Brotherhood of Steel
Perhaps the most iconic faction of Fallout, the Brotherhood have continually evolved (some would say devolved) in both their visuals and their tone.
As an aside... I magnetized my Power Armored soldiers heads and arms! Woot!
Opinions of Steel
The Brotherhood of Steel is one of the crowd favorite factions for Fallout. Unfortunately they have had a tortured history in how their lore has been used... with both Interplay and Bethesda refusing to give up on them and be more original as they've continued to make Fallout Games.
Fallout 1, 2, Tactics, BOS, 3, New Vegas, 4, and 76... all have shoehorned in the Brotherhood. Whilst I enjoyed most of these games, I think Fallout 1 and Tactics used the Brotherhood best... and even though Tactics established the lore necessary to continue shoehorning the Brotherhood into East Coast based Fallouts, it was very true to the nature of the BOS and treated the topic seriously. Beastmaster factions notwithstanding!
The worst usage of the BOS was of course Fallout 76 which had every reason NOT to include the Brotherhood based on geography and timeline. It just goes to show how little Bethesda thinks through their lore decisions. I understand that with Fallout 3 it would have been too risky to leave out the BOS... and Fallout 4 actually returns them to their original mandate and they are a necessary fulcrum against the Institute.
However, Fallout is now a major money-maker and could have afforded to ditch the BOS for a game or two such as Fallout 76. Instead Bethesda chose to take much more serious and ultimately damaging risks with that title (prequel, online, no significant NPCs, etc.).
My personal vision would be for the Brotherhood to claim much of the Northeast (possibly conquering the Commonwealth to Washington DC) and becoming the landlords of the region. The various citizens of this region would be forced to pay tribute to their feudal lords who in turn offer limited technological benefits and monster hunting to the locals... a strained relationship that would put the Brotherhood in the position of occasionally putting down rebellions. I think this is a good (and dark) direction to take the Brotherhood in.
These are not nice people... in general they are perfectly content to sit in bunkers (castles) and tinker away on what THEY think is important. Compared to the New California Republic they would be two-bit power... militarily threatening in a short-term sense, but easily defeated in any protracted war involving attrition... more-so if the hearts and minds of their "serfs" ever came into play.
The irony that a band that charges itself with the preservation of technology for future generations has only controversially considered they should begin the work of actually building the future... is delicious. I would take advantage of this for storytelling as they did quite effectively in Fallout 1, New Vegas, and Fallout 3.
I really love the Brotherhood models, they are extremely well done in my opinion, and I'm a big fan of the T-60. Though I would have been fine with the T-60 model simply being an update to Fallout 3's T-45. This would have been a tad more lore friendly and I don't think anyone objects to simply revamping the art of the game so long as extreme changes are avoided. Which certainly the T-60 is not a grand departure from the T-45.
I started with painting my PVC Power Armored soldier and ended up hating him... well... not liking him very much. Whilst the lack of detail in the PVC is certainly notable... my main objection was how my base-coat of gunmetal came out and drowned the details too much. All the resin models started with a wolf grey, then uniform grey, and then a sturdy drybrush of gunmetal. This resulted in a much duller steel look and I love the result.
Magnetizing all the arms and heads (well, not the single trooper who is kneeling, as his arms are one piece with the torso) was a smart investment for the future. As Modiphius comes out with additional models, I'll be able to create new and unique Power Armor figures on the fly... and I can't wait to get an extra helmet one day for poor old Danse!
