u/MightofKimball

I'll freely admit that this won't be my strongest post given that most of it will rely on idle but informed speculation as well as admittedly lukewarm evidence in a lot of my post. Nevertheless, I'd like to see if my claims can hold up to scrutiny and see what others have to say about the fate of these respective communities post-Fallout 2.

Vault City:

First up is what I think is my strongest argument. That being Vault City definitely having been annexed into the NCR post-Fallout 2. My reasoning for this is as follows.

For starters, we can safely rule out that Vault City was wiped out by the Chosen One given that according to both of those endings, Vault City being wiped out became the stuff of legend:

Vault City Ending #5:

"The slaughter of Vault City has become the stuff of legend. One day it was a thriving community, and the next, the bodies of its Citizens lay strewn throughout the streets. It looked as if raiders had sacked the city, but no bodies of the attackers were ever found. Their Vault was plundered of all its technology, and refugees from Gecko soon moved into the broken walls of the city."

Vault City Ending #6:

"The slaughter of Vault City has become the stuff of legend. One day it was a thriving community, and the next, the bodies of its Citizens lay strewn throughout the streets. It looked as if raiders had sacked the city, but no bodies of the attackers were ever found. Their Vault was plundered of all its technology, and the inhabitants of Gecko soon moved into the broken walls of the city. In a few short months, they had rebuilt the city and restored much of the systems that had been damaged by the raiders."

Now as nobody ever brings up what should be a legendary sacking/destruction of what was one of the largest and most influential power players in Northern California back in Fallout 2 nor ever mentions that it was ever resettled by ghouls, I do believe that it's safe to assume that Vault City was never destroyed. The same could be said of Gecko, as well, given that both of their fates are inextricably intertwined:

Gecko Ending #1:

"The Gecko reactor meltdown had terrible consequences for the region. The resultant radioactivity and heat emanating from the reactor killed every living creature within a ten-kilometer radius and poisoned the area for years to come. Vault City's perceived threat from the peaceful Ghouls of Gecko was at an end."

Gecko Ending #5:

"Eventually the citizens of Vault City tired of having their groundwater radiated by the ghoul's leaking atomic reactor in Gecko. In a wave of xenophobic fear and hatred, the well-armed soldiers of Vault City slaughtered the peaceful ghouls and shut down the reactor for good. Unable to harness any additional sources of power Vault City eventually stagnated and died-itself a victim of its own hatred."

I think it's also very safe to conclude that Vault City was never evacuated due to radiation from Gecko's nuclear reactor continuing to contaminate their water supply given that nobody ever mentions this nor do we get any signs of the NCR having second-class citizens who used to live in Vault City:

Vault City Ending #1:

"Over the next few years, the background radiation from Gecko's power plant began to cause mutations in the Vault City population, forcing the Citizens to relocate to NCR. NCR, however, recalling past animosity, relegated the Vault City refugees to the status of second class citizens."

Granted that the only mentions of Vault City that we get in Fallout: New Vegas is from Rose of Sharon Cassidy who claims that the people of Vault City have become pacifists as well as her ending where she heads back West after the player angers her enough to leave their company for good:

Courier Six: "You any good in a fight?"

Rose of Sharon Cassidy: "I'm fair with chucking dynamite {rising smugness} and not bad with a pistol, if I do say so myself. {Beat, a little lower} Carry a knife, too, but that's more for practical reasons. Prefer settling things with my fists, though. Made more friends than corpses in bar fights - plan on keeping it that way. {Frowns, a little defensive} Don't think I'm some kind of Vault City pacifist, though - if things get heated, I'll start shooting, trust me."

Rose of Sharon Cassidy Leaves the Mojave Ending:

"Despite the destruction of Cassidy Caravans, Cass lived for 30 more years. She made her way back West and passed away in a small shack outside of Vault City, the rose pendant still around her neck."

But I do feel that these mentions bolster my arguments, nonetheless. After all, she makes no mention of Vault City being destroyed (an event that's considered to be the stuff of legends, mind you) nor that there's Ghouls who currently inhabit it or that it's been abandoned. If this is going to be the only mention of Vault City in the closest thing to a proper sequel to Fallout 2 (at least as far as I'm aware), then surely this would be a good time to elaborate on these particular fates if they were indeed the canon fate of Vault City.

