"I've killed with my hands, with my feet, with my bayonet, with a ripper knife, with a power glove, even with a shovel. But I prefer to keep things nice and impersonal and at a long range, just in case that raider is packing some AP in his SIG" 

"You'll almost always have a technological edge in combat so use it. Our weapons shoot farther and harder and our armor is tougher but no armor is invulnerable, even paladin power armor, so as a golden rule, keep out of enemy range and hit their snipers first." 

When facing Raiders and Beastlords, the best weapon you can have is a hunting rifle with maybe a shotgun or burst weapon (the AK is the obvious choice as a) its the best and b) uses the same ammo as the rifle) as a backup (stick your ranged weapon in one slot and the burst weapon in the other slot, though putting stimpacks in one slot does save you APs - you don't have to access your inventory) when they or their Deathclaws rush you (as a general rule remember that burst fire weapons damage generally decreases very quickly at range whilst other weapons fire doesn't so don't bother firing miniguns at distant opponents because you won't hit and if you do, then you won't cause any serious damage). All you have to do is snipe the enemy out, that means advance to the spot where you can see the enemy and you can shoot but they can't and take out the enemy in descending order of their own range. Sometimes you'll be unable to do this, so you'll need your backup weapons when in enclosed spaces (buildings or undergrounds), whereupon you should rush through doorways with your whole team firing at one target. 

"Super Mutants are a deadly enemy for the inexperienced. The sight of an 8 foot monstrosity with a heavy machine gun in its hand laughing as high power bullets hit its skull will terrify even the bravest Initiate. Those who have fought a few Mutants before will however grit their teeth, set their weapons to automatic and shoot them in groin. Those who have fought many Mutants before will just pick up their gear and run to the nearest hillock where they put bullets into Mutant eyes, which luckily are also bigger than normal humans."

"You may sometimes encounter enemies who have better weaponry than our own. This will be an unpleasant but rare occurrence. Your job will be to kill and relieve them of those weapons for the good of the Brotherhood. Though they may outrange you, rushing these enemies will often not be a good idea, I've seen squads wiped out in seconds by a single burst of fire from a minigun. Check what weapons you have on hand and use them to best and safest effect. 

My toughest battles have been against various mechanoids. They're always armored so burst weapons do little good and energy weapons are in short supply even in the Brotherhood. Luckily though they're not invulnerable and aimed shots to their sensitive externalities can cause serious damage, shooting a robot in its regulator is like shooting a Mutant in its groin, it will feel it and dislike the feeling and probably fall over, despite its toughness. As in the case of Super Mutants, the bigger they are, the stupider they are. 

As a final note, if you can avoid fixed defenses, do so. If you can't, then stay out of their range and knock them out, remember they can't move. Which is why they're called fixed defenses, surprise, surprise."

Snipe 'em (take out the Vindicator packers first, they have a huge range and cause huge damage, then go for the grenade launchers and then hit the snipers) and steal their Fusion (stick this in your left hand for close combat work as it has a shorter range but causes greater damage than the Laser Rifle) and Laser (stick in your right hand for handy change over for ranged work) (Oh yeah, your Doc can be running around with weapons in both slots or a stimpack in one slot, your choice) Rifles and perhaps the Vindicator miniguns (these weapons really shocked me as they have a huge range and are deadly against all opponents...apart from the armored Robots you'll be exclusively facing in two missions time from the moment you find the Vindicator)  they're packing as a backup weapon in case your Mutant squad-mates (which you shouldn't have) get insubordinate (just joking). Get all the Fusion cells you can carry as they'll be your principal (only?) ammunition in the future. Don't bother with the laser or plasma pistols or small energy cells unless you want to sell them to your quartermaster. When you start firing your energy weapons with accuracy you'll see why I recommend them to you.  

Robots...by now you should be only be packing energy weapons. I don't know what the electric rocket for the Bazooka is supposed to do, I found Sabots and normal shells deadlier against the heavy robot opponents. Knock out the flying gizmos with rockets first (otherwise they'll keep knocking your squad over), then take out the humanoid bots with the miniguns (not much of a threat to Power Armour but they do get tiresome and can wear you down quickly at close range), than hit the energy weapon humanoids, then take out the security droids. Lure the bigger robots somewhere where you can snipe or ambush them without fear or retaliation (behind a fence or a doorway for instance). Behemoths and Pacification Robots have a short weapons range and they're stupid (why are big bad robots in films and games always stupider than their smaller cousins? I mean they've got more room to pack processing power...) so they'll stand in place while you snipe 'em out. Please remember automatic weapons won't work against robots because they're armored.

