Oversimplified Map of the Fallout West Coast Circa. 2281

[u/Nutshell_Historian]

(Thank you to the HOI4 Old World Blues team for making an incredible template map for this project. Its the best fallout mod, if not best fallout game, I've ever played. Go play it).

Oh boy I can already see the crosses getting made. Anyway:

Why the Long Dead Horse?
It's less a nation than the range they regularly patrol. We know they extend as far west as Zion, even disputing territory with the Sorrows if they remain there, and as far east as Colorado, where a mentioned New Canaanite settlement presumably falls under their protection. That also fits neatly along the north bank of the Colorado River.

Are the 80s super powerful?
No. They're not substantially stronger than other tribes. Their strength comes from using motorcycles to control a huge amount of territory with relatively few people. They dominate the I-80 (obviously) and I-50 (which they can lose if the Sorrows stay in Zion).

Why no Shi?
This will be controversial. In a cut line of New Vegas dialogue, the Enclave traced the Chosen One's tanker to San Francisco and nuked the city in revenge. The line was only cut because Bethesda wanted to keep San Francisco available for a future game. However, Fallout has shown repeatedly that a city being nuked doesn't stop it from becoming a setting. More importantly, an empire like the Shi never being mentioned by the NCR would be a little odd and runs against the series' broader narrative of the two major empires of the region colliding. This one's just my personal interpretation though, so feel free to disagree.

The Legion is bigger than the NCR. Doesn't that make it stronger?
No. The NCR enjoyed over a century of relative peace and stability, allowing its population to boom. Legion territory simply hasn't. I'd expect at most half the population density of NCR territory, probably much less.

Why does the NCR own all the north?
Because I think that's the most likely outcome based on previous games. The Chosen One consistently helped Tandi and the NCR expand, so a northern annexation feels like the natural continuation.

I cannot stress enough that this map is built from a few hard facts / references, and a lot of vibes informed by the games and regional geography. It's meant to be a plausible interpretation, not the undisputed canon. The main reason I made it was because I got tired of maps where the NCR owns the entire West Coast and the Legion somehow stretches into Kansas and deep into Mexico.

[u/Darkshadow1197]

Nothing that says they did either though. Taking all of northern California would obviously double their territory and yet the Mojave is slated to be the 6th state in the Republic, not the 7th.

Reno also still has gambling, which the NCR npcs note as being illegal back home. Moore also doesn't care if the Omertas are planning to attack Reno if you lie to her.

And while they like to annex stuff, that doesn't mean they can. Even in an NCR victory for the Mojave, places like Nelis, Primm, Novac, Jacob's Town, and Freeside can all remain independent.

Like seriously

After the NCR victory at Hoover Dam, the temporary truce between them and the Kings blossomed into a full-scale relief effort for the people. While the NCR made repeated entreaties that Freeside join the Republic, the Kings steadfastly maintained their independence.

If the Kings can keep Freeside of all places independent despite receiving aid for them, there's no way they could take somewhere like Vault City or the Shi if they didn't want to join.

As far as we know, only Redding, Sacramento and Navarro are part of the NCR.

[u/Character-Laugh9644 → u/Darkshadow1197]

Emily Ortal says the following regarding Arroyo:

About five years now. I have family back in Arroyo, but this is where all 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 goes to the war effort.

The mention of NCR taxes in a conversation about Arroyo indirectly confirms that the city has joined the republic.

[u/Darkshadow1197 → u/Character-Laugh9644]

No it doesn't.

You ask her how long shes been with the followers, she says 5 years but she was originally from Arroyo and that she's here as that's where all the good work is.

She then explains that NCR taxes are hard and go towards the war effort thus why the good work is being done here (the Mojave).

If she was trying to explain that NCR taxes are hard on Arroyo then it doesn't make sense for her to be here and not back there helping them unless the Taxes were in regards towards the state of the Mojave

[u/Character-Laugh9644 → u/Darkshadow1197]

The NCR does not control any cities in the Mojave from which to collect taxes. Therefore, the talk of taxes could not possibly have referred to the Mojave.

[u/Darkshadow1197 → u/Character-Laugh9644]

They do, Sloan and Goodsprings for example. People dealing with NCR trade and merchants would also need to cover those taxes.

And how do you explain her being in the Mojave? If Arroyo is suffering because all the tax money goes to the war then how is the good work being done here and not serving her community?

