Armadillo

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“This is Armadillo. Manhattan it is not, but it does okay for us.”

–Bonnie MacFarlane

Armadillo is a settlement found in the world of Red Dead Redemption. It is a location in the Cholla Springs region of the New Austin territory.

Description

The town is quite obviously named after the animal that is also found in the game. Armadillo is depicted as one of the few remaining boom towns of the American West (famously portrayed in many a Western-genre film), in contrast to the industrialized northern settlements characterized by the city of Blackwater. Armadillo is a common hangout for gangs (mostly Walton's Gang), and road agents who continue to bring violence and chaos to the town. Duels are common, as is the occasional bar fight and wild shootout, making it a place where danger is never uncommon.

Leigh Johnson is the acting Marshal and legal authority of Armadillo, along with the local Sheriffs, and is known widely by the local residents. He is assisted by the young deputies Jonah and Eli. According to Johnson, the bringing of the railroads to Armadillo led to the decline of its regional rival, the old decaying frontier town of Tumbleweed, reducing the latter to the abandoned ghost town at the time of Red Dead Redemption. The Marshal and the rest of the local law operate from the Sheriff's office and jail, where common thugs, drunks, and murderers end up behind bars.

Layout

Armadillo has an active train station with a telegraph office, where the player can pay off his bounties with either cash or a pardon letter . There is also an animal pen along the railroad where livestock such as sheep and cows are kept and loaded onto the train cars for shipping. Lawmen post up wanted posters of criminals on the walls of the station. The town's newspaper salesman also sells newspapers outside the station. Five Finger Fillet is played here, and Marston can join in for some competition.

Across the street from the telegraph and train station is the Armadillo saloon, the most popular attraction in town. Residents of Armadillo, weary travelers, ranchers, and brooding cowboys come from all around to drink, socialize, or find a place to rest. Local criminals, gang members, prostitutes, and town drunks are also common. Members of Walton's Gang are amongst the most common visitors. The saloon has a large room with tables and chairs for visitors, a bar for drinks, a kitchen for food, a piano player banging out classic ragtime honky-tonk music, a bathroom, the bartender's bedroom, and a private poker room for card games. Upstairs is a mezzanine hall and sitting area where rooms are available for travelers to have a rest, or entertain the resident ladies. Marston can purchase a safehouse for $50 here. There is also an accessible balcony on the second floor.

Across the main street from the saloon is the freight station which contains a post office and an area where stagecoach services are found. Next to that is the general store, owned by anti-Semite (as well as anti-Catholic, anti-British, anti-immigrant, anti-homosexual, and anti-black) Herbert Moon. Players can purchase their basic needs from his store - campsites, maps, horses etc. - as well as sell their goods for money.

Next door to the saloon resides gunsmith Jeb Murphy, where the player can purchase weapons , hunting bait , and ammo . The player can also sell provisions here for money. Further along is a closed barber shop and dentist, and next to that is the office of the town's doctor Nathanial Johnston, who helps John Marston after his injury at Fort Mercer and can sell Marston Medicine and similar supplies throughout the story.

Across the street from the doctor's office is the Bank of Armadillo, where large sums of money are secured in the safes inside. Marston can rob the bank to gain money, but at the cost of retaliation from the law and penalties to honor. Down the street is a row of two-story residential buildings. On the far side of town is the Sheriff's office and jail, more houses, and a school house used as a movie theater where Marston can watch a short film for $2.

To the rear of the town, behind the saloon and gunsmith, is the livery. Here, livestock such as cattle are kept in a large pen outside. There is another, smaller pen and a barn for horses, as well as a chicken coop outside the blacksmith's large shed which is found in the center of the area. There is also a small shooting range, where players are free to shoot at the targets.

Background

Red Dead Redemption

Armadillo is the heart of New Austin. Despite the general decay of the region, it provides good services and goods to this day. Recently, Walton's Gang and similar hoodlums have been terrorizing the people of Armadillo and have infested the saloon. Three or four member's of Walton's Gang occasionally ride through town, dragging a civilian behind them, and firing off their guns. It is also reasonably common for Herbert Moon to be robbed, or for a random prostitute to be attacked by a what is probably an unhappy customer (and killed if nothing is done). The only shop type that the area does not possess is a tailor, but because interaction with tailors in not particularly common (only to buy outfit scraps or a bandana), this is not a problem.

Undead Nightmare

In Undead Nightmare, the town is overrun when approached, and survivors have taken refuge on the roofs of shops as well as the saloon. Marshal Leigh Johnson is residing in his office, pondering a way to clear out the Undead, and awaiting the return of his two deputies. He claims that the Undead have been constantly attacking for some time, and tend to "just disappear" after a while, only to attack again later. He then requests Marston's help in finding his deputies and clearing the town.

