07/01/55 -- Sir Griffyn

Gronou ap Griffith, leader of the Welsh
spearmen bound to Aquitaine. 

Situation
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

1. 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.
2. Tradition of excellence: Prince of Wales signature unit.
3. Eager population base.
4. Funds : sufficient for requested levels.

Mobilization Outlook

1. Requested forces :  1000 archers (momentum, eager, likely)
2. Bows, string (shortage of strings, somewhat likely)
3. Steel headed arrows (acute shortage, unlikely)
4. Training arrows (plenty!, very likely)
5. Uniforms, textile and manufacture (recycling old uniforms, unlikely)
6. Blades (on course, somewhat likely)
7. Horses (shortage, very unlikely)
8. Departure within 4 weeks (likely)

Instructions
There is less than a turn before setting to Plymouth. Any instructions?

06/15/55 - Sir Griffyn

Situation Update
Two weeks have expanded since the mobilization has been called. The response from the counties is very positive and the other officers are reporting amazing progress toward the recruitment target. The purveyors are reporting acute problems with bow strings, steel arrows, green cloth for the uniforms and horses.  This is no very unusual, but this is not where we want to be. The trainers are working the newly arrayed men very hard: tournaments are taking place on weekends and all activities other than archery are banned.

We need to keep a tab on funds in the coming two weeks, with strings and steel being much more expensive than planned. We also will be slower on the way to Plymouth if we're short of horses.  We are going to assemble in two weeks to travel to the coast.

Cheshire Archers

1. 20 Experienced trainers over 8 locations within Cheshire. (training is likely to bring troops to trained level rapidly)
2. Tradition of excellence: Prince of Wales signature unit.
3. Eager population base.
4. Funds : sufficient for requested levels.

Mobilization Outlook

1. Requested forces :  1000 archers (momentum, eager, likely)
2. Bows, string (shortage of strings, somewhat likely)
3. Steel headed arrows (shortage, unlikely)
4. Training arrows (plenty!, very likely)
5. Uniforms, textile and manufacture (no green cloth, unlikely)
6. Blades (on course, somewhat likely)
7. Horses (shortage, very unlikely)
8. Departure within 4 weeks (likely)

Instructions

The uniform seems like a minor thing, but it is a matter of unit pride. Don't underestimate this, although this is not like you can start weaving yourself.  At any rate, anything missing can be purchased later on the way to Plymouth. You can try to be aggressive and pay more for stuff, or take your chance and try to buy what's missing (you may not be alone trying to do this). Things are not that bad, are there any special instructions?

06/01/55 - Sir Griffyn

Cheshire Archers

1. 20 Experiencedtrainers over 8 locations within Cheshire. (training is likely to bring troops to trained level rapidly)
2. Tradition of excellence: Prince of Wales signature unit.
3. Eager population base.
4. Funds : sufficient for requested levels.

Mobilization Outlook

1. Requested forces :  1000 archers (likely)
2. Bows, string (somewhat likely)
3. Steel headed arrows (unikely)
4. Training arrows (very likely)
5. Uniforms, textile and manufacture (somewhat likely)
6. Blades (somewhat likely)
7. Horses (very unlikely)
8. Departure within 4 weeks (likely)

Instructions

We are about  to set on another enterprise with the Prince of Wales. The men and women of Cheshire are eager to bring riches from France one more time. Sir Griffyn, knighted after his exploits at Crecy, is the de factor leader of the Cheshire archers. Your deputies will oversee the procurement of material and the distribution of funds to the arrayers and purveyors. Everything seems to be looking fine, except for the endemic shortage of suitable horses and textile so far inland. Shall we proceed or re there special instructions that we should consider before mobilization?