The Sovereygne Companie - Lancastrians in Exile

[Dirty Chai]

Known originally in the earliest documents of contract as the Company of Loyal English, this contracting band of soldiers, under the leadership of Lancastrian exiles loyal to the legacy of Henry VI, came to be commonly known as the "the Sovereygne Companie" for its most common emblem among its banners: the ostrich feather, wrapped in a blue belt spelling out "sovereygne" - the primary badge chosen by Edward of Westminster, inherited from his great-grandfather Henry IV "Bolingbroke." Edward claims to be the rightful "Edward IV" officially, but is still commonly known as "Edward of Lancaster" or "Red Ed" even.

Location & History:
- Started in Arelate Provence in 1469
- Moved to Nice in Savoy in early 1469

Leaders

Edward "IV" of Lancaster - Duels +3, Joust +2
...

Troops

250 men
- King's Retinue (50 Men-at-Arms)
- King's Livery (100 Yeomen Longbows, 100 Light Footmen)
- The Savoyard Band (200 Light Footmen)

[Dirty Chai]

While waiting to hear from the Baron Clifford who had gone to Milan, the Lancastrians made rest outside of Nice in southern Savoy, within view of the ocean. It had been years since any of them had slept anywhere but in the comfort of Tarascon, but it was refreshing to many, Edward suspected, in the same way that moving about on foot after sitting on a horse for a day might feel refreshing.

They had acquired the peaceable right from the commune to sit there, outside their gates, through diplomatic discussion with a bishop, but not from the Duke of Savoy. No word had come, however, from that duke telling them to move on or otherwise, and so the Englishmen began to get comfortable.

Ed soon put some men-at-arms to work, however, sending them out into the sub-alpine countryside, spreading word that the "rightful King of England" sought men to join his company under contract, to fight for coin. Rumor thus came to spread across Provence and western Lombardy that Edward of Lancaster was a condottiere - a leader of mercenaries.

Back at camp, Edward and his followers were not discriminatory of what offered to fight for them; they only sought to bolster their numbers now, and expected to largely only siphon manpower from the young and the restless men of the mediterranean region. Their men-at-arms stressed Edward's royalty, and the honor of fighting underneath a king's flag, alongside him even. Perhaps prestige would appeal to them. It was hard to convince an Italian to fight for an Englishmen, but now they were mercenaries.. it was all coin and glory now.

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a number of things that can happen here
- the Lancastrians gain a couple hundred men or more. Up to moderator discretion. Just light footmen really.
- The Duke of Savoy might take issue with them being here, recruiting men. Or he might want to recruit them against his enemies.
- Word will spread to their nearby regions, to Milan etc. Willing patrons with enemies to fight could come out of the woodwork.

[The Mad Skylord]

Late one evening, the shade of a rider rode into the Company's Camp. Behind him 4 men struggled to keep up. Soaked and cold, Roger de Clifford made his way to the Command Pavilion and swept inside and stripped off his soaked travel gloves and soaked heavy traveling cloak. He surveyed the inside of the tent and the officers present. His eyes eventually landed on the leader of the motley band. "Your Grace" Clifford intoned quietly. "I was partly successful in my mission - I have found us employment to the tune of 7'000 Crowns, half now and half when our contract ends - after 15 months or peace.

We'll be fighting the Genoanese for Milan. I also have the promise of being allowed access to firearms if we prove ourselves well enough."

[Gandalfus]

Two hundred men flock to the banner of Lancaster's free company. Most of them are the second sons of farmers and burghers, drawn to the promise of wealth and glory fighting for a captain - a king, no less, a man of royalty and stature that they would scarce ever get to lay eyes upon throughout their entire lives. Fortunately for Lancaster, it also seemed as if the Duke of Savoy was not too proactive in driving them away from his lands. For now, he had merely remained silent, perhaps expecting them to move on quickly, drawn to war in Italy. While they were a motley crew, some wielding rusted spears, others more rudimentary tools... It was at least the start of something, the foundations of an army that could be built upon given time and success.

[Dirty Chai]

A small amount, Edward of Lancaster thought, standing at opposite end of a small table in the center of the tent. He was perfectly dry, dressed in comfortable red linens. A shield bearing his coat of arms hung from the pole holding up the tent in the center.

"Did the Duke promise you explicitly, or did he just hold it over your head?"

[The Mad Skylord]

"He promised me. Quite explicitly." Clifford frowned and glanced back at the tent entrance. We didn't get a bad price for a band barely 500 in size. In terms of all the light footmen, I suggest we splash a little coin and have the local blacksmiths fashion them cheap pikes. We can drill them into pikemen then. They will be slightly more useful."

[Dirty Chai]

"Pikes?" he repeated, blinking. The sixteen-year-old-turned-warlord glanced at his elders in the room: Beaumont, Butler, de Vere..
"Do you agree? Pikes?"