Even more telling, however, is that she says that Vault City has become pacifistic since the events of Fallout 2. A definite sign that Vault City has survived given that Vault City was anything but pacifistic back in the events of Fallout 2 (being xenophobic isolationist supremacists that despised outsiders and were perfectly willing to genocide the Ghouls of Gecko just on the mere suspicion that they were deliberately contaminating their groundwater with radiation). If anything these references establish the ending where Vault City and Gecko join forces and work together as equal partners as canon given that it wouldn't feel right for pacifists to enslave the Ghouls of Gecko for any reason as they do in another ending:

Gecko Ending #4:

"Optimizing Gecko's power plant became the first step in forging a spirit of cooperation between Gecko and Vault City. Gecko's increased power production became instrumental in helping Vault City's expansion. The harsh xenophobia of many of Vault City's leaders faded into obscurity while ghoul and human labored side-by-side to create a center of learning and tolerance where once had stood only enmity and distrust"

Gecko Ending #3:

"Optimizing Gecko's reactor creates a power surplus in Gecko. The Vault City council, unable to expand because of their limited power supply, yields to internal pressure and is forced to take over Gecko to control the reactor. The peaceful ghouls of Gecko become slaves and spend the rest of their lives serving Vault City"

And now for the smoking gun. The only way that Vault City can survive as an independent city-state is for President Tandi to be removed from office and replaced by Frank Westin as head of the NCR Council/Senate:

Vault City Ending #2:

"The correspondence between NCR and Vault City continued, and a few years after the destruction of the Enclave, Roger Westin assumed the head of the NCR council. He immediately set limits for NCR's expansion north, and in a landmark settlement, passed an amendment that formally recognized Vault City's independence. Shortly after this settlement, Westin suffered a heart attack and retired from politics. He moved north to Vault City for medical treatment and eventually married Joann Lynette in the following year."

Now aside from the fact that we all know that President Tandi retained the presidency up until her death, we also know that the Republic did in fact become the dominant power of Northern California post-Fallout 2 given that Fallout: New Vegas confirms that the NCR eventually annexed Redding. Something that would've been completely impossible under an isolationist Westin presidency given that he straight-up ceases NCR expansion into Northern California once he assumes the presidency. Meaning that only the two endings where the NCR annexes Vault City can possibly be canon:

Vault City Ending #3:

"In the years to come, Vault City suffered greatly from raider attacks. Eventually, the situation grew so desperate the Citizens were forced to request aid from NCR. Within a month, a large detachment of the NCR's military was stationed in Vault City. The military presence quickly became an occupation force, and Vault City became the first of NCR's border territories."

Vault City Ending #4:

"In the years following the destruction of the Enclave, Vault City continued to stagnate, choking on its own isolationism. Its Vault 8 generator, which was never intended to support such a large population, prevented Vault City's necessary expansion. Eventually, the city was absorbed by NCR, which had spread steadily northwards since its founding."

New Reno:

New Reno Bishop Family Takeover Ending:

"The Bishop Family of New Reno rose to prominence over the next few years, forming a strong political alliance with the New California Republic and Vault City. Many mysterious deaths and closed-door proceedings surrounded the formation of the alliance, but in the end, New Reno became part of the 'civilized' world. The other families were soon absorbed, and New Reno became a prime tourist location for the new republic. In the decades after the alliance, several Bishops rose to political power and were instrumental in the passage of several amendments protecting gambling rights and prostitution."

This one is admittedly going to be a tough sell but I do think that I can provide a decent case for New Reno being part of the NCR's overall sphere of influence without necessarily being directly annexed into the Republic wholesale (though this will soon change as I'll explain later).

Fallout: New Vegas confirms that the Bishop Crime Family is not only still in existence but is not still one of if not already the most power crime family in New Reno. My reasoning for this: Fallout: New Vegas confirms the canon existence of the Bishop Child from one of two New Reno endings in Fallout 2 where the Chosen One knocks up either Bishop's wife or Bishop's daughter:

Courier Six: "No, I don't. What makes you think that?"

Bruce Isaac: "Sorry, it's just... you look like his type, y'know? You got that hard-ass wasteland explorer thing going on."

Courier Six: "Why did you come all the way out here from New Reno?"

Bruce Isaac: "You don't know Mr. Bishop. He's not like the other bosses up there. He knows the Wasteland like the back of his hand, and he likes to wander it. I knew if I didn't get way the hell away from New Reno, he'd run me down like a dog."

New Reno Bishop Child Ending #1:

"In the years following the destruction of the Enclave, a new family arose in New Reno, following the example of a simple tribal that had once visited their city. They were few in number but surprisingly resourceful. Driven by religious fervor, they took control of New Reno and put the other families to the spear. After their victory, they sent out many messengers across Northern California looking for their founder, but without success. Many felt that the founder had been taken by the fortune spirits and now dwelled in a golden casino paradise in the sky."

New Reno Bishop Child Ending #2:

"Not long after the destruction of the Enclave, the Bishop Family of New Reno was blessed with a child. This child seemed to have little in common with the Bishops, preferring instead to spend his days exploring the wastes. When he turned thirteen, he seized control of the Bishop Family and led them to victory over the remaining New Reno families. He died quietly in his sleep at the age of seventy-three, never having known his real father."

Now given that we know that the Wright Crime Family is still in existence thanks to Clayton Ettienne over in Westside, we can safely conclude that the New Reno ending where a tribe of fanatical warriors conquers New Reno and exterminates the other crime families is non-canon:

Courier Six: "What's your story?"

