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.

07/01/55 - Gronou ap Griffith

Situation
Your appeal to the controller of the Exchequer remains to this day without a response. It is possible that this is because of the nation-wide chaos created by the mobilization. If anything, most purveyors are known to skim the funds to their own profits: the purveyor that you dealt with was more aggressive and left you in a bad financial place. Speaking of finance, the prescribed King's price for blades and spears are too high and you find yourself in the strange situation where you simply cannot purchase enough weapons to meet your recruitment targets. However, even if you had more money, you cannot source enough chainmails, gloves and boots to meet targets. Finally, although the recruitment is going well, it is probable at this point that you will not be able to array the required number of men for the Prince of Wales.

Gronou is spending part of his time instructing mens to assemble to travel through England as a unit. The response is cold: most men believe that they are better off finding their own food and accomodation while travelling within the home nation.

Welsh Spearmen

1. Growing numbers, hard to predict at the moment. 
2. Strong unit cohesion.
3. Chauvinistic outlook on Englishmen.
4. Finance : Low.

Mobilization Outlook

1. Forces of 1000 (not enough people, likely)
2. Spears (insufficient funds, somewhat likely)
3. Armors [chainmail, leather] (shortage, funds, somewhat likely)
4. Anticipated training level at assembly : untrained
5. Assembly in Plymouth on August 1 (enthusiastic, somewhat likely)
6. Funds : low

Instruction
The last two weeks weren't pleasant, but not atypical. There are some decisions that can be of consequence to the mobilization. First, it is a shame that there are weapons available but they are out of reach because your funds are too low. As for armors, it hopefully can be made up in Plymouth from the Prince's stockpiles. As it goes now, you'll have an enthusiastic but maybe short-staffed unit. Let me know if you have specific instructions or whether everything is good to go. Next turn, July 15.

06/07/55 - Gronou ap Griffith

Situation
A purveyor from the King has disbursed to you the funds to array 1000 pikemen for an upcoming operation. Obviously, the purveyor has not disbursed the funds in full, but there is nothing that you can do to prove this assertion. You are to do the following: recruit 1000 men and provide them with enough funds to travel from the limit of the county to Plymouth. Once there, you will get enough funds to provide 6 months of wage up front. Men do not need to travel in column and are free to walk on their own or as a small group: you will know only in Plymouth whether you have met your targets at some point in August.

Welsh spearmen are treated as second-class soldiers because of their ethnicity and the fact that they are footmen. You could try to get them on horses, but your funds, even if the purveyor didn't scam you, are woefully insufficient for this. However, you usually play the role of auxiliary, which makes you special: you are a walking anti-cavalry wall often used to funnel the attacker somewhere, or block a flank.

Welsh Pikemen

1. Skeleton crew of about 50 experienced trainers. 
2. Strong Unit cohesion.
3. Chauvinistic outlook on Englishmen.

Mobilization Outlook

1. Forces of 1000 (likely)
2. Spears (somewhat likely)
3. Armors [chainmail, leather] (somewhat likely)
4. Anticipated training level at assembly : untrained
5. Assembly in Plymouth on August 1 (somewhat likely)
6. Funds : low

Instructions
Low funds means that it will be hard to meet recruitment target because there will be not enough money to pay the men to travel from North Wales to Plymouth. As usual, the Welsh are dealt a poor hand. About 1/3 to 1/2 of the men will choose to travel with you while the other will make their own way, unless otherwise instructed. The Journey will begin in mid-July, and should get you there by early August.