Erfworld 140 The Battle for Gobwin Knob, Page 127

[Fez]

Its unclear how much of a bonus it gives, but its an unmatched bonus which is important.

Both sides have a overlord bonus to grant bonuses to all troops (Parson and Ansom). Both sides have leaders (either warlords or casters) to provide bonuses to sets of troops, though Parson is working at removing these bonuses from Ansom. The coalition has an artifact bonus, but unattuned so unclear how much. Gobwin Knob troops have what is very likely a very high defensive bonus as they are in the center of a fortified keep. I don't know if morale bonuses exist in game. Luckamancy whatever the IG effect, essentially means you'll roll better than you would otherwise or prevent the opponent from using the full weight of its troops at once (distracting with illusions), so is equivalent to another bonus. Then there is the dance fight bonus too, which is an essentially unanswered bonus.

Two other real force multipliers (even if they don't have direct numeric effects) are better mobility. Parson can hit folk inside the tower and the courtyard both with the same troops. Ansom's troops have to actually spend move to go between zones. The second is better communication. Better communication means better ability to bring your forces to bear effectively.

Now how bonuses in Erfworld work we aren't exactly sure. Most wargames would have bonuses be additive. Troop starts with X, and get +2 from terrain, +2 from leadership, +2 from equipment, for a total of X+6. There are some that raelly are multiplicative. In the above case you'd end up with either X*(2+2+2) for 6x or even X*2*2*2 for 8x for an exponential curve. We don't know how the system scales.

Regardless great page... oh.. and

ROB & JAMI! We need panel 11 blown up. I know you haven't done so much of those recently, but its epic. Please? :)

[Gez]

After Dr. McNinja and Fanboys, that's the third webcomic I know of featuring the thriller zombie dance. It's turning into a trope...

[Egmorn]

the zombies of 28 Days Later

In 28 days later there are no Zombies.
Peoples are infected by a virus (an evolved form of rabbid called "Rage"). They are not dead. In fact, in 28 week later, we discover that they finally mostly died from hunger/disease on long term.

That's one of the reason why they can run! Zombie never run!

[TheMutant]

Wow, Parson and Bogroll look especially similiar in that first panel. Looks like the folks that've been speculating that Bogroll would get mistaken for 'Lord Hamster' (unless Ansom bothered to specify that the real thing has two eyes; personally I doubt it- and he can't even know what color Hamster's skin is via Thinkagram!) could well be right, with possibly dire consequences for our favorite Twoll. (Then again, as folks have probably noted before me, it has been potentially foreshadowed.)

Awesome, awesome page. x)

[El_Chupachichis]

There are giant teddy bears fighting against crap golems, 4chan is a weapon of mass destruction and there are flight women shooting laser beams out of their hands. So it's kinda smooth to ask why something looks the way it does.

Heh, but Giant Teddy Bears and Crap Golems have a sense of purpose in such a world, even with an ID model of creation. The Titans must've decided boobs were ok, kids were nogo. Which would be fine by me

[Fez]

Wow, Parson and Bogroll look especially similiar in that first panel. Looks like the folks that've been speculating that Bogroll would get mistaken for 'Lord Hamster' (unless Ansom bothered to specify that the real thing has two eyes; personally I doubt it- and he can't even know what color Hamster's skin is via Thinkagram!) could well be right, with possibly dire consequences for our favorite Twoll. (Then again, as folks have probably noted before me, it has been potentially foreshadowed.)

Awesome, awesome page. x)

There is more foreshadowing on this page in panel 3 when Bogroll asks whether Parson has something special for him to do and the reply is 'Oh, I hope not." Gives credence to the idea that Bogroll is the sacrifice if Parson is personally pressed too hard and needs to get away.

As another note, its been discussed before but I do still wonder at the ongoing transition in sizes of chars and styles. Parson is no longer as towering as he was. In panel 8, he's only a couple inches taller than Bogroll, and clearly not the giant he was to Wanda and others. Similarly as someone pointed out even in this thread, Wanda's own style has changed dramatically, with more normal proportions of head and body. Is this something of consequence or just Jami evolving his aesthetic for the characters?

