Erfworld 146 The Battle for Gobwin Knob, Page 133

[CaptC]

(Rules) Wanda is not going to be resurrecting any of the dead that fell outside the dungeons. She does not have access to the bodies unless Parson counter-attacks and retakes the courtyard.

Not very likely if 1/3 of the coalition still exists.

(Plot) The authors already used Wanda and a necromantic super-army once. It's not going to be the solution twice.

[The Minx]

If you look carefully, you'll note that the troops of a given faction are dressed the same as their warlords. Jetstone troops wear gold like Webinar and Dora, and so on. There are troops in red like the hot-headed red-head warlord, so it is likely that they are her troops and these are not; implying of course that she is not from FoxMUD.

Point, I got the color schemes mixed up. :/

And while we have not seen this slayn unit before, we must note that not everyone of the warlords have been seen at those meetings... sometimes the warlords were off doing a mission like Weibnar and Dora... Considering the size of the force they bring, Foxmud's warlord's might not have as much influence in the coalition; like they provided warlords for the sake of fighting bonus, but not ones that can really strategize... true Vinnie has an even smaller contribution, but he seems to be a personal friend of Ansom's

True, though the weiner ram rider is far more likely to be a regular unit than a warlord since we have nothing to suggest (as yet) that it's the latter.

[Daelach]

I have a long shot theory here:

The reason the warlord riding the rammer said 'Titans...' was because for some reason they were able to identify 2 things: 1.) he has incredible strength and 2.) Parson is classified as royal.

I'd go much further than that. I think Parson is a titan. At the very start of the strip it says that the titans created Erfworld and Erfworld is very similar to, if not the, game that Parson was preparing for his friends to play.

Now I do not necessarily think this means Parson is invincible -- there are plenty of RPG story lines that involve killing gods. But the FoxMUD warlord may have very well called Parson what he actually is.

[VariaVespasa]

Depends a bit on how much the RCC loses trying to attack Parson in the dungeons. Wanda CAN animate those losses, and it *could* be enough to enable a counterattack.

[Lamech]

There's no evidence that warlords can see the stats of units other than their own. In fact, panel 8 of this strip implies pretty strongly that they can't.

The first panel implies that they can see stats; they noted the lost leadership. I thought that Vinny was able to tell that the bats were out of place because they were unled, and wandering away from the combat.

[slayerx]

(Rules) Wanda is not going to be resurrecting any of the dead that fell outside the dungeons. She does not have access to the bodies unless Parson counter-attacks and retakes the courtyard.

Actually i'd assume 2 different things...
either A) Wanda can only uncroak enemy units on her turn meaning the coalition needs to end its turn so that GK can have their turn and thus uncroak them
or B) massive uncroaking like that takes a lot of juice or can only be used once per day... Wanda already used it once when she uncroaked all those jetstone troops on their turn early in the day and thus she would need to wait till next turn to get her juice back and thus be able to use another mass uncroaking

[Angband]

Since nobody else has mentioned it, I'd just like to point out that the FoxMUD wiener rammer rider looks like David Bowie's Ziggy Stardust character. Between that and giving orders ("Target the Warlord!") I'm pretty sure that was a warlord.

[Glome]

I'd go much further than that. I think Parson is a titan. At the very start of the strip it says that the titans created Erfworld and Erfworld is very similar to, if not the, game that Parson was preparing for his friends to play.

Now I do not necessarily think this means Parson is invincible -- there are plenty of RPG story lines that involve killing gods. But the FoxMUD warlord may have very well called Parson what he actually is.

While it isn't inconceivable that Parson is the same race as the titans, it is silly to think some low level no name warlord would know this when nobody else notices this.

Also, to the previous poster, Royalty can't be seen on stats even if someone could see Parson's stats, otherwise the fact that Jillian was a royal would be self-evident. And Parson doesn't have enormous strength, otherwise he wouldn't get so winded walking up stairs.

What Parson does have is a sword that is a minor artifact on the level of his bracer, and which probably does enormous damage. Parson himself is giant size and has invisible stats. The combination of these things would be enough to have the doomed weiner rider call out to the Titans.

