Commonwealth Minutemen

The Commonwealth Minutemen (commonly referred to as simply the Minutemen) is a paramilitary group protecting the various settlements in the Commonwealth in 2287.

Background
Founded by ordinary folk of the Commonwealth, the Minutemen are dedicated to the protection of their home, the Commonwealth, from outside threats. Their first major action was the defense of Diamond City in 2180 from a horde of super mutants. As they rose to prominence, the Minutemen became known as citizen soldiers, protecting the Commonwealth and its people so that they could decide their own future. The Minutemen also clashed with the Institute on occasions. However, as the years went by and their influence grew, Minutemen leaders gradually forgot their ideals - and with it came decline and defeat.

Despite a long and respectable tradition, the group has fallen into disarray in recent years, due to a string of disastrous defeats, the single biggest hit being the loss of The Castle to Mirelurks in 2240, after a queen mirelurk decided she fancies the location. The loss of their headquarters, radio station, and General McGann sent the Commonwealth Minutemen into disarray. Without artillery support and their resources, they were picked off one by one.

After the death of Becker in 2282 no one could agree whom would lead the Minutemen next. This fracturing would lead to the collapse of the organisation. Their death knell came in 2287, when the Gunners attacked Quincy, led by a former Minuteman. Colonel Hollis and Preston Garvey were the only Minutemen unit that responded to the town's desperate call for help. The others... Simply refused to come. Despite a desperate defense, the town fell to the gunners. Barely twenty people made it out of there alive, led by Preston Garvey. The last surviving Minuteman led an exodus, coming under attack from raiders looking for easy picking. He eventually wound up in Concord, with just five survivors of the attacks in Quincy, at the nadir of the Minutemen's existence, five minutes from extinction... Until the Sole Survivor arrived in the town, the fate of the Minutemen appeared all but sealed.

Organization
The leader of the Minutemen is traditionally referred to as General and is responsible for outlining the faction's policies, managing personnel, and other major affairs.The Minutemen are spread around the Commonwealth, the most experienced taking a leader position in most cases.

Outside relations
The Minutemen were originally a militia centered around the idea of protecting the people of the Commonwealth at a minute's notice, but eventually became the primary force in the region, stabilizing the situation and responding to emergencies much like a military force would.

Interactions with the player character

 * The player can join the Minutemen in Fallout 4. Preston Garvey starts the quest arc that allows the player to restore the Minutemen to glory, with When Freedom Calls and then The First Step quests. Then, the Minutemen become, effectively, the player's own personal faction, granting access to a variety of benefits, including:
 * New settlements with repeatable quests: Raider Troubles, Kidnapping, Greenskins, Clearing the Way, Taking Point, Ghoul Problem, Rogue Courser, Resettle Refugees (if the player blew up the Institute with the Minutemen and issued an evacuation order), Defend the Artillery (if the Brotherhood is hostile).
 * Minutemen reinforcements that can be summoned with flare guns (after The First Step).
 * Artillery strikes using artillery smoke grenades (after Old Guns and constructing at least one battery).
 * Unique equipment acquired during quests: Minutemen general's uniform and hat.
 * Unique vendor, Ronnie Shaw.
 * As the Minutemen largely depend on the player to carry out their missions, their alignment also depends on the player. They are the only faction that is not destroyed in any of the endings and which doesn't require the player to wipe out two factions to complete the storyline.

Technology
The Minutemen believe in using technology in a controlled manner to help their cause. They fight for freedom, but they do not believe in the rights of the Institute's Synths. In combat, the Minutemen emphasize reliable technology, which can be used without fail in interventions. They operate (or at least used to operate) their own radio station to coordinate their efforts in the field. Unique in the Commonwealth is their use of massive mortars to deploy artillery strikes against targets their light arms cannot succeed. They also utilize flare guns to signal for assistance from any nearby minutemen. The Minutemen also utilize laser muskets as a signature weapon, appearing to be handmade from laser rifle components.

Appearances
The Commonwealth Minutemen appears only in Fallout 4.

Behind the scenes
The Commonwealth Minutemen as a whole comes from the legacy of the Minutemen, who were private colonists who independently organized to form well-prepared militia companies and self-trained in weaponry, tactics and military strategies. They served during the American Revolutionary War.