[BRC]

Perhaps the art-shift is symbolic.
When Parson first appears in Erfworld, it is all strange and alien to him, despite the pop-culture references, it's still pretty strange. Therefore, he is drawn very realistically, while the Erfers are drawn highly stylized.

As he's grown more familiar and comfortable with Erfworld, both art styles have gradually shifted to a sort of equilibrium between the two styles.

[DMcCoy1693]

That boopin' rocked

[Mikalyaran]

I love this comic so much. The more I read it the more I really wish there was an official rp system for it that I could buy. I'd pay through the nose for it.

[Celebrochan]

I *really* love how all the uncroaked are in Hamstard T-shirts. Oh, and Wanda's gold-glowing eyes in the penultimate panel...I know that's yet another reference to the Thriller video, but it was still awesome.

I think that the fact that they are in Parson's "colors" rather than gobwin knob's colors is a sign that Parson is his own force, under contract (or compulsion) to gobwin knob... which means he may gain power is stanly is croaked! :D

[Homunculus]

This comic was just sooooo awesome

[truemane]

I love being caught off-guard by things like this. This is one of the reasons I try to stay off the forums for the most part. That final panel was one of the best dramatic reveals I've ever seen. This comic just continues to evolve and develop and increase in complexity and depth. Seeing a new page come up is the highlight of my day.

Entirely and in all ways fantastic. I am awaiting the next comic like a kid on Christmas Eve.

[Happydork]

Rob and Jamie. I share your lack of belief in the one who is not to be named, but is still had to be done. Thank you for having the strength to do what was needed.

[Lefty the Drunken Lush]

As another note, its been discussed before but I do still wonder at the ongoing transition in sizes of chars and styles. Parson is no longer as towering as he was. In panel 8, he's only a couple inches taller than Bogroll, and clearly not the giant he was to Wanda and others.

If you look at that panel, Parson is facing Bogroll and you will notice that Wanda is passing between them. That black arch is the back of her head with her skull hairclip. He's still much bigger than the average Erfworlder. Bogroll isn't average.

[xv bones]

i love this site so goddamned much.


Did anyone else notice how Wanda's head seems to have shrunk?

[SmartAlec]

Wanda's task is to lead the Uncroaked; Sizemore's is to assassinate/neutralise enemy warlords, apparently. One wonders what Maggie's going to bring to the party.

[SteveD]

Zomg! Uncroaked Marbit!

[Maldraugedhen]

Dance, undead puppets, dance!

[DragoonKain]

So... Going from what we know:

Stacks get a stack bonus that maxes out at 8 for eight units, but there's apparently no limit to stacks.

Leadership, dance fighting, caster bonuses, terrain, etc are MULTIPLICATIVE bonuses, not additive.

Led stacks can go for specific targets. It's unclear if unled stacks can or not. Ansom might be technically leading the armies anyway.

So right now, Wanda has maybe half or so of the undead infantry, would be around 1000, and they're getting a bonus from her, Parson, dance fighting, and quite possibly the terrain too.

What we're about to see is Parson's meatgrinder. He's set up some sort of crazy Zerg Defense. Kekeke.

[Ragn Charran]

I think the whole "why do Erf women have breasts when there are no children" debate can be solved with one link to strip 54/page 48

[Ronald_saveloy]

I'm looking forward to the next round. Maybe almost no forces of the coalition can do dance-fighting, but there's at least one fraction, that does dance fighting practically as a signature attack: The Transylvio! Currently, the bats are away fighting Stanley, but if Stanley returns the next round (as predicted by some), we'll see a real dancefloor battle! Let's see who will be pwned!

[hajo]

I wonder how Parson learned about the dancefighting weakness of the RCC.
I cannot imagine him spending hours in the library to find out such things, and the only hint so far visible to Parson was Jaclyn's outfit...

