101 The Battle for Gobwin Knob, Page 91

[kpenguin]

New comic is up.

Yeah, Parson! Show that elitist bastard!

...

Where's he going with this anyway?

[mstkone]

Hooray Parson! Very glad I checked tonight!

[BRC]

I think he's trying to get Ansom to offend his non-royal allies.

[Twin2]

I think he's trying to get Ansom to offend his non-royal allies.

Would have been funny to see him try and compare royalty to other forms of government in his world especially with some of the resentment there (how many of them do you think have ever known what communism, or democracy ect is?).

[multilis]

On top of already suggested divisions over loyalty, Parson also has potential to provoke enemy to anger/rush attack which makes trap easier.

[PhantomFox]

Objective 1) Alienate Ansom's allies
Objective 2) Royally tick him off so he makes stupid mistakes.

MISSION COMPLETE!

[smeee]

I like the cut from stanley is your superior, to stanley going after that poor foolamancer again.

[Theodoriph]

Poor Vinny...you can almost hear him screaming "Noooooo!".

[Megalomaniac2]

Wow. Very slick. Love how Vinnie's going "Ah, jeez, Boss" in the background.

Is it just me or is Parson closing in on "Magnificent B*****d" territory here?

[SteveMB]

Royally tick him off

Heh.


so he makes stupid mistakes.

Apparently. It's so obvious in retrospect, but I never saw it coming....

[Tignok]

I think Vinnie's "Oof" is my favorite bit of all that.

You ever seen a good friend do or say something incredibly arrogant and offensive? I have.

[cyberchihuahua]

Hmmm, comic 101. I think that school is officially in session. :smallcool:

[ringsnake]

I think Vinnie's "Oof" is my favorite bit of all that.

You ever seen a good friend do or say something incredibly arrogant and offensive? I have.

We're all gamers here, so yeah it's fair to say that we have.

I totally didn't see that happening. Parson's one smart dude.

Poor Foolamancer! It looks very much like the Tool has killed his Foolamancer.

[rman]

Really nice button pushing.

Not sure where Parson learned that Ansom has that big red button or that it would be that divisive for the side. All of Ansom's side could have been royal blood for all Parson knows. Of course I am missing stuff so shoot me back.

[Arkenputtyknife]

“Oof,” indeed. Funniest strip for some time.


Where's he going with this anyway?
Probably trying to make Ansom so mad he can't think straight and starts doing stupid things, hopefully alienating his allies in the process. And by the look of it, succeeding.

Go for it, Hamster!

[Mr. Scaly]

I see a hidden third front within this verbal attack.

1) Get Ansom to tick off his allies.
2) Get Ansom to launch stupid attacks into Gobwin traps.

And

3) Blatantly reveal to Ansom that royal superiority is a load of dwagon cwap.

In conclusion: Parson kicks ass. :smallbiggrin:

[fendrin]

now THAT is playing the player....

SteveMB hit it again: so obvious, and yet nobody thought of it.
This comic rocks.

I love the fact that Webinar has a gump up his rump with Ansom, too.

The Giant Ronald MacDonald eye is creeping me out...
and Stanley and the Foolamancer are bit off in size... the Foolamancer looks like a ragdoll in Stanley's hands. Unless maybe Stanley is choking an illusion. :smalltongue:

[Tignok]

I think the choice for this course of action must have been harder than it seemed for Parson. On the one had he could have chosen to stall the attack as long as he could in order to prepare more defenses, and recover Wanda. On the other hand, this course of action as stated by others, provokes Ansom and possibly disrupts the coalition. I personally might have chosen the former, but thats why he's the king, and I'm a schmuck.

[El_Chupacabra]

Wonder if Parson's height is having any impression on Ansom at all?

Not that it needs to. Although if anyone else sees this conversation, they might be impressed by Parson and his demeanor.

Gonna be interesting what's said next. Unless Parson had no goal other than causing this apoplectic fit.

[hajo]

Playing the opponent, not the game (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0043.html) - again !
Looks like Parson is doing it right :smallcool:

[El_Chupacabra]

Really nice button pushing.

Not sure where Parson learned that Ansom has that big red button or that it would be that divisive for the side. All of Ansom's side could have been royal blood for all Parson knows. Of course I am missing stuff so shoot me back.

I expect that Wanda discussed (off-strip) more about Ansom with Parson than what we immediately see. She was the one who was credited with knowing him best, via Jillian, I imagine.

Side Note: Note Jillian saw Ansom's rage-on as well, and she takes a dim view of royalty. So she's going to be conflicted, and probably more independent. That could be bad for Parson -- when she's fighting, she's good -- or good for Parson -- she might just wander off after Stanley, a bit too late to catch him, but to hell with the attack on GK.

[Pink]

I don't believe parson's height is visible to ansom, or at the least, it's explainable becuase hologram ansem is smaller anyway.

Also, just a possible point here that hasn't been brought up, aside from the more obvious good points, but could parson also be trying to use the loyalty system a bit? By communicating Stanley as a Unit more highly favored by the titans, he might be twisting the mechanics of the system to lower the stats of those attacking stanley.

Just a thought since there was some experimentation with it.

[fendrin]

Wonder if Parson's height is having any impression on Ansom at all?

Not that it needs to. Although if anyone else sees this conversation, they might be impressed by Parson and his demeanor.

Gonna be interesting what's said next. Unless Parson had no goal other than causing this apoplectic fit.
It's unclear whether or not Parson's size is visible to Ansom.

Also, only Ansom can see or hear Parson, though I'm guessing that thinkagrams are common enough that everyone else can figure out what is going on.

[SteveMB]

I expect that Wanda discussed (off-strip) more about Ansom with Parson than what we immediately see.

That's confirmed here (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0066.html): "Wanda said he's [Ansom's] a proud guy, and he's got nothing but contempt for you [Stanley]." (emphasis added)

Also, Stanley's rant (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0032.html) touches on the subject: "Ansom and people like him like to put on airs."

[Ganurath]

"Play the enemy, not the game."

[the_tick_rules]

man, ansom looks like he's gonna have a stroke.

[Glome]

What's funny is that Ansom probably doesn't even realize he said anything wrong. I wonder how Vinnie is going to explain to Ansom that you just can't go around saying you're superior to everyone else without pissing people off.

[hajo]

Gonna be interesting what's said next.
I doubt there can be any meaningful discussion with Ansom right now :smallbiggrin:


Unless Parson had no goal other than causing this apoplectic fit.
Sure, that's the real reason.
But Parson hasn't stated his 'official' reason for calling, so he has to do so before breaking off.

It wouldn't really matter what he puts forth, so he could just as well demand Ansom should give him the Arkenplier, and then go home :smalltongue:

And as Parson already mentioned the hammer, he could add insult to insury by claiming that the mark of those choosen by the titans as leaders is atunement to an arkentool - and Ansom knows (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0022.html) that he is not atuned to his pliers :smallwink:

[Arkenputtyknife]

It's unclear whether or not Parson's size is visible to Ansom.
Inconclusive, perhaps, but the comic seems to be giving a strong impression that Parson's size is being conveyed. The biggest clue is in the tilts of Parson's and Ansom's heads: Ansom is looking up at him and Parson looking down. Of course, we don't know what the scaling and perspective rules for thinkagrams are, but from what we're shown, I'd assume that size is being conveyed until proven otherwise.

[Wender]

Holy Boop, that was perfect. On Parson's part and on Rob's and Jamie's.

"Stanley is your superior..." and then the cutaway to Glam Stanley throttling his Foolamancer.

Booping brilliant.

I expected Parson to be able to drive wedges between Ansom and some members of the alliance. I did not expect Parson to be able to drive wedges between Ansom and Webinar, let alone Vinnie. And he did it by sounding exactly like Stanley's loyal proxy.

Now all Parson has to do is end the conversation before Ansom gets pushed too hard and figures out what's going on. If this is executed correctly Ansom won't even realize he's been played until it's over and he's lost.

My hat's off to Parson, and to the authors for plotting this. And, I love the purely evil glee on Parson's face when he greets Ansom.

[Zeku]

Once again, I like how I can find things I favor about each character. Parson is momentarily being the hero/badass, but Ansom is playing such a defining and critical role here. He's standing for something specific, and as offensive as it may seem on the surface, (not to me) we all feel this way to some degree.

It's pretty clear splitting the coalition is still the order of the day. If Parson can get Ansom (and probably Jillian) running off to Faq, that leaves a showdown between Vinnie and Parson, which is probably going to be...protracted.

[Arkenputtyknife]

I did not expect Parson to be able to drive wedges between Ansom and Webinar, let alone Vinnie.
What makes it even funnier is that Parson isn't driving the wedges (because no one else knows what he's saying). He handed Ansom a bunch of wedges and a sledgehammer and got him to hammer them in for him.

[Eva]

Wonder if Parson's height is having any impression on Ansom at all?

Not that it needs to. Although if anyone else sees this conversation, they might be impressed by Parson and his demeanor.

Gonna be interesting what's said next. Unless Parson had no goal other than causing this apoplectic fit.

Parson should just pretend to be a Titan. Hope this hasn't been said yet -- haven't been reading.

[Rutee]

I think he's trying to get Ansom to offend his non-royal allies.

Bingo, Bloody Red Commie. I love this week in Webcomics. Girl Genius is being a perfect showcase for Worshipful Lackey Acquisition. New Erfworld is Venemous Whispers Technique.

[SteveMB]

Side Note: Note Jillian saw Ansom's rage-on as well, and she takes a dim view of royalty.
Jillian described Ansom's belief in noblesse oblige as "that kinda crap" in the context of its best aspects (courage, concern for followers). How is she going to react to this raw display of its worst aspects (arrogance, contempt for social inferiors)?

[Wonton]

Haha, yesss... that was awesome. :smallbiggrin:
Was anyone else reminded of Ben from LOST? Parson analyzed Ansom's weakness and was able to use his weasel tongue to make him lose his cool. :smallamused:

[Shadowdweller]

My suspicion is this: The goal isn't necessarily to make Ansom offend his allies (although I'm sure that would be a bonus), but to get Ansom unreasonably angry with Stanley. Meanwhile, the thinkamancer is sending all the strain of breaking the thinkagram to the foolamancer with which she was recently linked.

End result: Foolamancer out of comission, so Stanley's dragons become visible again. Ansom is furious with Stanley...and look who just became unveiled.

[K2]

I hurt my hip when i fell out of my chair. that was lovely
this comic rocks!

[lamguin]

Impressive as it was seeing Parson make Ansom nearly impotent with rage, I doubt that was the point of the thinkagram. He's got something else going on. He just jumped on Ansom insisting on his title. "But I think titles are kinda lame, don't you." Feels more like he was just throwing it out there to see what would happen. He caught a whopper, though.

Funny thing about those of us with not the good social skills having nes, we have a knack for pissing people off really booping quickly. I assume Parson is in this group, considering his job, hobbies, Hamstard, and the lack of him worrying at any point whether or not he'll see anyone from the real world again.

Kudos to Jamie and Rob for being so very good at destroying all of our theories.

[MythicFox]

Also, just a possible point here that hasn't been brought up, aside from the more obvious good points, but could parson also be trying to use the loyalty system a bit? By communicating Stanley as a Unit more highly favored by the titans, he might be twisting the mechanics of the system to lower the stats of those attacking stanley.

Just a thought since there was some experimentation with it.

That's actually an interesting thought. Or maybe it's not that Parson is trying to actually twist the mechanics, but implying that such a thing may be possible would be enough to get under Ansom's skin.

This is just brilliant, though, regardless. As someone who's been on both sides of such a gambit in various roleplaying games, I loved this strip.

[Arkenputtyknife]

My suspicion is this: The goal isn't necessarily to make Ansom offend his allies (although I'm sure that would be a bonus), but to get Ansom unreasonably angry with Stanley. Meanwhile, the thinkamancer is sending all the strain of breaking the thinkagram to the foolamancer with which she was recently linked.
I don't see it. Ansom is already unreasonably angry with Stanley, so this would serve little purpose in that regard. And Maggie can't be sending the strain of the Thinkagram to the Foolamancer because there is no link any more. Neither part makes sense.


End result: Foolamancer out of comission, so Stanley's dragons become visible again. Ansom is furious with Stanley...and look who just became unveiled.
The Foolamancer is already out of commission for all practical purposes, and has been since the link was broken; the dwagons haven't been invisible, merely funny-looking. Ansom was already furious at Stanley; now he's furious at Parson.

[SteveMB]

My suspicion is this: The goal isn't necessarily to make Ansom offend his allies (although I'm sure that would be a bonus)

Parson had no way of knowing whether any of Ansom's allies would be around to witness his reaction, so any benefit from that part of it would be a bonus. He might guess that there's be some tension between Ansom and anybody who might try to talk him out of doing something stupid as a result of the goading, though.

[Aquillion]

Remember, his original plan was to contact all the leaders of the enemy side, so whatever he's doing with Ansom must be a stand-in for that. Driving wedges seems like a logical thing -- especially between Ansom and Charley, which would connect with what he was trying to do before. If Parson knows that Ansom has an arkentool and has failed to attune to it, I would expect him to bring that up, too... the fact that, out of the four known arkentools, two have attuned to non-royals while the third has refused to attune to Ansom at all has to be a sticking point for him.

The implication (people who attune to Arkentools are better and stand above royals) places a clear wedge between not only Ansom and Stanley (where it is hardly needed), but Ansom and anyone who has successfully attuned to an Arkentool.

[Lamech]

I think the Marbits and Elves are going to jump ship, possibly Foxmud and Hobbittm will go too. Although I doubt Unaroyal or Sofa King will be overly offended. That leaves about 5700-6000 units on Ansom's side but Ansom should still have more than enough forces to take GK.

Jillian looked pretty shocked at Ansom, even Wienber was surprised it seemed. It appears Vinny realized Ansom's mistake already, and the generic mook seems surprised too. Regardless of what happens the fallout is sure to be fun.



Parson had no way of knowing whether any of Ansom's allies would be around to witness his reaction, so any benefit from that part of it would be a bonus. He might guess that there's be some tension between Ansom and anybody who might try to talk him out of doing something stupid as a result of the goading, though.
Although they need to make plans, especially after the new info in the tunnels, so it is a reasonable guess that he probably wasn't alone.

[SteveMB]

If Parson knows that Ansom has an arkentool and has failed to attune to it

"Ansom has one. It's not attuned to him and he doesn't know why." (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0032.html)

[slayerx]

Now THAT, was awesome... or the psychological war is in full swing


Parson had no way of knowing whether any of Ansom's allies would be around to witness his reaction, so any benefit from that part of it would be a bonus. He might guess that there's be some tension between Ansom and anybody who might try to talk him out of doing something stupid as a result of the goading, though.
Actually, Parson could have been relying on Ansom being the type of Leader to stick by other warlords, especially when it's not their turn and they have time to plan their attack...

Afterall, Parson's plan with charlie was to break up the alliance, and i think it's safe to assume that charlie wasn't the only one he was trying to break off... Orginally, Parson was gonna contact each of the leaders, but found out that he could only make one call and that was it... it may have been possible that he was orginally gonna call each of the leaders and give him that royalty vs toolship speech to make them rethink their loyalties, but since he could only do it in one call, he had to trick Ansom into make himself look horrible...

granted though, it is equally likely he was gonna piss off each of the leaders to make them all act rashly, but then just choose to piss off the leader


My suspicion is this: The goal isn't necessarily to make Ansom offend his allies (although I'm sure that would be a bonus), but to get Ansom unreasonably angry with Stanley. Meanwhile, the thinkamancer is sending all the strain of breaking the thinkagram to the foolamancer with which she was recently linked.

End result: Foolamancer out of comission, so Stanley's dragons become visible again. Ansom is furious with Stanley...and look who just became unveiled.
First off, if Stanely croaks, Parson is croaked to, so having Ansom attack Stanely in full force would not help him...
Second, Parson does not know whether or not Ansom has realized that Stanely has left Gobwinknob...
third, the thinkamancer is no longer linked to the foolamancer and as such can not send the strain to him... Besides, the only strain she is feeling now is probably fatigue

[Monan]

"What did the five fingers say to the face?" .... "SLAP!" (As Rick James Slaps Charlie Murphy) That comment about Tool's attunment with the Arkenhammer was "Cold Blooded!"

