Commonwealth Minutemen

The Commonwealth Minutemen are a faction in the Commonwealth in 2287.

History
The Minutemen first stood out when they successfully defended Diamond City from a super mutant attack in 2180. The last leader of the Minutemen was General Becker. Upon his death, the Minutemen began having internal power struggles and could not agree on a new leader. Following the Quincy Massacre, all members of the Minutemen are either dead or have run off, with the sole exception of Preston Garvey.

Interactions with the player character
Soon after escaping the vault, the Sole Survivor comes across the Museum of Freedom under attack by raiders. They must fight their way upstairs, where they are introduced to Preston Garvey, who is leading a group against the raiders. The Sole Survivor later meets with Preston who then invites them to join the Minutemen and the Minutemen questline starts. Throughout this questline the Sole Survivor will be asked to lead the Minutemen and complete tasks to align more settlements with the Minutemen. Eventually this will lead to a quest in which the Minutemen take back their former headquarters, The Castle.

The Minutemen are benign as factions go, and will stay friendly to the player should the player ally with any of the other factions, The Institute, Brotherhood of Steel, or The Railroad. However, the Sole Survivor can opt out of any of those factions and work specifically with the Minutemen for the main quest.

Upon completion of the main story with the Minutemen, soldiers from the army will patrol the wasteland. The Sole Survivor will occasionally obtain the quest "Defend the checkpoint." This quest consists of mainly helping a minutemen patrol defend a checkpoint against Synths, raiders, ghouls, or the Brotherhood of Steel.

Faction War
Depending on the action of the player, the Sole Survivor may initiate a war against other factions. If choosing the minutemen for the main quest, a war is triggered between the Minutemen and the Institute. This path will lead to "Defend the Castle" against the Synths. And later on, the completion of the main quest with "The Nuclear Option."

If the player decides to attack the Brotherhood of Steel, the two factions will go to war. This action will lead to battles across the wasteland. The war will end with Preston Garvey giving the player "With Our Powers Combined," and immediately after "Defend the Castle." Once the quest is over, the war is over. Although surviving Brotherhood members will be hostile.

Related quests

 * At a Minutes Notice
 * Sanctuary
 * The Sight
 * Taking Independence
 * Old Guns
 * Inside Job
 * Form the Ranks
 * Defend the Castle
 * The Nuclear Option
 * With Our Powers Combined

Appearances
The Commonwealth Minutemen appear in Fallout 4.

Behind the scenes
They are based on the 'Minutemen' who helped fight the British during the Revolutionary War. There are alternative theories that the 'Minutemen' may be related to the nuclear weapons program.