Talk: Fort Bannister

This talk page is only for discussing improvements to the page "Fort Bannister."

For general discussion or to share stories about the topic of this article, please visit our the "Fallout 3 general discussion" or "Fallout 3 gameplay help" forum.
Please sign and date your posts by typing four tildes (~~~~) after each of your entries.
Put new text under old text. Click here to start a new topic.
Do not edit other people's entries.

For general conversation on this topic, please visit our the "Fallout 3 general discussion" or "Fallout 3 gameplay help" forum.

untitled message[]

This article currently mentions a "massive nuclear crater". All of the craters here are relatively small (compare to the White House, for instance), and the only radiation is from the small, shallow pools directly to the east. I couldn't find any sign of Alien Power Cells, either. Is it possible the user that added this reference was mistakenly referring to a different location? Robert M. 15:17, 10 November 2008 (UTC)

It's possible. I'm not sure what they're talking about either. I think I'll go ahead and delete those mentions. If he/she comes back and can tell us where those things are, exactly, we'll write it back in. Icb0005 15:24, 10 November 2008 (UTC)

They're exactly beneath the over turned military truck at the center of the crater, I'm 100% sure it was not from a random event. The crater that destroyed Fort Bannister was twice the size of the white house crater.Cubicle Ninja 16:06, 10 November 2008 (UTC)

Ok, I see the crater and the sewer entrance. But there's no background radiation like there is around the white house's much larger crater. I'll check on the alien power cells in a moment. Icb0005 16:17, 10 November 2008 (UTC)

I've been to the white house crater man, it's not as big, but rather then argue about that, the alien cells are what's important.Cubicle Ninja 16:18, 10 November 2008 (UTC)

I agree, and I'm not into silly online arguments either. Are you referring to the overturned supply truck in the southwest corner of the base? I've checked around the edges of it and in the metal boxes scattered near the cargo area and I've got no alien cells. Can you be (even more) specific? I also checked the upright cargo truck near the center of the base, but I'm pretty certain that's not the one you meant. I know you said you were certain that it wasn't a random chance, but perhaps you usually roll high luck characters? Icb0005 16:25, 10 November 2008 (UTC)

My luck is 6. Let me go check out where I found it I'll give you more details.Cubicle Ninja 16:30, 10 November 2008 (UTC)

Hmm, that's not it, then. My luck is 6 as well. Note where you found it and guide me to it as though you were talking to a moron ;) Icb0005 16:37, 10 November 2008 (UTC)

Yeah I found them almost in the center of the crater underneath an overturned army truck. The army truck it's self is by some nuclear waste. I found the alien power cells right underneath it as if they were being carried by the truck, the way the truck is flipped I don't see how power cells falling from the sky could get in that position. There should be an enclave outpost right at the rim of the crater, the truck is sorta at the base of some office building debris that slid in.Cubicle Ninja 16:40, 10 November 2008 (UTC)

Ok, and this is all within the fenced confines of Fort Bannister? Or is it just outside the fences? Which direction? Icb0005 16:44, 10 November 2008 (UTC)

Uh.. It's east of where the marker says Fort Bannister is. In the next square, not far.

I have to go, heading to the mainland today, If you don't find it I'll help later.Cubicle Ninja 17:02, 10 November 2008 (UTC)

Found it! 96 Alien Power Cells at the center of a very large crater, east of the Fort itself. I'll make the appropriate edit.Robert M. 17:20, 10 November 2008 (UTC)

Thanks, Rob. I've found them too, now. -icb129.120.4.1 17:38, 10 November 2008 (UTC)

Cool guys, just got back. Glad to hear you found them.Cubicle Ninja 03:33, 11 November 2008 (UTC)

I've just paid the Talon company a visit (so many fingers) and can confirm the Nikola Tesla and You book's location. Page edited with very precise instructions to find it since it's not exactly in plain view (and I actually missed it completely at first) Mortbise 19:56, 24 November 2008 (UTC)

Found something else in the crater east of Fort Bannister. Details added. « Also in the crater, less than 10 meters to the south east of the truck, are a locked safe ( weapon + ammo ) and a locked personal footlocker ( low armor ), both of easy difficulty.» Orme 20:01, 5 December 2008 (UTC)

Added a screenshot of the location of said crater. As it's not the main subject of the page, I only put a link to it instead of a thumbnail so as not to detract attention.Orme 20:21, 5 December 2008 (UTC)

Nuclear hits[]

If you compare anything in this game with the images done by the us strategic bombing survey of the atomic attacks to hiroshima and nagasaki you will see that the destruction largely matches that of areas further away from ground zero (please remember that the large areas without any apperant buildings there are from the fact that in japan of this time lots of bulding were made out of wood and paper) but none of the devastating effects from a direct nuclear hit can be observed. For example, nowhere is sand molten to glass. Nowhere are the shadows of people burned into ground or walls. I don't think that any of the craters we can see in the fallout world are from nuclear explosions, since even for hiroshima/nagasaki it was already known that the mach-stem-effect will yield to a better shockwave when the nuclear bomb detonates a few hundred meters above the ground.

