Last time was all Vangelis, today I turn on some Brian Eno and Toto and listen to the Soundtrack of 1984's Dune. Granted, though, it puts me more in the mood of my main writing project, Straag Rod and my upcoming collaboration with the Lorc of Flowers, than the post-apocalyptic Commonwealth, but I am still writing, so here ya go. Just be prepared, I'm warning you right now, my move to TX is coming, so sessions may become a bit irregular. I do like this a lot, however, and will keep it up as my game save is on Steam Cloud and it'll be very easy to resume play if it is interupted. It is very similar to things I've done on Steam forums and you all seem to like it.
Well anyway, so I titled this "The Dark Side", eh? Yeah, as I implied in prior sessions, I was loathing having to make a settlement out of Tenpines Bluff and Abernathy farm. They are either too close, or the defense radius is quite poor, or the location isn't particularly useful. They would be, sure, fine for small scale rest stops for me. Private places where I can sleep and heal up if needed, but I really want to limit settlements the size of Sanctuary Hills or Starlight Drive In to a small handful in strategic locations.
There is a way to make a settlement yours without Preston Garvey's involvement.
How did I rp this decision in the game? She has taken time and effort to develop Sanctuary Hills and Starlight Drive In, providing a supply of food and water. The settlers under her care are starting to provide. Another settlement nearby could be a potential source of competition for valuable resources. It is better to have that under your control then, eh? Then the expansion suits you. It benefits you, to develop as you see fit.
I head over to Sanctuary Hills and spend the night. Then I head due south. South to begin my plan. I loook for the electrical tower and I see the structure in the distance.
It's a pretty location, nice and hilly and wide open to attack from all sides. It is also far too close to Sanctuary Hills for comfort. The farm is run by Blake Abernathy and he lives there with his wife Connie and daughter Lucy, their cat and their delightful cow, Clarabell. I take aim with my sniper hunting rifle and I aim for Blake's head. I fire.
Attempt 1: HA! This first attempt does NOT go well. I am overwhelmed by all of three. I manage to kill Connie and Lucy and then damn, Blake gets me good and I find myself back at Sanctuary Hills. Okay...
Attempt 2: I approach from a different angle and make it so that I draw out Lucy first, followed by Connie. Tehehe, Connie and her bat. This works well and Blake is, at first, unaware that I've murdered his family, continuing to pick his tatos. :D I aim for his head and do partial damage. Sheeeets, settlers are actually rather strong from an enemy standpoint. He nearly gets me again and forces me off his property and I regroup (read. Hit save on bed in Red Rocket) before heading back to finish the job. I dispose of the bodies and survey my new domain. It really is a pretty farm. I may make something of it later. A private farm, just for me, because the location really is quite lovely. Not so dead-looking as other places in FO.
I spare the cat and Clarabell because I have discovered something, something very, very cool, especially with regard to Miss Clarabell. :D
Jet.
It's cheap to make, only requiring fertilizer and plastic, light as a feather, and sells for quite a bit. Yes, this girl is in the drug trade. Hey, I don't have local leader and I'll never get it, which means my choices will be limited. Like for example, my fiance is sitting pretty at about 15k caps at his level 32 character, even though he's spent like crazy on supply shipments and shops for his settlements. Me, in constrast, at level 18, only have about 4200 caps and I haven't really spent on anything. I'm not at this level at this point yet, by the way, I'm hovering between 14 and 15 at this point of this particular session. He has, however, level 10 charisma and Local Leader.
I trade in a few things. I use Pre-War Money as currency. Sells for more than a cap, so it's actually quite useful. I also trade in Jet, Stimpaks, other drugs that I find, and ammo (mostly 10mm and .38) for junk that contains rare materials.
So, yes, it is nice to keep Clarabell. Good little moo cow and I make her comfortable as I set up my small dwelling, hiding the Abernathy beds behind a series of walls. I eliminate all traces of them.
