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| Gronou ap Griffith, leader of the Welsh spearmen bound to Aquitaine. |
Breakthrough, Sir Griffyn appealed to the veterans of Crecy for the unit's colours. As a result, scores of old uniforms were donated to Sir Griffyn to be used in the coming chevauchee. Strings can be sourced from the Northern reaches of England from the surplus of the last campaign into Scotland. However, this means that even though the spindles must be sold at King's wage, the transportation cost almost doubles the price. At any rate, it looks like there will be more than the target number of arrayed archers that will assemble in Plymouth on Aug 1. There should be enough string initially, but the stock may be low. As for steel arrows, it turned out that the shortage is caused by the aggressive sourcing of these by the King's puveyors in early June. There should be plenty of them from the Prince of Wales' pile in Plymouth (should). As for horses, about 1/3 to 1/2 of the archers are taking their own horses, which value will be assessed and guaranteed by the King before sailing off to France. The missing horses will have to be purchased somewhere else: there is just not enough available in Cheshire at this time.
Note. About half of the arrayed archers are small land-owner with some means to their disposal. These can provide their own horses, bows and whatever they fancy for armor (mail, padded armors mostly). The other half must be provided for.
Cheshire Archers
- 20 Experienced trainers over 8 locations within Cheshire. (training is likely to bring troops to trained level rapidly). Lots of activity going on every day: new recruits, training tournaments, sparring.
- Tradition of excellence: Prince of Wales signature unit.
- Eager population base.
- Funds : sufficient for requested levels.
Mobilization Outlook
- Requested forces : 1000 archers (momentum, eager, likely)
- Bows, string (shortage of strings, somewhat likely)
- Steel headed arrows (acute shortage, unlikely)
- Training arrows (plenty!, very likely)
- Uniforms, textile and manufacture (recycling old uniforms, unlikely)
- Blades (on course, somewhat likely)
- Horses (shortage, very unlikely)
- Departure within 4 weeks (likely)
Instructions
There is less than a turn before setting to Plymouth. Any instructions?
From Sandy.
ReplyDeleteI hear that the Prince has a supply of bows and steel arrowheads. I'm going to lobby for a supply of these when I get to port. In the meantime, I'll switch gears and begin looking for horses in the local area.
ACTION - Sir Griffyn sends purveyors to find lots of horses that could be purchased in surrounding counties and shires.
Base: 10. Competing with local mobilization efforts outside (-2), cast a big net around(+1), need only light horses (+1), tgt:10, roll:8. Success.
ACTION -- Aggressive sourcing of horses takes the fund level down to low. tgt:10, roll:12. Nope, funds are still at sufficient level.
Note, because the success of the first action is 8 and needed 10, this means that neither casting a big net around NOR looking only for light horses were necessary for a success. As a results, the horses are found not so far away, and there are even some good quality palfreys thrown into the mix. A masterstroke from Sir Griffyn.
ReplyDeleteI'm adding "Experienced" as skill level for sourcing supply to Sir Griffyn in his axioms.
ReplyDeleteSweet! It looks like we're as ready as we are ever going to be before making our way to Plymouth. Sir Griffyn will spend the rest of his time ensuring that his sub commanders are well trained for keeping discipline and morale high when we get their. The last thing I want to do is make an ass of myself in front of the prince.
ReplyDeleteOne that you arrive in Plymouth, the town is in a minor state of upheaval: it has ran dry. There are brawls at night, and the Welsh Spearmen have been called by the Prince of Wales to break fights at night.
ReplyDeleteIt is mid-July, your men are trickling in and are getting into trouble as well. You have been ordered by the Prince of Wales to execute 3 troublemaker in a show of harsh discipline. You men are confused and angry that they get punished for the shortcoming of the Prince.
1) Do you carry on the orders? Some units have simply dismissed the culprit after a good beating.
2) How do you handle the situation for the next two weeks? Things are getting worst every day?