08/15/55 -- Sir John Griffyn

Situation
Over 2000 Cheshire men responded to the call to arms. This was definitively more than expected, but it didn't turned out to be a curse for the unit. The upside is that the few men selected to sail first were the most experiences and well equipped that the Shire could produce. Although bows and strings were short earlier in the summer, the men who made the cut were well equipped, smartly dressed, armed appropriately with short swords and large daggers. Many are wearing armors dating back from the glory days of Crecy. There are grosses of arrows everywhere, but the steel-headed kind had to be procured from the King's store. This is ironic since the King's purveyors were responsible for doing their job too well in the first place: leaving nothing behind for the regional units. Most archers simply can't carry horses oversea, for the lack of shipping is even greater than the lack of suitable horses. The Cheshire commanders will be on horses, maybe a few scouts will be on light horses, but the unit will be on foot.

The really bad news is that only one eight of the unit will be able to sail to France with the Prince of Wales. The fleet is supposed to come back in a month, but by then it is likely that most men will have abandoned their billet and returned home. During the weeks of riots, Sir Griffyn steered the fine line between making the men busy and getting them angry. He disregarded a few requests to execute trouble makers, but the unit is overall still mainly loyal to the Prince of Wales. The unit leaving for France is rated as trained, and has suitable discipline.

This concludes Phase 1 of the game for the Cheshire Archers. See you on the private site for new situation updates and more mayhem.

07/15/55 -- Sir John Griffyn

Situation
Once 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. Your unit is billeted in the Northern end of town, where frightened civilians are barricading their houses every night in fear of being invaded... by your men among others.

Mobilization Outlook
Unchanged from July 1, will be updated in Aug 1 (next turn).

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
It 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 troublemakers in a show of tough discipline. You men are confused and angry that they get punished for the shortcoming of the Prince (failure to provide drinks and shortage of other victuals). 

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?

08/01/55 - Prince of Wales

An evening in Plymouth with 10,000 of your closest
sober friends.

Personal Situation

The Prince of Wales is currently based in Plymouth, riding through town to quell the unrest unleashed by Plymouth's tavern running out of booze.

Situation
Things have had a turn for the worst in July as the beer shortage triggered brawls throughout the location. Stern discipline was distributed the following morning as ordered. Unfortunately, local loyalties got in the way and discipline was not exacted uniformly. On the following night, the Prince of Wales ordered the Welsh spearmen to break the brawls in town. Desperate attempts to find lodging out of town were unsuccessful, exceptional attempts to source beers from other shires also were futile. The civilians in Plymouth are asking for protection from the Sheriff, but the castle is already overfull with knights and nobles.

There is no headcount at the moment, but there are more knights, baronets, earls and Dukes in Plymouth than anyone could have anticipated. The expeditionary fleet is small, but ready. There are piles and piles of hurdles and gangways on the docks, but not enough ships to retrofit. The food supply is holding on, but barely and largely because the Prince of Wales is getting the archers to hunt during the day so it is easier to clean up the mess from the previous night.


The next update will be in September 1, at the planned departure time, for a final tally of the mobilization.

Mobilization outlook

1. Troops
1. Archers (3000) : On target.
2. Welsh Spearmen (1000) : Will be there as expected.
3. Knights and retinues (6000) : Overwhelming response.
2. Victuals
1. Food : short, due to larger numbers of knights accumulating in Plymouth.
2. Wine/beer : We're now entering the rioting phase.
3. Fodder : Plenty harvested and purchased.
3. Supply
1. Archery (bows, arrows, strings, heads) : Plenty.
2. Horses : shortage, not enough for archers.
4. Navy
1. Acquire shipping : Slow, but steady.
2. Staff ships : All arrived ships are ready, not enough ships.
3. Retrofit ships (gangways, hurdles.) : All arrived ships are ready, not enough ships.
5. Embarkation
1. Billet troops : OK for now.
2. Discipline : Not good, will get worst without drinks.
3. ETA : Sept 1, 1355 may be delayed by shipping.
6. Funds
1. Level : Plenty!
2. Creditors : The investors have contributed. 
3. King's funds : Arrived.
4. War tax : Funds are in.

Instructions
Consider your situation and prepare a list of things to focus on, in the order of importance. Refer to the post on strategy to help formulate your instructions. Here are a few notes:

1. An almost full size force could sail now if you decides to go this way. 
2. You may expect desertion to become a factor in the following few weeks as morale is about to plummet.
3. The sea is good at the moment.
4. Welsh spearmen have been acting as MP for you, but this makes them even less liked by the Englishmen in the force. 
5. The archers are the main source of brawlers.
6. Knights and men-at-arms are forming the bulk of the men on the ground, they are not above reproach here. Nobody likes to wait in an overcrowded place while sober.

07/01/55 - Prince of Wales

Edward of Woodstock, enjoying a shaved face
for the last time in a long long while.

Personal Situation
The Prince of Wales is currently based in Plymouth, overseeing the retrofitting of the navy and the billeting of the expeditionary force in and around the port town.

Situation
The whole kingdom is droning with activity. Between the Duke of Lancaster in Britanny, the King preparing for Calais and the Prince of Wales for Aquitaine, everyone in England has war on their mind. The nobility and knights are responding in numbers larger than anticipated: baronets are showing up with larger retinues, older knights are accepting indentures when they were not expected to. This is good new except for the fact that the procuring of victuals isn't following the recuitment. Worst, Plymouth has been drank dry and the purveyors can't find enough beer and wine to supply the expeditionary forces. The supply is barely a few days ahead, not a stockpile of a few weeks as we'd prefer. The harvests are good, however, and we have much more fodder than we need for our horses.