Clayton Ettienne: "Well, I've lived in Nevada all my life. Started out in New Reno, but headed down here as soon as I got the chance. If you can believe it, things are even worse back home. The whole city's still run by crime families. Used to be the Mordinos and Wrights. Now it's the Wrights and Van Graffs. Seems like things never get better. Anyway, that's all behind me now."

We can also conclude from Clayton Ettienne's statement that neither the Mordino Crime Family nor the Salvatore Crime Family took over the city given his confirmation of the Mordino Crime Family's fall from grace (not to mention how they only survive if the Mordino Crime Family becomes the dominant power of Northern California which we know for a fact didn't happen) and the fact that the Salvatore Crime Family never gets mentioned in Fallout: New Vegas (clearly suggesting that they didn't survive the events of Fallout 2).

As for the actual power and influence of the Wright Crime Family, we can safely rule out the New Reno endings where the Wright Crime Family wiped out the other crime families with the ordnance of the Sierra Army Depot or take over New Reno and transform it into a proper civilized city given that the Bishop Crime Family still exists in addition to confirmation from both Clayton Ettienne and Stella from the Honest Hearts DLC that New Reno is still violently anarchic and chaotic:

New Reno Wright Family Takeover Ending #1:

"Less than a month after the Enclave's destruction, a mob war broke out in New Reno streets. The Wrights, armed with an arsenal of weaponry that dated back to the pre-War years, leveled the casinos of the other families with rocket launchers. The 'mob war' was clocked as lasting a little over forty-three minutes, and when the smoke cleared, half of New Reno had been demolished. To this day, it is commonly taught that the Wright Family were the founders of New Reno."

New Reno Wright Family Takeover Ending #2:

"Within a year of the Enclave's destruction, the Wright Family turned from criminal activity to legitimate pursuits. Several schools and churches were established in New Reno, along with a law enforcement body that crippled the influence of the families. Though New Reno lost much of its edge, the city obtained a certain solidity that appealed to newcomers. Many came to Reno, not to visit, but to live, and the population increased threefold. Today the test scores of New Reno high school graduates are greater than many Californian schools before the War."

Courier Six: "What was that like to grow up in New Reno?"

Stella: "Imagine New Vegas if there was no Mr. House-type fella keeping the peace, then give everybody a gun and a Jet addiction. Town's run by a bunch of crime families, no law to speak of. Make trouble, and you wind up buried in Golgotha, outside town. The scuzz factor's off the charts. Non-stop whoring and drugs. Couldn't walk down the street without getting asked to star in a porn movie. So I got my ass out of there while I still owned it. Guess I figured the answer to every problem was rule of law. Naive, huh?"

Nevermind how the continued existence of the Bishop Crime Family as well as the new arrival of the Van Graffs automatically rules out the Wright Crime Family having full control of New Reno on their own.

As for the rest of argument, Carter over in the NCRCF claims to be a citizen of New Reno whereas Mags of the Misfits claims to be born and raised in New Reno before signing up to join the NCR Army:

Courier Six: "What did you do to end up here in the first place?"

Carter: "I worked in a casino in New Reno, and one of the pit bosses decided he didn't like me. Framed me over some caps, and I ended up in here."

Courier Six: "Tell me a little about yourself."

Mags: "Not much to tell, really. I grew up in New Reno, joined up, took my shot at being a Ranger. Didn't make it, so I'm stuck with this crew of jokers."

It simply wouldn't be possible for a citizen of an independent New Reno to be imprisoned in an NCR penal colony unless the NCR at the very least had a substantial presence in the city whereas a native of New Reno being able to enlist into and join the NCR Army only seems possible if the NCR already had a strong foothold in New Reno.

Now for the negatives. The fact stands that as of the events of Fallout: New Vegas, the Bishop Crime Family doesn't have full control of New Reno given the continued existence of the Wright Crime Family and the arrival of the Van Graffs (who are openly hostile to the NCR). In other words, this alone precludes the possibility of the NCR being able to annex New Reno outright given that they wouldn't have the means to do so without waging a full-scale war against much of the city.

But the final nail of the coffin in New Reno being a fully-annexed NCR territory is as follows:

Courier Six: "<Lie> The Omertas are planning to attack New Reno. It's none of NCR's concern."

Col. Cassandra Moore: "[SUCCEEDED] I wouldn't dismiss it that lightly, but it's nothing we need get involved with for now. Good work, I suppose."

Suffice it to say that there's no way on Earth that the NCR would ever allow a foreign aggressor to attack a fully-annexed territory of the Republic. And they certainly wouldn't be so dismissive of plans by a possible foreign aggressor to attack New Reno if it were truly annexed into the NCR.