Yep that alliance is going to be held together with twine from now on. Ansom's rant made the shoestring connections rip and now he'll be on the last little bit.

What is the object on the left of the last pannel with Tool and his foolmancer?

Another question, i doubt that the others can, not would it have really mattered, but could the others hear the think-o-gram?

[dragongirl13]

Parson's Plan as I see it:

Contact Ansom and talk to him about royalty. Insult royalty so that Ansom's superiority complex (which has a superiority complex with a superiority complex with a superiority complex, etc.) shows itself and totally wigs out the people he's leading, dividing the coalition by turning them against their obviously corrupt, power-obsessed leader.

I mean, look! It totally worked on Vinny. And I'd be willing to bet Jillian has fallen totally out of love with him and is gonna ditch that *** next chance she gets. And Webinar and Dora are going to run off together, just you wait and see. Heck, maybe some of these people will even join up with Stanley and Parson!

Edit: Or at least Parson.

[hajo]

What is the object on the left of the last pannel with Tool and his foolmancer?
The failed veil made a giant clown (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0099.html) out of the dwagon they were riding, and the black object is one eye of that clown.

[Laurentio]

"Now it's personal" (kinda)

Excellently delivered. Both plot and fun. And I don't mind if it's just a little slap-stick. It's a good slap-stick.

Implication: Stanley it's your superior to royalty by divine call. But Stanley it's an idiot (it's for the reader, Parson doesn't know... well, actually...). So, royalty is inferior to the religious egomaniac idiot. And the smart commoner tricks both.

I'm sooo happy...

Laurentio

[masonwheeler]

I must have missed something. What's up with the last panel? What does it have to do with anything else that's going on?

*totally confuzzled*

[Laurentio]

I must have missed something. What's up with the last panel? What does it have to do with anything else that's going on?

*totally confuzzled*

It's the delivery. After a pompous dialogue about royalty and personal value, Parson end a "Stanley is better than you" silogism. Only that... Stanley is a moronic hot-head, that try to kill the poor dude for being not useful (by Stanley's fault).
Just figure Homer Simpson instead of Staley, and you will catch the humor intention. "Why you little...!"

Laurentio

[The Old Hack]

Oh man... I am still snickering. Wonderful, wonderful update. Ansom's expression is beyond priceless, he even has a vein pulsing on his forehead the last time his face is shown.

Some comments: Parson is not merely playing the opponent, he is throwing in a dash of a completely alien attitude here. This is not merely the commoner rebelling against the Royal, but a child of the 21st century looking at a political system he considers centuries in its grave. A commoner that rebelled would to a degree at least be fearful of the wrath he was provoking. Parson is acting as if it not only doesn't matter, but as if it couldn't possibly matter. This will serve to enrage Ansom more than anything else.

[fractal]

If Stanley could hear this, he'd probably even forgive Parson the earlier setback.

[BarGamer]

I've always wanted to hear someone say "Bide" in a form of media, and now that pleasure has been fulfilled! I'm so happy! X3

In other news: Cancel the dance, everyone, there's about to be a fight in the (metaphorical) parking lot. Even if the sword hilt had actually been a Wii-mote like we originally speculated, I don't think Parson could have pushed Ansom's buttons any harder. Couldn't happen to a better guy, I say. XDDD

And finally, even while being choked, the Foolamancer can rhyme. Wow. O_O;;;

[Calemyr]

There's another side to this trick that I haven't seen mentioned. Now there is no doubt that Gobwin Knob has managed (beyond all reasonable explanation) to field itself a chief warlord who is not only competent for a change, but can actually play Ansom like a harp.

Suddenly, that whole Dwagon Doughnut incident makes sense, and there can be no question that not only was it intentional, but it demonstrates that Parson can think outside of tradition and knows exactly how to use Ansom's own strengths against him. Now the "Wow, I didn't think they would be stupid enough to fall for that, guess I'll have to reverse my plans" becomes "Oh, boop. He not only saw through it after all, but he's already turned it into a gambit of his own!" None of knowns can be trusted any more, and he is left sitting uncomfortably on a glass throne that's begun to crack.

While I severely doubt this put any distance between Ansom and Vinny, I think Vinny is clearly embarassed for Ansom's sake and can see plainly that Parson just scored major points. The non-Side allies, however, such as the elves and marbits, are going to be watching him like a hawk from now on.

Finally, a strip with a character who uses his head for something OTHER than a blunt object! It was so beautiful it made me shed a tear.

[Mr Wizard]

Vinny: "Ansom! Obvious troll is Obvious!"

[BarGamer]

Calemyr: EXACTLY! They'll be forced to review their strategies, their decisions, even their leadership. A line like "convention dictates..." or "only a main garrison stack" COULD lead to disaster, if they act predictably.

I can almost SEE the next strip: One of the other Coalition leaders steps up to say, "EXCUSE me, your HIGHNESS, but we LOWLY COMMONERS would like to renegotiate our... relationship." Ansom either accuses them of being a traitor or appeals to their desire to wipe out Stanley, Vinny steps in and calms people down, meanwhile Stanley does whatever it is he's doing, Maggie picks her jaw off the floor in awe, Parson does the next part of his plan...
Which is... what? Attack? Collapse the tunnels? Uses one of his StupidMeal toys in a cool way? Wanda wakes up??

Or possibly Charlie talks to someone for a strip. The Tardy Elves? The Hippies?

[Arkenputtyknife]

Even if the sword hilt had actually been a Wii-mote like we originally speculated, I don't think Parson could have pushed Ansom's buttons any harder.
Oh yes, the sword. Presumably the blade arrives at the start of the next turn and the thing's complete. And whether the thing turns out to be a kick-ass weapon that would make Wilkinson proud, or just a piece of plastic trash as others have speculated, it's fairly certain that it's going to look impressive, at least from a distance, especially considering it's Parson-sized.

Maybe it would be best if the sword turned out to be made of plastic, after all. I'm not sure Parson could convincingly swing a steel sword bigger than a rapier. Useless in a fight, but Parson would stand little chance in a fight anyway, and if his strategy is to bluff Ansom and smash the coalition through psychology…

“I want a big guy. Big, powerful, dashing, handsome, heroic… a guy who'll shock and awe them, just standing on the city walls, commanding the fight…” — Stanley (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0017.html).

[Xefas]

Is it just me, or does Parson look like a badass towering over Ansom's image in the third panel? I wonder if Ansom can see their size difference over the thinkagram. One on one, it appears that Parson may be able to crush him like...well, like a grown man beating up a ten year old with toy pliers.

[fractal]

For that matter, if the Thinkamancer is catching all of this, I bet Parson's got her in awe. This is the kind of thinkagram that's worth the trouble of sending.

[fractal]

Vinny: "Ansom! Obvious troll is Obvious!"
Yeah, now we know why Parson is so big, don't we. He's just a troll (as opposed to Bogroll, the twoll).

"And here we see the troll in his native environment, remote communication, engaged in his usual behavior, trolling."

[DCR]

I now initiate a 24 hour period known as "Parson is AWESOME".
Participate or not at your own choosing.

[Wonton]

I am SO in :P

[Thoughtbot360]

Really nice button pushing.

Not sure where Parson learned that Ansom has that big red button or that it would be that divisive for the side. All of Ansom's side could have been royal blood for all Parson knows. Of course I am missing stuff so shoot me back.

Not really, for recent "Parson's Klogs," Parson has found out that Marbits and such do not have royalty. He also found out that royalty is very important to some people (IE Ansom.) So he apparently put two and two and well, two again together and decided to try to this gambit with Ansom because he risked very little for potentially very much.

[rosebud]

A commoner that rebelled would to a degree at least be fearful of the wrath he was provoking.Only if that system were part of the culture, which is not the case for those not led by royals. And (looking at Vinnie) not even the case for some royals.

What is amusing is Parson exploiting his weaknesses and neutralizing some of his strengths (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erfcast.html): leadership, planning, coalition building.

What I still don't understand is why they need pursue Gobwin Knob instead of going after Stanley, who is the main target and reason the coalition is joined together. While Ansom may have alienated his listeners, they are still joined against Stanley not joined for Ansom. Since Parson lacks much offensive at this point, they need not focus on Gobwin Knob, especially since (in their view) Parson does not claim himself to be an heir. If Stanley is eliminated, that ends the threat.

And I'm still wondering when and how a chorus of "Summer (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_whyjdt5Qso) Nights (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KYvuFyT2u0U)" will manage to show up.

[RMS Oceanic]

And now I know his weakness. Hubris!

Parson just twolled Ansom. :) Whether or not this leads to rifts in the alliance remains to be seen, but I'm hopeful.

Also, good times were had with the juxtaposition of Parson's praise with Stanley being in a sitcom situation.

[Laurentio]

Well... Called Shot is that Parson is trying to strike Ansom on his weakness.
Long Shot, it's only the first part of the dialogue, that could quiet down a little, now that Ansom is ready for some reverse psychology suggestion.
Longer Shot, Parson is trying to put Ansom against every tool-aligned person, that includes... Charlie.
Longest Shot, this new plan could be partially inspired by Charlie himself, as a device to leave the alliance with honor (and keeping the money), and came in aid of Parson at a later time.
Longerest Shot, Charlie didn't inspire Parson directly, but left a "macro suggestion" inside the Thinkmancer's mind, during the "side call" moment (so the whirlwind is not simply che end of the contact, but a mind attack against Maggie). Maggie the unwilling mole? Sound funny to me (and Maggie would agree that Charlie is good at that play).

Laurentio

[Bendal]

Essentially Parson is telling Ansom that attacking his "superior" (Stanley) is no different than when Stanley offed HIS superior, making their actions no different at all.

Ansom's public reaction (now how did Parson know Ansom would take the call in view of his allies?) is all Parson could have asked for. Now let's see how it carries with everyone else...

[fractal]

That is the problem with ruling by divine right. The Divine might rescind it.

Meanwhile, Parson, though of a lesser station, is both stronger (we can assume) and smarter than Ansom, although perhaps not more morally fit.

[Arkenputtyknife]

(now how did Parson know Ansom would take the call in view of his allies?)
Ansom's camp appears to be in line of sight of the walls of GK (perhaps even from the higher parts of Efdup Tower if some pages are to be believed), so a keen-sighted lookout could see him meeting with his warlords and would report this information to Parson. I would expect this to be standard procedure and standing orders. Considering the very few sources of information now available to Parson, I'd expect him to be making the very most of what little he has.

[pasko77]

Hmmm, comic 101. I think that school is officially in session. :smallcool:

Would anyone explain this pun to me?
I guess it is something obvious for anybody in USA, but i don't really get it...

[TheTurnipKing]

Ooh. Nice manipulation.

That's gonna hurt after the next turn if Ansom sends most of his forces right into the lion's mouth.

[Krelon]

Mission accomplished, but... there will be random effects. When pushing someone that hard any thing can happen. It could go bad for Parson but I guess since he is in a very bad situation, taking chances is his best option.

Ansom could finally do the siege by the book not giving Parson a chance (cold hatred). Not so good for Parson and probably no chance to be spared after the battle.

Ansom could just order to storm through the tunnels to get it over with quickly (hot anger). Probably good for Parson.

Ansom could order Jillian to leave with the air units after all to squish the Tool to show that there is no new mandate from the Titans. Probably good for PArson cause this takes awy some forces and he can potentially get rid of the Tool.

I guess the alliance will hold, for now. Parson will need to back up his words (in the eyes of the other alliance leaders) somehow.

very nice twist of plot

[SteveMB]

Would anyone explain this pun to me?
I guess it is something obvious for anybody in USA, but i don't really get it...

It's a reference to classes being identified by number (e.g. Calculus 205, US History 310). The number "101" is often associated with the basic foundation-level class in some subject.

[Eldritch_Ent]

Well, he's clearly trying to split up the coalition... It was his stated goal what, three pages ago? And in the previous comic he said "I'd have to do this with one call", with "this" being "split the coalition"... (I may be captain obvious saying that, however.)

Either way, clearly Parson is to be feared. If you challenge him, expect epic mind games.

Either way, I think the alliance just took a big hit to it's "Loyalty" stat...

[The Old Hack]

Only if that system were part of the culture, which is not the case for those not led by royals. And (looking at Vinnie) not even the case for some royals.


Ah... but it is a part of their culture. Peripherally, perhaps, but this need not make the effect smaller. As a matter of fact, back when monarchy was a big thing, there were countries so desperate to have kings of their own that they imported them from other countries, or alternately made a vast effort to be considered kingdoms in their own right. Prussia would be a good example, its first king only became so after convincing a number of other monarchs to recognise him, and even then, he was only considered king in Prussia, not king of Prussia. (If the difference seems obscure... well, it is to me, too. :smallamused: But presumably it was an important qualifier back then, possibly to keep the upstart from getting too proud of himself.)

As to Vinnie... he is a cynic, he is a lot brighter than Ansom, and sometimes being inside a system is very helpful for seeing through its pretenses and flaws. He certainly knows Ansom, and the 'oof' may not only be for the social blunder but also for the rage he can see following hard on its wake.

[SteveMB]

That is the problem with ruling by divine right. The Divine might rescind it.

Meanwhile, Parson, though of a lesser station, is both stronger (we can assume) and smarter than Ansom, although perhaps not more morally fit.

Ansom's claim to be "smarter" than the guy who led him into a trap is bound to come off as a bit questionable.

To quote (http://www.uselessmoviequotes.com/umq_s009.htm) a call somebody made in a similar situation with a similar objective: "I'm laughing at the 'superior intellect'."

[dokein]

What I could see happening: Ansom INSISTS on doing a non-conventional and rushed attack through the tunnels. Parson is able to counter the force using his superior crap golems, resulting in coalition casualties. Together with the royalty statements, this unsuccessful attack results in the loss of any kind of trust between the other coalition members and Ansom.

[pasko77]

It's a reference to classes being identified by number (e.g. Calculus 205, US History 310). The number "101" is often associated with the basic foundation-level class in some subject.

Thanks.
So, in college (or what, high school?), are classes always identified by numbers?

Sorry for the OT.

[Bendal]

Parson just managed to equate Ansom's current actions with Stanley's regicide, and Ansom's response didn't go over all that well with his allies.

But how did Parson know Ansom wouldn't just take the call in private?

[Doran]

I would like to vote this strip as one of Parson's Crowning moments of awesome
(http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/CrowningMomentOfAwesomeWebcomics)
Also initially I thought the last panel meant Stanley was somehow eavesdropping through the foolmancer link.

[Scutatus]

Psychological warfare at it's best. Brilliant. And right in front of the coalition leaders too. It will be interesting to see if some of his followers now begin to question Ansom's leadership...

Or if Ansom begins to doubt himself?

Even if all that happens is that he is moved into rash action, mission accomplished. :)

Nicely done Parson.

[Nargrakhan]

I've been supporting Lord Hamster's victory in this battle, ever since I knew of the strip and joined this board. (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=3748548&postcount=87)

Nothing has changed that opinion.

Give them hell Lord Hamster... give them Hell... :smallcool:

[Achilles]

This comic has blown my mind... I believe I know what is going to happen but still... dang.

[Templar]

Vinnie's reaction was the best. When your good friend's inner boop-hole gets exposed in front of his peers, it's always tough to watch.

I'm a little surprised it was so easy to bait him, but I suppose we can chalk that up to Wanda's intimate knowledge of the subject, the subject's own hatreds and insecurities, and a desire to avoid decompressed storytelling by our author. :smalltongue:

[zeropsm]

We know that thinkagrams shows up inside Ansom's head.( showed when Jillian sent the tinkagram to ansom on the donut...too lazy to link, sorry)

So, now ansom sounds just nuts to the coalition's leaders.

I can almost see the next strip:

:smallamused:
"Even you, proud prince of the jetstones, have paid to get the help of a "tool attuned" leader...you're becoming useless evryday. All your scouts at the tunnel were whiped, and soon all the marbits will...this is what royals do...commit their people to death, to feed their own ego."

And BOOM...Charlie is out of play, and the coalition non-royal leaders lose ansom's confidence.

I think parson itself will not need to give his watch to charlie at all.

[SteveMB]

We know that thinkagrams shows up inside Ansom's head.( showed when Jillian sent the tinkagram to ansom on the donut...too lazy to link, sorry)

So, now ansom sounds just nuts to the coalition's leaders.

