Add feature to all factions to allow an NPC contingent of player faction membership. NPC followers including companions can be stationed at a new Clubhouse base. This base has a bunch of Party Points so the base itself can be a parking place for your NPC followers. Next is a Barracks base also with Party Points. You assign an NPC there as a Captain. Then you assign up to 4 more NPCs there, under him, to form a 5-man team. Up to 4 captains per Barracks.
Teams can then be tailored as a mix of different weapon types, or all sniper or whatever player wants - just mix them around and re-assign them as needed. Take them on missions and quests. Plus...when you're going offline, you can send a captain and his team out on solo missions to hunt certain things, including Special Encounters. This would be limited, but they search for SE until they meet serious trouble, at which point they end their mission and return to Barracks.
Your farm produces food. All NPCs eat food at the Clubhouse and hang out there waiting for assignments. They eat food, so your farm needs to be optimized for food production.