Final Verdict: The NCR clearly has a strong presence in the city thanks to the Bishop Crime Family but they can't exert full control/authority over the city due to the Wright Crime Family and the Van Graffs guaranteeing the continued de jure independence of New Reno. However, the confirmed canon existence of the Bishop Child means that the Bishop Crime Family will eventually defeat the Wright Crime Family and drive the Van Graffs out of New Reno as per the second Bishop Child ending for New Reno in Fallout 2. Meaning that it will eventually be properly annexed by the Republic once this unfolds.

New Arroyo:

This is definitely going to be my shortest and weakest argument out of the three. All I have to offer is this quote from Emily Ortal of the Followers of the Apocalypse:

Courier Six: "How long have you been with the Followers?"

Emily Ortal: "About five years now. I have family back in Arroyo, but this is where all of the good work is being done, so to speak. NCR taxes and inflation have been hard for a lot of people to deal with, and most of the money is going to the war effort. There's not much funding for medical research with OSI or any other group - not unless it has a military application, anyway."

Now while I'd personally argue that it makes absolutely zero logical sense that Emily Ortal would just randomly bring up New Arroyo out of nowhere only to then go on a tangent about NCR taxation and inflation (which she wouldn't even bring up unless New Arroyo was part of the NCR as said tangent wouldn't make sense, otherwise), I can understand why some would view this as being insufficient evidence. This is far from being a smoking gun thus I can't say with certainty or even any strong confidence that New Arroyo is part of the NCR. Though I do think that it is.

And that's all she wrote. Cheers.

A common claim made of the NCR Armed Forces as we see them in Fallout: New Vegas is that "they can barely afford to purchase basic 5.56 x 45mm NATO Service Rifles and body armor" for NCR Troopers with the NCR Army being forced to make-do with likes of 20-gauge Caravan Shotguns and 5.56 x 45mm NATO Varmint Rifles for "the majority" of their NCR Troopers who "mostly" have to make do without body armor. The entire basis behind this claim: a mere two quotes from a random discharged former Staff Sergeant of the NCR Army who just acts as if she knows everything just because she served at one point:

Courier Six: "How did you end up selling weapons?"

Arms Merchant: "Going home didn't feel right, not with those savages camped on the other side of the river, sharpening their knives. And I still get to see my old platoon when they pass through here... make sure the new C.O. is treating them right, and sneak them extra ammo. Anyway, I was always complaining about the standard issue gear. The new kids don't even get body armor, can you believe that?"

Courier Six: "NCR doesn't have the caps to outfit their troops?"

Arms Merchant: "Vegas is bleeding us dry. We're tossing caps at a hundred different problems, while Caesar bides his time and lets us wear ourselves out. This war is gonna bankrupt the NCR, unless we finish off the Legion fast and dirty. {Emphasis on "fast" and "dirty"} We shouldn't be perched up at the Dam - we ought to be crossing the Colorado and sticking a boot up Caesar's ass."

Now aside from the fact that she very clearly doesn't know what she's talking about (I'd wager my bottom dollar that she doesn't have access to the NCR Treasury or any relevant macro-economic data to back up her claims, but I digress), let's look at her exact words. The key words here being "the new kids". Meaning recent arrivals which, in turn, means that the lack of body armor would be an issue for an absolute minority of NCR Troopers and, even then, only those who have only just arrived in theater. Here's Chief Hanlon himself to elaborate even further on this topic:

Courier Six: "How is NCR doing?"

Chief Hanlon: "It's no secret that we've had better campaigns. Holding this whole length of river isn't easy. We're stretched thin and the Long 15 just keeps getting longer. Slow to get supplies. Slower to get reinforcements. NCR's senate has got funds tied up at the Boneyard and President Kimball ordered our most experienced rangers to chase ghosts down in Baja."

Courier Six: "Why are funds tied up at the Boneyard?"

Chief Hanlon: "Senate elections are coming up. Local representatives don't want to push any more funding to the Mojave campaign because it's unpopular. Most of the folks around the Boneyard haven't been to New Vegas and probably never will. All they know is that their money gets sucked away to this desert and their brothers, sisters, sons, and daughters die here."

Courier Six: "What about the troopers?"

Chief Hanlon: "You've seen it yourself. Some of them don't even have proper service rifles or armor. Our heavy infantry, power armor units, they're back in NCR territory protecting the interests of Brahmin barons against small-time raiders. Brahmin barons only have one vote at the ballot box, but they have a lot of money to throw around."

Here's the actual situation facing the NCR Army out in the Mojave Wasteland. They have at a bare minimum thousands of NCR Troopers scattered across the vast expanse of the Mojave Wasteland (hundreds of miles of solid, irradiated desert with very little in the way of roads and supporting infrastructure) who also have to cover the entire length of this particular portion of the Colorado River in the region (hundreds of miles, to be exact), as well. All while having to rely on a long, arduous, and extremely unreliable logistical shoestring in the form of the Long 15 (hence the name) to receive reinforcements and additional supplies from New California proper.