As for this fort, the fence, the watertower and severeal others things are largely intact (as they are also on many other places), and right near the fort there are some antenna that are only a little bit damaged. nothing that could have survived a direct nuclear hit...

The developers talked about this somewhere, about how they looked into what the landscape would've looked like if they'd accurately modeled nuclear strikes, and that they took some liberties since accuracy would've been, well, boring. —Chaos5023 12:57, 18 December 2008 (UTC)

To be perfectly honest, if the devs had kept perfect accuracy, most of DC proper (and this base, to be sure) would consist entirely of a huge glassy crater. The devs once said, if I am correct, the world of Fallout defies all rules of the real world. Realism is boring and hard. 68.103.131.22 00:50, 12 April 2009 (UTC)

No, you are not correct. The World of Fallout emulates what the people of the 50s thought future would look like, but deeply rooted in realism. That Furry Bastard 08:10, 12 April 2009 (UTC)

Commanding Officer's Quarters Freeze[]

Newbie here. I made a note about this in the main bugs page (X360) but haven't seen it mentioned elsewhere and so my problem may be as yet uncommon. I'm getting a fatal crash when trying to re-enter the commanding officer's quarters at Fort Bannister. It happens from inside (the main Fort Bannister map), and from outside (the manhole in the tent outside). Incidentally I was able to go in once, and had killed Jabsco and the Gutsy. I can't really think of anything else of note that might be unique here. I was really only trying to go back in with the suspicion that I had missed something (for all the trouble it was a bit anti-climactic :), and after looking at the entry here I can see there wasn't much I could have missed... so its no big deal really. But fatal bugs should be squashed and all that. --TheEthers 08:41, 31 December 2008 (UTC)

I've had a similar problem, as I approched the sniper on the table outside the bunker a would suffer a huge framerate drop, then the game would freeze and I would have to reset, it happend to me twice, but strangley the next day I tried going there again and nothing happend (I did approach form the back rather than the fence though), could it have just been a issue with the cashe data?

I'm getting the opposite problem of you Ethers, I cant leave the Fort without the game freezing during the loading screen (360), so yeah I'm stuck inside the Fort for eternity for all I can tell. I can go between the Bunker and the Commanding Officer's Quarters, but as soon as I try to use either exit to The Capital Wasteland my game decides to crash. I just recently installed the Broken Steel expansion so the BoS were there when I was going for Jabsco, I'm not sure if that has anything to do with it or not though. This, however, for me is a big deal really, seeing as I don't want to load my next closest save which is 11 hours previous. Dr Perogie 21:56, September 1, 2009 (UTC)

Nevermind that last one, I figured out that it was an Xbox 360 problem, not a Fallout 3 one. Dr Perogie 17:57, September 3, 2009 (UTC)

Child-sized Talon Company Mercs?[]

Has anyone else encountered these? I have a save point and every time I go past the point of the point of the turret control terminal towards Jabsco two random Talon Company Mercs appear right behind me and start attacking me, without any indicator on my compass. It looked as though they were knee-deep in the floor but instead they were actually just small. I could see the 10mm smg in one of their hands and it looked smaller than usual, which was another indicator that they weren't glitched through the floor. MaseFace 15:29, 31 January 2009 (UTC)

I ran into them too, though it was right before I encountered the Commander. I think they may be midgets, since the original Fallout games had several little people as well. --Torvus Morio 22:07, 18 February 2009 (UTC)

Same here! I went in to fight Jabsco and as soon as I fired on him, two bite-size mercs spawned behind me. I only noticed their size intially because I was attacking Jabsco and realised there was laser rifle fire coming from behind me, but angled up and hitting the roof. Mini-Merc was standing right behind me and basically firing up! I mean, the game's got miniature Garden Gnomes, why not little people too? 121.45.102.95 14:56, 3 March 2009 (UTC)

I got the same thing too on my PC version of Fallout 3 that is patches.S Berger 23:35, 3 March 2009 (UTC)

Happened to me too. I also met a tiny Raider in the Satcom array. Fat Man Spoon 20:36, 6 May 2009 (UTC)

I know, it happened to me too --210.185.20.188 08:34, 12 July 2009 (UTC)

Occam's Razor Bug?[]

On the PS3 version, I gave Jabsco the "Psychotic Prankster" treatment, but didn't find Occam's Razor on his corpse. Can anyone confirm this?

