Cannot compete quest 'form ranks' because preston wont tell me to attack the castle

[yasai]

i hvae finished the quest called 'institutionalized' and i gave the holotape to sturges, so now a quest called 'form ranks' has started, but i have looked on the internet and it says everywhere that i need 8 minuteman settlements to start the quest but i have 16, and it still won't start. i think the problem may be that preston hasn't given me the 'taking independence' quest yet to take the castle for the minutemen. He should have given me this quest long ago but some bug makes him not give it to me. plase help me find how to fix this problem. I think i just need to do the castle quest then i can finish form ranks.

[Ilja]

It is not just about number, but alliance.

I don't know where you found 8 settlements? This is not true. You need 4 allied settlements, meaning that they had to have existing settlers, who allied with Minutemen after you helped them.

Is this the case?

[Bored Peon]

There is a bug with that I noticed on my last Minuteman playthrough. The Form Ranks remained uncompleted until I completed one of the other current quests for Preston.

Originally posted by Loopy:

i think the problem may be that preston hasn't given me the 'taking independence' quest yet to take the castle for the minutemen..

You have to complete First Step (takign Ten Pines) before taking the Castle comes up.

[yasai]

i have finished 'first step' long ago and yes, i definitely have at least 4 allied settlements

[NerfPlayeR135]

Did you acquire those settlements through Minuteman quests? Simply enabling a workshop won't cut it.

[Bored Peon]

Originally posted by ¤FF¤ NerfPlayeR135:

Did you acquire those settlements through Minuteman quests? Simply enabling a workshop won't cut it.

Wrong. My last Minuteman play through I acquired all the settlements ahead of time before I let preston out of his museum cage.

[NerfPlayeR135]

Originally posted by Bored Peon:

Originally posted by ¤FF¤ NerfPlayeR135:

Did you acquire those settlements through Minuteman quests? Simply enabling a workshop won't cut it.

Wrong. My last Minuteman play through I acquired all the settlements ahead of time before I let preston out of his museum cage.

OK, nevermind then.

Usually I just default to looking at the Fallout Wikia (http://fallout.wikia.com) if I'm having problems; they've documented possible bugs very well there and usually offer solutions.

[Bored Peon]

Originally posted by ¤FF¤ NerfPlayeR135:

Usually I just default to looking at the Fallout Wikia (http://fallout.wikia.com) if I'm having problems; they've documented possible bugs very well there and usually offer solutions.

I have over 3k hours played. When it comes to that wiki the ONLY thing you can trust is the hardcore facts. Things like item locations, stage information, console data, etc. When it comes to the other information anyone can edit that crap in and the info doesnt get confirmed first.

[Ilja]

True. Fallout does not have something like UESPWiki for Skyrim, where the information far better confirmed and managed.

FANDOM wikis often have several problems with their descriptions and solutions. They are not bad, but not entirely trustworthy.

[Bored Peon]

I have seen people correct the info on the wiki before. The problem is someone else comes along with an opposing rumor and changes it.

To give you an exmaple, the wiki says "at 5 idle settlers a settlement stops recruiting." Which is true (CK shows the code), except one flaw, you have to visit the settlement for those newer idle settlers to gain the idle flag. So as long as you avoid visiting a settlement you can easily recruit a dozen idle settlers.

So the innaccuracies only apply to the "theorycrafting" and not the "hard fact data."

[Ilja]

People come to "correct" wiki, based on commonly known facts (meaning that it came up from Google first), based on something that console player wrote on GameFAQs at December 2015.

[yasai]

is there a console command to start quest 'taking independence'?

[Bored Peon]

As soon as you finish First Step for Ten Pines Preston should have asked you non-stop about retaking the Castle.

You could attempt to start it by doing a setstage command. The list of stages and their numbers are on the wiki.

[HydroKronic]

This post is old but incase I need it, try talking to Ronnie he begins to mention about synths lurking near the castle ,from there the quest "Form ranks" completed for me (I had about every settlement prior to gaining quest "Form Ranks")