Forum:Viva Las Vegas: Why didn't they nuke it?

In the movie, "Wargames", a high school teenager's first target for nuclear bombardment was Las Vegas. In all reality... Not a bad target... Why didn't the Chinese, with all of their amazing espionage crap, do (Or try... Maybe they did...) the same? Metalfrenchtoast 04:49, March 3, 2010 (UTC)


 * Vegas probably didn't grow arond everything in it's proximity as it did in our timeline. Most likely some divergence in thier timeline that kept the FO Vegas as the strip that it was back in the '80s - '90s of our time. Or just piss poor planning on the part of the Chinese. I'm guessing on the later.


 * Cpt. E. Blackadder 05:58, March 4, 2010 (UTC)
 * Maybe we rebuilt it -gasp!-. Took that long to think of that? http://images3.wikia.nocookie.net/fallout/images/5/58/User_AreYouGoingToEatThatNuke%3F_Game_image_4028.gif - Nuke Eater Blab 06:02, March 4, 2010 (UTC)
 * I doubt it. Ishotamaninnewreno 10:29, March 4, 2010 (UTC)

I always wondered how could the whole planet be destroyed in 2 hours.Not that many countries have nuclear warfare,and what kind of a stupid military leader would shoot randomly places on Earth instead of targeting the enemy.Since USA and China were involved in war they were more likely to nuke just each other than places like Syberia,Sahara,poor countries like Nigeria and other irrevelant and military unimportant places.New Vegas is not really important as Washington DC and Beijing(capitals) and Anchorage and Shanghai(resource supply) in Fallout universe.Alas mybe will find out the city is intact and thriving,they are bound to have historical information in a library or museum.Las Vegas is not only Casinos.
 * Well, there are at least nine countries with nuclear capabilities in our timeline, with plenty of time to go before kick-off. Considering the FO universe and its love of nuclear.. well, everything, its not surprising that the whole world went up in flames. Ishotamaninnewreno 23:25, March 7, 2010 (UTC)

I'm just sayin'... Las Vegas is like, the capitalist center of the western world. Seems like something China would want turned into radioactive slag. Metalfrenchtoast 04:49, March 8, 2010 (UTC)

Maybe China had some casinos down in Vegas that were run by Chinese mobsters. Maybe they didn't want to nuke them and hope they would create a Chinese Outpost after the war. Zachattak471 17:36, March 8, 2010

Something like The Four Dragons casino.(GTA reference)

Guys, the house bet on surviving. And the house never loses. Otherwise, they'll take you out behind the casino and break your hands. Nitty Tok. 02:42, March 9, 2010 (UTC)

Imagine the game comes out but we dont find out why did the city survive at all,it could remain an eternal riddle just like what happened to China and beyond.

Vegas is in the arsehole of nowhere. Maybe in the Fallout universe it never evolved into the tourist spot it is today and so was never presented as a target for bombardment. Just a suggestion... Sheepbiter 09:16, March 10, 2010 (UTC)

Heh. Las Vegas is not a military target. It never will be. http://images1.wikia.nocookie.net/fallout/images/0/08/Personal_Sig_Image.gif Tagaziel (call!) 13:19, March 10, 2010 (UTC)

I'd certainly try to take out large economic areas if I were fighting a thermonuclear war. Of course I'm not an Army General either. Metalfrenchtoast 15:53, March 11, 2010 (UTC)
 * It's not a major economical center either. http://images1.wikia.nocookie.net/fallout/images/0/08/Personal_Sig_Image.gif Tagaziel (call!) 16:08, March 11, 2010 (UTC)
 * But a lot of money flows into Vegas because of the casinos. What would strike fear into Decadent Capitalist America more than bombing the richest place outside of Fort Knox? Nitty Tok. 20:47, March 14, 2010 (UTC)

Yeah, well, I would disagree with you, but I'd just be feeding the lame-ass paradigm going on between us. [[User:Metalfrenchtoast|Metalfrenchtoast 18:30, March 14, 2010 (UTC)]]

A better question would be.... WHY DIDN'T THEY NUKE PITTSUBURG!?! I mean that place is a major industrial center. They could chug out tons of ammo, airplanes, etc etc if the radiation hadn't screwed everything up.

Anyway about LV. I'm pretty sure China wouldn't fly planes into the middle of a desert to blow up a city of hardly any importance. GiantAlbinoGhoul 20:44, March 14, 2010 (UTC)

Also when war begins,tourism ceases.I wouldn't go in Las Vegas in case of a an impending doom or world war.

Dude that's like where you're supposed to go before the world ends. Tourism is pretty hot in Isreal right now, right? For a freakin' wall? Anyway, the canon states Vegas didn't get hit, so it didn't... I guess I'm just saying I'd go for it if I were them. I mean... Sure, a bomber might cost millions of dollars, the payload might be equivalent to that, but allout thermonuclear war? That's priceless. Metalfrenchtoast 06:59, March 15, 2010 (UTC)

Washington DC is the political capital, New York is the economic capital, cities such as Detroit industrial capitals. 50s Las Vegas, was just a party town, it would be a waste of nukes just to destroy a few casinos and kill showgirls, magicians and Elvis lookalikes Thetford 17:04, March 15, 2010 (UTC)

Good point.

