, Fallout 2

• Events of Fallout 3

• Events of Fallout 3: Operation Anchorage

• Events of Fallout 76: Wastelanders

• The Velvet Curtain side quest, Fallout 3: Point Lookout

• Fallout 2 intro

• Fallout 3 Game Guide

• Fallout 3: Operation Anchorage terminals

• Fallout 76 loading screens

• Hoover Dam, Fallout: New Vegas

• L.O.B. Enterprises terminals, Fallout 3

• Mama Dolce's terminals, Fallout 3

• Mama Dolce's Food Processing and Fujiniya Intelligence Base terminals, Fallout 76

• Mochou dialogue, Fallout 76

• Museum of Technology, Fallout 3

• Switchboard terminals, Fallout 4

• The Deep terminals, Fallout 76

• Turtledove Detention Center terminals, Fallout 3: Point Lookout

• XHoover Dam design document, Project Van BurenX