I think the basics of how people communicate by Thinkagram are common knowledge; it wouldn't seem "nuts" any more than a guy talking into a little black box seems "nuts" in the real world.

However, the raw display of the worst side of his "traditionalist royal" worldview surely can't be helpful (even setting aside what people think of the worldview itself, he's acting like an out-of-control hothead).

The idea that he might follow up by needling Ansom about his alliance with Charlie is interesting. (I don't think it's been stated that Charlie is attuned to the Arkendish -- Ansom's use of the Arkenpliers to dust uncroaked shows that even unattuned Arkentools manifest powers -- but it's strongly implied by the sparklies (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0046.html) around it (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0099.html)).

[Templar]

(I don't think it's been stated that Charlie is attuned to the Arkendish -- Ansom's use of the Arkenpliers to dust uncroaked shows that even unattuned Arkentools manifest powers -- but it's strongly implied by the sparklies (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0046.html) around it (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0099.html)).

And by Maggie's comments as well.

[warmachine]

Though goading your opponent is a good move, especially when traps are set, it's effect will be limited. Prince Ansom absolutely believes in his divine right but his best friend is not royalty, handles criticism that his campaign is driven by monarchist policy, leads a council of war with warlords of other nations and he's not above having sex with a mercenary. He's a good guy and as long you stay off political philosophy, you can work with him. Just tell him that he's got an Arkentool as well and that Stanley is an evil ****er who's losing the war, so can't be chosen of the Titans. A breakup of the alliance seems unlikely.

Ansom is still likely to do something rash, which helps Parson but Parson needs a lot more than that. Ansom has lost 40% of his siege engines but he's still got massive, numerical strength. Parson can't win against that without his battlefield overview and powerful, flying dragons to pick and win the fights on his terms.

Parson is going down fighting but I think he's doomed.

[zeropsm]

SteveMB

Except when you starts to scream on the little black box.

And screaming things that could hurt the feelings of their beloved unroyal leaders isn't goo either.

[Freederick]

I don't see why everyone is assuming the other leaders can't hear Parson's side of the conversation. The thinkagram could just as well be directed at everyone present, rather than just at Ansom privately. It would make more sense for Parson to do it this way. :smallconfused:

[MarvinCZ]

He's a good guy and as long you stay off political philosophy, you can work with him. Just tell him that he's got an Arkentool as well and that Stanley is an evil ****er who's losing the war, so can't be chosen of the Titans.

Right now Ansom is dropping heavily into political philosophy. His companions will probably have a few words about it, too...
About the Arkentools... Ansom has one in his possession, true, but even he knows it's not meant for him as he is not attuned to it. On the other hand Stanley is attuned to his Arkenhammer. Current successes have no say in that, other than reducing its effect on Ansom.

[factotum]

I don't see why everyone is assuming the other leaders can't hear Parson's side of the conversation. The thinkagram could just as well be directed at everyone present, rather than just at Ansom privately. It would make more sense for Parson to do it this way. :smallconfused:

I think everyone is assuming that because that's been the case for every other Thinkagram we've seen in the strip--it's been on a strictly person-to-person basis. Also, no-one other than Ansom is "looking" at where Parson is, which they'd presumably do if they could all see him.

[SteveMB]

Right now Ansom is dropping heavily into political philosophy. His companions will probably have a few words about it, too...

If the war was sold to them based on Ansom's public "I just want to end a great evil" rationale (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0034.html), they're going to be a bit :smallconfused: if not downright :smallannoyed: by this display of his private reasons.

The gun was hung over the mantlepiece way back in Ansom's speech (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0021.html) at the big war council:


"In a few turns, we will have eliminated Stanley the Plaid from the face of Erfworld. I realize that an alliance this extensive is a hardship to all of our sides, but it can't be helped. It will be worth it, to end him." (emphasis added)

Ah, but is it worth it to salve Ansom's personal issues...?

[GKBeetle]

Best Erfworld ever. Man, this one rocked so hard. Everything was perfect. Funny as hell and it showed more of Parson being BA. Can't wait to see what happens next.

[zeropsm]

Ah, but is it worth it to salve Ansom's personal issues...?

"What are we risking our ass for? the end of an evil being?or a young prince's ego?"

Looks like he planned to plant this on the coalition leaders.and did effortlessy...in one turn.

Lucky shot!

[jtheory]

Though goading your opponent is a good move, especially when traps are set, it's effect will be limited. Prince Ansom absolutely believes in his divine right but his best friend is not royalty, handles criticism that his campaign is driven by monarchist policy, leads a council of war with warlords of other nations and he's not above having sex with a mercenary.

The royalty thing is more important to Ansom than you're saying, I think; first of all, his best friend *is* a royal (a count), and has pointed out that the main reason for the entire campaign seems to be to knock a non-royal out of power:
http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0034.html

The relationship with Jillian is also based on his *belief* (even before he knows for sure) that she's also a royal; he has the hots for her, but it's "eating him alive" that he doesn't know for sure.
http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0089.html
http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0090.html

And once he does know, it's all he can think about:
http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0092.html

It's pretty deep-seated. The conversations where Vinny tries to, well, protect him from himself don't get very far; Vinny backs off.

I'll agree anyway about unknown results -- but Parson has managed to hit a very sensitive nerve in both Ansom and the rest of the party.

[kreszantas]

Well I am not sure if this has been discussed yet. Parson is playing with Stanley at the same time, Erfworld 20 (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0020.html) in that Parson can help Stanley achieve this higher calling by having Ansom give up the pliers.

This is a strong indication that things are really now beginning with the prior 90 pages and 10 klogs are nothing more than preface to set up this one page.

In #20 Parson declared that Stanley's position is higher by calling him a tool "another mind game" and back then it was discussed that Parson did this to deflect his own weaknesses by focusing on praising the others strength even though it was in our world a huge insult.

Ansom has no idea about where/how Lord Hamster came to be, and did refer to him as a nothing, with his title, declaring that Parson is nothing. That will not set well with all the rest of the "title holding leaders" They have to follow the orders of their leader, not actually Ansom.

[slayerx]

Though goading your opponent is a good move, especially when traps are set, it's effect will be limited. Prince Ansom absolutely believes in his divine right but his best friend is not royalty, handles criticism that his campaign is driven by monarchist policy, leads a council of war with warlords of other nations and he's not above having sex with a mercenary. He's a good guy and as long you stay off political philosophy, you can work with him. Just tell him that he's got an Arkentool as well and that Stanley is an evil ****er who's losing the war, so can't be chosen of the Titans. A breakup of the alliance seems unlikely.

Ansom is still likely to do something rash, which helps Parson but Parson needs a lot more than that. Ansom has lost 40% of his siege engines but he's still got massive, numerical strength. Parson can't win against that without his battlefield overview and powerful, flying dragons to pick and win the fights on his terms.

Parson is going down fighting but I think he's doomed.
Vinnie is a royal... the mercanary that he sleeps with is one that he has for a long time believed was a royal... and Ansom has just announced to everyone else that he thinks Royal's are better than commoners; Ansom has just shown how high and mighty he feels... and the problem being is that most of his warlords and allies are non-royals; and he just insulted and belittled them... and the arkentool does't help him, Since Parson can counter with the fact that the hammer is atuned to Stanely but not attuned to Ansom... in fact, if Charlie is attuned to the dish, Parson could point out how out of the 3 tools that he knows of, 2 are attuned to non-royals and one is in the hand of royal, but not attuned... kinda serves his "royalty is obsolete" statement

So yes, Parson has definatly succeeded in pissing off Ansom... and considering Ansom is the chief warlord and runs the shots, his orders override the other warlords in the movements they make... if he insists on a charge, they will charge... and if they don't; then its a sign that they are seriously reconsidering their decision to join the alliance under jetstone.

Ansom next move may determine the fate of the alliance... if he acts too rashly, doesn't listen to his allies suggestions and makes a mistake or falls into a trap; then a number of the allies may want to break off their alliance with him... if the alliance breaks apart, then GK's future looks all the more brighter... frankly, i'm guessing the marbits and the elves may be the first to go

[slayerx]

What I still don't understand is why they need pursue Gobwin Knob instead of going after Stanley, who is the main target and reason the coalition is joined together. While Ansom may have alienated his listeners, they are still joined against Stanley not joined for Ansom. Since Parson lacks much offensive at this point, they need not focus on Gobwin Knob, especially since (in their view) Parson does not claim himself to be an heir. If Stanley is eliminated, that ends the threat.

Well because GK is still a threat and its the only thing they can attack... Jillian's attack on Stanely requires flying units with no fewer than 26+ move... the rest of the alliance forces would only slow her down and would have no chance of catching up to Stanely and he will certainly get to Faq... Faq has very good natural defences and attackign Stanely there could be even harder than attacking him at GK; especially if he is given enough time to rebuild and put together a small army... and if Jillian's attack fails, then GK will remain a threat and can produce more units... While they lay seige to Faq, GK would be rebuilding it's forces; If faq is destoryed but Stanely escapes, then the alliance would be back where they started, except now GK has had a few dozen turns to rebuild it's army...

So ya, taking down GK is still a priority since they can't be sure Jillian will succeed and that if they leave Gk alone, it will be able to rebuild it's forces... essentially, going after Stanely alone would be putting all of your eggs in one basket

[Prince_Rohan]

This is nothing more, and nothing less then expected from a master strategist:

"If your enemy is secure, prepare for attack. If superior, evade him. If shows a short temper, irritate him. Pretend weakness, so he becomes arrogant...If his forces unite, seperate them.” - Sun Tzu, Art of War: Laying Plans

And the quote everyone knows...

"Every battle is won or lost before it is ever fought.” - Sun Tzu

Parson was chosen well.


Great story.

[lamguin]

What I still don't understand is why they need pursue Gobwin Knob instead of going after Stanley, who is the main target and reason the coalition is joined together. While Ansom may have alienated his listeners, they are still joined against Stanley not joined for Ansom. Since Parson lacks much offensive at this point, they need not focus on Gobwin Knob, especially since (in their view) Parson does not claim himself to be an heir. If Stanley is eliminated, that ends the threat.

Reason 1: GK has quite a few forces. The dwagons weren't the only power there. It would be idiotic, tactically, to leave a powerful foe with a highly defensible position to fall back on behind you as you chase off after some dude with a high move. Parson would rip their slower stacks to shreds.

Reason 2: Jillian may not be willing to share the location of FAQ with the entire alliance. She told Ansom, and she'd likely tell Vinnie. I doubt her trust would go much further than that.

Reason 3: This one's tied to reason 1. GK is still under Stanley's power. The units are his, the income is his. Just like the alliance destroyed or conquered each of Stanley's other cities, him going to FAQ only delays the inevitable, at least in Ansom's mind. So, knock out GK, then take as much as he needs to go destroy FAQ. Since most of Stanley's forces are still in GK, FAQ should fall quickly. Even with Dwagons.

Bonus Reason: If FAQ gets taken last, Ansom can present the newly freed city to Jillian as a gift.

[ralphmerridew]

Though goading your opponent is a good move, especially when traps are set, it's effect will be limited. Prince Ansom absolutely believes in his divine right but his best friend is not royalty, handles criticism that his campaign is driven by monarchist policy, leads a council of war with warlords of other nations and he's not above having sex with a mercenary. He's a good guy and as long you stay off political philosophy, you can work with him. Just tell him that he's got an Arkentool as well and that Stanley is an evil ****er who's losing the war, so can't be chosen of the Titans. A breakup of the alliance seems unlikely.

Ansom is still likely to do something rash, which helps Parson but Parson needs a lot more than that. Ansom has lost 40% of his siege engines but he's still got massive, numerical strength. Parson can't win against that without his battlefield overview and powerful, flying dragons to pick and win the fights on his terms.

Parson is going down fighting but I think he's doomed.

Look at http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0063.html and http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0068.html . Would they be so automatic about doing so if they had seen this shortly beforehand?

And while Vinnie isn't royalty, he is a noble.

[Taross]

I've been lurking and reading the comic for a while now, and I'm REALLY starting to get antsy to see what's going to happen next now.
In my opinion, Parson just made the best move he could've made in the entire conflict. If Ansom's not going to go absolutely insane over what's been said, he's going to need a few rounds at least on damage-control over his own ranks regarding morale.

It's also quite possible that those troops that don't directly 'belong' to him will refuse to listen to Ansom after all that.

[SteveMB]

Vinnie is a royal...
Strictly speaking, Vinny is a noble, not a royal (i.e. not of royal rank, but still respectable enough to be an acceptable ruler, per the conversation (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0034.html) about Ansom's personal motives).


the mercanary that he sleeps with is one that he has for a long time believed was a royal...
There's no reason to believe that Ansom had any idea that Jillian might be a royal prior to her comment (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0074.html) about "...the kingdom he cost me..." Note that he addresses (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0092.html) her as "Commander" (as usual) and then corrects himself to "Princess" (now that he knows she is entitled to that title).


and Ansom has just announced to everyone else that he thinks Royal's are better than commoners; Ansom has just shown how high and mighty he feels... and the problem being is that most of his warlords and allies are non-royals; and he just insulted and belittled them...
True; that rant certainly didn't help his standing with his allies (if nothing else, flying off the handle isn't exactly a mark of sterling leadership). Even commoners who fully accept the worldview that nobles and royals are superior generally expect them to show some grace and dignity about it.


Ansom next move may determine the fate of the alliance... if he acts too rashly, doesn't listen to his allies suggestions and makes a mistake or falls into a trap; then a number of the allies may want to break off their alliance with him...
I can picture a downward spiral: anger impels him to do something stupid, his allies try to talk sense into him, he refuses to listen, his allies grumble that he's disrespecting them because of their lower rank, Ansom reacts to this new prodding at his sore spot.... :smalleek:


Reason 2: Jillian may not be willing to share the location of FAQ with the entire alliance. She told Ansom, and she'd likely tell Vinnie. I doubt her trust would go much further than that.
It doesn't even go that far (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0090.html): "Look, I'll trust you with this information. But not Doombats, not Charlie's Archons, nobody else." (emphasis added)

[fendrin]

Hmm...

Just trying to figure out what happens next. this entire post should be treated as conjecture, albeit based on the strip.

Ansom, trying to to prove his ideology correct, must take a swift and decisive action, and win. Further, he must act on his own ideas in order to claim his superiority. In particular, he must avidly refuse the advice of non-royals.

The first panel sets us up for what is next: Webinar (a non-royal) is objecting to Ansom's plan. Thus Ansom will feel compelled to act upon his plan, despite the objections (not that Webinar's objection is a good one anyway).

I anticipate that Ansom sends the bulk of his forces through the tunnels, which Parson will have Sizemore collapse (it may destroy GK, but what has he really got to lose? If Ansom wins he (it seems) he will die anyway).

The other leaders, seeing Ansom 'foolishly' send thousands of marbits, elves, and others to their deaths, will reconsider the alliance.

Alternatively, (some of) the other leaders may object to the tunnel plan and force Ansom to go that route with just his own units, and maybe some of the more forgiving (or desperate) factions.

We know that Part one is going to be coming to a close soon (I think... wasn't it said that the original plan was 100 pages, then some changes were made to accommodate serialized web publishing? So that would be 9 more pages, give or take), so I think it is fair to say that something decisive will happen soon, followed by a denouement. Given that Erfworld is a comedy, not a tragedy, I think it is safe to say that one way or another, Parson defeats Ansom. Ansom may survive, Parson may die, but the victory will clearly be Parson's.

Using Freytag's pyramid, I think we can split up what we have seen so far into the following categories:
Exposition: The intro though Parson's erfworld education.
Rising Action: The release of Jillian through the dwagon ring debacle.
The Climax: Stanley leaves through Parson's thinkagram with Ansom (this strip).
The Falling Action: Parson defeats Ansom, and ?
Denouement: ?

[Twisted Otaku]

But how did Parson know Ansom wouldn't just take the call in private?



Probably because as soon as Parson told him who and where he was, Ansom figured he was calling in to work out a surrender. Of course Ansom would want everybody to see that, a flawless victory with now casualties and a new city. But when Parson started making the royalty remarks... well... pride goeth before the fall.