[Yodimus]

That final panel is awesome.
POSE! Haha!

[StClair]

*shades*

YEAAAAAAAAAAH

[Starwaster]

What if someone doesn't believe in Hoboken?

In 1918, General Pershing promised American troops that they would be in "Heaven, Hell, or Hoboken by Christmas." I think that "Hoboken" is therefore a pretty good battle slogan.

I have heard somewhere that a British Commander also used this slogan during the American Revolutionary War in 1776, but I cannot verify this.

[Starwaster]

BTW.... the second word after 'Titan's' is probably 'testes'.

[Fishman]

What Parson does have is a sword that is a minor artifact on the level of his bracer, and which probably does enormous damage. Parson himself is giant size and has invisible stats. The combination of these things would be enough to have the doomed weiner rider call out to the Titans.

All these people coming up with the "Parson is a Titan" theory are clearly overthinking this. It seems more to me that the doomed rider is simply praying to his gods before his certain demise, as people tend to do when they realize they're about to die.

[The Minx]

Link

On review, there are not many factions that haven't been identified yet.

Jetstone: Gold. Dora and Weibnar.
Unaroyal: ???
Sofa King: Dark yellow and dark purple. Duke Nozzle.
Foxmud: Light purple and pink. Unknown warlord(s).
Hobbittm: ???
Transylvito: Black and gangster-like. Vinnie Doombats.
Charlescomm: Archons.

Blue. Unnamed female warlord w/dark hair.
Red and orange. Unnamed female warlord w/red hair.

So only two options.

[ishnar]

Also, to the previous poster, Royalty can't be seen on stats even if someone could see Parson's stats, otherwise the fact that Jillian was a royal would be self-evident. And Parson doesn't have enormous strength, otherwise he wouldn't get so winded walking up stairs.

That's endurance not strength. Parson has led a very sedentary lifestyle, so just walking to the car probably gets him winded. Endurance affects how quickly you tire, strength determines the maximum work load your muscles can handle.

All these people coming up with the "Parson is a Titan" theory are clearly overthinking this. It seems more to me that the doomed rider is simply praying to his gods before his certain demise, as people tend to do when they realize they're about to die.

this.

[d3115]

I'd go much further than that. I think Parson is a titan. At the very start of the strip it says that the titans created Erfworld and Erfworld is very similar to, if not the, game that Parson was preparing for his friends to play.

Now I do not necessarily think this means Parson is invincible -- there are plenty of RPG story lines that involve killing gods. But the FoxMUD warlord may have very well called Parson what he actually is.

Personally, I think he was saying it in a "Oh christ I'm going to die" way than that.

[Mikalyaran]

I'd go much further than that. I think Parson is a titan. At the very start of the strip it says that the titans created Erfworld and Erfworld is very similar to, if not the, game that Parson was preparing for his friends to play.

If that were so why would Parson have needed to learn the rules of the game? He would have been one of the ones who created them.

[Lombard]

My take on the "Titans" line was that this was something that Erfworlders would say instead of "Dear God.." or a similarly worded plea to a deity figure.

[Altima]

To everyone hoping Wanda will create an uncroaked army, remember that bodies disappear at the end of the day. As soon as the RCC ends turn, the bodies go poof.

Also, incapacitated troops die without getting healing magic (explained when Wanda was incapacitated by her fall). The RCC better hope those two types of elves survived, but it's still likely that a large number of them will die.

Lastly, it's likely that it was a warlord in this strip as she was 'targetting' which can only be done by warlords.

As for the speed of the attack, maybe there's a time limit for one's turn, and it's coming down, so the remaining RCC is trying to make the most of the time they have. I say there might be a time limit because there would be no reason for the RCC not to camp on Parson all the while using their healing spells to bring their incapacitated troops back up for the next day's battle.

[Almeric]

It seems there might be some confusion about warlords:

... Any unit with leadership ability is called a "Commander" or "Warlord"...

(Parson's Klog #4)

So the pink&purple guy might be a warlord in the sense that he leads a stack... and that's it.
He/she can be a warlord, but not necessarily a high-ranking one.