After a good night's rest, where I finally rid myself of my insomnia - LOL, love the diseases - I head back to Sanctuary Hills and check on my supply of fertilizer and plastic. Woah, like 70 fertilizer and 150 plastic. I forgot I had a brahmin cow here and fix up her enclosure and get to making myself some more Jet. I don't abuse things, only about 30 units for now. :D
It is time to rid myself of the other inconvenient settlement. Tenpines Bluff. Just follow the Railroad tracks past the Thicket excavations. Again, a rather pretty location, but impractically located on the map with very limited build space and scrapable materials. I must be improving my skills because they prove much easier to kill. I stash the bodies in the radroach infested ewwwww house that I freaking can't even scrap. What's up with that, Bethesda?
And I discovered that the same thing applies to Tenpines Bluff as it did in Abernathy, I can't scrap all the beds. This SUCKS. Only the one mattress in the radroach infested ewwww house. And I can't scrap the stupid cabin or ewwww radroach house, which means I'm REALLY limited with what I can do with this sheeeeeety shack for now.
Talk about tiny little living, am I right? But I get the job done, I have a drinking fountain and a small supply of Tatos should I need them. I am exhausted from all the scrapping and trying to fit this stupid bed in the shack so I go to bed.
And I wake up to the sound of people moving!
Sheeeeet!
I ready my gun, expecting the worst when I go outside. Only to see the cute faces of a brahmin staring at me, the chests on her back. Apparently, Tenpines Bluff, cause I had really never visited much in my past playthroughs is on the caravan route of a Lucas Miller. We exchange words and he tells me of the value of wearing good armor, so I see if I can trade with him. Turns out he's got a Metal Helmet. It's one of the helmets that my Fiance is raving about and I trade some of my excess things for it. This is great. I had the Army Helmet before, which was great, but you can't mod it. This one, however, you can mod. :D
Side Note: I forgot to mention that in the Super Duper Mart, I had found a metal chest piece. Another boon to my armor set. I am perking Armorer. The only downside is that I will have rendered a lot of the special armors a moot point by the time I get to them in the game, so probably no Silver Shroud upgrades for me.
I create a save point and see that the Caravan is pulling out. I decide, why not?
Attempt 1: Die when Super mutants attack as we near a medical facility. Car blew up. Pesky Cars.
Attempt 2: My error, passed the downed merchants and engaged the super mutants. Like I mentioned a few entries back, shotguns have spread and I think what happened was that while I hit a super mutant, I also accidently hit one of the caravan guards, causing them to turn on me.
Attempt 3: There was a reason why I was doing this so many bloody times. Among the corpses of the downed merchants, I found a combat rifle. This is a BIG YES! Like Motty and I were talking somewhere on page five, SMode is all about DPS. Yes, standard hunting sniper rifles are great, but to reload after three shots? That's ridiculous. Now thirty or so shots? That's different and a game changer for sniping. My combat shotgun and rifle will now be the weapons I take to the Museum of Freedom.
It is this attempt that proves to be successful and we end up at Greentop Nursery, another location I had planned on acquiring for myself, but with the caravan there, I cannot, so I part ways and hideout at Taffington.
I am a chicken, a little wussy chicken. I can't, I just can't. So I go back to Greentop in the morning, the caravan is gone and then I have a good look at the area with my agent of death sniper rifle ready. I can actually make this settlement work rather nicely. So, by my sheer laziness and my fiance's suggestion for civil planning, the residents of Greentop are spared my evil conquering ways and my "shoot 'em up" phase of acquiring settlements has ended. Though, granted, I'm pretty happy, I've eliminated the two probably silliest locations for large settlements, IMO. I'm curious to see where I am actually sent.
In the next session, I shall fulfill my destiny, as Mama Murphy likes to put it, and finally open the door to the Museum of Freedom. They've been cooped up in there for what? 80-some-odd game days? Whoops. LOL. I shall go up against the Deathclaw and more dangerously, I shall finally let Preston Garvey and the *shudders* Longs into my life. As always, thanks for looking. :D
Last time was all Vangelis, today I turn on some Brian Eno and Toto and listen to the Soundtrack of 1984's Dune. Granted, though, it puts me more in the mood of my main writing project, Straag Rod and my upcoming collaboration with the Lorc of Flowers, than the post-apocalyptic Commonwealth, but I am still writing, so here ya go. Just be prepared, I'm warning you right now, my move to TX is coming, so sessions may become a bit irregular. I do like this a lot, however, and will keep it up as my game save is on Steam Cloud and it'll be very easy to resume play if it is interupted. It is very similar to things I've done on Steam forums and you all seem to like it.
