New California Republic

Overview

The New California Republic was founded in the year 2186, 24 years after the events of Fallout 1. The town of Shady Sands, a small village of displaced Vault 15 citizens, grew to become the capitol of the Republic, which consisted of Shady Sands and the outposts around it. Much of the NCR's early power came from its control of vast Brahmin herds. Their control of the livestock allowed them to become a major economic power in the area. Another major source of the NCR's power is due to the close proximity of vaults 13 and 15, providing the Republic with a large population and access to more advanced technology.

Militarily, the NCR maintains several divisions of units, including cavalry and mechanized units. Their numbers are such that they are one of the largest standing militaries in the postnuclear American west.

In 2231, when Jeremy Maxson began leading the Brotherhood of Steel, tensions grew to an all time high between the two factions. In just over a decade, the two groups started a full-fledged war.

For years the war waged on and was considered a victory for the Brotherhood of Steel. However, no matter how many troops fell to the Brotherhood, the NCR always seemed to have more replacements available. The Brotherhood was not so fortunate. Being an elitist group, replacements were short in arriving. It soon became obvious that the Brotherhood was doomed to lose the war at the hands of the NCR's high numbers.

Fallout 1

The protagonist of Fallout, The Vault Dweller will stumble on the village of Shady Sands as soon as he exits the vault, there he will meet the 3 original founders of the New California Republic. Aradesh the leader of the village (later the first president of the NCR). Tandi, his daughter (later the second president of the NCR). And Seth the leader of the guard, who will later become the first NCR Ranger. All of the 3 figures will later be featured on NCR currency.

The Vault Dweller played a pivotal, although indirect role in the founding of the NCR. He helped the inhabitants of Shady Sands deal with their radscorpion problem, he also rescued Tandi from the raiders who kidnapped her. By 2186, the town of Shady Sands evolved into the capitol and first city of the NCR. By 2189 the NCR spanned several provinces: Shady Sands, Los Angeles, The Hub, Maxson and Dayglow.

Fallout 2

Fallout 2 takes place in 2241, and by then Shady Sands would simply be referred to as NCR in-game. It transformed from a small farming village to a true metropolis of post apocalyptic future, and Tandi is an old woman by then. In this time there is a sharp competition between the NCR, New Reno and Vault City for the control of a gold mining town, Redding. Each of these factions has their strengths, NCR is the largest, with the most economic and military power, it can be argued that it was the most powerful. New Reno was a hub of crime and drugs and Vault City had the most advanced technology.

The NCR faced few problems in 2241, most notably a large number of squatters that have taken residence in Vault 15, the ancestral home of the first inhabitants of Shady Sands. The other major problem being the acquisition of Vault City, a stubborn self sufficient town, built by the inhabitants of Vault 8 using a GECK. They outright refuse to even discuss the possibility of joining the NCR, which is why the NCR, along with Mr. Bishop contracted mercenaries to attack Vault City, in order to weaken their resolve.

Fallout: New Vegas

The NCR lies to the west of New Vegas and the Mojave desert, so it's impossible for the player to see or explore any "official part" of the NCR in Fallout: New Vegas. Although the NCR is slowly annexing the Mojave region, in addition they've built the NCRCF (New California Republic Correctional Facility) which uses convicts as laborers.

The NCR's involvement in the Mojave desert is primarily, the acquisition of New Vegas and Hoover Dam, unfortunately, there is another major faction, Caesar's Legion, that also wants control of the two very important locations. This finally led into a full blown war between the two factions. The Legion is a totalitarian, utilitarian, slaver society, made up from many tribes brought together under Caesar's banner.

The NCR - Legion war officially began in 2277 and lasted to 2281, culminating with the First Battle of Hoover Dam, where the legion suffered a crushing defeat, Chief Hanlon gives a rather detailed story of how the Legion was defeated. Caesar ordered his armies to storm Hoover Dam under the leadership of Legate Malpis A.K.A. Joshua Graham A.K.A. "The Burned Man". During the battle, the NCR sharpshooters were ordered to take out the officers and commanders of the legion, this led to the younger, less experienced legionaries to chase after the "retreating" NCR forces. The Legion followed the enemy into Bolder City, where small numbers of NCR rangers and troopers sacrificed themselves and blew the entire town up, causing devastating loses to the Legion, but in the process killing themselves.

This was a great victory for the NCR, unfortunately they were unable to finish the legion off once and for all. Caesar, furious with Graham and the result of the battle, sentenced him to death. Graham was covered in pitch, set on fire and thrown into the Grand Canyon by Caesar's Praetorian guard. Due to the great loss at Hoover Dam, Caesar took his time, planning, replenishing the legions numbers and attacking the NCR in small skirmishes. The eventual victor of the conflict would be decided by The Courier.

Society & Government

As perhaps, the last form of government and the last country in North America the New California Republic took the ideals of the old and destroyed United States government. The ideas of freedom, elections and democracy were very important in the NCR. The government itself is not unlike the United States, divided into three branches: legislative, executive and judicial. The NCR featured similar, or rather identical, forms of legislative branches. For example the Congress still exists, it consists of the Senate and The House of Representatives.

