Wars of the Roses (1454) - Game Thread

[DKrol]

Wars of the Roses

Rules:
Based on Spamage's rules for Age of Steam and Steel

-The game begins in March 1454.

-Each turn will cover 3 months in game. Turns should last as close to one week as possible.

-I will simulate minor or unplayed characters.

-All PMs must also include me. Any actions or decisions taken via PM will not be counted or considered, no exceptions.

-You can send in your orders via PM or post them in this thread.

-In the event of a player's death, the player will be able to continue as long as they a) have an heir and b) want to continue playing. In the event there is no direct heir, the player will have reached an end game.

-Failure to send orders and actually participate in the game will lead to reduced wealth and increased dissent, including mutinies and coups.

-Battles will be calculated by dice rolls. Higher number wins, margin between rolls determines the level of victory. Certain leaders and armies will have advantages or detractions to simulate their quality. Sizes of the contending forces determines the amount of dice rolled. Although I use the term "soldiers" in the Army Strength, remember that armies are not professionalized. These soldiers are men, between 15 and 40, called up by their lord for a period of service. Keep them at arms too long and they will grow weak, tired, and mutiny.

- Unlike previous games of this genre, there will not be individual character-based prompts at the start of each turn. Instead, my intent is to provide longer, more in-depth end of turn results/news and lead players to make more individualized choices. The personnel involved with this game were not above switching sides and allegiances as they saw fit and I don't want to hem them down a certain path. From time to time, certain players may receive a PM from a trusted advisor with a personal problem or query that they need to address but those will be exceptional, not the standard.

Turn One

King Henry VI has been in a state of madness for close to a year, after being told of his loss in Bordeaux, remaining largely catatonic and unresponsive. Some believe that he could awaken at any moment, while others fear the King is gone to this world. The King's cousin, Richard, Duke of York, is both incredibly popular and incredibly rich, having been named Protector of the Realm and Regant of the Kingdom in Henry's madness. Richard brough his friends to court, establishing the Earls of Salisbury and of Warwick as his most trusted confidants and friends. Edmund Tudor, Earl of Richmond, a half-brother of King Henry, is another key York ally, presently enforcing the rule of law in Wales.

York and his allies were not welcomed by all in London, with Queen Margaret of Anjou hoping to rule in her husband's stead in the name of their infant son, Edward. Instead, she is now left to fume, and plot, with her loyal general, the Duke of Somerset, imprisoned in The Tower on York's orders but still free to communicate with the Queen and her second counselor, the Duke of Buckingham, riding with an army attempting to maintain the rule of law in the English country. The Earl of Northumberland raises alarm in the North that his ancestral enemy, the Nevilles, have gained power and purchase in London.

Bands of lawless villians ransack towns. Local lords ignore orders from London. The loss of France still stings. The realm is on the brink of war.

Army Strength

Henry VI - Incapacitated
Can raise 2,000 - 6,000

Richard, Duke of York
3,000 Soldiers, near London
600 Soldiers, in Calais
Can raise 2,000 - 4,000 more

Queen Margaret of Anjou
200 Personal Guards, in London
Can raise 1,500 - 2,500 more

Richard, Earl of Salisbury
Can raise 2,000 - 3,000

Edmund, Duke of Somerset - Imprisoned
Can't raise any while imprisoned, but has many loyal followers

Richard, Earl of Warwick
Can raise 2,000 - 3,000

Humphrey, Duke of Buckingham
2,000 Soldiers, in Canterbury
Can raise 1,500 - 2,000 more

Henry, Earl of Northumberland
1,500 Soldiers, in Berwick
Can raise 1,000 - 2,000 more

Edmund, Earl of Richmond
700 Soldiers, in Carmarthen
Can raise 500 - 1,500 more

[Garlan Gunter]

While the Duke of Somerset acknowledges his present imprisonment in the Tower was agreed by the will of the present regent and council, he on the other hand appeals that

I The sole regency of the Duke of York is highly divisive and contestable under ancient law and precedent.
II The regent's council was far from unanimous and swayed by improper and unbecoming demonstrations of force.
III By right of Magna Carta and other universally acknowledged customs of England, every day that the appellant is held in the Tower, without trial by his peers or by combat, constitutes a stain upon the legality of the regent's rule.
IV Any trial by peers cannot in justice be presided over by the regent, long since proven the appellant's open, unrelenting and personal enemy, but should rather be headed either by the Queen's majesty, or by his grace the Duke of Buckingham, Steward of England. Or else, of course, by the appellant's gracious and natural cousin and good lord, King Henry the Sixth, whom we all pray Christ and his angels restore to good health speedily.