As for shipping, our aggressive efforts to impress ships and crew has picked up, but remains slow. We have large piles of gangway and hurdles for retrofitting ships to ferry horses, but most of it is waiting for ships to work with. However, we have a small fleet of ready ships waiting in the harbor and ready to go. There is not enough horses here for our archers, we may need to purchase horses on the continent to solve both the horse and the shipping problem.

A number of civilian tradesmen have answered the call, arrived in Plymouth. However, the shipping situation and the shortage of drinkable stuff (wine, beer), has convinced many to turn back to their residences. Should we pursue the policy of bringing civilians to France?

The next update will be in August 1, at the height of arrivals of soldiers into Plymouth.

Mobilization outlook

1. Troops
1. Archers (3000) : On target, momentum lost.
2. Welsh Spearmen (1000) : Will be there as expected.
3. Knights and retinues (6000) : Overwhelming response.
2. Victuals
1. Food : short, due to larger numbers of knights accumulating in Plymouth.
2. Wine/beer : Major problem here! We can't go to war sober...
3. Fodder : Plenty harvested and purchased.
3. Supply
1. Archery (bows, arrows, strings, heads) : Plenty.
2. Horses : shortage, not enough for archers.
4. Navy
1. Acquire shipping : Slow, but steady.
2. Staff ships : All arrived ships are ready, not enough ships.
3. Retrofit ships (gangways, hurdles.) : All arrived ships are ready, not enough ships.
5. Embarkation
1. Billet troops : OK for now.
2. Discipline : Not good, will get worst without drinks.
3. ETA : Sept 1, 1355 may be delayed by shipping.
6. Funds
1. Level : Plenty!
2. Creditors : The investors have contributed. 
3. King's funds : Arrived.
4. War tax : Incoming (ETA: Aug 1)

Instructions
Consider your situation and prepare a list of things to focus on, in the order of importance. Refer to the post on strategy to help formulate your instructions. Here are a few notes:

1. The SOP is to sail only once. You may be tempted to ferry some right away, but there is not a lot of troops ready by now to go. It takes 15 days per legs, so a month turnaround time. Only a small force is ready to go, but fodder is ready to go. There could be maybe a 1000 knights and men-at-arms ready to go right away. A small fleet is vulnerable to pirates and French patrols.
2. Drinks should be available in, of all places, Bordeaux.
3. You are bathing in money at this point. Finding stuff to buy is the real problem.

08/01/55 -- Gronou ap Griffith

Situation
The travel to Plymouth took place without complications. Much of the men traveled on their own and began to assemble around their leader in Plymouth. There is no official count at the moment, but there should be about a thousand men in the unit, including the stragglers. Of this number, some 100 are knighted and thus forms a core of experienced soldiers. Welsh knights are still considered to be footmen, they have better weapons and armors, are more experienced, but are not comparable to English knights in most cases. The overall skill level of the unit is, however, minimal at the moment. Arriving early was an excellent idea: the billet space in Plymouth is not sufficient for the entire expedition and the first served are getting much better accommodation. Gronou can't help but notice the small number of ships in the port: this doesn't bode well.

The waiting game has begun. Only 1 month before the planned embarkation.

Spearmen from Wales, lead by Gronou ap Griffith

State	Status	Supplies
Order of Battle Speamen : ~1000 men (10) Nobility : ~100 men (7) Location Plymouth, billet Activity Assembling, training Skill levels Maneuver : untrained Operations : untrained Melee : trained Discipline : suitable Funds : low	Secured early billet in town. Training maneuvers. Policing for the Prince of Wales. Hated by English soldiers. Breaking up/fueling Street brawls.	Using the Prince of Wales stores for victuals, wine and fodder. Weapons : low Armor : low

The above is the axiom table for this unit.

Instructions
Consider your axioms and prepare a list of things to focus on, in the order of importance. Refer to the post on strategy to help formulate your instructions. Here are a few notes:

1. Low in weapons count as a strike when attempting to complete tasks requiring weapons : battles, skirmish, pillaging, etc. It modulate your skill level in determining the odds of success (by cutting the odds by close to 4)
2. Low in armor makes the troop lighter and faster, which is a good things for moving around. It is a strike against you in battles and skirmishes. 
3. Poorly equipped in both armor and weapons, and untrained, your unit is currently useless in battle.
4. "Operations" refers to non-combats task such as marches, camping, maintaining equipment. 
5. Low fund counts as a strike against any initiatives requiring funds to complete: you are not broke, but the options are more limited.
6. The effect of training maneuver will be determined at the end of the month. This is not a new action, but an action that you ordered in the past and for which I assumed that you have carried on since then. 
7. This entire turn covers the whole month of August. This is probably your last chance to influence the unit's status before it sails to Bordeaux.

Sheriff of Plymouth

This character is responsible for the assembly of the navy, the retrofitting of ships and the billeting of troops prior to their embarkation for France. If there is a high stress job in England this summer, this would be the one.

Axioms

1. Key role in the mobilization.
2. Access to Prince of Wales, funds.