[zet]

When I read that strip (really one I like the best (of a couple in a row even!), I am totally hooked what will happen next, can't wait till you put it online!), I asked myself if Parson had not revealed too much about himself - now they might be warned.
Ansom knows by now for sure that it is not Stanley who is making the moves, and now he knows who is responsible for all of that trouble. Maybe some allies are turning backs on him due to his outbreak, but maybe Vinnie can make Ansom to rethink his strategy... and maybe, they will not engage through the tunnels, which seems to be what parson wants them to do...
Of course, maybe Ansom goes frenzy now and pushes the attack harder than he shouldn't, leaving behind even more allies, but wouldn't it be too easy then? I think Vinnie has an important role to play now - either he can make Ansom come to reason or he fails and Parson gets what he wants: Splitting the alliance and forcing Ansom to do strategic mistakes.

[lamguin]

It doesn't even go that far (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0090.html): "Look, I'll trust you with this information. But not Doombats, not Charlie's Archons, nobody else." (emphasis added)

I felt that was referring more to the story itself, rather than the specific location.

Her mentioning Vinnie first, to me, is her saying to Ansom that she trusts Vinnie above pretty much anyone else in the alliance, but she refuses to tell even him. The Archons as well, but that's because they're paid for, and Charlie has a reputation.

[Rumex]

Thanks.
So, in college (or what, high school?), are classes always identified by numbers?

Sorry for the OT.

College.

To get an idea, in High School, English classes are usually labeled thusly (on official documents, anyway): English 1, English 2, English 3, or, if there are multiple levels of the courses, English 10, English 20, etc.

In college, it would go English 101, English 102, English 201, etc.

Classes that start with '1' implies 'first-year' level courses. The numbers after that indicates where on the curriculum it falls. 101 would be first year, first semester, 102 would be first year, second semester, 103 would be an elective course that's usually taken by first year students, and so on. Which means that the logical next step from a 102 program can be a 201 program. (First year, second semester, to second year, first semester, basic class.)

[Tom90deg]

Hmm...I think I'll toss in my two cents in here as well.

First, we know that Jillian is not that happy about being a Royal. She's happy just killing things for fun and profit. She didn't even tell Vinnie, probably the third highest ranking person, and, seemingly, a nice guy.

Second, we know that Ansom has Royality on the brain. He considers himself better for just that reason, and saying that around a bunch of non-royals is reaaaly going to hurt morale.

So, here's how I see things possibly going. Jillian is going to step in and say something about how "Just because you're a royal dos'nt mean you're any better than anyone else." To which ansom will reply in anger and confusion, "What are you talking about, YOU'RE a roy...oops..." And that will piss off Jillian to no end.

Remember back when this (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0074.html) was sent. She says she's going to fight for two reasons, the same reasons as he had. Because she hates Stanley, and she loves Ansom. Ansom seems to love just himself, and I really wonder what would of happened if Jillian turned out NOT to be a royal. Something tells me she would have gotten the "Lets just be friends" talk.

If Ansom is not VERY careful, things are going to go south very very fast. Chances are, things already are. I don't think Ansom has the charasmia to pull off fixing this.

[SteveMB]

If Ansom is not VERY careful, things are going to go south very very fast. Chances are, things already are.

I'm just trying to imagine Ansom's response to Parson's smirking declaration that "Stanley is your superior." I'm picturing a tirade that makes his speech in panel 8 look like a model of reason and humility.

[The Old Hack]

If Ansom is not VERY careful, things are going to go south very very fast. Chances are, things already are. I don't think Ansom has the charasmia to pull off fixing this.

The charisma? Barely possible, he is good at talking people around. The self-control? In all honesty...


I'm just trying to imagine Ansom's response to Parson's smirking declaration that "Stanley is your superior." I'm picturing a tirade that makes his speech in panel 8 look like a model of reason and humility.

...I find SteveMB's mental image far more likely to come true.

I have also thought of another angle possible from Parson's current ploy. He might issue some sort of challenge to Ansom to prove his alleged superiority, leading him into risking his own person and allowing Parson another shot at the Arkenpliers. It has almost worked before; this time, I doubt Vinnie will be able to talk Ansom down.

[shakes019]

I imagine that Parson is attempting to goad Ansom into blaspheming against the Titans. In using the Arkentools attunement to imply that the will of the Titans does not support the divine right of royalty to rule, he forces Ansom to respond. Fortunately for Parson, Ansom is too proud to take the most effective argument - to oppose the basic assumption that attunement to the Arkentools is related to the will of the Titans. Because he is unwilling to dwell on the fact that he's not attuned to it.

Instead, he can be goaded into arguing the point, and perhaps claiming that if the Titans are attuning their Tools to commoners, then something is wrong with the Titans.

Then the coalition has a problem.

[warmachine]

One thing must never be forgotten is that politicians, officers and diplomats learn to work with people they don't like or they get nowhere in their profession. If there's a common goal or task, people can work together. This is also known as Real Politick. In this case, the goal is to destroy Stanley the Plaid (as they know him). They've worked together well so far and are close to completion of the goal. Only the really unpragmatic would quit now because the war leader is even more of a sanctimonious popinjay than they thought.

Also, grunts learn to take orders from officers they don't like or they don't remain in the army for long. Indeed, grunts typically despise officers in general. Finding out the war leader thinks he's superior to the commoners is par for the course. At least this war leader gets his hands dirty and fights.

Still, His Highness, Prince Ansom, is liable to do something rash and get some troops killed. Unless he has a string of stupid mistakes, he'll keep his position. Stanley isn't in Gobwin Knob but the alliance knows he's running and where he is. They aren't going to stop now just because Ansom has a temper.

[Arkenputtyknife]

I don't see why everyone is assuming the other leaders can't hear Parson's side of the conversation. The thinkagram could just as well be directed at everyone present, rather than just at Ansom privately. It would make more sense for Parson to do it this way. :smallconfused:
Three reasons.

First, Maggie was already exhausted and told Parson that she could only do at most one more thinkagram that turn. We can safely assume that a conference 'gram is more tiring than a one-on-one, so it's unlikely that Parson would further jeopardize the call by bringing more people into it.

Second, when the call first came in, Ansom was the only one who reacted. While Webinar was the only one we could actually see at the moment of arrival (and he did not react), the other leaders should have reacted similarly if they had been receiving it, and I would expect to have been shown that they reacted, since it is a significant point.

Third, when we do see everyone, they're all (except Vinnie) looking at Ansom, not at wherever their imagined projections of Parson would be.

So while it could conceivably have been sent to all, there's plenty of reason to believe it wasn't.

Edit: Add a fourth reason: In all the frames showing Parson's location, only Ansom's projection is visible.

[werewolfjay]

many parts of the coalation might leave Ansom due to his lower stature rant if you look up the coalation on page 86 most of the coalation does not include royaltie the only two that differ would be the barbarians, the forces of transylvito, and Charlescomm which might stay if Vinne and Jillian(who lead them, they dont have to worry about charle tho) decide to stay leaving the three royal forces under numbered for the assult:smallcool: (i like EVIL)

the worst effect the taunting and rant can do is cause mass fighting in the coalation between the royal and non-royal forces and there are mulitiple effects that might happen other than the coalation breaking up that have been included in other post(im too lazy to write them down:smallbiggrin: )

[pasko77]

College.

To get an idea, in High School, English classes are usually labeled thusly (on official documents, anyway): English 1, English 2, English 3, or, if there are multiple levels of the courses, English 10, English 20, etc.

In college, it would go English 101, English 102, English 201, etc.

Classes that start with '1' implies 'first-year' level courses. The numbers after that indicates where on the curriculum it falls. 101 would be first year, first semester, 102 would be first year, second semester, 103 would be an elective course that's usually taken by first year students, and so on. Which means that the logical next step from a 102 program can be a 201 program. (First year, second semester, to second year, first semester, basic class.)

Crystal clear.
Thanks.

[fendrin]

...I really wonder what would of happened if Jillian turned out NOT to be a royal. Something tells me she would have gotten the "Lets just be friends" talk.

Unlikely. Remember that Ansom propositioned Jillian long before she told Ansom she was a princess. besides, history is full of examples of royals fooling around with(and sometimes even marrying!) commoners or other non-royals.

This is especially true of royal men and non-royal women.

[Doug Lampert]

Thanks.
So, in college (or what, high school?), are classes always identified by numbers?

Sorry for the OT.
University or college. A class will be identified by subject and number.

So a basic physics course might be PH 101.

PH for physics.
First 1 for level (0=remedial, 1=freshman, 2=sophmore, 3=junior, 4=senior, 5-7 for graduate school although level 5 classes are often available to undergrads).
0 for survey of the general subject. (The next seven numbers will be assigned specific specialties while 8 is likely used for wierd stuff and 9 is used for seminars.)
Second 1 is for the first course in the sequence (these numbers are actually rarely sequencial since they leave room to add additional courses later).

PH 332 thus might be the second junior level course in thermodynamics while PH 551 might be the first course in quantum mechanics.

101 is thus nominally the first freshman introductory course covering the entire subject. Beats the heck out of 005 for example, but basic stuff mostly, probably the simplest course the department teaches that gives actual credit toward your degree, and in the case of any of the hard sciences its pretty well assumed that the students majoring in the subject will skip right past these classes since they'll have had the 101 material in high-school and that 101 is thus for the arts majors and the like to fill their science requirement rather than a serious class.

[Krelon]

There was a computer game called wizardry 101. You started as an apprentice.

[Gez]

Jillian looked pretty shocked at Ansom, even Wienber was surprised it seemed. It appears Vinny realized Ansom's mistake already, and the generic mook seems surprised too. Regardless of what happens the fallout is sure to be fun.
The generic mook is Dora, Webinar's girlfriend. You know, the one who is a 2 (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0056.html).


Oh yes, the sword. Presumably the blade arrives at the start of the next turn and the thing's complete. And whether the thing turns out to be a kick-ass weapon that would make Wilkinson proud, or just a piece of plastic trash as others have speculated, it's fairly certain that it's going to look impressive, at least from a distance, especially considering it's Parson-sized.

Maybe it would be best if the sword turned out to be made of plastic, after all. I'm not sure Parson could convincingly swing a steel sword bigger than a rapier. Useless in a fight, but Parson would stand little chance in a fight anyway, and if his strategy is to bluff Ansom and smash the coalition through psychology…

“I want a big guy. Big, powerful, dashing, handsome, heroic… a guy who'll shock and awe them, just standing on the city walls, commanding the fight…” — Stanley (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0017.html).

Good point. Parson is everything Stanley wished for, though sometimes in a literal genie kind of way ("eating marbits for breakfast"). Parson definitely is big compared to the average Erfworlder, and apparently he's working on the "powerful, dashing, handsome, heroic" parts. Still not there yet, but he's trying.

[slayerx]

There's no reason to believe that Ansom had any idea that Jillian might be a royal prior to her comment (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0074.html) about "...the kingdom he cost me..." Note that he addresses (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0092.html) her as "Commander" (as usual) and then corrects himself to "Princess" (now that he knows she is entitled to that title).

Well, not necessarily... the only knowledge we have of Jillian and Ansom comes from right before the battle of gobwinknob when this comic began, and the very moment she joined the alliance in her flashback... since we know that she has been captured numerous times and held in atleast one other city under Stanely's rule, we know that she has been with the alliance for a fairly good amount of time... as Such, we have a nice big blank history between Jillian and Ansom that we don't know about... he may have found a reason to suspect Jillian of being atleast a noble...

One thing comes to mind is that, even if she does not have a royal title anymore, i would expect her to maintain her higher stats... Ansom might have been able to look at her stats, and based on what kind of unit she and her level, that her stats may have been higher than he thought they should be... Also, their could be a precedent for what happens to royals and nobles when they loose their kingdom/land; that they loose their title and given a title based on their unit type... So Ansom knows that it may not be beyond belief that a wondering unit leading troops may actually be a unit of nobility... not to mention, since they are in an age of war something like this happening would not be unheard of... especially when said unit joins your side out of a fierce hatred for the enemy leader who has been trying to conquer other kingdoms

Also, Jillian may not like being a royal, but if she was growing fonder of Ansom and recognized he has much respect for royals, she may have dropped a hint or two to get on his good side and get him to notice her...

Really, when it comes down to it, Ansom sounds like the type who believes strongly in royal marriages... he would not even consider a woman if she was not of atleast noble linage. Frankly, i don't think he would even try to get together with Jillian unless he atleast suspected she might be more than she seems....

He may have started developing feelings for her, and that ended up affecting his judgement... he watched her closely enough to suspect that she was more than she seemed, and because he knew he could not accept a commoner as his loved one, he HOPED she would turn out to be a noble and that hoped skewed and supported his suspicions... What we saw from Jillian might have given her a 10% chance of being a noble, but his HOPES that the woman he was attracted to would fit his world view skewed those results and jumped his suspicions up to 50%... with that, he decided to pursue her, trusting in his own hopes that she would turn out to be a noble...

[slayerx]

The generic mook is Dora, Webinar's girlfriend. You know, the one who is a 2 (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0056.html).


That is not Dora...
That is another one of the warlords... most likely one of the allies and not of Jetstone... i expect, Dora and Weiber's gold armor to be the standard for Jetstone warlords

She's also seen here (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0058.html) and here (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0062.html) with Ansom and Vinne at the column, while Dora was with Weibner out in the field

[Tundar]

Hehehe, it sure does look like Parson is trying to piss of Ansom to a degree where he explodes in anger and does something reckless.

Good work Parson :smallbiggrin:

[raphfrk]

Inconclusive, perhaps, but the comic seems to be giving a strong impression that Parson's size is being conveyed. The biggest clue is in the tilts of Parson's and Ansom's heads: Ansom is looking up at him and Parson looking down. Of course, we don't know what the scaling and perspective rules for thinkagrams are, but from what we're shown, I'd assume that size is being conveyed until proven otherwise.

Alternatively, it could be determined by the person handling the thinkagram.

Maggie is shown making a TV symbol with her hands to support the image he is seeing. He has to look down at that. I don't think Ansom looks like he is looking up, it is more horizontal. However, the effect for the receiver might basically work out as looking through the transmitter's eyes.

[VaeVictis]

Oh yes, the sword. Presumably the blade arrives at the start of the next turn and the thing's complete.

The blade IS complete, see here...

http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0096.html

[Kish]

The blade IS complete, see here...

http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0096.html
That's not the blade. Both ends are squared off, and it doesn't cut into Bogroll or Parson even though both handle it without any care at all. That's the blunt part of a sword right next to the hilt. Arkenputtyknife is suggesting that the actual sharp part will be the third and last part of the sword to arrive.

[corncobman]

I really like what he's done.

Both Parson and the writer guy.

[Sonar009]

Judging from the faces of the others, how many do YOU think were offended by that?

Loved Vinnie's clean, simple execution, and appropriate timing of, the exquisite "Oof".

[The Old Hack]

If the war was sold to them based on Ansom's public "I just want to end a great evil" rationale (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0034.html), they're going to be a bit :smallconfused: if not downright :smallannoyed: by this display of his private reasons.

The gun was hung over the mantlepiece way back in Ansom's speech (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0021.html) at the big war council:


I have been giving this some thought, and I feel more and more convinced that SteveMB has gotten hold of something important here. A coalition this large is bound to experience internal friction. We have already seen Webinar exercise his variant of 'diplomacy' on Jillian, and Vinnie's comment on him may be found in my .sig below. :smallamused:

In this large a force, there's bound to be at least a certain number of potential trouble sources like Webinar. The tensions are undoubtedly already there. Rumour travels fast in an army camp and tends to grow in the telling. Ansom's eruption just may prove the spark that lights the fuse to the powderkeg of trouble -- or even ignites it outright. I suspect a worst case scenario would be that the camp splits into two, one angry at Ansom for belittling them, the other Ansom apologists, the latter would accuse the former of overreacting and failing to respect Ansom's natural superiority, the former would not precisely get any happier from that...

Oh, and don't forget, the thinkagram isn't even over yet. I am looking forward to seeing what Parson may add as a parting shot.

[Twilight Jack]

Well now, Ansom's got some 'splainin' to do.

While I do not think this single stroke will be enough to dissolve his coalition, I do think that Parson has managed to lay some effective groundwork towards 'sploiting the loyalty mechanic as well as diminishing morale. So long as he (Parson) can put up a strong showing in the next turn and inflict some serious casualties, the loyalty difficulties caused by Ansom's elitist outburst will be magnified. Doubtless, Parson will have further gambits in play to exacerbate those difficulties.