[PSOL]

While the Duke of Somerset acknowledges his present imprisonment in the Tower was agreed by the will of the present regent and council, he on the other hand appeals that

I The sole regency of the Duke of York is highly divisive and contestable under ancient law and precedent.
II The regent's council was far from unanimous and swayed by improper and unbecoming demonstrations of force.
III By right of Magna Carta and other universally acknowledged customs of England, every day that the appellant is held in the Tower, without trial by his peers or by combat, constitutes a stain upon the legality of the regent's rule.
IV Any trial by peers cannot in justice be presided over by the regent, long since proven the appellant's open, unrelenting and personal enemy, but should rather be headed either by the Queen's majesty, or by his grace the Duke of Buckingham, Steward of England. Or else, of course, by the appellant's gracious and natural cousin and good lord, King Henry the Sixth, whom we all pray Christ and his angels restore to good health speedily.

I & II it had a clear majority in favor of the Duke of York that was done properly
III The “imprisonment” you speak of is laughable. The King is left ill without any serious chance of coming to, and the Duke of York clearly is the successor.
IV The Queen cannot be the judge of this, as her hysteria would lead the country astray. What insanity would we thrung ourselves into if we allow a woman to hold the rule over Men, much less England

You have nothing my dear Duke of Somerset

[GoTfan]

While the Duke of Somerset acknowledges his present imprisonment in the Tower was agreed by the will of the present regent and council, he on the other hand appeals that

I The sole regency of the Duke of York is highly divisive and contestable under ancient law and precedent.
II The regent's council was far from unanimous and swayed by improper and unbecoming demonstrations of force.
III By right of Magna Carta and other universally acknowledged customs of England, every day that the appellant is held in the Tower, without trial by his peers or by combat, constitutes a stain upon the legality of the regent's rule.
IV Any trial by peers cannot in justice be presided over by the regent, long since proven the appellant's open, unrelenting and personal enemy, but should rather be headed either by the Queen's majesty, or by his grace the Duke of Buckingham, Steward of England. Or else, of course, by the appellant's gracious and natural cousin and good lord, King Henry the Sixth, whom we all pray Christ and his angels restore to good health speedily.

I & II it had a clear majority in favor of the Duke of York that was done properly
III The “imprisonment” you speak of is laughable. The King is left ill without any serious chance of coming to, and the Duke of York clearly is the successor.
IV The Queen cannot be the judge of this, as her hysteria would lead the country astray. What insanity would we thrung ourselves into if we allow a woman to hold the rule over Men, much less England

You have nothing my dear Duke of Somerset

I find myself in agreement with the Earl of Salisbury. As Regent, and Protector, I serve as the executor of the King's will, and rule in his stead until such time as he is able to resume governance of the realm, and thus speak with his authority.

Moreover, as she is of French blood, the Queen cannot be trusted to act in England's interests.

[Garlan Gunter]

I cannot share my Lord of Salisbury’s view of my own detention apparently indefinitely and without trial as ‘laughable’. Think, peers of England. If such treatment befalls a Duke and cousin of the blood royal, what protection do your ranks afford any of you against tyranny?

The storied history of our realm affords many examples of royal wives exercising faultless regencies, from the Conqueror’s Queen onwards.

I feel that the statements of Salisbury and the regent regarding the Queen’s grace touch close upon treason, while the earl’s dismissal of his majesty’s much desired and most probable recovery’s likelihood passes that line.

Is not the King himself French on his mother’s side, proud Regent, and even himself rightful monarch still of France? Would you dare call him too incapable of asserting English interests?

