The Common Folk

Most communities throughout the wasteland are predicated on three things... farming, mutual defense, and fair-play. So it isn't surprising that small farming communities form ad-hoc bands of militias when a large threat emerges... such as a new raider gang, Super Mutants, or Ghoul horde.

Less common, is when these communities successfully form a network between them and begin establishing a "standing army" of full-time defenders... as this requires a relatively high level of stability and prosperity to maintain. Once established, such networks do tend to grow and solidify and become easier and easier to maintain... this is exactly how Shady Sands was able to transform itself and fellow communities into the New California Republic.

A similar pattern of development is and has been occurring throughout much of the former United States, though none have yet repeated the scope of the NCR. The Greencoats are one such example.

After the fall of the institute and the second founding of the Commonwealth Minutemen, many travelers began spreading word of their success... and in time, their methodology and ingenuity was documented and disseminated to other parts of the United States. In essence, the Greencoats and other such organizations are "franchises" of the original Minutemen model.

This model includes several innovations/policies such as:

• The rotation of soldiers from civilian to military life in shifts, which helps ensure the loyalty of troops to the community first and not the organization itself.
• Soldiers must be recruited from residents of communities. Wanderers are rarely permitted to join prior to 5 years residence.
• Written training manuals and technical instructions on the maintenance, use, and construction of Laser Muskets, standardized kits, leather armor, and more.

Whilst these organizations still vary greatly, their tactics and equipment are fairly consistent and well-proven against dangerous wildlife and poorly organized raider gangs. Indeed, the dissemination of "The Preston Protocols" is often credited for the recent decline in overall raider populations. Unfortunately, this has also led to the consolidation of raider gangs into larger and larger groups who've remained operating by improving their equipment and methodology.

Clearly the "age of the raider" isn't over, but the organizational structures for both settlements and raiders is escalating and becoming more sophisticated continent wide.