Brotherhood Of Steel Assult[]

After downloading Broken Steel and activating the purifier you can meet a patrol outside the fort. Talon company has been attacking the water caravans, and the Brotherhood are going to wipe them out. They will tell you that they are waiting for Jenson to scout the place. you can go look for Jenson or Charge in with "Alpha Squad". In the middle of the base you can find Water Caravan Bramin, and in a tent to the left is Paladin Jenson, next to him on the table is a plasma pistol. He has been captured and claims it was "All part of my plan"...Yeah. He wants you to untie him so he can report back to his squad. Releasing him will cause him to rush into combat and the Brotherhood will storm the base via the drain entrance. With the mines, Talon Mercs and turrets the Brotherhood wont make it very far. If you have yet to wipe out the base do so and then the brotherhood move in and set up shop. It is unknown if there is a reward to keeping Jenson alive, as he runs into combat unarmed and dies frequently.GodPlageon 20:34, 7 May 2009 (UTC)

I'll have to check that out. I've already kicked talon companies ass, i wonder what effect that has? -DragonJTS^{Leave me a message} 20:36, 7 May 2009 (UTC)

No clue, I waited on this place and had never been here...should i move this to the article?GodPlageon 20:39, 7 May 2009 (UTC)

It would appear having already cleared this base out removes this. The only thing i found at the fort was the fe guys who respawn on the surface. no BoS or water barrels. the fort had nothing but the corpses i left. -DragonJTS^{Leave me a message} 06:00, 10 May 2009 (UTC)

I noticed the same thing. Looking through the game files with the GECK, the trigger seems to be whether Jabsco is alive or not (There was a script condition there). I am adding that to the article (Given the overwhelming evidence for the following) that you must not have cleared out Fort Bannister to meet Jensen, however, I will not add the part about Jabsco until I can be completely certain thats the main trigger. -Dr.M

I changed the article to reflect this. looking at the GECK, killing him sets "dlco3encounter.fbscene" to 4 (DLC03, of course, is BS, and FB is fort bannister) and it needs to be set at 0 to start. I;m thinking I'm going to reset this via a mod script, I want to see this happen. -DragonJTS^{Leave me a message} 16:20, 10 May 2009 (UTC)

A Band of Brotherhood

I avoided Bannister until completing the Waters of Life, just so I could see the Brotherhood assault. As I walked up from the Charnel House, sure enough, there was a team of Brotherhood troopers hiding around the bluff overlooking the Fort. A veritable Band of Brothers...blazing away at a roaming Yao Gaui... hitting the car between them with a Gatling Laser... blowing themselves to atomic hell. One is left to wonder: How did the BoS survive two weeks against the Enclave without me?--Brian ranzoni 09:56, 3 June 2009 (UTC)

I wiped out all the surface Talons and then freed Jensen. After that, I proceed to the Commanding Officer's Quarters via the very hard locked door next to the main entrance and found the Brotherhood fighting Commander Jabsco. All the Brothers were killed in the battle, and I found Jensen's corpse under the stairs, lying on the safe, equiped with a sniper rifle... 89.141.55.168 13:05, January 18, 2010 (UTC)

Attacking from the South[]

Not as hard as the main page makes out, so long as you're stealthy. With a sneak of 60 or so, I managed to get in at night and snipe all the surface based mercs with the Blackhawk. Got detected a couple of times, but did not get swarmed by everyone like the article suggests.--JohnnyVoodoo 01:58, September 11, 2009 (UTC)

I used the alien blaster to sneak kill most of them. Inside the fort as well. Even the colonel went down with just 2 head shots from it (via Vats). (Energy weapons 100, Luck 8). 86.153.175.155 16:18, November 29, 2009 (UTC)

missile mahem[]

is it just me, or do these guys have missile launchers coming out the wazoo, ive berely entered the place and ive already encountered 4 of these trigger-happy mad men, all of which will continue to fire at point blank range, also these mercs (all the talon mercs, not just the missile armed ones) are unusually hard to kill, even point blank with a fully repaired shotgun to the head dosent kill them.Katikar 22:45, January 16, 2010 (UTC)

Yeah, I just went in the base for the first time (second playthrough) and I didn't expect to see so many T.C. armed with Missile Launchers, especially in such cramped quarters. At least the launchers are in poor repair and can be taken down with a Laser Rifle shot in V.A.T.S.. Most of the other T.C. mercs that wield other weapons usually carry a few missiles on them as well.

