Erfworld 145 The Battle for Gobwin Knob, Page 132

[Natio]

Maggie already burned the remaining air-def spells, so the tower being brought down has no effect there. I agree that sending the Archons into the tunnels will make them vulnerable to Sizemore. And I suspect that they loose a number of advantages as well (they have reduced mobility/agility. And they seem to fairly easily damaged) And after getting screwed by Charlie once, I am sure that Parson has contingency plans for Charlie backstabing him.

Well the Archons couldn't attack or move from the airspace until the next turn and we have seen the air defences fired by Wanda and then in another turn used by Misty. It might be that they recharge or reset like how troops heal at the start of a new turn.

[mroozee]

I don't know if this has been brought up already, but...

Spoiler

Show

I can see Ansom "surviving" the Battle for Gobwin Knob as follows:

1. The RCC is routed by Parson's forces and Ansom is uncroaked.
2. Charlie's Archons step in to turn the tide.
3. Dwagons arrive to turn the tide again.
4. Jillian and Transylvito show up to turn the tide once more.
5. Ansom is un-uncroaked in exchange for the pliers and a truce.

1.-4. seem very plausible - even probable. So the question becomes, after the Transylvito forces shift the balance for the last time, how does Parson get out of it? Cause a volcanic eruption as he runs off to the Magic Kingdom? Cut a deal with Charlie? Or does he find a solution that involves Jillian and Vinny as well?

Just a thought.

[Stormthorn]

Well, this was everything I was hoping Ansom's defeat would not be: contrived, abrupt and utterly unsatisfying.

Very disappointing.

-H

Abupt yes. Not sure how Contrived or unsatisfying figures in. I for one was very satisfied. I felt that fall was well and goodly symbolic of the fate of conquerers.

Well, a Pyrrhic victory all around. Ansom is dead and a lot of attackers died, but they have taken everything but the dungeons now.

[ShiningTed]

I'm not normally one for making predictions, but I'll throw in a teeny one now (so teeny it doesn't need spoiler status) - the next comic will NOT be at GK. It will be elsewhere: Don King's place, with Stanley, with Jillian, I have no idea where but it will not be at GK and it will not feature Parson. (Expect voluminous gloating if I am right )

And since i am posting anyway, I gotta say, I had no issues with Ansom's death and don't even regard it as "off screen". We saw him fall in one panel, we see his corpse in the next. Do we really need to see him hit the ground? How many baddies have died in movies going over a ledge / off a cliff etc without us ever seeing them actually hit the bottom? In fact, how rarely DO you actually see them hit?

[Wadoka]

Wow, that's a massive amount of plot to throw down at once. Ansom and Bogroll both going down at once?! I felt sad for bogroll, he was all right. A post of silence for him.

"We do not mourn those who die fulfilling their destiny."

[Ovaltine Patrol]

The Arkenhammer tames dwagons, surely this is distinct from simply spawning them. If Stanely were to encounter dwagons on the way back to GK, that could easily turn the tide.

Another thought, Stanley is low on cash, even though he did without the "support plan," for the summoning spell. Will he even be able to afford to maintain whatever is left of his forces, let alone rebuild GK?

[Lizard Lord]

"We do not mourn those who die fulfilling their destiny."

Ummm, yea we do.




Maybe you can argue that we shouldn't, but that is totally something humanity in general would do.

For example: If Froda or Sam fell into the magma at mount doom, you bet they would have been mourned by the other members of the fellowship.

[The Rose Dragon]

In fact, how rarely DO you actually see them hit?

Very rarely, but they usually return for sequels.

[RedXian]

No, unless he breaks alliance, which may be difficult/impossible to do depending on the terms of the contract. As it now stands night will fall, and GK gets first turn in the morning.

Have you forgotten so soon? Charlie had his go first this turn. See Page #104. Is there anything to suggest he won't go first on the next turn?

But I don't think he can attack the dungeons with air units as per Klog #13. Or perhaps that's is just from the airspace

[Fjolnir]

Charlie was not allied then, they broke the alliance with the RCC to join up with transylvito who also dropped their alliance with the RCC, this allowed them to enter the battle fresh and at the top of the initiative order, without the leaders of the RCC releasing them, charlie is bound to act on the current turn order which is 1: (NEW CHALLENGER!), 2: THE VALIANT DEFENDERS OF GOBWIN'S KNOB, 3: THE ROYAL CROWN COALITION. If nobody new joins the battle, GK goes first

[BillyJimBoBob]

But Ansom is treated as little more than a sidenote, and I, personally, never saw him as a villain. For me, if anyone is the villain in this piece, it's the cowardly and contemptible Tool, who took over city after city only to lose them, treats his underlings with no courtesy or concern and usually very little friendship. . . . Ansom may have been arrogant, but he did have more humanity to him than Stanley. And that makes the crowing over his death in these forums really rather sad.

Your impression of Stanley is your own, but there is a lot of evidence that Stanley is not at all like you describe him.

Stanley, while not a terribly sympathetic character and obviously a poor strategist, has shown over and over that he isn't a bad guy to work for, overall. He has poor people skills, yes. He can be pompous and overbearing, yes. But he is, after all, the leader of his faction. Leaders have a burden not shared by those who do not lead, and leaders have a need to give orders which they know will be obeyed.

Points for Stanley:

He realized that the summoning spell would compel obedience, but he specifically didn't want a "morale case", he wanted someone who wanted to be summoned. Someone who would like and enjoy the job he was going to be given.

He encourages his people to pursue their hobbies. Sizemore was allowed to study Hippymancy, and Wanda was allowed to "interrogate" Jillian. "The kid's got talent."

When he lost a huge pile of dwagons, his signature unit and the most potent forces remaining to him other than his leadership and caster cadre, he did become very upset. Most leaders would in this situation. And at the same time a strong unit (Jillian) he had personally ordered captured and was told would be working for him even if not directly was returned to the enemy, despite assurances that this was not a possible outcome. But even suspecting treachery or incompetence he did not kill/disband anyone, and left their upkeep in place.

He was kind to Jack. Again, he is the Leader and can't always be fussing over people, but when he had the time he did try to get Jack "fixed". And once Jack was fixed and apologized for not being in his right mind, which was the same as an employee saying "I'm sorry I haven't been a good member of your team lately", and not a comment I'd expect to hear from someone who had been captured and working for you unwillingly, Stanley blew it off with praise for Jack's recent performance. A perfect response, in my opinion. That's how good leaders build loyalty, by focusing on the positive and minimizing the negative.

So again, while Stanley leaves much to be desired, he hasn't been shown to be any kind of domineering, off the hook monster. The worst we've seen him treat someone is the lack of respect he gives Sizemore. And on the face of it, not many people respect those with the most menial jobs in a society. Sizemore is a potent caster, yes. But he is also the Erf equivalent of a trash collector, but even worse.

[Aquillion]

Someone else said it a while back, but I think part of the reason why we got such a bad image of Stanley early on was because we saw him outside his element. He's just not really cut out to be an overlord -- he's no good at managing people from a distance, or at things like that. He's awkward at giving big speeches (look at his speech when he's abandoning Gobwin Knob, say.) He can't make workable overarching plans, and lets his personal feelings get in the way (as with Charlie.)

But he seems to actually be pretty good at getting into personal combat with a small group of soldiers, reacting quickly under pressure, and so on. He's a terrible boss but an excellent Drill Sergent or commander, say.