Back in FO4, working my way through migrating home base from Sanctuary to Outpost Zimonja. I chose that one because it's MJ approved. But no, really I just wanted a small, tucked away place to put all of my loot and do my stuff. Somewhere that won't lag for me and the handful of companions I actually use plus maybe 4 workers.
It's actually a cool spot. Not a lot of flat ground, but enough area for several good sized spaces, with just a smidgen of breathing room for a buffer before easily-fortified barriers kick in. I have a lot of work to do. It took hours just getting built out, fortifying defenses, and redistributing the insane amounts of different loot I've already acquired into the appropriate containers as I make and position them. With that done, I can focus on refining and purpose-building it. I'm not going for fancy, I'm building utilitarian - just adding what I need and workin it in. I want every gameplay benefit I can out of the space, with extra bits being for aesthetic or displaying stuff. I don't usually bother with the settlements like this. But this one is so small, it's much more manageable for a mostly practical setup. Less 'settlement' and more the custom Skyrim home I wanted from that DLC.
It's not even worth it without mods, tbh. You want to lift the object count limits. You've gotta be able to lift the arbitrary limits on colliding objects (i.e., smushing them together) and toggle the various snap, grid, and link modes. I think it's called something like "Place Anywhere". These things alone give you a lot of finagle room to work with - you can build more like things are built in the game with that freedom to place things wherever and however.
My front defenses are coming along nicely.
All they had were the stilts and the adjacent guard post on the left. I built it out with scrap fence, added stilts on the right, and put a recessed doorway bottleneck. Filled it out with turrets. You get mk.3 here. Yes, the turrets in this game have levels. It depends on the 'level' of the area, which also determines the strength of enemies. There are sweet spots. I believe mk.3 is explosive rounds, which are excellent and arguably superior to some higher level turrets for all enemy types. It came with power here, which could be used for laser turrets and rpg's. But I need a fusion generator for that - no room for more. I have my one large generator tucked *just* behind that right wall, enshrouded on the other side by a rock face and steep embankment.
I like this funnel. Human enemies are getting shredded here. Larger enemies will be slowed by the door. They can get the turrets on the ground, but the more key raised ones should be safe. I may have two turrets in a crossfire arrangement inside the camp.
This is the worst defense point, the main front. It faces south. To the south, stronger enemies spawn. The two others point straight north and northwest, which are the lowest-level spawns. This is the one that has to be closed off. The others are easier to hold, which is fortunate because they're harder to close.
I'd call it pretty if I didn't already have to call it the front line. From the guard post. I think I'll stick a robot here.
It is nice and tucked away. On the backside is the edge of the map and some nothing. To the side flank is just some nothing, lil old Tenpines Bluff, and the edge of the map again. Straight out front is a lot of trees and empty clearings, with a tree-lined valley path up to the entrance. It's in a little dip at one of the highest elevation points on the map. Best of both worlds. You're tucked in, but I'm pretty sure you can see the Prydwen, which is the furthest point from Zimonja on the map, being all the way towards the southwest corner.
Really just a lot of fog and nothing out there. It feels great. A quiet, isolated spot with all of the fixins.
I've gotta get a few workers in. Bring in my companions and equip everyone with good gear. Figure out the final fortifications for the other two defense points. What I have is fine, but I want to perfect it and be done with it. There are a few questions as to how attacks will go with my tight layout. I'm thinking about quick exit paths. At the same time I still need a couple of key stations.
I'm also curious how high I can build here. I could go up and around the tower for sure, provided the height limit doesn't kick in. Given the high base altitude, it might be an issue.
Eh, we'll see. I'm enjoying this way more than I expected.