In any event, a brilliant stroke by Parson and an excellent and subtle use of Chekov's Gun by Balder and Noguchi. Kudos!

[SteveMB]

Oh, and don't forget, the thinkagram isn't even over yet. I am looking forward to seeing what Parson may add as a parting shot.

One possibility a couple people have mentioned (assuming Charlie is indeed attuned to the Arkendish) is to cite him as another commoner (Charlie is an Overlord, not a King) favored by the Titans in a way denied to Ansom. Push the buttons right, and Ansom could be provoked into severing that alliance, creating an opportunity to revisit the deal Parson offered earlier.


Well now, Ansom's got some 'splainin' to do.

While I do not think this single stroke will be enough to dissolve his coalition, I do think that Parson has managed to lay some effective groundwork towards 'sploiting the loyalty mechanic as well as diminishing morale. So long as he (Parson) can put up a strong showing in the next turn and inflict some serious casualties, the loyalty difficulties caused by Ansom's elitist outburst will be magnified. Doubtless, Parson will have further gambits in play to exacerbate those difficulties.

If Ansom is goaded into doing something stupid and suffers another setback comparable to the Dwagon Donut Decoy, that would naturally exacerbate any morale problems. It would also create an obvious opportunity for Parson to needle him again next turn ("So, how's that 'smarter' thing working out for you?")

[Glome]

An interesting point that I haven't seen mentioned yet is that Parson hasn't let on that he is anything other than a dumbass troll who blindly follows Stanley. I don't think Parson will let it be known that they are actually dealing with anything other than subpar leadership in Stanley's camp. That will make his failures against Stanley seem that much more infuriating, since he can really blame nobody but himself when there isn't anyone intelligent on his opponent's side.

[Twilight Jack]

One possibility a couple people have mentioned (assuming Charlie is indeed attuned to the Arkendish) is to cite him as another commoner (Charlie is an Overlord, not a King) favored by the Titans in a way denied to Ansom. Push the buttons right, and Ansom could be provoked into severing that alliance, creating an opportunity to revisit the deal Parson offered earlier.

Given Charlie's overtures of sympathy to Parson, it has also been forwarded by a few folks that Charlie intends (or at least desires) precisely that course of action on Ansom's part. Charlie depends too much upon his reputation for him to risk being seen as betraying Ansom, but if Ansom is the one to sever that connection, Charlie has every reason to throw his support to Parson.


If Ansom is goaded into doing something stupid and suffers another setback comparable to the Dwagon Donut Decoy, that would naturally exacerbate any morale problems. It would also create an obvious opportunity for Parson to needle him again next turn ("So, how's that 'smarter' thing working out for you?")

Worse yet, "So, how about that divine mandate from the Titans? Still think that you're the one they're backing? You can't even get the Arkenpliers to unlock their secrets for you. Maybe you should ask your commoner buddy Charlie how he managed it with the Arkendish? Since he's the one with the Tool, shouldn't you be working for him?"

[SteveMB]

A thought: Ansom thinks (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0100.html) he's found "a main garrison stack" in the tunnels. He got that impression because Parson set it up (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0097.html) to look that way.

Now, Ansom is enraged and determined to put this "Lord Hamster" character in his place... by going in in force and wiping out one of his main garrisons, perhaps...? :smalleek:

[fractal]

A thought: Ansom thinks (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0100.html) he's found "a main garrison stack" in the tunnels. He got that impression because Parson set it up (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0097.html) to look that way.

Now, Ansom is enraged and determined to put this "Lord Hamster" character in his place... by going in in force and wiping out one of his main garrisons, perhaps...? :smalleek:
I've been trying to figure out the deal with the Main Garrison Stack myself, particularly since Ansom uses that information to infer that the tunnels are underdefended (rather than massively fortified, as you might expect if they have powerful troops there). My best guess is that maybe Ansom believes that the Marbit scouts made it all the way through the caves to the city itself, in order to encounter the powerful stack? If so, that would imply that there were no other defenses of note, and that therefore the route is far superior to attacking those same Main Garrison Stacks on the fortified walls.

We, on the other hand, know that Parson deliberately sent Sizemore out with those golems to find and destroy the stack, and also that part of why the stack hit so hard was the presence of the Dirtamancer, not necessarily the inherent power of the other units involved. Therefore, it's safe to assume that many traps and defenses remain between the location where the Marbit scouts were destroyed, and the city itself.

[ishnar]

I've been trying to figure out the deal with the Main Garrison Stack myself, particularly since Ansom uses that information to infer that the tunnels are underdefended (rather than massively fortified, as you might expect if they have powerful troops there). My best guess is that maybe Ansom believes that the Marbit scouts made it all the way through the caves to the city itself, in order to encounter the powerful stack?

Parson's instructions were to ignore all scouts BUT the one that got the closest to the city. That's why they feel the area is under defended. Because all of the other scouts encountered minimal or no resistance.

[lamguin]

Well, I think the course is clear. Rob and Jamie need to update 6 times a day from now on.

[memnarch]

Quality over quantity. Always.


Especially since great strips like this result. :smallbiggrin:

[InsaneOrb]

Damn. Good. Page.

:smallbiggrin:

[fractal]

Parson's instructions were to ignore all scouts BUT the one that got the closest to the city. That's why they feel the area is under defended. Because all of the other scouts encountered minimal or no resistance.
Yes, but then why not ignore that one too? And if it wasn't going to be ignored, then why hit it so hard? How does hitting it hard make the defenses seem weaker?

The best explanation I can come up with is that Parson wants to make it seem like that stack has reached a city hex, defended by the main garrison. If the scouts can make it that far before combat, then it is an ideal invasion route.

[RubberBandMan]

Am I the only one who thinks Parson just made all that up at the moment? That its just a bit of verbal sparring before he really gets to his crowning moment of awesomeness?

I mean, he may of thought that Ansom would be touchy about nobles, but who plans on someone they've never talked to freaking out over almost nothing?

Ansom is the one that brought up titles and nobility, and Parson just played off of it. Between panel from panel four to five, I can just say parson saying

"Oh riiiight, the royalty thing"

(Maybe I can use this against him?)

"It's obsolete, y'know?."

And cutting off Ansom at the same time.

After all, he's worse then a D&D player, he's an Anti-D&D player, used to not only players justifying killing townspeople is lawful good, but also used to subverting them and making games impossible to win without such means. He could prolly come up with five good reasons that the Arken Tools are used to bring down people who find them, by making them act stupid, or claiming that he's sent from the Titans themselves.

I really think Parson came up with the "Royalty is last weeks" on the spot, and the real awesomeness is yet to come.

[El_Chupacabra]

Yes, but then why not ignore that one too? And if it wasn't going to be ignored, then why hit it so hard? How does hitting it hard make the defenses seem weaker?

The best explanation I can come up with is that Parson wants to make it seem like that stack has reached a city hex, defended by the main garrison. If the scouts can make it that far before combat, then it is an ideal invasion route.

Basically, yes. But Ansom's forces will, most likely, be drawn into one big or multiple small Killzones that will be blocked off when specific tunnels are collapsed by Sizemore. Ansom is being goaded into thinking A) a major breakthrough is near and B) he is even more motivated to push through to the city to end this challenge to his authority. He merely hated Stanley for breaking the Rules; Parson suggested the Rules that are in Ansom's favor are to be outright discarded.

Or, the tunnel garrison IS weak, but access to the city is to be cut off by Sizemore when the Coalition's main forces get close to them. During the long trek back, with nothing to show but a few piecemeal victories over throwaway forces held as bait by Parson, Parson sends out a large group with some task involving wreaking havoc on the feint surface forces, or a breakthrough force designed to penetrate the surface lines and hit something in the rear -- possibly a Leader Unit or the remaining siege.

Parson is shaping the battlefield well before Ansom; both the direction and tempo of battle will be almost entirely controlled by Parson. By tempo, I mean that the tunnels will become more of a maze, that will disable any ability by Ansom to react and rescue other forces, whichever units Parson chooses to strike.

Should be interesting.

[teratorn]

Am I the only one who thinks Parson just made all that up at the moment? That its just a bit of verbal sparring before he really gets to his crowning moment of awesomeness?
Maybe, but I think Parson intentionally set up the bait for this when he said "You're my enemy Ansom" with no title. He had set the tunnel trap but he was not sure that Ansom would not follow the more conventional battle plan. A furious Ansom will try to win the battle in the next turn, and Parson will get another chance to recover Wanda. I want to see Wanda in full combat gear.

I think that the unease with the non-royals in the coalition is a side benefit but it was not Parson's main purpose. Of course he can try to explore that in GK's next turn but we don't know if he is aware of the reaction from the others.

Charlie's angle as suggested by SteveMB is an interesting one but Charlie is a business man (woman?) who is likely to stick to his/her contract, although it is possible Charlie will ask for a higher fee.

[Eten]

Or, the tunnel garrison IS weak, but access to the city is to be cut off by Sizemore when the Coalition's main forces get close to them. During the long trek back, with nothing to show but a few piecemeal victories over throwaway forces held as bait by Parson, Parson sends out a large group with some task involving wreaking havoc on the feint surface forces, or a breakthrough force designed to penetrate the surface lines and hit something in the rear -- possibly a Leader Unit or the remaining siege.

Woah. You're right. He can either lead them into the tunnels, which is just a death trap or extremely favorable grounds to fight on, or he could lead them into the tunnels, only for it to end up as a dead-end and main force down there to realize it too late while he has some means of annihilating the rest of the siege. That would cripple the coalition's siege of gobwin knob.

I'm not sure which I'd like more- having Parson play his opponents and watching Sizemore the dirtamancer wreck havoc in the tunnels or having parson REALLY play his opponents and watch him crumble the coalition from the inside with destruction of it's leadership and a tactical stalemate.

[SteveMB]

Am I the only one who thinks Parson just made all that up at the moment? That its just a bit of verbal sparring before he really gets to his crowning moment of awesomeness?

I mean, he may of thought that Ansom would be touchy about nobles, but who plans on someone they've never talked to freaking out over almost nothing?

Parson already knew (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0088.html) that it was a major issue:



(Comments on royal and noble units and royal empires)
This is what they are so anal about. It's a "divine mandate" to rule. When a non-royal gets powerful, the royals like to gang up on him.

[zeropsm]

Parson already knew (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0088.html) that it was a major issue:

also, We don't know exactly what wanda said (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0043.html)

[Moechi_Vill]

Basically, yes. But Ansom's forces will, most likely, be drawn into one big or multiple small Killzones that will be blocked off when specific tunnels are collapsed by Sizemore. Ansom is being goaded into thinking A) a major breakthrough is near and B) he is even more motivated to push through to the city to end this challenge to his authority. He merely hated Stanley for breaking the Rules; Parson suggested the Rules that are in Ansom's favor are to be outright discarded.

Or, the tunnel garrison IS weak, but access to the city is to be cut off by Sizemore when the Coalition's main forces get close to them. During the long trek back, with nothing to show but a few piecemeal victories over throwaway forces held as bait by Parson, Parson sends out a large group with some task involving wreaking havoc on the feint surface forces, or a breakthrough force designed to penetrate the surface lines and hit something in the rear -- possibly a Leader Unit or the remaining siege.

Parson is shaping the battlefield well before Ansom; both the direction and tempo of battle will be almost entirely controlled by Parson. By tempo, I mean that the tunnels will become more of a maze, that will disable any ability by Ansom to react and rescue other forces, whichever units Parson chooses to strike.

Should be interesting.

Deciding on his own steamrolled tactics could easily negate most of Parson's advantages. There are strategies on how to deal with cleverness when you have overwhelming superiority. As in: breaking off all communications with enemy to avoid subversion, mixing up your forces or commanders to avoid subversion from within and claims of racism, steamrolling in one way to avoid PR losses elsewhere, just attacking everywhere like rabid so everyone is doing their part and to maximize enemy losses...

Ansom 'ransom' should really put on blindfolds and 'duh duh'/slam his brow into the walls with his skull until it breaks. He can afford to think simplistically like Grant did. All the Union generals used to fear Lee until Grant came along and told them not to and just hold their lines and do their jobs responsibly, thus letting numbers come to bear over tactics.

[slb]

Question from a non English-speaker: What's the meaning of Ansom saying "Bide" in the first panel ?

[SteveMB]

Deciding on his own steamrolled tactics could easily negate most of Parson's advantages. There are strategies on how to deal with cleverness when you have overwhelming superiority. As in: breaking off all communications with enemy to avoid subversion, mixing up your forces or commanders to avoid subversion from within and claims of racism, steamrolling in one way to avoid PR losses elsewhere, just attacking everywhere like rabid so everyone is doing their part and to maximize enemy losses...

Ansom 'ransom' should really put on blindfolds and 'duh duh'/slam his brow into the walls with his skull until it breaks. He can afford to think simplistically like Grant did. All the Union generals used to fear Lee until Grant came along and told them not to and just hold their lines and do their jobs responsibly, thus letting numbers come to bear over tactics.

Ansom's original plan (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0021.html) was to pound away at the walls from all sides until they broke somewhere, and pour in through the breach. Losing half of his siege units may force him to modify that plan, but probably wouldn't defeat it altogether.

However, Ansom is now considering making the main attack through the tunnels. He remarked (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0100.html) "Our topside attack should, perhaps, now become the feint." and Webinar's argument (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0101.html) that convention dictates securing the city walls first only makes sense as a response to Ansom describing a plan that does not do so.

Also, note that Ansom is described as a leader who "tries to conserve and protect the units under his command" (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0071.html). The fact that he was initially planning a brute-force assault on the walls might mean that (in Erfworld combat mechanics) such an assault with his overwhelming advantage in forces would minimize the butcher's bill. However, if losing half his siege units makes a wall assault more costly, and the tunnels look easier than anticipated, he might very well take that route for his main assault -- especially if he thinks he's found a large enemy force with unguarded approach routes.


Question from a non English-speaker: What's the meaning of Ansom saying "Bide" in the first panel ?

It's a somewhat archaic word meaning "wait", "hold on", or in some contexts "endure". It survives in the expression "bide (my/his/her) time", but has generally fallen out of usage otherwise.

[Mr. Scaly]

Deciding on his own steamrolled tactics could easily negate most of Parson's advantages. There are strategies on how to deal with cleverness when you have overwhelming superiority. As in: breaking off all communications with enemy to avoid subversion, mixing up your forces or commanders to avoid subversion from within and claims of racism, steamrolling in one way to avoid PR losses elsewhere, just attacking everywhere like rabid so everyone is doing their part and to maximize enemy losses...

You know that and we know that. Does Ansom? Considering that he just got baited by a random fat man he'd never met before I have to say that my opinion of him as a military leader just took a hit.


Ansom 'ransom' should really put on blindfolds and 'duh duh'/slam his brow into the walls with his skull until it breaks. He can afford to think simplistically like Grant did. All the Union generals used to fear Lee until Grant came along and told them not to and just hold their lines and do their jobs responsibly, thus letting numbers come to bear over tactics.

In the immortal words of Guybrush Threepwood:

"Yeah. Sure. I'll break this impregnable glass wall by banging my head on it! That will sure mess up the carpet..."

In all seriousness though, sometimes sheer aggression just does not work. Parson has the best defensive position around, and though he's seriously outnumbered by about ten to one there's all kinds of examples in fantasy and history where a small force of men hold off a much larger force.

[hewhosaysfish]

Question from a non English-speaker: What's the meaning of Ansom saying "Bide" in the first panel ?

"Wait", basically.



bide...
(Archaic)
...
3. to dwell; abide; wait; remain.
—Idiom
4. bide one's time, to wait for a favorable opportunity: He wanted to ask for a raise, but bided his time.
[/url]

[Mr. Wonderful]

I don't think Stanley has exited the stage yet. He and Parson may well be reunited in the future.

Let's assume that Stanley conquers FAQ. If I understand the rules correctly, he pretty much needs a city. Not that he'd get disbanded if GK fell, since we know that didn't happen with Jillian. But his personal unpopularity - not to mention his ego - makes it unlikely that he could serve someone else for favor or money.

So there he is waiting for news of GK's inevitable fall. Except, it doesn't. He waits some more. GK continues to exist, and who knows, maybe even grow.

