To be honest, I’m probably not going to download Enclave Resurgent, mostly because I am gingerly trying to navigate through the thicket to get a three-faction ending where former Paladin Danse is safely administering my Nuka World possessions for me*. Also, I have my own half-fanon, half-metagaming theory about the Enclave in Fallout 4: to wit, I think that Bethesda originally intended them to be there, but the game got too big, so they got downgraded to the Gunners. And, also: I’ve noticed that when there’s a certain tone in the description of a mod – a slightly aggressive, somewhat exasperated tone – you can’t really expect good bug support. And there’s always going to be bugs in mods.
Still, if you’re missing having the Enclave around this is certainly going to give you that.
Moe Lane
PS: Short version: the Enclave is the remnant of the old, pre-War US government. They’re generally schmucks, but they always had good gear.
*The Commonwealth will be too dangerous for him, and Far Harbor is too weird. Nuka World is perfect.
The Enclave would have explained why X-01 Power Armor was there, and your idea would explain why the Gunners are so well equipped and why they’re numerous enough to need Brigadiers. As well as who sent them there; giant armies are expensive, and nobody in the Commonwealth could have afforded to hire an army. Finally, it would explain how McCready found them to join them.
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Long story short, your theory is brilliant.
At the risk of creating another long post: The way I understood it was that the Institute had hired the Gunners through Intermediaries to destroy the Minutemen at Quincy. That way there would be less organized resistance to what ever nefarious, mustache twirling villainy they had planned.
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That could be me reading story into the game though. It seemed to make sense.
It does make sense your way.
I think it makes more sense to save the Enclave for a game set in Chicago (IIRC that is where they mentioned having a major stronghold in 3.)
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One of the biggest problems with F4 is the fact that they got the narrative flow kind of odd- especially with respect to the factions:
1) Minutemen- Good guys.
2) Railroad. Also good guys, or rather pro-synth. There are some moments with the Railroad where you get the feeling they would burn down every settlement in the Commonwealth, as long as it freed some Synths. Further muddying this is the stuff in Far Harbor where you get to see how an only pro-synth attitude gets you making decisions just like the Institute!
3) Brotherhood. What purpose does the Brotherhood serve in this game other than to tie it into the previous game. They had changed what the Brotherhood stood for in 3 and then went to something different in this one. From playing the previous games, I would think a Brotherhood in the mold of the first games would not give one tenth of one crap about the synths themselves, but would be trying to destroy two things: First, the teleportation tech, and two the ability to create MORE synths. The institutes ability and penchant for replacing people with synths was really the real threat, after all. Instead we get militant, fascist, racist thugs who just want to knock over the Institute and slaughter the synths- because they are an abomination. Ok.
4) The Institute. This one is where it also goes off the rails. What is the Institute trying to accomplish? Their overriding stated goal is to try to make it so that the Institute cannot be accessed by the outside world. Ok. I think everyone is ok with that. Why then do they feel the need to stir up the entire anthill and get everyone pissed at them- especially before they are secure with no access except via teleportation that they control and plenty of power? I like good villains but I dislike stupid ones.
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To get back to your original point: what purpose would the enclave serve in this stew of factions? I cannot think of one from a story perspective. If you were thinking about less story and more real world, maybe the idea that a significant portion of the Brotherhood military assets are hanging in the wind with enemies on all sides and it would be an opportunity to take them down a notch?
It’s funny: I’m right now in the middle of trying to juggle keeping every faction happy until it comes time to betray the Institute, and then using a little mod to tell the BoS “NOPE” and letting them know that I will not be wiping out the Railroad, thanks. Then it’s Prime Time, baby. And maybe then the Brotherhood will stop kvetching at me how I never invited them to the party.
And as for the Brotherhood: I’m totally fine with a three-faction ending normally, because I control all the settlements and they all have artillery pointed at the Prydwen. I feel that this enforces a certain basic civility across the board. Let the Brotherhood shoot up Raiders and critters and ferals and inarticulate Super-Mutants all they like.