To reach Camp Forlorn Hope (if you haven’t found it already, and really, aside from Raul’s companion quest, there was no need to do so yet) fast-travel to Ranger Station Delta and head south and slightly west, picking your way uphill and over rough terrain to reach the camp. You can also travel north-east from Novac, but there’s a good chance you’ll run afoul of Cazadores this way, and who wants to fight Cazadores more than absolutely necessary?

Camp Forlorn Hope consists of surprisingly few buildings; Camp Forlorn Hope Jail to the north-west, Camp Forlorn Hope Barracks south of the jail, Camp Forlorn Hope Shack between the two, Camp Forlorn Hope Mess Hall and Camp Forlorn Hope Storage Shed are on the southern end of the camp,the Camp Forlorn Hope Command Center is to the east, and the Camp Forlorn Hope Medical Center can be found along the northern edge of the camp.

Hunting Legion Ears¶

The Camp Forlorn Hope Jail is completely uninteresting, although you’ll find Camp Forlorn Hope Letter 5 in a footlocker in a nearby tent. In the Camp Forlorn Hope Shack you can find a Camp Forlorn Hope Letter 6 in a Duffle Bag. The Camp Forlorn Hope Barracks is a little more interesting, as it houses members of 1st Recon, reassigned here from Camp McCarran after the quest Three-Card Bounty . You can also find the pessimistic Private Stone and, coincidentally, Private Sexton, the latter of which is charged with raising morale. His solution? Kill Legionaries and bring back their ears. Kind of like what the Legion was doing at Cottonwood Cove, but with the NCR Dogtags; kill a member of the Legion, take their ear, bring it back to Private Sexton. If you side with the NCR, you’ll be killing plenty of Legionaries, so keep this little objective in mind.

Quartermaster Mayes¶

Continue south from the Camp Forlorn Hope Barracks building, cross a small bridge, and you should find Quartermaster Mayes standing around outside of the Camp Forlorn Hope Storage Shed [Very Hard] (or sleeping on some beds to the west, if it’s nappy-time). Ask him about the state of affairs here and he’ll tell you… well, things aren’t good. It’s called Camp Forlorn Hope for a reason, not Camp Abundant Hope. He’ll offer you take any NCR Dogtags off your hands and reward you for doing so. Give him enough (fifteen will suffice) and you’ll get a modest XP reward and some… well, some brewskies. Honestly, the Legion rewards you better, and their Fame can be difficult to come by. True to his word, he won’t sell you anything, but he will happily buy supplies from you, if you’ve got junk to sell. He also plays Caravan, if you want to win a hefty number of Caps.

In a tent to the east of the Camp Forlorn Hope Storage Shed you can loot four Ammo Boxes. If you can get into the Storage Shed (pick the [Very Hard] luck or steal the Forlorn Hope Storage Key from Quartermaster Mayes) you can score some food and loot two First Aid Boxes. Note a great nest of supplies for a front-line outpost.

A short distance to the south you’ll find the entrance to the Camp Forlorn Hope Mess Hall, there you’ll find 10 of Spades of 1st Recon. Other than him and sparse food to steal, there’s not much to see in here. In a footlocker in a tent to the south you can find Camp Forlorn Hope Letter 2, and in a Duffle Bag in a tent to the east you’ll find Camp Forlorn Hope Letter 3.

Medical Mystery¶

Now that the boring details have been covered, it’s time to get to questing. Head to the northern end of the camp and enter the Camp Forlorn Hope Medical Center, where you’ll find Dr. Richards… unless it’s taking a nappy-nap, in which case he’ll be in a tent to the east of the Medical Center. Talk to him and he’ll pass on the suspicion that somebody is stealing his supplies, and of course, he doesn’t have the time to look for them. Ask for some details and he’ll reveal that Hydra seems to be the main chem that’s going missing. Pass a [Medicine 50] check to learn more about the drug, then agree to help him to start the quest Medical Mystery .

A quest! Wonder of wonders. You don’t need to bother with all this sneaking around business, instead just go find Private Stone and behold, a new option to question him on the stolen supplies. Pass a [Medicine 50] check to notice the symptoms of Hydra abuse and you can finger him as the culprit, and fortunately, he’s too stupid to make up an alibi. You now have several options: Turn him in yourself, convince him to turn himself in with a [Speech 60] check, blackmail him into giving you five Hydra for your silence (you can still rat him out to Dr. Richards, although you’ll lose Karma) or you can just let him go. Handle Private Stone however you wish, then return to Dr. Richards and tell him the truth for a quest reward or lie to complete the quest with no reward.

Return to Sender (Part 1)¶

You’re done with Dr. Richards for now, so head into the only remaining place left to explore in Camp Forlorn Hope; the Camp Forlorn Hope Command Center. The big cheese here is Major Polatli, but he’ll set in motion a quest that’ll result in open conflict with Caesar’s Legion. Ignore him for now and search the south-eastern corner of the tent to find a Big Book of Science on a desk. Score. Once it’s yours, talk to Tech Sergeant Reyes, who She will waste no time in asking you for help.

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Grab the Big Book of Science from the desk in the Camp Forlorn Hope Command Center (left) then talk to Major Polatli, who will task you with helping out his officers around the camp (right).

Agree to help to start the quest Return to Sender , which will require you to visit all the Ranger Stations in the Mojave. This includes the previously undiscovered Ranger Station Bravo, which is north-east of Bitter Springs. In fact, this gives you an excuse to finally explore both areas, and it’s a fine detour from all this depressing Forlorn Hope business… especially since continuing any further will put you into conflict with either the Legion forces at Nelson, or with the NCR Troopers at Camp Forlorn Hope.

Before you head off to Bitter Springs, however, fast-travel to the Ranger Stations you should have discovered already, including Ranger Station Echo (north of the Sniper’s Nest), Ranger Station Delta (north of Camp Forlorn Hope), Ranger Station Alpha (north of Boulder City), and Ranger Station Foxtrot (in the mountains east of Jacobstown). If you checked in on Ranger Station Charlie for Ranger Andy in Novac, you won’t need to bother with it. Talk to the Comm Officer at each camp and give them the new codes, then fast-travel to an area near Ranger Station Bravo; the Brotherhood of Steel Safehouse is the safest, while Coyote Tail Ridge is the closest. Just be wary of Cazadores in the latter case.