Another point that people tend to miss when discussing the logistics of the NCR Army in the Mojave Wasteland: the NCR Army's main supply line leading into the region that ran through the Divide was literally nuked out of existence right before the First Battle of Hoover Dam:

Courier Six: "I'm guessing you don't like Caesar very much."

Joshua Graham: "Love the sinner, hate the sin. With Caesar, it's often very difficult to see through all of that sin to the person inside. I can say that we were both lucky that NCR's supply lines and land routes north of Mojave Outpost were destroyed before the Battle of Hoover Dam. Something bad happened near Death Valley, at a place called the Divide. NCR couldn't cut across anymore and it slowed down their reinforcements. Terrible storms ripped entire companies apart before they even got to Nevada soil. The aftermath of Hoover Dam could have been even worse for Caesar."

Courier Six: "The Divide blocked all of their northern land routes?"

Joshua Graham: "Not all of them. But they couldn't take 127 north to get around the mountains. As if Death Valley weren't enough, they had the Divide and Big Empty to deal with. From what the Legion's explorers reported, the Big Empty may as well have been a wall to any living thing approaching it."

Losing the Divide while simultaneously having to face Death Valley (the name is self-explanatory) and the Big Empty (described as being a wall to any living thing by Joshua Graham) would naturally exacerbate and worsen the NCR's supply situation in the Mojave Wasteland and on its own thoroughly disproves the claim that the NCR "can't afford" to outfit its soldiers.

As Chief Hanlon also points out, the NCR Senate has been actively slashing funding to the Mojave Campaign on account of its unpopularity with individual NCR Senators wanting to maximize their chances at being re-elected in the upcoming Senatorial Elections by initiating budget cuts for the Mojave Campaign so as to appeal to the masses. Note how at no point does he claim that the NCR is "verging on bankruptcy" or "running out of money." In other words, forgive me for taking the word of the head of the NCR Rangers over the word of a lowly ex-platoon leader in the NCR Army who's trying to peddle her own personal experiences as being widespread across the entire NCR Army without any serious proof.

In any case, I still feel that more proof is necessary and I'm more than prepared to offer it. Beginning with the belief that the NCR can't afford Energy Weapons. Suffice it to say that I can disprove such a claim right here, right now:

Courier Six: "Just start at the beginning."

Gloria Van Graff: "I saw an opportunity and negotiated a deal with the NCR - I help draw some of their enemy's troops into a trap and they agree to buy from me."

Courier Six: "What will you do now?"

Gloria Van Graff: "It'll be all I can do to supply the NCR with the amount of weapons they want, so I'll be pretty busy for the foreseeable future."

Gloria Van Graff: "Good, you're here. Do you remember that package I had you deliver? Well, the client liked the sample and put in a massive order. It's possibly the biggest order we've ever supplied. I've had to repeatedly assure my mother that everything will go smoothly."

Courier Six: "Wouldn't you have made just as much money dealing with the Legion?"

Gloria Van Graff: "Hardly. They've got a lot of soldiers, and slaves. But they don't come close to having the amount of wealth the NCR has. When I said we were going to be rich, I meant it. The deal I brokered with the NCR netted me five times what Caesar paid. Keeping Caesar's money was just a bonus."

The NCR not only paid 5× more for that Energy Weapons shipment (an enormous shipment that was the largest that her family business had ever sold, I might add) than the Legion did, but they also granted the Van Graffs, a lifelong enemy of the Republic, several weapons contracts, as well. Any doubts that the NCR can't afford or doesn't want to supply substantial amounts of its forces with Energy Weapons should therefore be immediately dispelled.

So I'm supposed to believe that the NCR "can't afford" to outfit and equip its troops properly and yet the NCR can somehow afford to spend immense sums on Energy Weapons? Color me unconvinced.

To further disprove these claims, let's look at the Camp McCarran Weapons Manifest:

Camp McCarran Weapons Manifest

50 Hunting Rifles
-28 in use
-10 in repair
-8 in storage*

50 Assault Rifles
-25 in use
-6 in repair
-12 in storage*

20 Battle Rifles
-10 in use
-2 in repair
-5 in storage*

"Increase Gun Runners weapons shipment and modify manifests to make these numbers match the earlier totals. Boyd is getting too suspicious."

Note that all of these guns hail from the Gun Runners. Who only sell their weapons in nothing less than mint condition and at full value/price. Something that Isaac will attest to:

Courier Six: "Just give McCarran some used weapons. I mean, as long as they work, right?"

Isaac: "[FAILED] Sorry, but blackening our reputation with our biggest client isn't worth the risk."

Courier Six: "Gun Runners are skilled enough to refurbish weapons like new, right? You're overthinking this."