[DevilDan]

So lets see here I'm just going to assume those uncroaked are bat level of weak. Lets see if the sword give Parson a Ceaser level of bonus, and Wanda's uncroaked bonus equals Ceaser's full bonus... what else? Throw some luckamancy in there and add a dash of dance. Umm... uber heavies? Something tells me Ansom will have to charge in... good thing we all know he can melee Wanda to death.

Don't forget that the bats that were turned into near-heavies were only those in Caesar Borgata's stack.

[xv bones]

Wanda's task is to lead the Uncroaked; Sizemore's is to assassinate/neutralise enemy warlords, apparently. One wonders what Maggie's going to bring to the party.

She's going to fry the brains of Tarfu and any other bonus-giving leader that may be otherwise out of reach.

[xv bones]

Don't forget that the bats that were turned into near-heavies were only those in Caesar Borgata's stack.

which were the ones needed to directly confront Stanley, his assuredly stronger-than-normal dragon, and his insane artifact bonus.

So that was a chief warlord with a stack of heavies all attacking at once, and Stanley shattered the stack with one Van De Graaf.

Ansom, on the other hand, needed divine intervention to avoid getting croaked by Wanda and her pack of uncroaked.

Odd little side-note: Stanley would appear to be way, way stronger than Ansom.

[Dragonath]

I also think Maggie will fry Tarfu's brains with math and other really weird stuff Tarfu can't cope with.

Looks like the second healomancy spell is already been used on Wanda herself, obvious choice though.

[BarGamer]

She's going to fry the brains of Tarfu and any other bonus-giving leader that may be otherwise out of reach.

Or Maggie's special mission might be to pull off an Octagenarian 'Titanic' scene... while Sizemore chants, "We will, WE WILL ROCK YOU!"

*Ducks!*

[The Adder]

This page would have been better had it not been for the fact that the same day it came out the old guy who hangs around my college campus decided to wear HIS thriller jacket unzipped (thankfully with a t-shirt below it).

I'm not even kidding about this.

[Brewdude]

Hmm, that's one hell of an art upgrade!

BEFORE:
http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0002.html

AFTER:
http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0140.html

If they could do that in RL, it would make them unbelievably rich :D

Pfft, that's not a cup size increase. That's a head size shrink. It's all in the perspective.

[Tubercular Ox]

There are some that raelly are multiplicative. In the above case you'd end up with either X*(2+2+2) for 6x or even X*2*2*2 for 8x for an exponential curve. We don't know how the system scales.

If you take the logarithm, you can treat multiplicative bonuses as additive. Log base 2 would be appropriate, because in a multiplicative system, assuming we'd avoid fractions, the smallest bonus you can get is x2. The advantage of this is it keeps numbers manageable. It's much easier to say a unit is strength 10 vs. strength 1 rather than strength 1024 vs. strength 1 (That's a lot of bonuses!). Actually.. fractional multipliers don't look so bad in that case...

Stacks get a stack bonus that maxes out at 8 for eight units, but there's apparently no limit to stacks.

I continue to believe there is a max limit on stack size. I have other beliefs about stacks, but they're speculation.

Moving on:

Where did they get those t-shirts? You can't just go to Cafe Press and order a thousand Hamstard t-shirts, ready in an hour... can you?

I'm happy to see the uncroaked Marbit. It answers a question for me I brought up a couple threads ago. Contrariwise, I'm disappointed in the continued art evolution. I liked Parson as a giant compared to all the other Erfworlders. Now... he's just tall. I hope that it's just art evolution and not something more sinister. And I think the art evolution works both ways. Without looking to check, I'm pretty sure there were Earthlike proportions for Vinnie's fight with Stanley, but Ansom in the following pages went back to having less heads in height than normal. Look at Sizemore in the Sistine Chapel parody, too. All the people on that page have less heads than either Wanda or Caesar. Mario in the Transylvito fight has the same height and proportions as the Hobgobwin he's fighting! And the hobgobwins were previously much taller than the regular people. I think they pick a height that keeps the characters from looking ridiculous, especially for this latest dance fight scene. But the trend is definitely up.

I had something else... but I've forgotten.