Hey WAIT! Just because the two worlds diverged doesn't mean the Fallout vegas was stuck in the 50's. Given the extra time into the future, Las Vegas could have been even bigger and crazier than the one we have today in this world. Hmmmmmmmmm? Metalfrenchtoast 03:03, March 26, 2010 (UTC)

It looks more like it was stuck in the 20s in a Chicago gangster atmosphere during the prohibition.Come on mobsters leading the city,cops(read NCR) trying to stop them as well as other hoodlums(slaver).Who knows,the slaver migght have a HQ in Caesars casino(irony).

Sure, you're totally right, but I was mainly talking pre-war viability as a target for nuclear attack. It all really started after I watched Wargames. It's a really corny movie. Metalfrenchtoast 15:33, March 30, 2010 (UTC)

My thoughts are that the Chinese saw Vegas as a profit opportunity, so instead of bombing it they would just capture it with footsoldiers after the fallout fellout. We'll find out in fall when New Vegas hits, I guess. TestECull 04:08, April 12, 2010 (UTC)

I don't think the Chinese would want anything to do with the types of profits made in Vegas. I think the main reason it was spared is because it has no value as a military or industrial center for the U.S. Knight Captain Ski (talk) 04:29, April 12, 2010 (UTC)

Why would they? Its a bunch of casinos in the middle of nowhere. Its not a major trade hub, no major military bases, no heavy industry... Nothing, just people wasting their cash. ChaplainDMK 16:07, June 5, 2010 (UTC)

You are right at that part Chaplain.....but remember, Area 51 is not that far from Las Vegas ( or whatever other military bases we're called in the fallout world.....-MerchantofDeath 23:48, June 6, 2010 (UTC)

I'm amazed that nobody has mentioned the proximity of Nellis Air Force Base, one of the largest Air Force bases in the U.S., where wargames are routinely held amongst all branches of our military that have combat aviation, as well as NATO allies from around the world. Cutting edge weapons-testing goes one here, and in secret satellite facilities out in the surrounding desert. Not only is it easy to imagine Las Vegas being a high-priority target, it's just as easy to assume that the defenses around the area could include the best in the arsenal, capable of intercepting/destroying/deflecting incoming missiles or whatever. And again, let us not forget that AREA 51 is one of the satellite facilities out in the desert. It's a no-brainer to imagine them reverse-engineering alien technology into something we could use for defense. And it's not as if we haven't seen aliens mentioned in the FO Universe. Lord only knows what we might find out there after 2077!

it wasnt bombed because of mr.house...the full reason full be seen near the end of new vegas22:48, July 12, 2010 (UTC)Paladinjames92

Is Mr. House Chinese? I cant see how the life or death of a city is through playing a card game with a Nuclear powerhouse and unforgiving nation like China. Even if he won I would be pissed that I lost. So I have another reason to nuke Vegas. To get back at Mr. House. Bye bye Vegas Ka-Booom!!! 4.5 million deaths in a flash. -Zachattak471 July 15, 2010 21:22 ET

Uhh guys, House tells you why Vegas and Nellis survived the war. It isn't because he's Chinese either.Scannerfish 04:56, November 7, 2010 (UTC)
 * Uh, I think you need to take note of the timestamps... All the comments appear to be pre release, except yours... Agent c 00:55, November 8, 2010 (UTC)

Something about how House and a mobster called Fat Freddy referred to in FO2 and talked about in VB were part of the mafia and they knew the chongs and asked them to leave Vegas together and they would make it worth their while. I have no clue about Nellis however, that's probably just a plothole. Fort Independence is still totally intact in FO3 so maybe they only targeted other ICBM launch sites 69.121.229.41 01:00, November 8, 2010 (UTC)

Hey guys, maybe the designers just didn't put that much thought into it? Sombar1 18:49, November 26, 2010 (UTC)

Hey, just to clarify two things... 1. Why/why not nuke vegas? They DID. They just didn't take out the strip. The rest of Vegas is gone. Vegas wasn't a primary target because it wasn't a huge center of politics (in comparison to places like D.C and NYC and whatnot). The reason it was a target, however, was because it was a US hot-spot, and the destruction of such would deal a huge blow. 2. How did Vegas survive? It didn't. Just The Strip. The Strip survived because House ended up disabling a large portion of nukes, and the ones that weren't disabled that threatened The Strip were shot down by House's defense grid. Oh, and I believe they said some stupid amount (28?) of nukes were intended to hit Vegas. --Viper720666 01:50, November 29, 2010 (UTC)

They did in fact attack Las Vegas. Mr. House's defensive systems destroyed all the incoming missiles. ALL of them. Not some, not most, all - except that at least a few got through and hit Nellis AFB, perhaps House didn't care to defend the military or assumed that they had their own defenses in place. The destruction you see throughout greater New Vegas can be attributed to two centuries of neglect and post-war human activity. However, outside of Las Vegas, the surrounding countryside was not protected and many missiles may have hit their targets. -- 02:58, November 29, 2010 (UTC)
 * This ^. The Chinese actually dedicated a decent bit of nuclear ordinance to destroying Vegas. If our page on New Vegas is to be believed, close to eighty ICBMs. House disabled more than half before they even reached continental US, blasted most of the remainder out of the sky, and was able to ultimately stop all but seven, none of which actually hit New Vegas. And for those seven...I don't see why we can't give some credit to luck. This is Vegas, after all. --Char-Nobyl 12:46, November 29, 2010 (UTC)