I exited Primm, filled with a new ego... even bullets cannot easily kill me! I was quickly taught the lesson that bullets can kill me. And they will do so if I get so cocky. Almost immediately outside of Primm is the Nevada Highway Patrol Station .. which sounds nice, but is a home to some Jackal Gang raiders, and I founda pair of powder gangers looking over it - two punches each and they were gone but the commotion drew the attention of the Jackal Gangers they storm out, guns blazing.

I ram some food into my face and stimpacks - but having taken a few shots from the Powder Gangers, I'm starting this fight at a little over half my total hitpoints. and the Jackals hurt ... a lot.

I take one out, all the while aware that my efforts to ram stimpacks into myself is doing nothing to stem the amount of bullets that I'm attracting, I turn to try and take the primary threat, the gang leader. But too late. I fall to the ground in slow motion... a courier defeated. Dead.

Thankfully, this being a computer game, I can restart from my most recent 'autosave' I regret not having used the 'quicksave' function as this puts me right back at Primm just after I've concluded my business there.

Now however, much like in the move 'Edge of Tomorrow' I'm armed with the knowledge of my death, and so can take steps to overcome such trivialities.

I repeat the journey to the Patrol Station, the Powder Gangers go down, but this time I retreat (back to Goodsprings via fast-travel) to heal up fully and, with knowledge of the Jackals use some of my limited Sneak skill (about 30 points in Sneak skill at the time I do this) to close the distance, and thus reduce the time that bullets are going to be hitting me... and then I assault, all out onto their leader.

It's a tough fight, stimpacks are used, keyboards are mashed but I come out victorious. This fight taught me I'm a little underwhelming in terms of capability, so I spend some time wandering the wastes between the Station and GoodSprings, picking on Geckos and acquiring experience for location discovery.

RUN!, RUN FAST!

My journey toward the Mojave outpost was not yet done, and I had not even yet found my worst adversary. The Jackal Gang leader was a puppet, a toy, something to be amused by when compared to the 4 Radscorpions I encounter at the Nipton Road Reststop.

I punch one ... and realise it takes no damage. I retreat noting that the others are approaching, punch it again, and still it takes next to no damage, now with 4 of them at my feet... I run.

As the game (rightly) disallows fast-travel while in combat, this find me running all the way up I 15 back to Primm before all but one of them has finally given up chasing me. And now, faced with only one radscorpion, I decide to test their defence capability.

We engage in a sort of hockey-pokey .. in-out.. combat; move in swing a punch, back away

repeat this for some considerable time and I've concluded I can kill a single Radscorpion, but it's costly in terms of my now very diminished health restoration supplies.

Thankfully with me scooping every last bit of loot from corpses, and gathering junk on my travels after yet another visit to the doc in Goodsprings I sell what I can to get more supplies, then, knowing that I cannot fight through to the Mojeve Outpost I fast travel to the Reststop and run.

 Very fast... up the hill to safety with Radscorpions nipping at my heels, I'me saved half way up by an approaching merchant who, unlike my character has a gun, and will use it. More supplies gathered, I head out on my final leg of this journey. To Nipton.

Oh, no... not you guys.

Although I'd set out to use my meta game knowledge to help me decide how best to get through things, I'd all but forgotten about what essentially is an ambush at the Nipton Road Pitstop, even getting to it meant more running around and hiding while I avoid trying to fight some Giant Ants.

After evading the Ants I arrive at the Pit Stop only to have a very sudden and rude realisation I'd forgotten... this place is also a hangout for Jackal Gangers! What happens next is a stroke of genius.

With the Jackal Gangers heavily outnumbering poor old me, I need some backup. I have the gangers chase me back toward the Giant Ants! Much to my relief the Ants are hostile to everything, and soon in a rather messy melee with me popping right hooks at weaker Jackal members the Ants kill the leader and severely wound several others, I finish off a few wounded gangers and also take this chance to take out several ants that the gangers had started shooting.

"The battlefield is a scene of constant chaos. The winner will be the one who controls that chaos, both his own and the enemies."
-Napoleon Bonaparte

The last part is uneventful, after running from the remaining handful of Giant Ants, I arrive at Nipton, gather the appropriate storyline detail chat with some friendly Roman looking dudes who were having a party in the town, I clean around a bit for trade salvage and head out.

I end the session taking steps to avoid another ambush (one I remembered!) and taking to the hills in the southern area.


Character Detail:
Level 3
Unarmed Skill 44
Metal Armour & Cowboy Hat