Jocelyn de Bodley

In 1685, At the age 41, the descendant of Paul de Bodley, the lord of Styrow on the foam, Jocelyn de Bodley,  set out on a voyage of discovery on board the Galley,  Sea Urchin.
According to the ships logs, they sailed for near on 6 months before finally sighting land. Great cheers arose from the crew, but these soon grew still when they neared the landmass, and realised that it´s coast was one of nothing but sheer cliffs. They sailed for 12 days to the west, and upon finding no landing place, they turned and sailed east for nigh on a full month before finally, when all hope of a landing was lost, a bay was spied.
The ships longboats were launched and raced to the foreign shore.
Upon landing, Jocelyn ran up the beach and raising his left hand, claimed the land as now being under the authority of  Styronia.  The bay, was named Entry Bay.
Realising that a voyage back to the mainland was near impossible due to lack of provisions, the decision was made to remain and reprovision.
A small camp was built upon the flat land above the beach and patrols went in search of water and foodstuffs.
For near a month the men enjoyed the peacefullness of the new land until one night a dreadfull storm raised it´s anger, breaking her ties and driving the Sea Urchin upon the rocks. Luckily she held fast..the handfull of crew still onboard battled all night and finally, as the storm subsided they managed to re-anchor her in the shallow waters near the beach. The damage was not severe but repairs were necessary to allow the return journey.
By now, autumn was approaching and realising that a return voyage in winter was of great risk, the decision was taken to remain. To suit this, a  more permanent residence was required so a small stockade and log cabins were built.

On the 9th of October 1685, a small group of sailors were out hunting when they were suddenly confronted by a large group of natives. Luckily, the man in charge, midshipman Arthur Cobb, realised the indians were not hostile and put himself between the natives and his men.
With hand gestures a conversation of sorts took place, at the close of which, both groups parted company.
The news of this encounter caused some exitement and small concern within the encampment. Sentries were posted, Marines accompanied the food patrols,  although no sight or sound of the natives was heard of for several weeks.
The next contact was at the end of autumn, when three natives, two male, one female came to the stockade, offering gifts of caught fowl and a deer.
Slowly over the next weeks more and more contact was made, the visits by the natives became regular daily occurances, some even set up a small encampment within hailing distance of the stockade.
A decision to remain was made on the grounds that it being better a winter on land as a winter at sea  and the extra time would give them more opportunity to further investigate the new lands Fauna and Fora.

Over the winter of 1685 -86, both natives and Styronians learnt some of each other language and customs. The natives were unsure how large the land was, but told of a mountanous forrested inland, a massive lake, large rivers, other tribes, some of which were hostile, plentifull wildlife but of greatest import, no knowledge of others from the mainland ever having visited.

In the spring of 1686, the Sea foam being fully reprovisioned, the crew, although of heavy heart at having to do so, made preperations to leave for home. At a ships council, it was decided, that if any wished, a maximum of 6 men could remain behind. A guarantee that they would ever be recovered was impossible to give, so only single men could be considered. Under these conditions 6 men did volunteer, thier names being recorded in the ships log as;
William (Bill) Colthurst
Jake Lambton
Larry Merton
Bartholomew (Bart) Rudhall
Isaac Saynsbury
Cyril (Cy) Woodward


On the 11th of march 1686, they finally left, a fond farewell was waved to them from the shore by the natives and thier 6 crewmates.
Near 6 months later, they docked in the port of Styrow on the Foam to a resounding welcome.
News of thier discovery was soon known by all in the land and the great council of Styronia ordered preperations for a fleet of 10 ships to be built and sent to occupy the new land.
After nearly a year, the ships were nearing completion when..in the  late spring of 1689, war broke out. This war was not Styronias want or wish, but as they were part of the northern federation they were obliged to send assistance, troops, and ships to aid thier allies. This meant all of the near completed ships meant for the expedition were quickly converted for war.
Due to the war, the damage to the ships and repairs to the land, another eypedition to the new land was not considered until 1695, nearly 10 years after Jocelyn had stepped onto the beach at Entry bay.

Jocelyn at the front, left hand held high. Behind him is Isaac Saynsbury, and to the fore, Midshipsman Arthur Cobb.


In June 1691, Jocelyn was killed in the 1st federation war, leaving his wife Maria alone with thier two young sons. As custom allowed, Maria kept her Husbands sir name as did one of her sons but the other took her fathers name...Forrester. A grandson, James Forrester was born in 1710, in Bodstonia.

More Female citizens

Old and not so old..Rich and not so rich, some more of the female citizens of Bodstonia.