Well anyway, so I titled this "The Dark Side", eh? Yeah, as I implied in prior sessions, I was loathing having to make a settlement out of Tenpines Bluff and Abernathy farm. They are either too close, or the defense radius is quite poor, or the location isn't particularly useful. They would be, sure, fine for small scale rest stops for me. Private places where I can sleep and heal up if needed, but I really want to limit settlements the size of Sanctuary Hills or Starlight Drive In to a small handful in strategic locations.
There is a way to make a settlement yours without Preston Garvey's involvement.
How did I rp this decision in the game? She has taken time and effort to develop Sanctuary Hills and Starlight Drive In, providing a supply of food and water. The settlers under her care are starting to provide. Another settlement nearby could be a potential source of competition for valuable resources. It is better to have that under your control then, eh? Then the expansion suits you. It benefits you, to develop as you see fit.
I head over to Sanctuary Hills and spend the night. Then I head due south. South to begin my plan. I loook for the electrical tower and I see the structure in the distance.
It's a pretty location, nice and hilly and wide open to attack from all sides. It is also far too close to Sanctuary Hills for comfort. The farm is run by Blake Abernathy and he lives there with his wife Connie and daughter Lucy, their cat and their delightful cow, Clarabell. I take aim with my sniper hunting rifle and I aim for Blake's head. I fire.
Attempt 1: HA! This first attempt does NOT go well. I am overwhelmed by all of three. I manage to kill Connie and Lucy and then damn, Blake gets me good and I find myself back at Sanctuary Hills. Okay...
Attempt 2: I approach from a different angle and make it so that I draw out Lucy first, followed by Connie. Tehehe, Connie and her bat. This works well and Blake is, at first, unaware that I've murdered his family, continuing to pick his tatos. :D I aim for his head and do partial damage. Sheeeets, settlers are actually rather strong from an enemy standpoint. He nearly gets me again and forces me off his property and I regroup (read. Hit save on bed in Red Rocket) before heading back to finish the job. I dispose of the bodies and survey my new domain. It really is a pretty farm. I may make something of it later. A private farm, just for me, because the location really is quite lovely. Not so dead-looking as other places in FO.
I spare the cat and Clarabell because I have discovered something, something very, very cool, especially with regard to Miss Clarabell. :D
Jet.
It's cheap to make, only requiring fertilizer and plastic, light as a feather, and sells for quite a bit. Yes, this girl is in the drug trade. Hey, I don't have local leader and I'll never get it, which means my choices will be limited. Like for example, my fiance is sitting pretty at about 15k caps at his level 32 character, even though he's spent like crazy on supply shipments and shops for his settlements. Me, in constrast, at level 18, only have about 4200 caps and I haven't really spent on anything. I'm not at this level at this point yet, by the way, I'm hovering between 14 and 15 at this point of this particular session. He has, however, level 10 charisma and Local Leader.
I trade in a few things. I use Pre-War Money as currency. Sells for more than a cap, so it's actually quite useful. I also trade in Jet, Stimpaks, other drugs that I find, and ammo (mostly 10mm and .38) for junk that contains rare materials.
So, yes, it is nice to keep Clarabell. Good little moo cow and I make her comfortable as I set up my small dwelling, hiding the Abernathy beds behind a series of walls. I eliminate all traces of them.
After a good night's rest, where I finally rid myself of my insomnia - LOL, love the diseases - I head back to Sanctuary Hills and check on my supply of fertilizer and plastic. Woah, like 70 fertilizer and 150 plastic. I forgot I had a brahmin cow here and fix up her enclosure and get to making myself some more Jet. I don't abuse things, only about 30 units for now. :D
It is time to rid myself of the other inconvenient settlement. Tenpines Bluff. Just follow the Railroad tracks past the Thicket excavations. Again, a rather pretty location, but impractically located on the map with very limited build space and scrapable materials. I must be improving my skills because they prove much easier to kill. I stash the bodies in the radroach infested ewwwww house that I freaking can't even scrap. What's up with that, Bethesda?