Curious, he contacts Parson and learns what went on. Now if you read strip 101 from Stanley's perspective, its very very flattering. We know that Parson is using Stanley's megalomania as a tool, both for propaganda and to piss off Ansom. But Stanley could only be very happy to see his Warlord - who he threatened to kill, remember - boldly asserting the Tool's divine authority even though he's nowhere near.

The cool thing about this comic is how we get to play along. You've got a lot of clever people spending way too much time analyzing what's going on, and yet we all get surprised from time to time.

[hajo]

Am I the only one who thinks Parson just made all that up at the moment?
Parson already had "divide and conquer (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0041.html)" in mind, several turns ago.
When he only had one more thinkagram for this turn, it 'just' got concentrated into the one epic encounter we are seeing now, instead of several -perhaps boring- calls to all the other leaders.


That its just a bit of verbal sparring before he really gets to his crowning moment of awesomeness?
Sure, the main action (battlewise) is still to come - at GK and with Stanley :smallamused:

[Calemyr]

Perhaps it should be noted that the (presumably slower moving) Marbits were escorting and manning the seige weapons during the Dwagon Donut attack, and it was a Marbit squad that got brutally taken out by Sizemore. Add to the fact that they have no known royals (they aren't even a legitimate Side), I think this is quickly adding up to the Marbits being among the first to give Ansom the middle... wait, do Marbits even have fingers? You'd think so... Er, anyway, the Marbits seem to be Ansom's most useable units: able diggers, good axemen, hard workers, hefty numbers. If they feel too heavily put upon by a man they now know doesn't respect them...

[slayerx]

Perhaps it should be noted that the (presumably slower moving) Marbits were escorting and manning the seige weapons during the Dwagon Donut attack, and it was a Marbit squad that got brutally taken out by Sizemore. Add to the fact that they have no known royals (they aren't even a legitimate Side), I think this is quickly adding up to the Marbits being among the first to give Ansom the middle... wait, do Marbits even have fingers? You'd think so... Er, anyway, the Marbits seem to be Ansom's most useable units: able diggers, good axemen, hard workers, hefty numbers. If they feel too heavily put upon by a man they now know doesn't respect them...

Ya, if the alliance does start to fall apart then i think it's safe to say that it's the sides without royals that will go first... so, out of all of the alliance sides (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0096.html) First the Marbits than the Elves; those two groups make up about 1/3rd of the alliance's total troops, and considering how often we've seen elves and marbits in action, probably a rather significant third at that... SofaKing and Unaroyal sound like they probably have royals from their names alone; though the other two sides Foxmund and Hobbittm may be sides without royals... or they could only have nobles which could put them a step above commoners but a step below royals and thus still be offended by Ansom's statement; assuming ofcourse that nobles ARE a step below royals and they are not all part of the same group

[TheWombat]

I doubt at all that the coalition will break or split. There will be hidden bitterness for a while at least. But the idea that the coalition will split due to one outburst when Vinnie is there to diffuse the situation. The coalition will be strained but not broken.

[Doran]

Question from a non English-speaker: What's the meaning of Ansom saying "Bide" in the first panel ?

It means he's going to do nothing for the next two turns, and then attack with twice the damage sustained. It'll be super effective! :smalltongue:

[slayerx]

I doubt at all that the coalition will break or split. There will be hidden bitterness for a while at least. But the idea that the coalition will split due to one outburst when Vinnie is there to diffuse the situation. The coalition will be strained but not broken.
No the coalition will not break due to one statement, but that bitterness can go a long way in a long run... Parson has planted the seeds of anger and resentment amongst their forces... The next few actions, be it Parson's deliberate actions, or Ansom's mistakes, could be all it takes to to make the seed grow and bloom into the forces falling apart...

for instance... when you think about it, Marbits and the elves are the ones without royals and yet that have been taking the most damage recently... The Marbits role in the battle was to be a distraction, and they were the ones guarding the seige when it was hit by the dwagons... we also so that it was their forces that charged ahead an croaked Stanely's last living warlord... and there's a good chance the marbits may be the ones told to lead the tunnel offensive... Elves on the other hand, were told that they would be the first one's to attack GK when the breach was opened, being placed on the front lines; the elves also lost quite a few troops when they had to fight those three dwagons... Combined with Ansom's latest Statement, the Marbits and elves may start thinking that, because they are not lead by royals, Ansom has been treating them like cannon fodder; sending them to the frontlines to croak first instead of using his own troops

They might not have noticed it before as they thought Ansom had very true an noble reasons for sending them to fight; "we are here to defeat evil", "we are sending your forces because they are the best for the job" and so forth... but know they may think that their is something more to those "reasons"


It means he's going to do nothing for the next two turns, and then attack with twice the damage sustained. It'll be super effective!
But if Parson doesn't attack ansom then it will have no effect :smalltongue:

[SteveMB]

I doubt at all that the coalition will break or split. There will be hidden bitterness for a while at least. But the idea that the coalition will split due to one outburst when Vinnie is there to diffuse the situation. The coalition will be strained but not broken.

True, breaking the coalition by needling Ansom into one hissy fit is rather too much to hope for. But it's a start. That's especially true if the more immediate benefit of making Ansom too furious to think straight (and thus, if my guess is correct, making him more likely to fall into another trap) is realized -- each new setback is bound to increase doubts about his leadership.

[Vreejack]

I don't think Stanley has exited the stage yet. He and Parson may well be reunited in the future.

I had considered this in the last thread but had felt it far more likely that Parson would join Charlie in some sort of mercenary trope. I have to admit, though, that your interpretation makes staying with Stanley much more possible. It is also a much more interesting result.

[discnerd]

Sure, that's the real reason.
But Parson hasn't stated his 'official' reason for calling, so he has to do so before breaking off.


I'm gonna go with asking Ansom to surrender. I mean the Titans are on Stanley's side. Ansom might as well give up.

[SteveMB]

I'm gonna go with asking Ansom to surrender. I mean the Titans are on Stanley's side. Ansom might as well give up.

Given that the real reason for the call is to provoke Ansom, it hardly matters what "official" reason he comes up with. I suppose he could invent something that ties in with his jibes (i.e. "I called to discuss your surrender, since our victory is the will of the Titans" or "I called with instructions for where to drop off the Arkenpliers, so that somone worthy to wield an Arkentool can attune to it").

Given that Parson originally planned to call several of the coalition leaders, he may have intended to advance his argument ("Stanley is attuned to the Arkenhammer; Ansom is not attuned to the Arkenpliers; that means that the Titans are on Stanley's side) with some hope of actually convincing them. Making that argument to Ansom obviously isn't going to persuade him, but it does serve the obvious function of enraging him and the less obvious -- but perhaps more damaging to his side -- one of giving him something to prove (especially if he harbors secret doubts that what Parson just said is the truth).

[DrivinAllNight]

It means he's going to do nothing for the next two turns, and then attack with twice the damage sustained. It'll be super effective!

But if Parson doesn't attack ansom then it will have no effect :smalltongue:

Isn't Bide an attack mode from the Pokemon games??

[sihnfahl]

Personally, I'm going with a two-pronged effort.
Parson knows Ansom won't surrender or give up. Ansom's too intent on putting Stanley down and too egotistical to stop now. However, Parson will use that to his advantage.
Step one is to prick Ansom's ego. Make Ansom so enraged that he ignores advice from everyone and rushes headlong; if it wasn't for dumb luck, Ansom's little reckless charge into the empty dwagon hex would have resulted in a no-siege-for-Ansom situation.
Step two is to make another trap. The golems are there to draw Ansom in. When everyone else is saying 'Go for the walls!', Ansom is 'Go for the tunnels!'. With Ansom's superiority complex in full force, he'll commit his forces to the tunnels ... and straight into the myriad of traps Parson had Sizemore throw together...

With Ansom frothing at the 'superiority' of Royals, and everyone else seething that Ansom's discarding everything for his ego .... cumulative fractures.

[Taninger]

Another thing that's important to recognize is that Ansom hasn't really got a reason to be involved. As Vinnie drew out from him earlier, Jetstone hasn't got much of a reason to be involved in the coalition, let alone to lead it. Unless the others believe he's just being a nice guy routing the evil Stanley... then the only other reason is that he's attacking because Stanley isn't royalty.

Vinnie knew that. Now everyone does.

[Wender]

With Ansom frothing at the 'superiority' of Royals, and everyone else seething that Ansom's discarding everything for his ego .... cumulative fractures.

He only needs there to be so many fractures, because one of the things holding the alliance together is overwhelming force against a mediocre tactician. To the extent that Parson: demonstrates his talent as a warlord; blinds Ansom by wounding his ego; makes the alliance pay dearly for their first assault; and introduces some cracks and fissures into the already frail alliance at the command level, he can push the alliance to the breaking point. Nobody signed up for a bloodbath against a master strategist, nor did anyone sign up to follow an Ahab in a mad hunt for a white whale.

Once it becomes clear that the siege will not be a cakewalk, the alliance is in deep trouble.

[Vreejack]

If I am understanding this correctly, Ansom believes that Ansom's last combat was from a main garrison defense unit, stationed perhaps at the last defensible point protecting the city. It was not clear to us earlier, but apparently the marbit scouts got very close to the city and encountered nothing else, so Parson has created the appearance that he has absolutely nothing down there. It is so obviously stupid that he desperately needs top unbalance Ansom and convince him that Parson has only been lucky so far just to make sure Ansom falls for the ruse. Now that Ansom has lost his temper he will hopefully charge in, heedless and headless.

If Ansom does chatge into the tunnels, then it is all upon Sizemore's preparations. Given the time and resources a careful defender can destroy an entire attacking force if it catches it by surprise underground. The only question here is how much of Ansom's force can be fit underground at once?

I've had a little trouble keeping track here, but doesn't Ansom reach GK this turn? It will still take some time to surround the place in preparation for battle, but if that is just a feint then with his new enthusiasm he might commit everything underground at once.

[The Old Hack]

True, breaking the coalition by needling Ansom into one hissy fit is rather too much to hope for. But it's a start.

To return to wargaming from another angle: I've been in various games in which diplomacy played an important part. In all of these, large coalitions always prove very difficult to establish and maintain. It usually takes a very nasty common enemy before people will even consider it, and once the coalition has finally been established... well, suffice it to say that it is a fragile thing. Someone might get convinced that the others are using him to take all the losses. Someone might get greedy and grab for a bigger share than is fair, upsetting the rest. Someone might be seduced into a separate and favourable peace.

That start may have surprising effects in just a couple of Turns. No, I don't expect instant effects either. But from small seeds...


That's especially true if the more immediate benefit of making Ansom too furious to think straight (and thus, if my guess is correct, making him more likely to fall into another trap) is realized -- each new setback is bound to increase doubts about his leadership.

A certain short Frenchman once said, "I would rather fight an alliance than be part of one." In the end he lost out to one, but he certainly knew how difficult it was to keep one going.

[stsasser]

C'mon, Ansom; tell us what you really think about jumped-up, risen-through-the-ranks overlords/warlords...

[rman]

Question from a non English-speaker: What's the meaning of Ansom saying "Bide" in the first panel ?

Bide -> wait a bit, as in "bide your time" really old phrasing.

Essentially "hold on a sec, I have a call"

[BarGamer]

Another thing that's important to recognize is that Ansom hasn't really got a reason to be involved. As Vinnie drew out from him earlier, Jetstone hasn't got much of a reason to be involved in the coalition, let alone to lead it. Unless the others believe he's just being a nice guy routing the evil Stanley... then the only other reason is that he's attacking because Stanley isn't royalty. Vinnie knew that. Now everyone does.

SIIIIIICK! Depending on how bright the other faction leaders are, and how high the Coalition casualties start mounting up, they might start asking themselves, "After Stanley is gone... are we NEXT??" The Marbits and Elves, especially the Tardy Elves, are probably the most worried. If they take heavy losses fighting Stanley, it would make them easier to be conquered next.

Even the Royal leaders, if any, might get worried, since from Parson's logic, they are unworthy of ruling, since they don't have Attuned Arkentools. They might start checking Ansom for signs of madness... Like: an obsession with Jillian, volatile temper, and since he's got an Arkentool, a danger to himself and others...

[Laurentio]

Ansom is a Prince, heir to the throne. So there is a King, over him, that allowed him to take the army and form an alliance without any real reason other than his son's will. It makes sense, as it was an easy war, and probably they get some good bounty in the course (first stripes: Stanley lost several cities).

Now the alliance is tense, the victory less probable, and Ansom is acting crazy - or at least not graciously as you could expect from a Prince. I'd really like to know the King opinion.

Laurentio

[Vreejack]

SIIIIIICK! Depending on how bright the other faction leaders are, and how high the Coalition casualties start mounting up, they might start asking themselves, "After Stanley is gone... are we NEXT??" The Marbits and Elves, especially the Tardy Elves, are probably the most worried. If they take heavy losses fighting Stanley, it would make them easier to be conquered next.

Even the Royal leaders, if any, might get worried, since from Parson's logic, they are unworthy of ruling, since they don't have Attuned Arkentools. They might start checking Ansom for signs of madness... Like: an obsession with Jillian, volatile temper, and since he's got an Arkentool, a danger to himself and others...

Royalists such as Ansom are essentially traditionalists, as it is tradition that confirms their own power. The marbits and elves have nothing to fear from Ansom because they traditionally have no king. In fact, they validate Ansom by their need to ally with kingdoms in order to get things done.

I'm not sure what your point is concerning the allied royals and the arkentools. They should be afraid of Ansom because they don't have attuned arkentools, like him? "Well, excuse me your honor, but that don't make no sense."

[sihnfahl]

Royalists such as Ansom are essentially traditionalists, as it is tradition that confirms their own power. The marbits and elves have nothing to fear from Ansom because they traditionally have no king. In fact, they validate Ansom by their need to ally with kingdoms in order to get things done.
OTOH, 'unaligned' factions (marbits, elves, etc) hold their allegiance to themselves. And they DO rebel. I think of them as mercenaries, like Charlie, only less ... honor-bound. "We'll go your way as long as it benefits us. If there's someone better out there, and you're losing to them, we'll go with them."

Fight, suffer a few losses, but come out on top in the end? Good.
Be treated as cannon fodder to salve some royal's ego? Bad.

[fendrin]

OTOH, 'unaligned' factions (marbits, elves, etc) hold their allegiance to themselves. And they DO rebel. I think of them as mercenaries, like Charlie, only less ... honor-bound. "We'll go your way as long as it benefits us. If there's someone better out there, and you're losing to them, we'll go with them."

Fight, suffer a few losses, but come out on top in the end? Good.
Be treated as cannon fodder to salve some royal's ego? Bad.

I think it's a big mistake to lump all of the non-humans together like that. We see a huge difference in personality amongst the various Elves, so assuming that all Elves and the Marbits are less honor-bound than Charlie is a big mistake.
Especially considering that Charlie isn't honorable at all. His decision is purely greed motivated.

As far as we know, the Goblins performed their coup out of honor and loyalty (to someone other than King Saline IV, of course). Other than that, we have no indication whatsoever of the honor or lack thereof of any of the non-humans.

[Roldolfo1]

If Ansom does chatge into the tunnels, then it is all upon Sizemore's preparations. Given the time and resources a careful defender can destroy an entire attacking force if it catches it by surprise underground.

Even surprise may not be entirely necessary. If you have an extra 3 hours available to watch Kurosawa's "Seven Samurai" you'll see an excellent example of how leadership, careful preparation and execution can destroy a superior force.

R1

[SteveMB]

If Ansom does chatge into the tunnels, then it is all upon Sizemore's preparations. Given the time and resources a careful defender can destroy an entire attacking force if it catches it by surprise underground. The only question here is how much of Ansom's force can be fit underground at once?
If Ansom is lured into charging a specific target (e.g. the "main garrison stack" he thinks he's found), then a large force can be cut off or perhaps destroyed outright by collapsing a few tunnels -- all it takes it to draw them into the right location.

[The Old Hack]

If Ansom is lured into charging a specific target (e.g. the "main garrison stack" he thinks he's found), then a large force can be cut off or perhaps destroyed outright by collapsing a few tunnels -- all it takes it to draw them into the right location.

