This is really specific. I do not mean the flares. I mean how do to get Minutemen soldiers in place of settlers? I built a recruitment beacon, and I get some settlers and some minutemen. I want 20 minutemen for The Castle.

I don't think you get a choice, you just seem to get a small number of minutemen as settlers due to it being their main base......I've also seen a force of minutemen at the Red Rocket but they were not part of the settlement population they just turned up and then were gone the next time I returned.

You could I suppose send days sending the none minutemen to other settlements and hope for new minutemen settlers but I don't think you receive any more than those first few and they might have been survivors from taking the Castle.

I only got settlers. Strange.

Which makes me think that the couple of Minutemen I got as settlers where survivors of the taking of the Castle.

Not necessiraly. In one of my games, all but one died, yet I still had 5 minutemen. Not to mention that I had a couple spawn ( after taking the castle ) at Tenpines and Red Rocket, which instantly headed out into the wasteland. It wouldn′t be a surprise if the spawning of minutemen at the moment is buggy.

I've gotten about 5 more minutemen after retaking the castle (plus 4 that survived the attack so 9 in total. This happened without a beacon so I guess its the radio tower or quest completion that adds more. But I haven't gotten more then those 5 after that and I'm considering building a beacon and let normal settlers arrive instead. Such a shame

On a side note, have anyone had the flares work?
I've completed minutemen main quest and there's now travelling minutemen on the roads and at various check points but the flares haven't worked once. "No minutemen able to respond".

Never had any respond to my earlier attempts......I'll have to give it another try now I've built up the number and size of settlements. I did almost kill my self using a bombardment flare instead of the Vertibird flare but that is another story.

Since I've abandoned all fast travel within the range of a recruitment beacon my problems with the false reports (settlements having no power, water or beds) seem to have ended, I largely fly between settlements now and its fun to swoop down onto enemies attacking a settlement. My problems with the Red Rocket seem to be that having all the companions there masks the settlers so that they are counted but never appear visually......after sending a couple elsewhere two of my unseen settlers appeared.

It always works, but only in zones where you hear a radio recruitment beacon

They need to actually explain that though i used to think it was useless as well.

Ah, yea. That makes sense. Gonig to try that. I presumed it was the same distance as artillery had, didn't think of a beacon.

I just buy some Laser Muskets, some Minutemen outfits and dress my guards or settlers in them. Not perfect, but it has to do until mods are out.