On a different (but related) note:
The Blue-armored/black-haired chick might be a Warlord directly under Duke Nozzle (page 117, panel 3).
If Nozzle is the Sofa-King's Chief Warlord, he might be wearing a different style of armor than his troops (like Ansom does). Or maybe wearing different armor is only for Nobles... not sure yet.

Furthermore, we know Jetstone infantry wear yellow, the attack on the Courtyard consisted (mainly) of yellow, red/orange and blue infantry and the three biggest players in the RCC are Jetstone, Unaroyal and Sofa-King (not counting the elves and marbits).

That makes Jetstone yellow, Unaroyal red/orange and Sofa-King blue. Which in turn might mean Redhead is Unaroyal, and either Noble or Chief warlord but not both.

[Krelon]

I just wanted to say (after a long no-posting phase) that Erf is again rocking!
Ansom down, most of the coalition down and Stanley returning to GK.. anything is possible.

I'd go much further than that. I think Parson is a titan. At the very start of the strip it says that the titans created Erfworld and Erfworld is very similar to, if not the, game that Parson was preparing for his friends to play.

Now I do not necessarily think this means Parson is invincible -- there are plenty of RPG story lines that involve killing gods. But the FoxMUD warlord may have very well called Parson what he actually is.

Hehe, that's a nice touch to the story. Parson is a Titan of his own creations and a pawn in a game created by other titans.

[Kilkrazy]

don't know what does the last stand of the last stands is, but in the last panel the golem seems he's holding the axe like a guitar, so it might be a reference of a rock band or something?

Sorry if this has been addressed in a previous thread.

The rock golems are styled after British heavy metal bands. When they first appeared it was with the slogan NWOBHM (New wave of British heavy metal.) There probably was or is a band called Golem.

[ishnar]

Hehe, that's a nice touch to the story. Parson is a Titan of his own creations and a pawn in a game created by other titans.

If this were the world Parson created, and not just similar, then he would already known the rules since he just spent months developing them.

(Parson's Klog #4)

So the pink&purple guy might be a warlord in the sense that he leads a stack... and that's it.
He/she can be a warlord, but not necessarily a high-ranking one.

Yes, but "with leadership ability" means the leadership stat and the leadership stat gives a bonus to units under that warlord's control.

Those weiner rammers are some kind of special unit, probably already a heavy, but definitely a heavy with even a low ranking warlord's bonus.

Parson hits pretty hard. He might have a crappy defense though.

[DCR]

*glasses on*
start quote
*glasses off*
end of quote
Yyyyeeeeaaaahhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!
*watches youtube vid of endless csi:miami oneliners*

I get it now. Hirarious, though I prefer not having to watch tv to enjoy my Erf. Really down on the art for the last two panels, I'm used to better in Erf... but better update than not, I suppose.

[Almeric]

...
Yes, but "with leadership ability" means the leadership stat and the leadership stat gives a bonus to units under that warlord's control.

Those weiner rammers are some kind of special unit, probably already a heavy, but definitely a heavy with even a low ranking warlord's bonus.

Parson hits pretty hard. He might have a crappy defense though.

Well, I've played some games where siege-units have next-to-nonexistant attack and defence scores, and their only real purpose is destroying structures.
In these cases, you need a load of infantry and archers just to get the siege-units into position.

Besides, we cannot be sure what a leadership-bonus to his/her commanded units actually means. +attack? +defence? +stamina? Anyone's guess.

Still, one-shotting your first ever kill is pretty nice.

[Vreejack]

Since nobody else has mentioned it, I'd just like to point out that the FoxMUD wiener rammer rider looks like David Bowie's Ziggy Stardust character. Between that and giving orders ("Target the Warlord!") I'm pretty sure that was a warlord.

Aladdin Sane is not from Ziggy Stardust. They are separate albums and concepts. I agree that he's probably a warlord, however, and is probably praying "Titans..." after seeing his heavy mount get one-shotted from beneath him by the giant enemy warlord standing in front of him.

[Oslecamo]

Well, I've played some games where siege-units have next-to-nonexistant attack and defence scores, and their only real purpose is destroying structures.
In these cases, you need a load of infantry and archers just to get the siege-units into position.