Or, more subtly, just be lured into getting lost, going in the wrong direction, even attacking their own units in a state of confusion... the likelihood of this is less if you have good scouts. Greater if the good scouts keep having to deal with traps and deadfalls. Still greater if you are under orders to move fast and attack at once when you find the enemy.

Anyone who has ever tried spelunking will know how easy it is for such mistakes to happen. Fighting in tunnels or catacombs makes all the dangers of spelunking even worse. I admit, I personally would be very, very wary of any attack plan that involved tunnel fighting as its main thrust -- though that is why this is such a good trap: it suggests that little or no tunnel fighting is needed at all.

[BarGamer]

Sorry, I mis-typed. I MEANT, that the other Coalition leaders would be worried that, since they don't even have Arkentools, Attuned or not, that the one who does, might get a bit paranoid about having his one advantage taken away from him. Add paranoia to that list of possible signs of insanity.

When we find out who has the other Arkentool, Attuned or not, that they should be wary of Ansom as well, for fear that he might pull another "Kill Stanley the Worm" campaign.

The other Coalition Leaders might be willing to continue with the siege, but maybe not necessarily under Ansom's leadership. Of course, the ensuing struggle for just who gets to calls the shots is a weakness Parson can exploit as well. XD

[SauroGrenom]

The whole royalty themed outburst does certainly sound inflammatory, but it may not be much of an issue for the coalition. Looking at the list (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0096.html) of members in the coalition... we see that Sofaking and Unaroyal are probably ruled by royalty. We also know that Jetstone, CharlesComm, Transylvito and the Barbarians aren't going anywhere. Foxmud, Hobbittm, the Marbits and Elves are the only ones who could be offended by these comments and leave.

Personally I doubt that the Marbits would leave, they have figured large in all the depictions of battle since the beginning. From a metaplot perspective, it feels unlikely that the Marbits will suddenly quit fighting their hated enemy because of Ansom's outburst. Anyway the Marbits have already split off for the tunnels. So if Foxmud, Hobbittm and all the elves leave that's only a bit over 1000 units, and only ~10% of the whole coalition. So the maximum of damage that could be caused by the whole royalty superiority thing looks to be minimal compared to the size of the opponent.

Every little bit helps, but goading Ansom into this outburst to disrupt the coalition doesn't strike me as being the kind of thing that Parson can be seriously considering as a path to victory. Rather he wants to goad Ansom into doing something stupid. I'm not sure if the stupid thing is going to be going over the walls or going through the tunnels. It's a huge sacrifice for Parson, since he is now known to the enemy. His being unknown was a valuable asset, he was a wild card that they didn't know was around. It's almost ensured that Vinny will connect the dots and figure out that the trap previously laid was conceived by Parson and Vinny will realize that Parson is a skilled strategist. That realization by Vinny could change the outcome of Parson's psychological attack.

[fractal]

It's a huge sacrifice for Parson, since he is now known to the enemy. His being unknown was a valuable asset, he was a wild card that they didn't know was around. It's almost ensured that Vinny will connect the dots and figure out that the trap previously laid was conceived by Parson and Vinny will realize that Parson is a skilled strategist. That realization by Vinny could change the outcome of Parson's psychological attack.
True. And Parson couldn't even obscure his intelligence, because if it didn't come across to Ansom that his opinion was worth something, Ansom wouldn't have been motivated to contradict him. I doubt if some random gobwin said "Stanley is better than Ansom!", that Ansom would get into a philosophical argument with it. Ansom would just whip out his pliers and apply force.

[stsasser]

The whole royalty themed outburst does certainly sound inflammatory, but it may not be much of an issue for the coalition. ... Foxmud, Hobbittm, the Marbits and Elves are the only ones who could be offended by these comments and leave...

This is how the other royals may hear Ansom's comments:

"I am directly descended from those whom the Titans chose to rule. I am stronger, smarter and more morally fit than those of a lesser station. It is my privilege, and my burden to lead both man and beast!"

Although they may, in fact, be subordinate in the campaign, they would not care for it being emphasized. As for being lumped in with the beast...well!

[jindra34]

Why am I expecting Parson to end this thinkagram with something equivalent to a challenge to a duel(except with two nations as opposed to two people)?

[Vreejack]

I doubt if some random gobwin said "Stanley is better than Ansom!", that Ansom would get into a philosophical argument with it. Ansom would just whip out his pliers and apply force.

That seems to be exactly what Ansom wanted to do, and precisely the reaction that Parson wanted to provoke. Random gobwins do not send thinkogram messages, but if one somehow had---and made th same statements as Parson---then I think Ansom might react the same way. In Ansom's eyes Parson is some random up-jumped twoll.

[slayerx]

The whole royalty themed outburst does certainly sound inflammatory, but it may not be much of an issue for the coalition. Looking at the list (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0096.html) of members in the coalition... we see that Sofaking and Unaroyal are probably ruled by royalty. We also know that Jetstone, CharlesComm, Transylvito and the Barbarians aren't going anywhere. Foxmud, Hobbittm, the Marbits and Elves are the only ones who could be offended by these comments and leave.

Personally I doubt that the Marbits would leave, they have figured large in all the depictions of battle since the beginning. From a metaplot perspective, it feels unlikely that the Marbits will suddenly quit fighting their hated enemy because of Ansom's outburst. Anyway the Marbits have already split off for the tunnels. So if Foxmud, Hobbittm and all the elves leave that's only a bit over 1000 units, and only ~10% of the whole coalition. So the maximum of damage that could be caused by the whole royalty superiority thing looks to be minimal compared to the size of the opponent.
Actually the how big of a role the marbits have been playing could be a reason for them leading... think about it this way, why is that we've seen the Marbits playing such a large role, but not the jetstones? From what we've seen of this war, so far it seems like the marbits and the elves are the ones being put on the front lines and their groups may have suffered the greatest losses. Essentially, this little outburst, Ansom annoucing that they are lower then them, may get them wondering "why isn't there more Jetstone's on the front lines"... They may come to think that Ansom is treating them like cannon fodder and refuse to go along with it any longer... they took a lot of losses fighting and may refuse to take anymore; or atleast refuse to be put on the front lines causing massive tension between them and Ansom since they are refusing to follow his lead... If Ansom gives them an order they don't like and they question it and he reacts in a poor way, it could lead them to getting fed up... They will leave and let the rest of the alliance finish off Stanely saying that they did more than their fair share already

And the Marbits and elves make up about 30% of Ansom's forces... And that's just in terms of numbers; depending on how the troops are being used, that 30% could actually be a very important 30%... for instance, without the elves they may not have many good units to provide archery cover for the seige, or heal their fallen units; also, the elves and marbtis were orginally gonna be at the front (elves on the true frontlines,a nd the marbits providing a distraction and getting the enemies attention)... So while they may only provide 30% in numbers, they could have 50% importance; especially if they no longer have as much use for the seige... and before they lost the siege engines, Ansom said that they had 4 times the force they needed to take the city... but loosing the 40% of their seige along with 30% of their troops will seriously lower their advantage. With Ansom angry and making rash decisions, and Parson making a good plan, the more even the fight becomes the better it does for Parson... the number of Jetstones alone tells use that the Alliance will always hold the numerical advantage and that Parson will need to use his strong defenses and good tactics to win this asymmetrical battle

furtharmore, the loss of the Marbits and elves may make the other sides start to question Ansom's leadership and so forth; especially if in his rage Ansom makes serious mistakes... they may want to get rid of Stanely, but they won't want to do it along side him

Also, all the Marbits have not all moved for the tunnels yet... we have only heard of scouts in there... since they are still planning their attack on the city, the marbit and elf leaders are likely with Ansom right now helping him come to a decision on how they should attack.

[Lamech]

Personally I doubt that the Marbits would leave, they have figured large in all the depictions of battle since the beginning. From a metaplot perspective, it feels unlikely that the Marbits will suddenly quit fighting their hated enemy because of Ansom's outburst. Anyway the Marbits have already split off for the tunnels. So if Foxmud, Hobbittm and all the elves leave that's only a bit over 1000 units, and only ~10% of the whole coalition. So the maximum of damage that could be caused by the whole royalty superiority thing looks to be minimal compared to the size of the opponent.
I don't see why the marbits wouldn't leave they born the brunt of the dwagon attacks and have scouted the tunnels, if Ansom suddenly wants to send them first, after saying he should rule... ouch. They might decide to leave. They know Ansom will keep on fighting no matter what and since Jetstone makes up more than a fourth of the coalition Jetstone should be all thats needed.

Anyway the marbits leaving won't be a problem there are forces to spare so whatever. Even less so for Foxmud and Hobbittm, we haven't seen anything important from them so they either brought token forces or really are just some warlords for a higher bonus, so they don't matter either.

Although the elves leaving will be problematic
1) These guys were guarding the siege with their archers, so I'm assuming they were the best for the job. New archers will need to be used so the attacking force will be severely reduced in terms of archers and the siege will be really vulnerable to dwagons; possibly making the tunnels look really inviting. Remember the coalition knows of the foolamancer so the dwagons might be veiled, as far as they know.
2) The elves were going in first; I doubt replacements will be volunteering, so more strain will be placed on the coalition.
3) Also they were providing healing the coalition will be weakened with out healers so the loss there might be bigger than it looks. Also it will be harder to convince people to risk important units if there is no healing. Worse, warlords won't be able to re-enter if they become to damaged to continue.

I'm not too sure about the elves deserting the coalition entirely, the eager elves will probably just demand to go in before the Marbits, and the healers might just stay out of enemy hexes, but still heal.

[Arkenputtyknife]

When (if) Ansom gets a chance to cool his head a little, he's going to have to be thinking, “Who the boop was he, where did he come from, and why wasn't Stanley on the other end of the line?” Up until now he's been assuming that he's been dealing with a military idiot and acting accordingly. This could send him one of two ways: it could make him follow a more cautious and thoughtful approach, or it could give him the panicky feeling that he's completely misjudged things and dealing with a power he doesn't understand. His ego is unlikely to let him respond rationally to that.

The final thought, that he's dealing with a subordinate rather than the Worm directly, could also push him one step further over the edge:

Ansom: Put me through to Stanley the Worm, right now!
Parson: Can't do that. Stanley's busy with more important things. He doesn't think this little brawl of yours is worth his time.


Why am I expecting Parson to end this thinkagram with something equivalent to a challenge to a duel
Ansom: Choose your weapon, cur!
Parson: d20s at ten paces.

[Ethesis]

The whole royalty themed outburst does certainly sound inflammatory, but it may not be much of an issue for the coalition. Looking at the list (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0096.html) of members in the coalition... we see that Sofaking and Unaroyal are probably ruled by royalty. We also know that Jetstone, CharlesComm, Transylvito and the Barbarians aren't going anywhere. Foxmud, Hobbittm, the Marbits and Elves are the only ones who could be offended by these comments and leave.

Personally I doubt that the Marbits would leave, they have figured large in all the depictions of battle since the beginning. From a metaplot perspective, it feels unlikely that the Marbits will suddenly quit fighting their hated enemy because of Ansom's outburst. Anyway the Marbits have already split off for the tunnels. So if Foxmud, Hobbittm and all the elves leave that's only a bit over 1000 units, and only ~10% of the whole coalition. So the maximum of damage that could be caused by the whole royalty superiority thing looks to be minimal compared to the size of the opponent.

Every little bit helps, but goading Ansom into this outburst to disrupt the coalition doesn't strike me as being the kind of thing that Parson can be seriously considering as a path to victory. Rather he wants to goad Ansom into doing something stupid. I'm not sure if the stupid thing is going to be going over the walls or going through the tunnels. It's a huge sacrifice for Parson, since he is now known to the enemy. His being unknown was a valuable asset, he was a wild card that they didn't know was around. It's almost ensured that Vinny will connect the dots and figure out that the trap previously laid was conceived by Parson and Vinny will realize that Parson is a skilled strategist. That realization by Vinny could change the outcome of Parson's psychological attack.

Well, if Ansom is claiming to be smarter, now is a great time for a challenge of smarts.

Think about it.

[zeropsm]

tunnel fight is always a nice option.

we don't know how many units can stay on a single hex, but this may give some advantage to sizemore's stack, since he'll fight some even stacks...and his stack is kinda beefed up!

hope wanda heal next turn...her bonus to the uncroaked could turn tables in a tunnel fight.

sizemore can dig thru solid rock...he can backstab weakened running warlords

tunnelfight turns assymetric warfare into somthing more "fair"

I'm still waiting fot the "you are paying to have an true arkentool on your side" from parson...

A gump inside ansom's ego!

[SteveMB]

The final thought, that he's dealing with a subordinate rather than the Worm directly, could also push him one step further over the edge:

Ansom: Put me through to Stanley the Worm, right now!
Parson: Can't do that. Stanley's busy with more important things. He doesn't think this little brawl of yours is worth his time.

Well, technically, Parson and Ansom are equals in that each is the Chief Warlord of his side. Ansom wouldn't see it that way, though, since he's also a royal and heir to Jetstone.

Reminding Ansom that Stanley considers himself superior because he has the attuned Arkenhammer plays right into this. I get the impression that Ansom's motivation isn't merely a general objection to jumped-up commoner Overlords, or even to ones who got there by (sorta) regicide -- it's to prove that Stanley is NOT favored over him in the eyes of the Titans, Stanley's attuned Arkenhammer and his own non-attuned Arkenpliers notwithstanding.

If so, Parson is now facing an angry man with something to prove. Perhaps he's the one favored by the Titans.... :smallwink:

[Generalissimus]

I get the impression that Ansom's motivation isn't merely a general objection to jumped-up commoner Overlords, or even to ones who got there by (sorta) regicide -- it's to prove that Stanley is NOT favored over him in the eyes of the Titans, Stanley's attuned Arkenhammer and his own non-attuned Arkenpliers notwithstanding.


If this were the case, Ansom would have equally bad feelings about the OTHER commoner Overlord attuned to an Arkentool. How do you explain Ansom making deals with Charlescomm being Charlie a commoner attuned to an Arkentool?

[fendrin]

If this were the case, Ansom would have equally bad feelings about the OTHER commoner Overlord attuned to an Arkentool. How do you explain Ansom making deals with Charlescomm being Charlie a commoner attuned to an Arkentool?

Hmm... well, it seems like the Arkendish is common knowledge, but it is possible it is not. Perhaps GK has knowledge of it (Maggie certainly does), but Ansom does not?

Alternatively, Charlie might be a royal but just chooses to use the title 'Overlord' instead of 'King'.

Extrapolating to a tin-foil-hat level, perhaps Charlie is neither male nor female, and thus chooses the non-gendered 'Overlord' instead of the gender-laden 'King' or 'Queen'.

Or, on an equally far-fetched level, Charlie is not the original Charlie, who was a King named Charles, but is actually a female (royal or not) trying to maintain the illusion that good ol' Charles is still in power, but can't bear to refer to herself as 'King'.

Or, perhaps for marketing reasons, Charlie uses whichever title is more likely to go over well with whomever he is talking to... 'King' for Ansom, 'Overlord' for Parson. This is much more likely than the above ideas.

[slayerx]

If this were the case, Ansom would have equally bad feelings about the OTHER commoner Overlord attuned to an Arkentool. How do you explain Ansom making deals with Charlescomm being Charlie a commoner attuned to an Arkentool?

Simple really; Charlie hasn't been boasting that being Attuned to an arkentool makes him better than a royal... He may very wall have been giving royalty a decent amount of respect and doesn't act like he is above them, or even on their level possibly; a good businessman tells his potential clients what they want to hear. Charlie doesn't act like he's better than royalty so Ansom has nothing to prove in regards to him

Stanely on the other hand as been smacking around his holy-ness even more than Ansom smacks arounds his royalty... this is why Ansom feels he must put down Stanely and shut him up, but doesn't do as much for Charlie... however, the fact that Chalrie is a non-royal and attuned to and arkentool could be a reason as to why Ansom was hesitant to hire his services; not wanting to rely on a non-royal weilder of an attuned arkentool


but is actually a female (royal or not) trying to maintain the illusion that good ol' Charles is still in power, but can't bear to refer to herself as 'King'.
really, where did these "charlie is female" theories pop up from anyway... seems so random...

[fendrin]

really, where did these "charlie is female" theories pop up from anyway... seems so random...

Because we have no evidence that Charlie is male?