Interactions

A small portion of "Exodus in America" takes place in the saloon. Every mission in the Leigh Johnson strand except "The Assault on Fort Mercer" begins at this location, in his office. The mission "Old Swindler Blues" ends here and leads directly to the beginning of "You Shall Not Give False Testimony, Except for Profit". The introduction of Irish also takes place here in the mission "A Frenchman, a Welshman and an Irishman".

All three segments of the Stranger side-mission "American Appetites" begin infront of the Armadillo Sheriff's Office. The Stranger side-mission "California" ends in the Armadillo Telegraph Office. A portion of the Stranger side-mission "Let No Man Put Asunder" takes place in the Armadillo Saloon. The first segment of the Stranger side-mission "Lights, Camera, Action" also begins and ends in the Cinema.

Undead Nightmare

In the Undead Nightmare DLC pack, this is one of 23 locations that must be cleared of the Undead and then protected from re-infestation thereafter.

In the midst of the apocalyptic invasion of the undead, Armadillo has been besieged constantly by the hordes of undead. Everyone is running for their lives and survivors are holed up in the buildings and on the rooftops as the town descents into chaos. Marshal Johnson is deperately trying to defend the town in the name of the law. Everett Knox, Tobias Weldon, Alden Renshaw, Adrienne Lachance, Kittie Crenshaw and Jessie Hargrove are the only survivors that can be found defending the town. Herbert Moon is also present, but does not assist in the town's defense.

The side-mission "Dinner For Two" begins and ends here.

This is also the location of Adrienne Lachance, the tenth and final missing person to be rescued in the Fort Mercer segment of the Missing Souls Side-missions.

Multiplayer

It is the location of Gang Matches and Free For All's.
It is the final destination in the Outlaws to the End Co-op mission "The Herd".
This is one of seven locations that has a Land Grab game available. The post to start the game is located on the second floor inside the saloon.
With the addition of the Myths and Mavericks DLC a Stronghold match can be played in this location.

Amenities

Bank of Armadillo, operated by Baxter Deaton.
Cinema
Doctor's Office, owned and operated by Dr. Nathanial Johnston.
General Store, owned and operated by Herbert Moon.
Gunsmith, owned and operated by Jeb Murphy.
Newspapers can be purchased next to the Train Station.
Safehouse, located on the 2nd floor of the saloon, purchase for $50.
Saloon, operated by Dewey Greenwood, provides Marston with drinks and poker.
Sheriff's Office, operated by Marshal Leigh Johnson and deputies Jonah and Eli.
Stagecoach, found loading and unloading supplies behind freight station.
Freight station
Train Station, provides travel via trains, also contains a telegraph office where Marston can pay off his bounties.
Undertaker service, owned and operated by Eldin Grubb.
Wanted Posters can be found at the east end of town, stuck to a board on the side of the Train Station closest to where the player can purchase newspapers.

Activities

Five Finger Fillet next to the Train station.
Poker with a $25 buy-in in the back room of the Saloon.

Trivia

The town's name could be a play on the real world location Amarillo, Texas.
If you look on the back of the banister in the safehouse property, it reads "DON'T YOU LOOK FINE AND DANDY", which is a cheat code to unlock the Elegant Suit Outfit.
The bank teller, Baxter Deaton, can be heard talking about Marshal Leigh Johnson, such as how he "buried stolen goods out in Rio Del Lobo" and how "the gang over by Twin Rocks are in cahoots with him". He even talks about Johnson beating the local women. He also talks about a lion in Hennigan's Stead.
If players look behind the bar, the painting hanging is a colored version of the nude woman that Ben Wade drew in 3:10 to Yuma right before his capture. It is also the same picture that hangs behind the bar of the Alhambra saloon in the videogame "GUN."
The main part of the Southwestern Railroad Company is located here. The company is also located at Benedict Point, and MacFarlane's Ranch.
In Undead Nightmare , the movie theater is fully open and exploreable.
Sometimes Herbert Moon can be seen on his porch scaring off racoons with a broom that frequent his back alley, sometimes even shooting them with a Repeater Carbine.
There is an extremely rare instance of a Walton's Gang member being drunk on the upper floor of the saloon, sometimes even falling over the balcony and crashing down on a table or on the bar smashing all the bottles. They may even get a wanted level for vandalism.
Even after the demise of their leader, Walton's Gang members continue to loiter in the saloon found in the town.
In Undead Nightmare, a body can be found next to the Train Station with a screw driver beside it.
The preacher that preaches outside of the saloon can be heard saying that he was sent to Armadillo in order to save it from sin.
The saloon balcony is one of the locations where you can land on a horse. To do this you must hitch your horse and vault over the hitching post. If done correctly, you will land on your horse.
In Undead Nightmare, if you enter the town from the southwest side road, either coyotes or Undead will spawn near the train station. This also happens in Ridgewood Farm and Manzanita Post.