And I discovered that the same thing applies to Tenpines Bluff as it did in Abernathy, I can't scrap all the beds. This SUCKS. Only the one mattress in the radroach infested ewwww house. And I can't scrap the stupid cabin or ewwww radroach house, which means I'm REALLY limited with what I can do with this sheeeeeety shack for now.
Talk about tiny little living, am I right? But I get the job done, I have a drinking fountain and a small supply of Tatos should I need them. I am exhausted from all the scrapping and trying to fit this stupid bed in the shack so I go to bed.
And I wake up to the sound of people moving!
Sheeeeet!
I ready my gun, expecting the worst when I go outside. Only to see the cute faces of a brahmin staring at me, the chests on her back. Apparently, Tenpines Bluff, cause I had really never visited much in my past playthroughs is on the caravan route of a Lucas Miller. We exchange words and he tells me of the value of wearing good armor, so I see if I can trade with him. Turns out he's got a Metal Helmet. It's one of the helmets that my Fiance is raving about and I trade some of my excess things for it. This is great. I had the Army Helmet before, which was great, but you can't mod it. This one, however, you can mod. :D
Side Note: I forgot to mention that in the Super Duper Mart, I had found a metal chest piece. Another boon to my armor set. I am perking Armorer. The only downside is that I will have rendered a lot of the special armors a moot point by the time I get to them in the game, so probably no Silver Shroud upgrades for me.
I create a save point and see that the Caravan is pulling out. I decide, why not?
Attempt 1: Die when Super mutants attack as we near a medical facility. Car blew up. Pesky Cars.
Attempt 2: My error, passed the downed merchants and engaged the super mutants. Like I mentioned a few entries back, shotguns have spread and I think what happened was that while I hit a super mutant, I also accidently hit one of the caravan guards, causing them to turn on me.
Attempt 3: There was a reason why I was doing this so many bloody times. Among the corpses of the downed merchants, I found a combat rifle. This is a BIG YES! Like Motty and I were talking somewhere on page five, SMode is all about DPS. Yes, standard hunting sniper rifles are great, but to reload after three shots? That's ridiculous. Now thirty or so shots? That's different and a game changer for sniping. My combat shotgun and rifle will now be the weapons I take to the Museum of Freedom.
It is this attempt that proves to be successful and we end up at Greentop Nursery, another location I had planned on acquiring for myself, but with the caravan there, I cannot, so I part ways and hideout at Taffington.
I am a chicken, a little wussy chicken. I can't, I just can't. So I go back to Greentop in the morning, the caravan is gone and then I have a good look at the area with my agent of death sniper rifle ready. I can actually make this settlement work rather nicely. So, by my sheer laziness and my fiance's suggestion for civil planning, the residents of Greentop are spared my evil conquering ways and my "shoot 'em up" phase of acquiring settlements has ended. Though, granted, I'm pretty happy, I've eliminated the two probably silliest locations for large settlements, IMO. I'm curious to see where I am actually sent.
In the next session, I shall fulfill my destiny, as Mama Murphy likes to put it, and finally open the door to the Museum of Freedom. They've been cooped up in there for what? 80-some-odd game days? Whoops. LOL. I shall go up against the Deathclaw and more dangerously, I shall finally let Preston Garvey and the *shudders* Longs into my life. As always, thanks for looking. :D
I am still listed as "hidden" when I enter amid Preston fighting the Raiders. I whip out my new sniper combat rifle and aim. BAM! The raider goes down in one shot to the head. Granted, I aim pretty well on scope. It's basically me playing archery in Skyrim, which was something I was always good at, whether it's mounted combat, snek arch'ry, or non sneak, I can aim like that pretty well. Not in fast-paced stuff, but slower like that, I'm pretty good. I proceed through the maze of broken down rooms that was the Museum, shooting down raiders as I go. 
the minigun, giving me an extra, sheet, only 20 pounds. That's pretty miserable that I only get twenty extra. This is Lone Wanderer, kicking in. It really is one of the best perk groups in the game for SMode. I take the twenty extra pounds though and lug all the crap - still overencumbered - back to Sanctuary hills. Haha, both legs are broken by then and I need to take a stimpak. So yeah, finally, I take a stimpak for the Museum of Freedom, when I'm lugging all the sheeeet home. I scrap my materials and opt for bed, ignoring Preston and crew until the morning. You all can sleep on the floor one more night. 
