First time start - no go

The voltage regulator gets it on/off voltage from the Ignition circuit.....
Okay true, but for our purposes it doesn't 'affect' the ignition system; the engine will fire up and run even without a regulator(not a good idea!:eek:)
Not likely the ballast resistor either if it doesn't even want to fire while cranking.
Bl1zzard are you using a known good ECU?