Even 'Charlescomm -> Charles -> male' is weak tea because we have no evidence (other than a similarity in names) that Charlescomm is actually named after the character that we know as Charlie...

Charlescomm is probably named after Charlie, and Charlie is probably male. That's why I labeled my theory as far-fetched to a tin-foil-hat level.

[TheWombat]

Another good point about luring them into the tunnels is that the only part of the coalition forces that get a Tunnel fighting bonus is the Marbits. While we know that gobwins get the same tunnel fighting bonus, but one would expect that the golëms would get the same if not better by being commanded by a Dirtmancer.

[Xenon]

it seems to me the real reason for the anti-Stanley collation is because he wants to collect all the arkentools. In most games of that type, collecting all the mcguffins would by itself equate to winning the game, with a different cinematic ending.

if theres anything suggesting that whoever has all the tools will easily rule the world... well, that would be enough reason to stop anyone from doing it. especially anyone who already proved they know how to attune.

in the short run... i expect the next strip will conclude the call, and then focus on the alliance reaction. its probably going to be a response which is based in part on information that was not available to us before, but will be revealed at that time.

[sihnfahl]

My theory about Charlie in regards to Ansom is the fact that Charlie is 'merely' a high-priced mercenary unit.

Charlie apparently makes no airs about wanting a kingdom/side. He has a base of operations, yes, but that seems to be the extent of his 'presence' on the map. Ansom has no problem with Charlie because Charlie ... isn't trying to act like a royal. Charlie's just there, to be hired and led until the contract's over.

Stanley, however, is leading a side. He's 'pretending' to be a Royal. He's expanding his territory. He's attacking other sides. He's not led by a Royal.

[MattR]

My guess is he's trying too goad Ansom into charging AT THE HEAD of his forces into a trap, based on what he knows of Ansom's personality.

It's possible thoguht that what might happen is that Ansom will challenge Parson too some kind of duel, just like someone else further up in the thread suggested. Is it a coincidence that Parson's weapon is due too be completed soon? how much damage could Ansom do with the pliers to Parson who is NOT uncroaked.

Capturing Ansom would give him leverage too call off the war.. maybe... and capturing another tool would win him Stanley's good graces (or near enough). i dont see Stanley dying in some random air fight miles away.

I'm sure that no matter what Parson manages to do, Stanley will claim the glory.

[Trotsky]

When (if) Ansom gets a chance to cool his head a little, he's going to have to be thinking, “Who the boop was he, where did he come from, and why wasn't Stanley on the other end of the line?” Up until now he's been assuming that he's been dealing with a military idiot and acting accordingly.

Actually, they already seem to know Stanley is gone. Jillian is definitely sure of it, to the point of stating "I had him." (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0090.html) Add to that that Ansom agrees with that assessment (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0092.html), and he shouldn't be surprised that somebody else is in charge. As to the competence of the leader, Stanley doesn't exactly have a good record (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0005.html) for choosing warlords. (The last one was named Manpower the Temporary (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0002.html) for crying out loud!)

[ralphmerridew]

Even if Parson shatters the alliance without taking any casualties, reducing it to just Jetstone v. Gobwin Knob, he's still outnumbered nearly 5 to 1. (Ansom initially thought that a 3 or 4 to 1 advantage was enough, but that was probably based on the bonuses to Marbits & Elves.) Maybe an even battle.

[Arkenputtyknife]

If this were the case, Ansom would have equally bad feelings about the OTHER commoner Overlord attuned to an Arkentool. How do you explain Ansom making deals with Charlescomm being Charlie a commoner attuned to an Arkentool?
Why would Ansom's feelings be “equally bad” toward him? As far as we know, Charlie has never (a) committed or been suspected of regicide; (b) been involved in croakamancy and similar evil-oriented things; (c) captured and tortured Jillian; (d) the points slayerx made (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=4128304&postcount=196). Maybe loads of other things, too. Being common and having the Arkenhammer aren't the only reasons Ansom hates Stanley.

Also, recall that Ansom didn't bring Charlie into the alliance until Parson started doing bad things to the siege train. While that may have been partly due to the (presumably) extortionate fee being asked, it's not unreasonable to suppose that Ansom may not have been entirely happy with having such a person involved.

The fact that Ansom was willing to make such a deal doesn't mean he had to like it.


Actually, they already seem to know Stanley is gone. Jillian is definitely sure of it, to the point of stating "I had him." (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0090.html) Add to that that Ansom agrees with that assessment (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0092.html), and he shouldn't be surprised that somebody else is in charge. As to the competence of the leader, Stanley doesn't exactly have a good record (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0005.html) for choosing warlords. (The last one was named Manpower the Temporary (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0002.html) for crying out loud!)
True but unimportant. Ansom's goal is Stanley, not GK, but he hasn't called off the siege, which means he still thinks GK matters with regard to Stanley. Ansom knows that GK has thinkamancy capability, so unless Stanley makes it known that he's abdicated (or the world mechanics reveal it in some way, which they don't seem to have done), there's no reason for him to believe that Stanley isn't still running the show, especially as Parson has given no indication that he's anything more than a warlord. And as to the competency of the leader — thanks for confirming my argument.

[slayerx]

Also, recall that Ansom didn't bring Charlie into the alliance until Parson started doing bad things to the siege train. While that may have been partly due to the (presumably) extortionate fee being asked, it's not unreasonable to suppose that Ansom may not have been entirely happy with having such a person involved.

The fact that Ansom was willing to make such a deal doesn't mean he had to like it.

Actually he first contacted charlie after he found out Jillian was captured (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0034.html)... likely with her lastest capture and the dwagons being the greatest threat, he felt that he needed the archons as back up...

[Gatekreeper]

Well, if Ansom is claiming to be smarter, now is a great time for a challenge of smarts.

Think about it.

A battle of wits? Never go in against a Sicilian when death is on the line. :smallfurious:

[MuseUnchained]

And the Marbits and elves make up about 30% of Ansom's forces... And that's just in terms of numbers; depending on how the troops are being used, that 30% could actually be a very important 30%

The first page of the comic highlighted how important 'one extra squad of axemen' was.

[Dr. T]

A possibility that has been mentioned in in one of the first posts by someone else already:

Imho Parson is trying to something much more wicked than goading the other side. I assume he is manipulating the stats themselfs. In particular, the "Duty" stat of Ansom. This affects the Chief Warlord the strongest, forcing him to be loyal to his Ruler (Klog #10). Ansom obviously believes in the Titan-given right of Royalty to rule. But if he can be talked into even considering a higher priority of Stanly's rule... this could wreck his leadership bonus, his influence on his allies and eventually might even force him to switch sides.

[djharr]

So, there are several ways this could go. Parson is obviously trying to get Ansom to lose his cool, having him do stupid things. I am undecided as to what I think he is exactly trying to accomplish, but it seems to me there are several possibilities.

1) Cause rifts in the coalition by having Ansom spout off about how great royalty in general, and he in particular, is, compared with the peons.

2) Goad Ansom into hasty, ill-conceived attacks, allowing Parson to hammer Ansom's forces through ambushes and such during Ansom's turn. Further, cause Ansom to end his turn with his forces in bad tactical positions, allowing Parson's newly healed forces to respond with a devastating counterattack on their turn using units heavily boosted by the presence of the Sizemore and (if she recovers in time) Wanda.

3) Cause fractures among the coalition once the non-Jetstone elements, particularly the Marbits and the Elves, suffer disproportionately heavy losses as a direct result of Ansom's hasty actions. Combined with his seeming casual disregard and near-contempt towards the non-Royals, this could cause enormous friction among the these erstwhile allies.

4) Further damage Ansom's standing by convincingly demonstrating that he, Parson, a commoner, is more than Ansom's match in terms of tactics and "moral fitness" to lead.

5) Cause doubts in Ansom himself by handing him a total defeat, again at the hands of a commoner.

All of these things mesh nicely to demoralize, fracture, render ineffective and otherwise subvert both the coalition and Ansom's leadership of it. Given the right conditions, it could result in a "perfect storm" of disaffection among the coalition that we could see a break-up as early as the next turn. Or, at least, throw a huge monkey-wrench into Ansom's plans, forcing him to take a turn or two to back off and regroup, giving Parson that much more time to cause trouble.

There is one wildcard in this whole thing, though. The one thought that keeps going through my head is that Parson is building up to some sort of mano-a-mano champion duel between Parson and Ansom. It really seems that the entire conversation is building up not only to have Ansom blow his cool, but to force him to demonstrate his superiority over Parson. I am not sure how Parson could structure that so that he would have a decent chance to win (like a previous poster, I am reminded of the duel of wits in the Princess Bride), but he may have some ideas. Maybe he is planning to steal the idea from the Princess Bride whole cloth? Not sure. Also, if there does come a one-on-one fight, I have to think that Parson's enormous advantage in height, weight and (presumably) strength would have to play some part. I doubt he is planning single combat, but you never know.

Just some random thoughts as we all wait for the next update.

David

[fendrin]

There is one wildcard in this whole thing, though. The one thought that keeps going through my head is that Parson is building up to some sort of mano-a-mano champion duel between Parson and Ansom. It really seems that the entire conversation is building up not only to have Ansom blow his cool, but to force him to demonstrate his superiority over Parson. I am not sure how Parson could structure that so that he would have a decent chance to win (like a previous poster, I am reminded of the duel of wits in the Princess Bride), but he may have some ideas. Maybe he is planning to steal the idea from the Princess Bride whole cloth? Not sure. Also, if there does come a one-on-one fight, I have to think that Parson's enormous advantage in height, weight and (presumably) strength would have to play some part. I doubt he is planning single combat, but you never know.

I seriously doubt Parson is intentionally angling towards a duel. For one, it's not his style, for another, there's a very good chance that he will lose, no matter how he tries to rig it. He just doesn't know enough about Erfworld to be able to pull off an Iocaine powder trick.

As for a physical duel... he would lose. Badly. Think of it this way. Ansom has huge amounts of training and a lot of magic on his side. Parson has bulk that may hinder him as much or more than help and a blade-less sword. Sure, if Erfworld worked off of our physics, he would have a huge advantage in leverage, but it doesn't.

Even if he could win, Parson has no reason to think he could. SAo why risk everything on that? Now, Ansom may issue a challenge, which Parson would then have to respond to one way or another... but Parson won't issue the challenge unless it's a trap. He won't issue a challenge with any intention to fight it...

[lamguin]

http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0079.html

That is why Parson's height doesn't matter. Why would the men who croaked 5 dwagons and two warlords in one turn care if the other warlord is twoll sized? Boop me in the boop, people. Parson being tall is irrelevant to what's going on. They might be aware of his height via the thinkagram. They might not. It doesn't matter. If anything, it would make Ansom and crew discount Parson as an intelligent foe. Twolls aren't all that smart, remember. Though they CAN count to three.

http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0010.html

I'm assuming that the guy in this comic is a twoll and not just some random race. Not sure how the number of eyes factors in.

[Rockphed]

A battle of wits? Never go in against a Sicilian when death is on the line. :smallfurious:

And Parson is Italian, no? *facepalm*

[kagato23]

I'm assuming that the guy in this comic is a twoll and not just some random race. Not sure how the number of eyes factors in.

It does say in her report that she killed a twoll. Maybe Bog is unusual, and most twolls are not cycloptian. Which would indeed mean that peoples first impressions of Parson would be that he's an oddly colored, very hairy, verbose twoll.

I'd suspect they'd call Human-Twoll hybrid, except I'm not sure if the concept of hybrids exists in a world where people pop.

[jcworking]

So, there are several ways this could go. Parson is obviously trying to get Ansom to lose his cool, having him do stupid things. I am undecided as to what I think he is exactly trying to accomplish, but it seems to me there are several possibilities.

1) Cause rifts in the coalition by having Ansom spout off about how great royalty in general, and he in particular, is, compared with the peons.

2) Goad Ansom into hasty, ill-conceived attacks, allowing Parson to hammer Ansom's forces through ambushes and such during Ansom's turn. Further, cause Ansom to end his turn with his forces in bad tactical positions, allowing Parson's newly healed forces to respond with a devastating counterattack on their turn using units heavily boosted by the presence of the Sizemore and (if she recovers in time) Wanda.

3) Cause fractures among the coalition once the non-Jetstone elements, particularly the Marbits and the Elves, suffer disproportionately heavy losses as a direct result of Ansom's hasty actions. Combined with his seeming casual disregard and near-contempt towards the non-Royals, this could cause enormous friction among the these erstwhile allies.

4) Further damage Ansom's standing by convincingly demonstrating that he, Parson, a commoner, is more than Ansom's match in terms of tactics and "moral fitness" to lead.

5) Cause doubts in Ansom himself by handing him a total defeat, again at the hands of a commoner.

David
This also what I was thinking, but the main thing is to get Ansom running into those tunnels against Webinar's advice. Ansom is a Warlord, not a king, if he comes off as reckless with Jetstone forces he might get yanked from the battle. This would pretty much break the coalition by itself. Jetstone does not seem to have a stake in this fight by all accounts, but they are going after Stanley like he defiled their capital. If Webinar could be needled into giving a report to his King that Ansom is unstable and making bad decision with Jetston forces, while Ansom himself drives a wedge into the coalition just as a big defeat is weighing them down.
Suffice it to say, they may decide Goblin's knob is not worth the hassel, as they are already pretty sure Stanley is not there.

[Lamech]

There is one wildcard in this whole thing, though. The one thought that keeps going through my head is that Parson is building up to some sort of mano-a-mano champion duel between Parson and Ansom. It really seems that the entire conversation is building up not only to have Ansom blow his cool, but to force him to demonstrate his superiority over Parson. I am not sure how Parson could structure that so that he would have a decent chance to win (like a previous poster, I am reminded of the duel of wits in the Princess Bride), but he may have some ideas. Maybe he is planning to steal the idea from the Princess Bride whole cloth? Not sure. Also, if there does come a one-on-one fight, I have to think that Parson's enormous advantage in height, weight and (presumably) strength would have to play some part. I doubt he is planning single combat, but you never know.
I don't think Parson will win with out some sort of weapon earth design. Ansom is a high level warlord, so he probably has super strength of some sort (for his size). Plus he is someone who has prepared for combat so he is probably as strong a fairly strong human from our world. Plus he is probably far better at fighting than Parson, so he can probably beat Parson to death with that large, blunt metal object he carries around. So, baring getting shot or bombed, the worst thing that could happen to Ansom is he takes a couple of hits and bleeds out, or picks up some stray microorganism and dies, but he would still be able to kill Parson.

So I'm think the duel is a no go.

[javcs]

Ah, but Ansom isn't really that big - in fact, he's much shorter than Parson and armed with a pair of pliers that take up most of the length of his thigh. Assuming that the pliers are normally sized for us, this gives him a height of a few feet, tops, whereas Parson is just huge by comparison.
There was also a theory kicked around that Parson is outside of the normal combat mechanics, and treats things as though they happened in the real world; thus, the pliers wouldn't do much. Either way, in terms of size, the Arkenpliers are tiny compared to Parson - and without magic they probably won't hurt him too much.
Haven't you ever seen where the big huge, slower guy just grabs the smaller faster guy and sits on him? Parson would probably crush Ansom if he did that.

[hajo]

Ansom isn't really that big
Ansom, Jillian (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0007.html), Wanda (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0045.html) and Sizemore (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0013.html) are all about the same size, and Parson is about the size of Bogroll (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0095.html).
Wanda (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0061.html) is about half Parson's size, which makes her (and the other normal-sized erfworlders) about 1.00 - 1.20m


pliers that take up most of the length of his thigh. Assuming that the pliers are normally sized for us,
this gives him a height of a few feet
Magic items can be resized, and we have seen the pliers (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0032.html) appear much larger when used to attack Manpower (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0077.html).

[fendrin]

There was also a theory kicked around that Parson is outside of the normal combat mechanics, and treats things as though they happened in the real world; thus, the pliers wouldn't do much. Either way, in terms of size, the Arkenpliers are tiny compared to Parson - and without magic they probably won't hurt him too much.
Haven't you ever seen where the big huge, slower guy just grabs the smaller faster guy and sits on him? Parson would probably crush Ansom if he did that.

Do you really think Parson is going to rely on theory? Particularly when it's his boop literally on the line? In a world where magic is real, and he knows jack about it?

No way.