Isaac: "[SUCCEEDED] You're right. I suppose we could refurbish used and damaged weapons to fill the order. They'll be in like new condition and then we can use our loader to make fresh ammo from spent brass. We'll have to wait a few days for gunpowder, but this might just work out. Tell Contreras the extra guns and ammo will be in the next shipment."

So that's a grand total of 337,500 bottle caps (110,000 bottle caps for 50 .308 Winchester Hunting Rifles, 197,500 bottle caps for 50 5mm Assault Carbines and 30,000 bottle caps for 20 .308 Winchester Battle Rifles) for all of these guns. That's literally enough to purchase 625 5.56 x 45mm NATO Service Rifles (at 540 bottle caps apiece; nearly enough to arm a full battalion of NCR Troopers) or 1,125 sets of NCR Trooper Armor (at 300 bottle caps apiece; enough to outfit nearly 1 full battalion and half of a battalion of NCR Troopers). So I'm supposed to believe that the NCR Army "can't afford" basic 5.56 x 45mm NATO Service Rifles and NCR Trooper Armor in bulk and yet they can afford to splurge vast sums of money on large quantities of far more expensive firearms? Once again, color me unconvinced.

Bear in mind that the NCR Armed Forces account for 90% of all of the Gun Runners' business with the Gun Runners only willing to conduct business in the form of bulk business as confirmed by Isaac and Alexander respectively:

Courier Six: "Arrange a temporary supply deal with other merchants. It'll still lead to a profit for you."

Isaac: "[SUCCEEDED] I guess we'll have to. If Caesar's Legion drives the NCR from the area, there goes ninety percent of our business. I don't like the idea of buying supplies from our competition, but it's only temporary. We'll call in extra supplies from our distributors. Let Contreras know we'll have the extra guns and ammo ready for the next shipment."

Courier Six: "A gun nut like you must have some weapons stashed around here."

Alexander: "[FAILED] Do I look like a fucking arms caravan to you? Do you think the Gun Runners keep the NCR military supplied by carrying weapons and ammo from the Boneyard out here by the armload? Get a clue. We have caravans. We deal in bulk."

Meaning that the NCR can very obviously afford to purchase top-of-the-line, world-class, mint-condition firearms in bulk at exorbitantly high prices from the single largest, most efficient and most skilled weapons manufacturers in all of the Wastelands. Weapons manufacturing artists who just so happen to be the top supplier of weapons and ammunition for the NCR Armed Forces as confirmed by Alexander:

Courier Six: "Tell me about the Gun Runners."

Alexander: "The Gun Runners have been putting rapid-fire death-dealing in the hands of anyone who needed to defend himself for over a century. We're the NCR's #1 supplier of weapons and ammunition. You might call us an unofficial branch of the army."

And now for the smoking gun. Per Alexander:

Alexander: "{Late Game}The orders for service rifles and ammunition have been pouring in from McCarran so fast we can't keep up. Hell of a fight is coming."

Funny how the NCR "can't afford" 5.56 x 45mm NATO Service Rifles and yet the NCR is placing so many orders for them that the Gun Runners are literally being overwhelmed with the demand for them.

In conclusion, I sincerely hope that I've put this myth to rest. Cheers.

A popular misconception of the NCR going into the events of Fallout: New Vegas is that due to the West Coast Chapters of the Brotherhood of Steel destroying all of the NCR's gold reserves during the NCR-Brotherhood War, the NCR government is teetering on the verge of bankruptcy by the events of the game and struggles to equip their army with the most basic of equipment as a direct consequence.
Suffice it to say that this couldn't be further from the truth and I'll be more than happy to disprove such a claim once and for all. Beginning with the claim that the West Coast Chapters of the Brotherhood of Steel destroyed "all" of the NCR's gold reserves.

NCR-Brotherhood War:

To quote J.E. Sawyer himself:

"It happened during the BoS-NCR war. I believe Alice McLafferty mentions it, but I'm not positive. She doesn't detail the events in this much detail, but here they are:

The attacks caused NCR citizens (and others who held NCR currency) to panic, resulting in a rush to reclaim the listed face value of currency from NCR's gold reserves. Inability to do this at several locations (especially near the periphery of NCR territory where reserves were normally low) caused a loss of faith in NCR's ability to back their currency.

Though NCR eventually stopped the BoS attacks, they decided to protect against future problems by switching to fiat currency. While this meant that BoS could no longer attack a) reserves or b) the source of production (all NCR bills are made in the Boneyard), some people felt more uneasy about their money not having any "real" (backed) value. This loss of confidence increased with NCR inflation, an ever-looming spectre of fiat currency.

Because the Hub links NCR with the Mojave Wasteland and beyond, the merchants there grew frustrated with NCR's handling of the currency crisis. They conspired to re-introduce the bottle cap as a water-backed currency that could "bridge the gap" between NCR and Legion territory. In the time leading up to the re-introduction, they did the footwork to position themselves properly. If some old-timer had a chest full of caps, they didn't care (in fact, they thought that was great, since the old-timers would enthusiastically embrace the return of the cap), but they did seek to control or destroy production facilities and truly large volumes of caps (e.g. Typhon's treasure) whenever possible."

