I've been wondering this for some time now. In FNV it is stated that NCR caused BOS to retreat even though they had superior armor/weapons.

Currently my character plays like an RTS, i'm taking my army and gradually destroying all other factions, and i'm currently working on the NCR. What I noticed so far is they seem to have mainly standard military gear, and some solid special forces (rangers). I'm not sure if I killed the people that explain the rest of the story, but I was wondering if anyone else knows how they managed to beat BOS?

They don't seem to manage hit and run/infiltration tactics very well. For instance, I hit their base with 6-8 specialized dark trooper commandos as well as my character, and they had a hard time dealing with stealth tactics.

However, I feel if you went at their base or outposts head on they may be able to defend a bit better.

Any thoughts on the subject?

Well its mostly engine limitations really, I honestly doubt any of the factions in-game work as they would within its story. The game states that the NCR beat BoS because of superior numbers. However you can't really see that in-game because the a.is just tend to run at you most of the time instead of finding cover, trying to flak etc.

from the wiki

" The Brotherhood enjoyed a considerable advantage during the early years of the war, as their advanced technology and high standards of training allowed them to inflict tremendous losses on the NCR's military. However, the NCR had a far larger pool of manpower from which to draw troops, while the Brotherhood remained a selective organization, allowing the NCR to easily replace its losses while the Brotherhood became desperate. The Brotherhood fought fiercely, but in the end the NCR's numbers prevailed, and the Brotherhood forces were overwhelmed, forcing them into hiding. Having lost the surface, the Brotherhood prepared themselves to fight to the death as the NCR began to invade their bunkers. "

http://fallout.wikia.com/wiki/NCR-Brotherhood_War

" The Mojave Brotherhood soon found itself at odds with the NCR and its growing power in the region. Eventually, the NCR sought to control HELIOS One and the Brotherhood, under orders from their Elder, refused to leave. This led to a confrontation between the two and, in typical fashion, the Brotherhood's superior technology was no match for the NCR's superior numbers, eventually losing in one of the bloodiest battles in the organization's history. "


http://fallout.wikia.com/wiki/Brotherhood_of_Steel

Oh, so it came down to numbers eh? Makes sense, because it seems BoS may have been far from supply lines and reinforcements? Thanks for clearing that up for me Guess I'll go to Helios One and take it for myself haha

Thing is the BoS don't just let anyone into the group you must be born into it. Only VERY rarely do they let an outsider in. While with the NCR, anyone can enlist so when the NCR suffer losses they can easily recover with new troops while the BoS when they suffer losses its a big lose since they don't have a replacement until a new member is born and grown up to be solider.

" The vast majority of BoS members are born into the Brotherhood - they very rarely accept outsiders into their ranks. While not an official policy, many members believe that in order to survive, all members are obligated to procreate. This results in a lack of tolerance for same-sex relationships, at least when the proponents of the aforementioned stance are concerned. Those born in the Brotherhood that want to be neither Scribes, Knights nor Paladins are free to leave - the Brotherhood does not believe in forcing anyone to serve them against their will. Although, members who decide to leave the Brotherhood will face the punishment of death for sharing any medical or scientific knowledge they have acquired with any outside faction. "

That makes sense, its a good thing they do have solid weapons/armor or else they may not be a lasting faction. I did not realize they did not have an open recruitment policy. Again being away from their main base and supply lines, something like that could cause a major issue when fighting large scale or longer lasting conflicts, even if the enemy was not technologically superior.

The only one that accepts members more freely compared to Original BoS is " Lyon's Brotherhood of Steel "  but they are in DC so they couldn't help and even then if the Outcasts are any indication Lyon's BoS would probably be marked as traitors as pretty much are heathens to their beliefs and Lyons would if captured be probably be put infront of a firing squad.

It is also important to note that the BoS in the West of the current era, are also bigger jerks than they used to be. They used to just be isolationist, generally just not being involved with the wider wasteland. Then they had a few leaders who got scared of the growth of the NCR and caused the group become even more obsessed with technological wonders, specifically weapons.

It's also interesting to note that the reason that bottle caps, instead of NCR dollars, became the currency of choice was because some BoS "terrorists" destroyed the gold the NCR used to back their dollar.

Wow, I had no idea there was such a history behind the two, thank you for sharing all this with me guys. My last question is, are there any BoS bases within new vegas? Just want to know in case I have to deal with them later on. As I said I'm going down the list and eliminating factions, although I doubt they will be a greater challenge then the current NCR im facing. Love the pic lol.

The only BoS base is in Hidden Valley. The bunker they're in has a tree stump on top.

Yea if the BOS were to recruit my character, i would gladly help fight and kill every factions for the BOS, as long the tech/caps keep flowing and they make a statue under me

What happened was with the spread of the ncr and the losses of troops from years of war with the enclave and ncr and other factions most of  their main western forces are gone but you look to the east and the brotherhood does still have a presence there a big one

The NCR also has access to heavy weaponry such as the minigun, as well as long-range weapons like scoped hunting rifles and AMRs, which could have mitigated advantage of the BOS's power armor, especially since there are no laser weapons that are effective at long ranges compared to the previously mentioned weapons.

IIRC the BoS beat the NCR in every category except numbers, and was actually almost able to beat the NCR before they were able to make use of said numbers.

It should also be said that, gameplay aside, energy weapons are supposed to be better than their projectile counterparts.

Simple pure numbers.

NCR had more numbers, they may have not had the weapons or armor to compete with the Brotherhoods arsenal but numbers can eventually even that all out. Getting surrounded and having their backs against the wall was bound to happen. Had this been the Eastern or Midwestern chapters of the Brotherhood, NCR would have been decimated. But if the rest of the NCR in California got involved it would be a even war considering both have weapons and technology to commit to a war. If the Brotherhood managed to rebuild Liberty Prime by then, then NCR would be fucked haha.

It's also worth keeping in mind that the BoS was in a much less defensible position than if they had been back at Hidden Valley, what with Elijah being convinced he could unlock the ARCHIMEDES weapon and all.
Little did he know, he had to pass a speech check on one of the freakin' kids in Freeside...

Love the backstory guys. I just went HAM on HELIOS One lol. I took 2 groups of 4 of my elite shadow troopers and two hk droids with me. We hit them at night using stealth generator tech. Outer defenses fell easily, and I ended up finding the primary NCR scientist. All in all a huge loss for them and a gain for the empire! muahhaa Can't wait until i can post screens to show what happened.

They touched themselves lol. Numbers, NCR had em BOS didn't, and among other things

Numbers and the BOS were a bunch of greedy assholes that stepped out of bounds too many times. Seriously, they're the one faction that I always make sure to destroy on every playthrough.