This group shows the way that the different social niveaus of Bodstonia mix and feel comfortable in each others company. From the maid to the rich Dame, they all share the world of Bodstonia as equals in the spirit  if not the "body"

To the right is Agatha Montesfort, wife to the Grand Protector, Bartholomew Montesfort

The one on the far right looks like one of the Turset maids out on a shopping errand

Regular Infantry Tactics

Bodstonian troops are drilled, alongside regular rank and file tactics,  to fight in open order.
This method of fighting was brought in for three reasons;
1.Due to the small population density of Bodstonia it is not possible to maintain and therefore field a large regular army, one which is capable of fighting in the volleyfire tactics so prefered on the mainland.
This tactic also leads to unnaceptable casualty rates..firing into the packed ranks nearly always leading, if not to a death, then an injury, especially when under cannon fire.
2. The disparity of weapons. The regular troops, the 1st Regiment of foot, the Bodstan Fusiliers, is equiped with the same type and bore of muskets, but the Folks Militia has a wide range of musket types, some even using shotguns and blunderbusses. This disparity, in a rank and file system would lead to varying  loading and firing times.
3. Topography. The main areas around Bodston are largely cleared of forests but still are hilly and broken with hilly rocky outcrops meaning that forming up in rank and file is only possible on the rarest of occasions.

Deployment
The main battle tactic would start with the troops entering the field and taking up position towards the enemy in two extended ranks.The spacing between each rank and each man withing each rank is that of two paces.

Closed order the opening order with which the troops enter the field..enemy to the front.

The command, Officer,  Staff sergeant, drummer and standard bearer, form up in the centre of the two ranks.
At a signal from the Staff Sergeant, both ranks move outwards from the command, to the left and right until a spacing of 5 paces between each man.
The front rank now moves 3 paces forward, kneels anfd lays on. The rear rank then moves 3 paces to the left (left of command) and 3 to the right (right of command). It kneels and makes ready.
This  opens and  staggers the ranks, enabling the rear rank to fire through the front rank without hinderance.

Fully deployed in open order

Attacking/Advance (Open Ground)
From the deployed position, the front rank remains kneeling, the rear rank stands and runs forward 10 paces ending up 5 paces to the front. They kneel and lay on,  the now rear rank stands and the procedure is repeated until contact is made.
The command always remains in the rear rank. The number of paces that are to be moved can be altered depending on the proximity of the enemy and the lay of the land.

Attacking/Advance (Broken ground)
When advancing in broken ground, woods etc, the company is broken into pre-arranged 4 man units. These then act as if attacking over open ground, though in this case each unit acts independantly of the rest, shortening or lengthening thier advance in consideration to the lay of the land but keeping an eye to not staggering the battle line to drastically, signalling to each other by voice or hand signals.

Advancing in "4´s"

Defence (Open Ground)
In certain circumstances a concentration of firepower is required. In this situation  the front rank kneels and lays on. The rear rank then stands and moves to within 2 paces of the front rank. They then move from the left and right towards the centre until they are within two paces between each man. They then kneel and lay on. The front rank then stands and moves towards the center until they are also within two paces between each man observing that the end up in a staggered line to the rear rank. They then kneel and lay on.. Basically then form up in a close order formation, the only difference being that the two ranks are staggered.

Moving into close order from open order

Closed order with two paces between each man

Withdraw
In either open or deployed formations. The rear rank kneels and lays on whilst the front rank stands and moves 10 paces to the rear. They then turn to face the enemy, kneel and lay on as the second rank stands and moves 10 paces to the rear and so on.

Withdrawal in close order

Changing Flank
The Staff sergeant holds his staff along the line that the troops are to take up. The outer most "4´s" then move as rapidly as possible, revolving around the command in the centre. This is a difficult manouvre, which requires a lot of training and is best carried out when militia or mounted infantry are available to cover the exposed troops as they move into position

Flank change to face the left.

These skirmish tactics are only used by the regular troops or seasoned militiamen as untrained troops will encounter problems.
The main problem is with bunching or thining  of the battle line, especially in broken ground
The tactic of moving into defense or changing flank can also become problematic for unseasoned troops but drilled troops resolve this with the extremes (farthest left and right of centre) moving faster to quickly close or open any required spacing.

The Militia are, in a battle situation, put to the left and or right of the main regular battle line in support of any mounted infantry, defend and aid the artillery and to act as a mobile reserve.

Adahy ("Live´s in the woods")

Member of the Native tribe, the Illini. Adahy is a man of few words who can dissapear into the wilderness for months at a time, appearing as if called to aid and assist James Forrester and the Albon Brothers on thier quests to map and record the "unknown" areas of Bodstonia.
He speaks, along with several native dialects, Bodstonian

His age is unknown but he must be in his 40´s. No wife has been seen or mentioned