Here's what actually happened. The West Coast Chapters began staging attacks against small-scale NCR government gold deposits out in the frontier territories of the NCR. An act that sparked a panic among the people living out there which, in turn, caused them to flood said small gold deposits out in the frontier for the purpose of redeeming their NCR Dollars for gold. Now as gold deposits out in the frontier territories of the NCR were naturally quite small and didn't have much in the way of gold to begin with, they predictably weren't able to meet the demand for gold which inevitably resulted in the people of the NCR's frontier territories losing faith in the NCR Dollar.
To solve the crisis and prevent any further Brotherhood attacks on their gold reserves, the NCR government abandoned the gold standard and transformed the NCR Dollar into a fiat currency.

Meaning that from that moment forward, the NCR Dollar would derive its value purely from amount of faith and trust that people had in the NCR government. Now as faith and trust in the NCR government was practically non-existent out in the frontier territories of the Republic to begin with, this predictably resulted in the NCR Dollar cratering in value out in said frontier territories. Leading the great merchant houses of the Hub to capitalize on the situation to resurrect the bottle cap as currency and back it with standard measurements of fresh, clean water just like back in Fallout 1. Now as fresh, clean water is very much worth its weight in gold in a post-apocalyptic environment, this naturally lead to the bottle cap supplanting the NCR Dollar as the dominant currency of the Republic's frontier territories. As Chomps Lewis over in Sloan points out:

Courier Six: "You don't get paid in caps?"

Chomps Lewis: "Nope. The NCR's been trying to switch over to using paper money, like in the Pre-War days. Trouble is that the exchange rates ain't exactly fair. For example, a hundred bucks in NCR money is valued at roughly half that in caps around here. Seems like a rotten deal for us, but work is work."

The True State of the NCR Dollar Going Into Fallout: New Vegas:

The key words being "around here". Meaning that in areas such as New Vegas and the broader Mojave Wasteland, frontier territories in the outermost fringes of NCR borders where Republic authority and control is still quite weak and far from being uncontested, the NCR Dollar will always be a lesser currency to the bottle cap by virtue of faith and trust in the NCR government predictably being at an all-time low.

It also doesn't help that as J.E. Sawyer himself pointed out, the bottle cap is meant to serve as an entirely neutral economic/financial bridge linking the Republic Core Regions back West to the Legion-ruled East that all but ensures that the untamed frontier territories between them can maintain at least some modicum of independence from either of them. This does not mean, however, that this would be a problem that the NCR Dollar faces back West in the Republic Core Regions.

After all, the NCR is quite literally at its strongest, most powerful and most influential back West in New California. To quote Jas Wilkins:

Courier Six: "Are you from California?"

Jas Wilkins: "Born and raised. Things back in California are better than they've ever been, according to my grandpa. The Raiders are mostly gone now and it's easy enough to get a job at one of the mills or farms. But now there's taxes and laws and other things. The NCR keeps things safe and orderly, but it's all very boring. So, I came out east towards the frontier."

To quote the Official F:NV Game Guide:

New California Republic:

National Pride:

Fallout: New Vegas Official Game Guide Collector's Edition p.455

"Ask almost any NCR citizen, and he or she will tell you: the NCR is the greatest nation on Earth. And it's only going to get better. For over 65 years, it's gotten bigger, stronger, and richer. Its military can kick anyone's ass and has done just that on several dramatic occasions that the citizen can tell you about. NCR citizens get to choose their leaders; they have rights guaranteed by law; and a lot of people are making good Caps and moving up in life. It's hard to argue with them. Especially since the NCR is the only nation known to exist at this point in history."

Controversy over Economic Development:

Fallout: New Vegas Official Game Guide Collector's Edition p.456

"The NCR's economy is based on two resources: its great Brahmin herds, and swaths of land that have been restored to arable condition. These provide the nation with meat, leather, and starchy vegetables. During President Tandi's presidency, regulations limited the number of cattle head and the acreage of fields that could be owned by a single person. Despite constant pressure from the Stockmen's Association and Republican Farmer's Committee, such regulations loosened only a little so long as Tandi was in office. Following her death, however, they eroded until President Kimball overturned them completely. As a result, the past 12 years have seen the rise of the Brahmin Barons and Agri-Barons: captains of industry who are, by post-apocalyptic standards, spectacularly wealthy. This has given birth to a number of cottage industries, from the rebirth of luxury goods production to "journalism" that reports on the latest purchases, commissions, and "life lessons" of the newly rich and famous.

