"In 2272, an elite Ranger unit was sent to prison by a military court for a crime they didn't commit. These men promptly escaped from a maximum-security stockade to the New Vegas underground. Today, still wanted by the NCR, they survive as soldiers of fortune. If you have a problem, if no one else can help -- and, if you can find them -- maybe you can hire... Alpha Squad."

DESCRIPTION

As an homage to the classic 1980s TV series 'The A-Team', this mod adds a team of recruitable followers inspired by characters from the show. The members of Alpha Squad are:

Lt. Col. James "Hammerblow" Schmidt - The cocky, cigar-chomping commanding officer
Lt. Tennyson "Pretty Boy" Pike - The handsome, roguish scrounger and con artist who also acts as a vendor
Sgt. P.J. Paratus - The no-nonsense mechanic and muscleman who can also repair your gear
Capt. H.M. "Maniac" Murtaugh - The certifiably-insane pilot

They're a squad of former NCR Rangers who were involved in the Pacification of the Mojave during the 2270s under the command of General Aaron Kimball but who were wrongly arrested and later escaped from military custody. I did my best to make this mod as lore-friendly as possible, even going so far as to consult the Fallout series' timeline to make sure all the dates that I mentioned line up correctly. I also put a lot of effort into making little winks and nods to the original series that I hope fans will pick up on and appreciate.


DETAILS

These followers are not voiced since obviously I couldn't use clips from the show, nor did I want to (poorly) imitate their voices myself. However, if you're a voice actor and want to give it a shot (or know of any), let me know!

If you decide to hire the team, they must be hired as a group and will not follow you individually. While everyone has a fully-functional companion wheel, certain functions can only be done exclusively through "Hammerblow" Schmidt (i.e. hiring or firing the team) and everything you tell him to do (i.e. wait, switch weapons, change follow distance, etc.) affects everybody on the team. The others can still be talked to individually and adjusted afterwards, so for instance if you tell everyone to use ranged weapons but want P.J. Paratus to use melee, you can do so.

I'm not going to tell you exactly where to find the team since, as the intro states, "...if you can find them" is an integral part of the hiring process. All I'll say is that since they are wanted fugitives by the NCR military, perhaps you could try searching for clues in and around NCR Military Police facilities. Also, be aware that since the team is not on good terms with the NCR, that should inform your choice of attire when you go to meet them. And if you have a high reputation with the NCR, be prepared to explain yourself.

There are two versions of the .esp included but you should only install one of them. The two versions are:

FNV Alpha Squad.esp - The standard version

FNV Alpha Squad (Everybody Shoots, No One Dies).esp - For the ultimate A-Team experience! Same as the standard version, except the members of Alpha Squad are marked Essential, and their weapons do no damage. Choose this version if you want followers who will act as bullet sponges and make a lot of noise but who won't steal your XP for kills.


KNOWN ISSUES

I just wanted to point out that handling the scripting, conditioning and dialogue for four NPCs simultaneously was pretty complex to manage so I may not have gotten it all correct the first time around. If you spot any glaring bugs, please let me know and I'll do my best to fix them.

Also, I'm not sure if this is only on my system (as a result of using a body replacer) but I gave P.J. Paratus, an African American, the Petro Chico jumpsuit because it was the only green jumpsuit in the game. However, on my game, his arms and hands show up as Caucasian. Can anyone else confirm this, or is it only happening to me?


INSTALLATION

Extract all the files in the archive to your New Vegas data folder (which is the same folder where FalloutNV.esm is located) and then enabling the ESP either in your mod manager of choice, or under "Data Files" in the launcher that runs when you start up New Vegas.


CREDITS

The gold chain mesh and texture were made by Exeter.

The cigar and poster meshes I made myself using base-game assets.

The musical fanfare was cut together by me from a recording of "Salute to a New Beginning," played by the United States Army Herald Trumpets, and the drum cadence from a recording performed by the United States Navy Band. As works of a U.S. Armed Forces soldier, sailor, airman, marine or employee, made as part of that person's official duties, as well as being a work of the U.S. federal government, these works are in the public domain.


CHANGE LOG

v1.0
- Initial release

v1.1
- Added MarkForDelete flags
- Re-conditioned some dialog options to better streamline conversations and avoid lockouts
- Added new dialog for Colonel Finch
- Added confirmation messages after firing the team (i.e. "Alpha Squad has returned to the Lucky 38!")
- Enabled companion wheels for all team members (Instructions given to Hammerblow affect everyone, but others can be adjusted individually)
- Removed "Everybody Shoots, No One Dies" version (Pending a way to prevent them from picking up dropped weapons that do damage)