Fallout 4: Nordhagen Beach Build — Wonko's Geekery (2024)

Nordhagen Beach is a location based on the real life peninsula where the real life location of Winthrop, Massachusetts is located. I unlocked this as a Settlement very early on but I did not quite know what to do with such a wide spanning piece of land. There is a large sandy area where a family (parents and a child) live a farmer’s life and that’s about it. Usually with a Settlement some type of idea sparks in me. In this case nothing really hit me for a good month after I unlocked it.

Then one day while googling to see what others had done, I saw people extending piers out into the water. It was then it clicked. I spent a good part of my youth in Brooklyn, New York. One of Brooklyn’s most famous areas is Coney Island, a fun park that has a storied history and houses the famous Coney Island Cyclone Roller Coaster. I decided I wanted to turn Nordhagen Beach into a homage to Coney Island, offering a fun building experience and a homage to my childhood.

The Boardwalk

The Riegelmann Boardwalk at Coney Island was the first spark of inspiration for me to build at Nordhagen. Like the Riegelmann Boardwalk, I wanted two main piers that extend out into the water. On each would be a single light and some benches. The boardwalk itself would have a place to eat and entertainment. Fortunately you can build pretty far out into the water, and it makes for some stunning visuals, especially when it is sunny! I used the Vault 88 railings as a callback to the metal railings on the Riegelmann Boardwalk. However, there were some gaps formed by the railings at corners so I used Nuka World garbage cans to block off gaps in two spots.

Boardwalk Entertainment

Aside from the Boardwalk itself, I figured visitors would want to eat and be entertained. I created a stand to pay homage to one of my favorite places in Brooklyn: Nathan’s Hot Dogs! I almost tried to build a full sized Nathan’s modeled after the real life one, but I decided against it, not wanting to have a building too large that would distract from the visual of the Boardwalk itself. Next to Nathan’s is a small scale Nukacade using machines from the Nuka World expansion. Then next to that is the “Nuka Bump”, a bumper car ride. I totally admit this should probably be four times the size, but again I was trying to keep the buildings on the Boardwalk as minimalist as possible. In my role play fiction, these cars run on wireless power (hence no ceiling over them) and the ride is really intended for two to three people at a time. In a way, the (relatively) modest entertainment here represents the modest family and beginnings of this Settlement.

Bar/Restaurant/Housing

Nordhagen Beach starts out with three pre-established Settlers, but I knew I was going to add more. At the same time I thought visitors who wanted something more than hot dogs and soda would want an alternate place to hang out. At the same time I needed a place for Settlers to sleep. I decided to build a structure that would have a bar (and mini museum, more on that in a bit) with Settler housing above it. The result is The Boozy Barnacle (a name I came up with after I saw barnacles attached to a boat on the beach).

The bar itself was designed around two things: the pool table and a mini-musuem. The pool table is a gigantic piece of furniture, so it has not fit into any of my previous bars/restaurants. Since I was creating this building from scratch, I actually laid down foundations first, then created the pool table and built the building around it so Settlers could realistically play a game of pool with space to spare.

Workshop

A standard part of my builds is some place for the Sole Survivor to call their own at a Settlement. Usually I build these spaces around or near the Workbench (which cannot be moved without mods). In this case I decided to build a whole new structure right in front of the Workbench. In retrospect, I placed the small shack a bit too close to the Workbench and I really should have moved it forward a few feet. That said, it serves the purpose, offering my character a place to work and rest while displaying some personal items.

Resources

When you first encounter the family at Nordhagen Beach, they have a small path of land where they are growing food. Knowing I was going to be adding Settlers (and frankly, wanting the family to have some darn variety!) I planted a bunch of Tatos, Mutfruit, Corn and Razorgrain. The result is a rather robust patch of crops that is enough to feed the Settlers and then some.

With its location right next to water, Nordhagen Beach does not lack for places to put water purifiers. However, I wanted to preserve the look of the waterfront without purifiers breaking up the outline of the piers on the water. Instead, I used to trick where you can place water purifiers on land as demonstrated by randomChievos. I wound up placing them behind the crops. In my “role play story” I imagine they are not only creating purified water for the Settlement, but they are also irrigating water directly into the crops. I also like the way they look in the background, kind of looming over the crops.

I normally do not write about resources this much, but I figured someone was going to wonder why those water purifiers are sitting right behind the crops!

Additional Notes

• About a week after I finished this build and took these screen captures, Nordhagen underwent several attacks by Raiders and Gunners. The biggest problem was not my defenses (for the most part they were almost all dead by the time I would arrive). The problem is that enemy NPCs keep getting stuck between two of the machines pictured above in the Nukacade. Worse, the Settlers would try to shoot them at every angle but the most obvious one : from the front. So each time I had to eliminate them myself. Also note: any props I put down in that area wound up flying away to who knows where because of splash damage.