The past 12 years has also seen a change in attitudes towards collective welfare. Citizens of the NCR rarely face significant dangers on a daily basis, and survival is an assumption rather than an aspiration. Citizens are far more reluctant to share food and other resources, and the person who provides services free of charge, whether it's something as quotidian as sewing or as rarefied as surgical expertise, are now the exception rather than the rule. An added economic strain is the scarcity of salvageable goods. Sixty-five years of scavenging has done a good job of picking clean the wastes of what was once Southern California. Rare are those individuals who can make a living by scavenging and hunting what they need. A consequence of these economic and cultural transformations has been the rebirth of wage labor. Whereas one's labor was until recently seen as benefitting and belonging to a collective (whether a family or small town), it has now become a commodity. To earn their keep, many citizens must seek an employer and trade the sweat of their brow for Caps.

Citizens of the NCR hold a variety of opinions about these developments. Many boast of their nation's economic strength; others decry what they feel has been lost. Many curse the selfishness of their fellow citizens, usually while pursuing aims that will benefit only themselves or their families. Here in the Vegas wastes, however, nearly all citizens will agree on one matter: opportunity has dried up back home, and to earn a fortune, one must come East."

New California proper (southern California, to be specific) is incredibly safe and stable with a powerful, booming economy and employment in Republic factories, mills, workshops, farms, ranches and the NCR military being plentiful (despite obvious issues with wealth/income inequality/disparity and lack of real opportunities to make your fortune). Even Rose of Sharon Cassidy, who's extremely critical of the NCR's conduct out in the Mojave Wasteland, points out that roads back in New California are actually quite safe compared to almost anywhere else in the Wastelands.

Courier Six: "What, like a courier?"

Rose of Sharon Cassidy: "Well, not as glamorous, I guess - roads back West were safer in most places. {Beat, to herself} Most. Anyway, occurred to me I could scratch the traveling itch and get paid for it. Cassidy Caravans formed around me, rest is history."

So why, pray tell, would faith and trust in the NCR government in literal NCR Central be falling in any way, shape, form or fashion? After all, everybody living here would have been born and raised as dyed-in-the-wool NCR citizens who would have only ever known Republic rule for their entire lives. It makes no sense at all to claim that the NCR Dollar would have lost any of its value here given that faith and trust in the NCR government would be at a permanent all-time high. Of course, it would definitely vary in other areas of Republic-ruled territories back West that aren't necessarily frontier territories of the Republic but are still not entirely within the ironclad grip of the NCR on account of only having been annexed into the NCR a couple of decades before the events of Fallout: New Vegas.

Northern California and Oregon (Redding and New Arroyo, for example) and Nevada (New Reno in particular) would absolutely be experiencing inflation of the NCR Dollar due to only just recently being annexed into the Republic right after the events of Fallout 2 (which is set 40 years before the events of Fallout: New Vegas) though I personally would have a hard time believing that it would be anywhere near what we see in the likes of New Vegas given that they are definitive NCR territory rather than backwater frontier territories regardless. Either way, there's absolutely no evidence that the NCR Dollar has been supplanted by the bottle cap as the main currency of New California proper or the overall West as a whole with the NCR Dollar very much still being the pre-dominant currency of both.

The overall point: the NCR very literally cannot go "bankrupt" due to having the unique (being one of only two factions in the entire Fallout franchise to have their own unique currency, mind you) ability to mint, print and distribute their own currency to their heart's content.

NCR Control of the Bottle Cap:

Even assuming that the bottle cap has replaced the NCR Dollar entirely even back West, here's the simple facts of the matter:

1. Who mints and distributes the bottle caps as a currency? The great merchant houses of the Hub.
2. Who controls the Hub? Obviously the NCR given that the Hub was very literally one of the founding settlements/states of the Republic that's been part of the NCR from the very beginning.
3. Who controls the great merchant houses of the Hub specifically? The NCR given that they are headquartered in, based in and operating out of NCR Central with the great merchant houses of the Hub being integral to the rise of the NCR in the first place.
4. Who controls all of the fresh, clean water of the West (including the virtually limitless water supplies of Lake Mead, Lake Las Vegas, the Colorado River and all of the other water sources of the Mojave Wasteland by the events of Fallout: New Vegas)? The NCR, of course.

What does this mean, exactly? Simple: the bottle cap is a literal de-facto NCR currency given that they have full absolute control over the only legal/legitimate means of production, distribution and backing the bottle cap as a viable currency.

Meaning that the NCR could literally never "run out" of bottle caps as they quite literally own the currency.

Even if one wants to argue that the bottle cap is fully independent of the NCR government's control, the fact stands that the great merchant houses of the Hub wouldn't want what's easily and without a single doubt their single largest, wealthiest, most important customer to ever go broke for any reason whatsoever. Meaning that they would do everything humanly possible to ensure that the NCR government has all of the bottle caps that it would ever need for the simple reason that those bottle caps will inevitably end up in their own pockets, anyways.

In conclusion, the NCR simply cannot go bankrupt given that it has its own currency and has absolute control over the bottle cap currency.