Furthermore, the insidious Salisbury dares to call York ‘successor’, ignoring the existence of the infant Prince of Wales. This royal child must now suffer under the reign of a jealous cousin whose interest is directly opposed to his, as opposed to the natural guidance of his mother assisted by loyal kinsmen with no undue pride of blood or over leaping ambitions.

[Kingpoleon]

My brother, the King, has not been succeeded - the Regent acts in his stead. If the Duke seeks trial for his own cause, let him seek it. If he seeks to challenge the legitimacy of the Regency, I would advise him to remember that such a course of action will reflect poorly on his person in his own trial.

I and the Duke of Bedford are brothers of the King himself, and we recognize the authority of the Regent. If that is not good enough for legitimacy, then I must apologize that the King himself is in a state incapable of doing so publicly. If I felt that by word or by deed, any man - my father or brother, the Duke of York, the Archbishop of Canterbury, anyone - had assumed the King’s power wrongly, my sword would be the first at his breast. Do not accuse the Regent of treason or treachery, unless you wish to accuse me and my house of being complicit with it.

[Garlan Gunter]

Of Salisbury and his brother in law of York, it is the Earl’s words that are the more seditious, casting doubt on the very possibility of our natural monarch’s return to his right mind, doing dishonour to the office of queen in this land, and speaking of the regent as ‘successor’ without regard to the Prince of Wales, a wrong even the Earl of Richmond is careful to smooth over.

But I do note with extreme disapproval the regent’s attempt to whip up suspicion of the Queen by citing the French blood our monarch, and indeed all of our ancient nobility, shares. I recall that the Kentish rebels recently claimed the name of the Duke’s family of Mortimer. It seems York plays the populist still in courting the mob. Let the nobles and clergy of the realm take note.

The regency is a matter settled, until the King be well again. I simply note there are grounds for questioning how and why it came to be so settled, and in whose interest.

As to my trial, if York’s rule is not to be exposed as a lawless tyranny let it come soon. I deny the right of my notorious personal enemy the regent, or his Neville kindred, to preside over me in justice or equity, though of course they have the right as peers to join my judges. I will accept any verdict headed by the Steward of England, since it seems for, doubtless, reasons of their own the regent and his affinity are as eager to deny the right of the queen as I am to avoid my foe’s clearly interested persecution.

[PSOL]

Amazing what length of paragraphs and platitudes one can spew that mean so little in the end.

The Lancastrians need to realize that the Duke of York is doing everything right within his power, and that the constant wish to usurp power abnormally is not working for the good of England.

[Garlan Gunter]

‘The Lancastrians?’ Have a care, traitor Salisbury. It is the royal house of England, by Parliament and the consent of the realm established half a century ago, to which you refer. The house that steered England to her most glorious hours of victory, and God willing shall do so again.

Before that time, another Richard, the second of his name, that king of unfortunate memory, denied a trial by combat or peers to a far greater scion of Lancaster than I, banishing Henry of Bolingbroke and seizing upon his estates. The peers of the realm forsook him as a tyrant in consequence.

[PSOL]

‘The Lancastrians?’ Have a care, traitor Salisbury. It is the royal house of England, by Parliament and the consent of the realm established half a century ago, to which you refer. The house that steered England to her most glorious hours of victory, and God willing shall do so again.

Before that time, another Richard, the second of his name, that king of unfortunate memory, denied a trial by combat or peers to a far greater scion of Lancaster than I, banishing Henry of Bolingbroke and seizing upon his estates. The peers of the realm forsook him as a tyrant in consequence.

Yet today you show how far you care about the legacy of England under god by surrendering it fully to the French. Talks of the virtues of the elders past can’t be applicable to this situation, nor is the false language that we are usurpers acting outside of our right. We are ensuring the stability of England in the face of ensuring the safety of the countryside and the King in providing good governance in his absence, but some see this with envy and disturbance that they cannot forward their own interests against the crown of our Father who art in Heaven and the legitimacy it brings to England.