Also, I made the mistake of just haphazardly storming the place...good thing I had Jericho and Charon wearing Power Armor and had Clover as a meat shield or I'd have been screwed. 75.69.104.65 10:02, May 30, 2010 (UTC)HBS

Broken Steel: Brotherhood Assault[]

I freed Jensen and let him run into the tent into the Commander's Quarters as he always does. But instead of following, I went through the bunker doors by picking the Very Hard lock. After clearing the bunker and entering the Commander's Quarters by the other entrance, I found Jensen and the entire BoS squad laying into Commander Jabsco. They simply spawned in the room past the Talon guards along the way. Mister Gutsy does not activate unless I engage Jabsco myself. Even as strong as Jabsco is, he was no match against half a dozen BoS paladins armed with Gatlings and other heavy weapons and was overwhelmed with no BoS losses.

At that point, the BoS mills around the top floor unable to find their way down to the turret. If you want to keep the BoS alive, simply leave the turret and clear out the rest of the base. Then return for the turret. Otherwise most of the paladins don't survive the trek out.

I'm assuming because of the sheer number of Talon corpses on the map, Jabsco and Mister Gutsy disappear if you clear out the rest of the floor. So if you want Occam's Razor, you should loot Jabsco first.

Hostile Botherhood Outcasts?[]

Every time I approach Fort Bannister, there are two hostile Brotherhood Outcasts and one hostile RoboBrain (or whatever it's called) just leaving from the front gate. I have met Brotherhood Outcast patrols in the wasteland at least two or three times on this playthrough, and none of them have been hostile. The only major difference this time is that I have completed that "The Waters of Life" quest, however the article on The Waters of Life does not mention Brotherhood Outcast troops becoming hostile (admittedly I skipped everything leading up to that quest, and went right to Vault 112 to advance the story line so that I could go back to Vault 101 to get exiled again). My game is patched to 1.7 and I have no DLC installed. Only installed mods are armor/clothing/weapon/texture mods (and a mod to kill the autoaim). Fortunately, if I stay out of range, they get killed by some wasteland creatures, so I don't have to shoot at them. GT500 03:36, February 19, 2011 (UTC)

do you have the FWE mod installed? i do, and i run into a few "Fallen Brothers" from time to time. -- The Train!

216.231.36.126 23:43, July 4, 2011 (UTC)

Glorious Takeover by the Brotherhood[]

After reading in the article: "[the fort] will become another BoS outpost soon after", i set Jensen and the alpha team to essential (setessential xx002e07, setessential xx002e08, setessential xx002e09, setessential xx002e0a) to see what becomes of the place after they achieve their goal. After they kill Jabsco and everything in their way, i was disappointed to find that all they do is walk to the burn-barrel amidst the tents and do nothing but mill about or warm themselves at the fire. Meanwhile, the observation posts go unmanned and the other interiors remain occupied with Talon mercenaries. Bigtown is more militarized than these guys. Am i just not giving things enough time to change, or is this it? --Schreiter 10:41, January 4, 2012 (UTC)

Jabsco Encounter questions[]

(1) The article at present says that Jabsco will go for another weapon when he runs out of missile ammo. How does he run out of ammo? I thought NPCs had infinite ammo no matter what they use. It seems more likely that the AI figures out it's not supposed to blow itself up in close-combat by using the missile launcher and goes for a safer weapon.

(2) Can anyone else confirm that once the Mister Gutsy is activated, it cannot be Deactivated with Robotics Expert, even though you get the option to do so.

Grail Quest 10:23, April 23, 2012 (UTC)

Mister Gutsy can't be deactivated with Robotics Expert, as he remains in operation even if you click on him and chose to deactivate him. Lobsel Vith (talk) 18:48, December 26, 2012 (UTC)

weird bug[]

While killing all talon mercs with the quest shock value active, something strange happened, the shock value quest was triggered and the objective changed to retrieve the tesla coil even though I haven't still got to old olney or discovered it...