2.1.3.1 Pulse laser, EMP prototype, Gauss Rifle, Laser Minigun

"Initiates often ask me, whats the best gun. First of all, we call them weapons in the Brotherhood and secondly, what's best is what will do the job in the given situation, sometimes you'll want range, sometimes you'll want rate of fire, sometimes you'll just want your weapon simply not to jam during combat. For that reason I always carry around something for long range, like a sniper rifle and something for short range, for instance an AK. But the single weapon that I'd choose every time when going into an unknown situation is the M72 Gauss Rifle. Nothing beats it for range and its extremely high power rounds will wipe the inane smile off even a Mutant's face. But there aren't many of them and any you find will be quickly confiscated by the Quartermaster unless you've got a lot of respect and influence in the Brotherhood."

"A working Hummer is worth a squad of Initiates. Literally. The Brotherhood will accept the loss of a green squad to get a working vehicle. Recruits are easier to come by than working vehicles in our post-nuclear wastelands. And a broken Hummer is worth a half-squad, simply for its salvage value. If you are ever assigned a vehicle, you will cover and protect its steel chassis with your own bodies. Vehicles should never ever be placed in a combat situation unless absolutely necessary, in which case, the Brotherhood is in serious trouble. Vehicles are for transport and for looking good in, not for shooting out of.

Static defenses are a key part of Brotherhood strategy. Mines are cheaper to produce than Initiates and are often smarter. A minefield or trapped door will do the job of a squad in guarding a location 24 hours a day, 365 days a year without needing to be fed, clothed, supplied or entertained. But mines and traps are basically a defensive weapons. The more psychotic combat engineers among you will figure out how to use mines offensively, which of course entails encouraging the enemy to leave their trenches and rush at you madly, mostly as a result of hurled insults or sniped bullets. Personally I think that its not worth the time and effort and anyway, mines weigh a lot and take up the space that could be used for ammo for your sniper rifles."

Vehicles aren't much of an issue in the single player game where the only missions you use a vehicle are two where you have to guide the weakly armored vehicle (a Hummer and a Nuke carrier) through a maze of barricades and obstacles so you'll be a fool to drive them around for the enemy to shoot at (clear their path of mines and rocket ambushers with foot soldiers first), and one mission (Mutant Fortress of Doom or St. Louis or whatever its called) where you drive around hoping the Mutants won't blow you up with their rockets before you can snipe them to death (if you lose the APC, you'll again lose the mission.)   

My own squad only ever disarmed traps and minefields but I guess if you want to waste your time laying minefields in the hope that the enemy will step on that particular mine that cost you a fortune and has been weighing down your backpack, its your choice.

"What comes between you and an enemy bullet? It’s not some shaman's voodoo. It's a steel helmet, a Kevlar vest or a ceramic breastplate."

As a priority get the best armor you can and give it to your characters. Armour keeps you alive. Mutants can't wear Power Armour and thus gain near immunity to burst weapons which means they're in serious danger in the later levels.
The game allows you to wear energy weapon resistant armor, unfortunately most enemy groups will be packing a combination of weapons so you'll be vulnerable anyway unless you're going up against a single enemy or specifically armed group. In this case the energy armor is useful but it does take up your weight allowance and you have to remember to change armor depending the enemies you're going to face.

"When that enemy bullet does penetrate your armor, you'll be screaming for a medic. Believe me, I've been there and have 10 pieces of shrapnel under my skin   and a titanium kneecap and skull plate to remind me of all those occasions. Medics are your best friends and there should always be room in your backpack for any of his supplies that he can't carry around himself. Those supplies will save your life so don't moan about the weight.

Just in case you're ever wounded without a medic on hand, you should always have some emergency stimpacks or healing drugs on hand. There is a price for these quick-fixes though, I've got more needle marks than a dying junkie and have had more cold turkeys than a poultry farm owner during the post-nuke freeze."

"But if you stand in front of a heavy machine gun, no medic or ultra stimpack will put back together the shredded pieces of bone and flesh that you once were."

"Ammo is good. Ammo is beautiful. The more ammo you have, the more you can shoot at the enemy, the more you can waste at long range pot-shots, the more of the enemy you'll kill at a safe range and the less often you'll have to rely on your bayonet when you run out. However the Quartermaster will only give you so much ammo and you can only carry so much into combat with you. But there is a battlefield source of ammo and the technical name for it is an enemy corpse."