We only seek what is best for England, yet some of the nobility see our presence as debilitating to their own means of looting England once they seize power. Give it a rest with this insolence, and respect the way our system has provided us with stability in these uncertain times.

[Garlan Gunter]

I see that Salisbury believes he too is a regent of England, with much talk of ‘we’ and ‘us’. Open your eyes, nobles, clergy, burgesses of Parliament, to the overreaching despotism of this Neville clique!

[PSOL]

I see that Salisbury believes he too is a regent of England, with much talk of ‘we’ and ‘us’. Open your eyes, nobles, clergy, burgesses of Parliament, to the overreaching despotism of this Neville clique!

Oh no, you take it wrong my good sir. I am but a humble believer in the legitimacy of the actions taken by the Duke of York in rightly providing stability after the king became comatose. Meanwhile you and the clique surrounding the House of Lancaster are implicit in weakening England to become a pawn to the French. How one can rationalize that as being good behavior under god is beyond most’s comprehension.

[Garlan Gunter]

God’s blood preserve me and us all from the humility of the Nevilles! I would sooner brave the pride of the lions in the Tower menagerie.

[PSOL]

You are receiving proper care to live in an expansive and secure facility. As I am hearing it, you don’t seem to appear too shabby and be as thin and calloused as a prisoner, giving you more ability to use your tongue to lash out at anyone you deem ill.

[Garlan Gunter]

No doubt you would rather I were silenced against every law of chivalry - and the land!

As to Salisbury’s harping on the reverses of France, I call Lord Shrewsbury, valiant Talbot’s heir, to witness that I resisted the French while there was any prospect of so doing - my troops unpaid and my commanders distracted owing to the malcontent manoeuvres of the present regent and his upstart Neville friends, now so keen to fluff out their patriotic feathers.

[PSOL]

And you condemn me for my humility, hmph

[Garlan Gunter]

Let all Europe marvel at Humble Salisbury, the northern nobody who imprisons dukes and installs regents at will!

[GoTfan]

Does My Lord Duke of Somerset challenge my authority to act as Regent in the King's stead?

[Garlan Gunter]

Not I, cousin of York. I deplored the circumstances of the regency, of course. You were not, understandably given our previous relations, my choice. I felt undue pressure was brought upon the council that led to your appointment. And while you have a case, precedent indicates that the Queen has one also, and that in either case the regent ought to govern with the consent and collaboration of the king's blood and council, both of which I myself represent with loyal pride.

However, that you are now Regent, for the time being, I can hardly deny. I merely state that it is a rash and imprudent regent who detains without trial, contrary to custom, a kinsman ready and willing to assist him in the government of the realm, and leans instead upon the narrow support of his own marital relations: a clambering clan more notable for avaricious marriage than high blood or great deeds of battle.

[Kingpoleon]

After having heard the cause of the House of Beaufort, I must ask the Regent to allow his son and wife to visit the Duke of Somerset. I am first among the lords of Wales, and first among those loyal to the Regent on behalf of the King. If the Regent does refuse it, then I ask permission for myself and a guest of my choice to visit the Duke. The circumstances and treatment of any imprisoned noble are first among the concerns of all those who are as loyal to the King’s Justice as we are to the King himself.

This is my petition, Lord Regent. I implore you to hear it and grant it if possible.

[Garlan Gunter]

In recognition of my nephew-to-be Lord Richmond’s humanity and the universal confidence he enjoys as a uterine brother of our blessed king and a proven supporter of the regency, I appeal to him to assist in protecting my estates from any molestation by my personal adversaries while I lie perforce imprisoned.

[PSOL]

I hope you see that the Lord is in good care under my eldest son, and that you enjoy the Neville hospitality.

[Garlan Gunter]

I am most interested to learn that the Earl of Warwick is in charge of my captivity. He has not yet seen fit to inform me of this pleasant coincidence himself, nor responded to my requests for a productive and honest private conversation...

[PSOL]

From the message you sent me, it seems as if you are held by my son. I haven’t exactly been keen on the specifics.

[Garlan Gunter]

Neville hospitality at its finest indeed! They apparently aren’t even sure which oubliette they left me in...