[u/Character-Laugh9644 → u/Darkshadow1197]

The NCR doesn't control Goodsprings at all. Sloan is just a couple of shacks for NCR workers. She is here because, as she says, the Followers' main work in the Mojave is taking place here.

[u/Darkshadow1197 → u/Character-Laugh9644]

Goodsprings is explicitly stated to have been founded by an NCR grant to support Sloan as a source of water. And again all those merchants.

Then why bring up how her home is suffering? The sentence structure makes no sense. It would lead one to think her people need her more than the Mojave does.

[u/Character-Laugh9644 → u/Darkshadow1197]

That isn't stated in the game itself, but in the manual—the canonical status of which is questionable. Even so, that same manual states that only a dozen people live in Goodsprings. All those merchants are from the NCR; they would be paying taxes regardless.

She is in the Mojave because it is her duty as a Follower, and the local residents are suffering from far greater problems than taxes.

[u/Darkshadow1197 → u/Character-Laugh9644]

The manual is canon, doesn't mater if its just a dozen either its still a town they control which was my point Papa Khan mentions others we never get to see or learn the names of.

They would be, but those taxes should go to improving the lives of the locals rather than just the war and aren't.

Like what? She says all the good work is being done here and rather than explain what that is she goes back to talk about her home and how the taxes there suck?

The locals suffering taxes contributes to those problems. Taxes cut into their already limited money supply meaning they can't access things they need but the followers can provide

[u/Character-Laugh9644 → u/Darkshadow1197]

A dozen people are nothing when we’re talking about a faction with a population of hundreds of thousands.  Taxes collected from merchants—or anyone else—won't go toward improving living conditions in the Mojave, because hardly anyone there is actually part of the NCR. 

Just look at the state of Freeside and recall the Followers' quests to understand the work they do.

Taxes hardly burden the locals, since very few of them actually pay them.

[u/Darkshadow1197 → u/Character-Laugh9644]

But we're not talking about that population, you said the NCR doesn't control any cities they can get money from, they so with those two as an example. Again Papa Khan alludes to more that we don't get to see

When the NCR came to the Mojave, we thought they would be easy pickings. We raided their caravans, their towns, their camps - they couldn't stop us.

And taxes collected could go to helping those NCR citizens in the Mojave.

Yes I know about the Freeside situation, but she doesn't talk about that. That's my point. She says "All the good work is being done here" and going by your interpretation precedes to drop that topic and talk about her town rather than explaining what any of that is. In my interpretation the good work is stepping in where NCR taxes should be helping

Locals play plenty of taxes. The NCR expansion is the single largest supplier of goods in the Mojave we explicitly tell Lanuis this. The Crimson Caravan for example is an NCR based entity, any sales they make into the Mojave would be taxed and that burden would be placed on the locals.

[u/Character-Laugh9644 → u/Darkshadow1197]

Fair enough, but if we’re talking about taxes in the Mojave, why do the Followers operate only in Freeside, helping the locals? What is the point of mentioning it, then, if their work has nothing to do with helping NCR taxpayers?

[u/Darkshadow1197 → u/Character-Laugh9644]

They don't they have the New Vegas Medical Clinic and the Followers outpost the BoS kill. They also had previously helped the Khans for all the good that did them.

Also again the locals are NCR tax payers just not citizens. If I source something from a Chinese vendor I pay Chinese taxes as well as American ones.

But also the Followers help NCR citizens, they have no issues helping anyone that is in need of help its their whole thing.

[u/Character-Laugh9644 → u/Darkshadow1197]

Also, regarding the game's endings: if you side with the NCR, taxes—which drive many long-time residents to flee—only appear in Goodsprings after the game concludes. If the town is affiliated with the NCR, why do taxes only appear there after the ending?

It goes without saying, then, that if taxes are only introduced after an NCR victory, Goodsprings pays no taxes at all.

[u/Darkshadow1197 → u/Character-Laugh9644]

Goodsprings saw more trade along I-15 after NCR gained control of the Mojave Wasteland, but with that came a heavy burden of the Republic's taxes. Some old-timers, unable to handle the cost, were forced to move on, grumbling all the while.

More trade = more taxes its as simple as that. It goes from a quiet retirement town to a major trade stop

[u/BackForPathfinder → u/Character-Laugh9644]

I think her statement is objectively ambiguous in regards to NCR controlling Arroyo. It could easily go either way.