How to defend Goodsprings, and keep the Powder Gangers *and* NCR friendly without ignoring quests.

Here's my own take, and the best result I've gotten while completing all the quests.

When you start the game, you do the tutorial, save the lady from geckos, blow good springs, go to NCRCF, pay your way in past Dawes, talk to Eddie who sends you on two fetch quests, then sends you to find out if the NCR are coming to retake the prison. Ignore it for now.

Go to Nipton, you talk to Boxcars, give him 5 medx and get the Booted quest to go and rescue two powder gangers from the legion. Do this quest whenever (it does add a History Point with Boone though).

After that you need to go to Vault 19. I used route with Philip Lem, did not test with Samuel Cooke but would assume the result is the same. For Philip's path, you need explosives 60 for the next part. The comprehension perk is really nice here which makes mags give 20 to the associated skill (plus an extra skill point from skill books) and a few other items to bump it up quite a bit. Talk to Philip Lem in Vault 19. He sends you to blow up the sulfur caves and you want to just blow up the sulfur caves, not the entire vault. Then pass a speech check of 40 to tell him to partner up with the Khan's, talk to them, come back, hand in quest to Philip.

Then go back to Primm and find out about the NCR attack on the correctional facility, tell Eddie, and then don't fight the NCR on the way out. It may take a few reloads but I did finally get every named NPC to survive the fight. *Do not* talk to Eddie after the fight.

Next you go back to Goodsprings, talk to Ringo, and do the ghost town gunfight quest. Let the NPCs kill the powder gangers so you don't get more infamy. This will put you at Mixed with the powder gangers and idolized with Goodsprings. Then you go back to the NCRCF and talk to Eddie and you get one last hit of Powder Ganger fame that makes you a Smiling Troublemaker.

After all this Goodsprings remains safe and sound, the Powder Gangers won't attack you along the streets, and you can do all the NCR quests you want.