Have you done the CPS on the truck? Ford has been bugging the crap out of me to bring it in for service but of course, I already changed mine... In the middle of the street... In the rain... At work...
It was years ago too and I have since lost the receipt.
Any way, back on topic, the MB system is MUCH less sophisticated than the HEUI. All the ECU does is control the boost, EGR and rack position. But you are right that it gets it's RPM info from the CPS. I would think though, that if you held the rack forward a little while cranking, that it would at least cough a little.
Although, if you've had the injection lines off, it'll take a while to purge the air before it'll start.