Ed looked back at Clifford. He had been trained by these men in the room well enough in how to defend himself and how to ride down a man with a lance, but he knew little of anything of tactics. He also was quite diminished, he assumed, in the matter of letters and thought: though he had spent a while in Tarascon reading a hand-copied piece from Plutarch on Alexander the Great with boyish enthusiasm, he had not had a priest or university-taught tutor since his mother had died.

He frowned, thinking briefly of the Yorkists, who he could only imagine physically through a few vague memories, and then of home. A home he did not know. He imagined it as a green. He remembered some parts of the north, but he wasn't sure what London looked like - what the palaces of his forefathers even looked like. He had been too young.

"They use the billhook back home, do they not?"

[The Mad Skylord]

Clifford nodded. "Yes, they do. But the Scots wreak havoc with their pikes, it's an easier weapon to master - all you have to do is stay in formation and stab. They are also cheaper to make - they require less steel than a bill.

It is the weapon of choice for the peasant. They have their pots turned into a pike head and they march to war with it. We could drill an army to be an effective unit of pikemen in very little time - it will take more time and money for the bill."

[Dirty Chai]

Ed blinked again, thinking.
"Pikes are long though. What happens when a foe gets past the spear tip?"

[Barry Goldwater]

"The bill isn't that costly," De Vere states from the side. He wore red and gold paired with white hose, his house's colors, and his cloak was fastened with a brooch fashioned like a red rose. "A farmer's billhook can be fashioned into one with ease. And it is more versatile than the pike: you can only stab with those, really. With a bill, even the lowest peasant can drag a man-at-arms from his horse or slash an advancing infantryman across the face." It was clear which of the two he favored.

[Dirty Chai]

Edward listened to de Vere curiously before looking back to de Clifford, expecting another counter-argument to de Vere's. He was unconvinced of which weapon to favor.

[The Mad Skylord]

"But it takes more training - training takes time we do not have. Clifford looked to De Vere. "The Scots have proven that a well trained pike company dominates the battlefield.

I can train a company of pikemen to be effective soldiers in half the time it would take to make the peasants in this army - who have little experience of war - to begin mastering the basic functions of the billhook. The concept may be simple, but it takes more training."

Clifford looked back to the King. "Alexander the Great and Philip V dominated with the pike. The trick is not to let the enemy past the point."

[Dirty Chai]

Ed had read recently about Alexander's life from Plutarch, and his eyes lightened with realization as de Clifford mentioned his name.
"Would these Savoyards be more familiar with the pike?"

[The Mad Skylord]

Clifford shrugged. "The pike and the halberd are used extensively on the continent. There is no doubt that they will have more experience with pikes than billhooks - which is used rarely outwith England."

[Barry Goldwater]

"Billhooks are no more difficult to use than a halberd, and only marginally more-so than a pike. The common footsoldiers of England, men who hail from the fields and often have little to no experience in warfare, favor them for more reason than just their utility on the battlefield: their ease of use is another such reason." De Vere argued. "What difference is there, if these Savoyards are trained in four days or a week, especially when the three extra days involve making them familiar with a more versatile weapon? And though Baron Clifford is right in that the bill is not familiar to the Continent, I think that is ultimately a good thing. It means our foes will be less familiar with it and will likely lack adequate countermeasures, as well."

[Dirty Chai]

Lancaster pondered this, torn now between both arguments. It was some moments before he spoke up again, but when he did, it was as decisive as an indecisive youth could be.

"We have Englishmen who came with us from home." In truth, most of that company was now made up of Frenchmen and Provençals.
"Let them use the billhook, and let the Savoyards use the pike. Thus, from now on, we will use both weapons."

He felt clever, but was unsure, looking between both de Vere and de Clifford to gauge their reactions.
"Is that versatile enough?"

[Barry Goldwater]

"Perhaps bills could replace halberds in our company," John said thoughtfully, scratching at the thin beard that he had developed during the journey over the Alps. "Working in conjunction with pikes, they could assist our infantry formations in battling the enemy's horse and foot alike like halberds normally do, and lend an element of versatility to our otherwise-inflexible pikemen. Not to mention, an identifying feature that would set us even further apart from our competitors - though not as much as your presence, sire, for I cannot think of any other mercenary company captained by an English king - and the element of unpredictability that I mentioned earlier: Lombards might be used to seeing halberds, but not our billhooks." De Vere had said his piece, now he looked to the King and then Clifford to see what they thought in turn.

[The Mad Skylord]

Clifford nodded slowly, liking this train of thought. "I can agree to that.

We will have to find ourselves a decent smith and carpenter to make the weapon for us, of course."

[Dirty Chai]

"Coin will not be an issue," Edward said, dismissing one problem. They had around fifty thousand on the ledgers.
"How do we commission these to be made? From Nice?"

[The Mad Skylord]

Clifford shrugged. "Depends on how much you want to spend. The beauty of both is that a half competent village blacksmith could fashion them."