English
I can only come up with three lords that could possibly have troops in the area, or be close enough to supply them. The King, Henry VI, had no interest in anything military, but his lieutenants would have used his livery to dress any troops supposedly representing him. Even Richard of York, the head of anti-Lancastrian power, had his troops in blue/white as he was the Lieutenant of Ireland at the start of the Wars of the Roses, but this would appear to be a reversal of the King's white/blue, so make of that what you like. The Courtney's (Devon) would presumably have had some troops in Plymouth as it was a major port, although not as important as it later became. Thomas de Courtney was the Steward of the Duchy of Cornwall, and Hugh Courtney is named as a pirate connected with Fowey. The Duke of Exeter was the Admiral of the Fleet, even though this was in name only, and he isn't known to have even owned a ship.
I have given the loyalties in brackets for the three main periods of the WOTR. Early: 1st St Albans-Towton / Mid: Edgecote-Tewkesbury / Late: Bosworth-Stoke field. A- means they didn't take part or were dead. in some cases it is the son's taking part, but they wore the same livery, so it doesn't matter. In the case of the Beaufort's (Somerset), three generations were killed in one way or another.
Fowey had earlier boasted 300 archers who could have worn the Crown's livery. Archer can be a loose term and didn't always mean an actual archer. It could just be an employee of some description and was open to all sorts of abuse, fiddling of accounts, etc.
| Who | Livery | Allegiance Early/Mid/Late |
|
|---|---|---|---|
| Royal Troops | White/Blue | L/L/L | |
| Earl of Devon | Red | L/L/L | |
| Duke of Exeter | White/Red | L/L/- | |
| If you want to use any of these as other retinues in Billhooks, just give them an appropriate flag. | |||
| Warwick | Red | Y/L/- | |
| Norfolk | Red | Y/Y/Y | |
| Stanley (William) | Red | Y/Y/L | |
| Arundell | Red/White | L/L/L | |
| Fauconberg | White/Blue | Y/L/- | |
| Somerset | White/Blue | L/L/- | |
Warwick, who paid to have Fowey church rebuilt after our game, was also a bit of a pirate so could easily qualify as a Person of Interest. He probably had more experience than any of the others in anything nautical, plus he held the position of Captain of Calais, our last remaining bit of French territory, and would have dealt with the supply of the Calais garrison from the Channel ports, but not Fowey, as this was mostly out of Sandwich.....insert your own joke here.
Livery colours are worn on the coat, hose, and sometimes painted on helmets, and even painted on weapon shafts if you're feeling fancy. Just mix them up. If you put too much on they'll look a bit OTT, but 1-2 items per figure allows them to belong without looking like pampered poodles.
Local Pirates
Mark and Michael Mixtow: John(son of Mark) had the ship Edward of Polruan. One of the creeks is named after them, and they are usually named first in the list of pirates, so either are good candidates to be an Admiral.
Hankyn Seelander (Dutch)
John Trevelyn.
Nicolas Carminow.
Hugh Courtney (named as a pirate, but also an actual Noble. If anyone had a liveried crew, he would have.)
Arundell.
Teffrey (another Admiral, but he's meant to be at sea when this all happened, so perhaps a part of the relief force.)
Thomas Tregarthen.
Jon Willcock: (The Barbara) later in 1469.
It would be a bit wrong to give any of the pirates livery colours, but there's nothing to stop you. Again, it's a good way to re-use the troops for Billhooks. Perhaps do a few in a livery colour of your choice, and the rest in generic attire. They would make excellent levy troops in Billhooks.
| Colour | Rarity | |
|---|---|---|
| Red | Common | |
| White | Common | |
| Black | Common | |
| Yellow | Common | |
| Blue | Common | |
| Green | Rare | |
| Murrey |
|
Rare |
| Tawney | Rare | |
| n.b. Blue/Murrey is very much associated with the later Yorkists. | ||
English troops tended to wear a red cross as an away strip. It's up to you to work out if pirates count as playing away or not. I have not found any references to English troops ever wearing a red cross during the WOTR, as it's a home game for both sides.
French
The following is a list of French or Breton Nobles who were active at the end of the Hundred Years War. None of this suggests they were involved, it just means they were up for it, and bore a grudge.
Louis de Culant.
Raoul de Gaucourt.
Jean de Chatillon.
The following took part in the attack on Sandwich, so although much further up the coast, they all had form.
Pierre de Bréze.
Robert de Flocques (aka Flocquet).
Jean de Lorraine.
Guillaume Cousinot, who was the Bailliff of Rouen.
Robert de Mares: (Captain of Dieppe).
Rouen is useful as the town's militia wore red/tawney, and as we can get the their flag, so should go high on the list of likely participants.
The Duke of Brittany's flag was white with black ermine, which is similar to today's flag, but without the black stripes.
The only known liveries are for a slightly earlier period:
| Who | Livery | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Le Puy-en-Velay | Blue/Yellow | ||
| Paris | Red/Blue | ||
| Orleans | Black (much earlier) | ||
| Comte de Nevers | Green | ||
| French troops tended to wear a white cross, and as they are having an away day, could easily do so in our game. This is worn either on the left, or full across the chest. | |||
If you're looking to re-use these for WOTR, there are lots of instances of troops coming over as mercenaries. Margaret of Anjou, Queen to Henry VI, was very active in raising troops to help the Lancastrians. Yorkist mercenaries tended either to be Burgundians, who wore a red saltire, or were from the Low Countries.