Cloth golems were able to do some heavy damage on the walls, and they aso were shown to hit hard against other units.

Also, the rammer was being used as a mount. For a warlord. You don't pick something as a mount if you can't trust it to fight in the frontline, and if you're the boss, you probably pick the best available. Like Stanley flies around in the most badass red dragon he has.

We know that Hamster's sword gives bonus to combat, and since it was created by a very very expensive spell it's only expected for it to make Hamster a combat machine besides a leadership machine and a ruthlness machine(he sacrificed Bogroll and the city whitout a wink when it was more profitable to do so).

Anyway, I would like to compare the coalition to a headless monster. It can't think anymore, and it's doomed, but it will angrily flail around with it's remaining limbs trying to finish off Hamster's force. The units will keep pouring in one after another untill Hamster's croacked or there's no one left to charge.

[JLrep]

Upkeep:

Parson's upkeep is "over 1,000 Shmuckers a day", if I recall. As someone pointed out, this is obviously very high—probably high even for a warlord. Taking that with the three remaining casters, a handful of high-level golems and such, and Stanley's few remaining dwagons and no more than a few hundred probably-very-cheap (on the order of one or two or five Shmuckers a day) infantry, I can't imagine that the total upkeep cost at this point is more than a few thousand Shmuckers a turn. And we know that because of the original summoning spell used to get Parson, that Gobwin Knob had a treasury of ~150,000 Shmuckers. Assuming that not very many turns have passed since the beginning of the strip, and that the total fortune of GK didn't drop too drastically before now (I assume that it gained money far more quickly as a high-level city), I think it's safe to assume that they have more than enough money to last through a short siege. I also would bet that the city being demolished wouldn't accidentally destroy/cut off access from the treasury; that seems like too much of a game mechanic.

As for Parson:
I think some of the speculation here is silly, but mostly it's just premature. Or... overmature. We've known basically for a fact that Parson's unique status will come into play at some point (Klogs #4 & #7), especially in relation to the technically-unresolved question of how he really fits into Erfworld. "Special" could mean anything at all. Since the Sword of Ruthlessness was part of the spell, and considering the effectiveness of the other two artifacts, not to mention including the possibility of Parson having leveled up since klog #7, I've always figured that he'd be quite a force in combat. It has nothing to do with his actual skill, though! That's part of it. Because Parson still comes from a real-time world, but is in a world where game rules take precedent (for instance.. unled warriors auto-attack. Does that mean they're mindless zombies? No, just that the game rules are more compelling than anything else.). My thoughts are that Parson is really a very powerful warrior, maybe even on the level of Ansom/Stanley/Vinny/Etc. (it WAS a "perfect warlord" spell...), but that he simply doesn't KNOW it. However, if he actually fights, he will be a force to be reckoned with, even if he's unsure, overweight, etc. etc. The only reason this is odd is because he's the only person in the world that we know of whose "skills" don't seem to match his "stats."

Oh, and speaking of stats, I tend to assume that the difference between not seeing stats and seeing stats in Erfworld is the difference between glancing at somebody and examining them.

[Sky_Schemer]

The first panel implies that they can see stats; they noted the lost leadership. I thought that Vinny was able to tell that the bats were out of place because they were unled, and wandering away from the combat.

No, the first panel does not imply that they can see stats. What Jillian most likely sees is that the units are following the auto-attack rules for unled stacks. If Jillian could see the stats of Transylvito units, she wouldn't need to ask Vinny "whose bats are those" in panel 8. She would be able to see the stats herself.

[Hatu]

No, the first panel does not imply that they can see stats. What Jillian most likely sees is that the units are following the auto-attack rules for unled stacks. If Jillian could see the stats of Transylvito units, she wouldn't need to ask Vinny "whose bats are those" in panel 8. She would be able to see the stats herself.

I don't see how seeing stats would affect Jillian's question one way or the other. She could just as easily ask about a swarm with normal looking Doombat stats as she could about a stack of bats whose stats she isn't allowed to see.

-H