The NCR is tolerant of all religions such as The Hubologists and although it's unknown, it can be assumed that religions, or at least churches, exist within the NCR that are based on the Christian religion, similar to Father Clifford 's church of Saint Monica in Rivet City (Fallout 3). There is a clear separation between religion and state. Private O'Hanrahan, located at Camp Golf in Fallout: New Vegas was raised Christian.

Law and law enforcement agencies are present in the NCR, in such a level that is perhaps a unique feature in the post apocalyptic world of Fallout. People are unable to openly wear any sorts of weapons in the streets (as seen in Fallout 2 where The Chosen One as well as any of his companions weren't allowed to have any weapons equipped in Shady Sands). Slavery is frowned upon, even hated, in Fallout 2 Rangers would task The Chosen One to destroy a slaver operation, first the one that exists near NCR (or Shady Sands) and later the one that exists in The Den.

The society and government is modeled on a capitalist philosophy, encouraging personal enterprises and corporations, which is the reason of why big companies like The Gun Runners, Crimson Caravan, Silver Rush and others, exist within the NCR. This unfortunately also allows some companies to have a monopoly.

Sexism and bigotry are at the very least discouraged within the NCR, as seen by the fact that women actively serve in armed forces as well as the fact that Tandi was the second president. The NCR has a very well developed farming, cattle (brahmin) industry and trading. Indeed, the player may hear of the Brahmin Barons and the influence they have, both financial and political.

The NCR utilizes their own paper currency, similar to the currency of the pre-war era, they also use mint coins.

Military

The New California Republic Army is the largest, very well equipped (The Enclave and Brotherhood of Steel do have access to more powerful equipment and technology) and most powerful military force in the Fallout universe, rivaled only by Caesar's Legion. The chain of command is similar or identical to the military chain of command of pre-war military forces. The NCR Military includes ranks like General, Major General, Colonel, Captain/Major, Lieutenant etc. The structure and organization of the army is similar to that of pre-war United States.

The NCR Army has several divisions including mechanized cavalry and mechanized infantry divisions and even an airforce (although it's limited to vertibirds confiscated from The Enclave).

Of special note are the NCR Rangers, who serve both in time of peace and war. The Rangers are a special unit of elite soldiers, it is volunteer based. Only the best of the best try and become Rangers and even then about 80% of them fail. If a Ranger serves for a long enough time with dedication and ability, they eventually become Veteran Rangers, the most deadly force of the NCR. They are easily recognizable by their distinctive Black Armor or NCR Ranger combat armor.

The NCR Trooper or infantryman is the most numerous part of the army. And, unlike the rangers and their unquestioning dedication and loyalty to the NCR, the average infantryman is varied. Some join because they are patriots, others join the army because of money, or because they have to. The training and equipment of the average trooper varies just as much as their motivations. In New Vegas some troopers are sent out to battle with only 2 weeks of basic training and sometimes with little armor. On the other hand, elite unites exist, such as 1st Recon, a sniper unit where only the best sharpshooters make it.

While the Brotherhood of Steel and The Enclave have far superior weaponry and armor, NCR Army has vast manpower. When trying to capture Helios the NCR army was met with heavy resistance from the Brotherhood. Despite taking heavy losses however, NCR managed to wrestle control of the powerplant by having superior numbers when compared to the Brotherhood. The incident at Helios signified a great loss for the Brotherhood and victory for the NCR.

Notable leaders of the military include: Chief Hanlon, Colonel James Hsu, General Lee Oliver, President Aaron Kimball (previously General Kimball).

Notable NCR Leaders

Aradesh - The leader of Shady Sands and Tandi's father, and the first president of New California Republic. His rule was troubled by radscorpions and raiders until the vault dweller came and destroyed both the radscorpions and raiders. Eventually, along with Seth and Tandi, Aradesh helped create NCR. Years after Seth and he started looking for Vault 13, in hopes of finding the vault dweller. They become missing, and are presumed dead.

Tandi - Aradesh's daughter, and the president of the New California Republic. She was rescued by the Vault Dweller from the Khans when she was a young woman. Later on, after the disappearance and presumed death of her father, Tandi took over the presidency. She would later get to meet Vault Dweller's grandson, The Chosen One. He helped her deal with the squaters of Vault 15 and the raider residents, The Khans.

Aaron Kimball - Aaron Kimball was born in 2229 and decorated war hero before becoming President. As general of the NCR forces, Kimball made huge progress towards pacifying the various tribes of the Mojave Desert. This helped him greatly during his presidential elections. He was a beloved general, but his popularity began to fall as president. His focus with the Mojave eventually started to effect morale of both troops and citizens. Huge amounts of resources and manpower were thrown into the Mojave desert. So much so, that eventually NCR's war in the Mojave became known as Kimball's War.