Erfworld 49

[Tividar's Thorn]

And more to point, is that a Bacardi bat?

I think it's actually the ThunderCats symbol but with a bat instead of a cougar. Very clever!

Check it out...



or...

[Dwagon]

Another one that this comic got registered, hi everyone ;)

I do agree with some of you about the night and day cycle he's going to use at his advantage. Same with flying units rules and group rules.

But also how you recover from your wounds at dawn. He could hit with dwagons close to dawn, have them retreat just before dawn and repeat after dawn. The aim is to kill ennemy units even if you have to suffer some damage, then have it healed at new turn. You can then directly send the dwagons in for a second swipe to finish diminished survivor stacks and retreat to safety just after that (since movement points will have replenished too).

Only factor I can't know of here is how dwagons react to pain. Can the arkhenhammer overcome that eventual penalty?

[Lisp]

The "Little Battle" is also a old term for sleep, like the "little death", could be a reference to that, I think Parson has had an insight that will give him the edge. He needs it.

Parson is definitely in his Element. Don't step on his blue suede shoes.

[Runolfr]

It occurs to me that Parson's plan to salvage the "Little Battle" still involves an attack on Ansom's flying contingent that has gone to escort Jillian.

The original plan was to ambush and capture Ansom himself in the Little Battle, so Stanley's side already believes they have the necessary force to overcome Ansom's flyers; otherwise they would never have implemented the plan.

If Parson eliminates all of Ansom's flyers, he can then position any number of dwagons, even just one, to block the road to Gobwin Knob. Since the road is Mountain terrain, Ansom's ground forces won't be able to attack the dwagon to clear the way, because ground units can't attack flyers in mountainous terrain; the entire army will be forced to go through the tunnels, instead.

Assuming the tricks that Sizemore mentioned to Parson will be sufficient, Ansom's army can be contained and defeated in the tunnels. Ansom won't be able to surround the city and look for a weakness; he'll be forced to attack a defensible chokepoint where he won't be able to bring his superior numbers to bear.

EDIT: This conveniently sets up the confrontation with Charlie's Archons, too.

[SteveMB]

It occurs to me that Parson's plan to salvage the "Little Battle" still involves an attack on Ansom's flying contingent that has gone to escort Jillian.

The original plan was to ambush and capture Ansom himself in the Little Battle, so Stanley's side already believes they have the necessary force to overcome Ansom's flyers; otherwise they would never have implemented the plan.

They believed they had enough force to overcome Ansom's flyers before the Archons showed up. Parson's comments on page 43 suggest that he thinks the plan has gone to boop and gone; at the end of page 44, he apparently has some idea to pull off something anyway.

If Parson eliminates all of Ansom's flyers, he can then position any number of dwagons, even just one, to block the road to Gobwin Knob. Since the road is Mountain terrain, Ansom's ground forces won't be able to attack the dwagon to clear the way, because ground units can't attack flyers in mountainous terrain; the entire army will be forced to go through the tunnels, instead.

Hmmm... good point. That overcomes a possible loophole in the Stupid Meal fact (it's ambiguous whether a ground unit can fight back normally if attacked by a flyer on such terrain).

[Runolfr]

Hmmm... good point. That overcomes a possible loophole in the Stupid Meal fact (it's ambiguous whether a ground unit can fight back normally if attacked by a flyer on such terrain).

I have little doubt that ground units can still defend and inflict damage if attacked by flyers. I think Stanley's main problem is that he doesn't have enough dwagons to defeat Ansom's whole army if he has to attack it.

[Ballestra]

Any strip that include a Shakespeare reference is fine by me!

[Sebastian Bux]

I hate Shakespeare ... ugh

[Nightmarenny]

I hate Shakespeare ... ugh

I simply don't see how thats possible. I know people that dislike them but.....

[Scientivore]

I simply don't see how thats possible. I know people that dislike them but.....

I expect that it's the same thing as with math. People are forced to deal with brain-twisty stuff in school. For many of them, it's an experience of violation of will. Took me a long time to figure out how anyone could hate math, since I was lucky enough to find it pleasurably stimulating.

[Fineous Orlon]

One of Bill's sonnets here [with great imagery attached, dragons roosting in trees, Wanda cuddled with a teddy-skull, Ansom smoking his Sherlock pipe, unable to sleep before the battle, Vinnie sleeping under the Bacardi logo], with Parson really starting to wake up, and Danny Boy over in OotS, with a rocking battle.

This site is amazing.

Kudos Erfers and Giant.

edit:I guess this could be called a comparison, but I'm just trying to say how great it is that both strips are rocking. I'm being happy, not comparing.

[Emmit Svenson]

I have no idea what the Shakespeare meant. I will have to get one of my English major friends to interpret it for me.

As with many of the sonnets, Willy the Shake is angsting about the love tearing him between the famous Dark Lady (night) and an unknown, younger man (day).

[gnownek]

Anyone suspicous why the good-looking hero-type has the vamp's coffin in his bedroom?

If I were plotting a propaganda war, I'd spread a rumor that the alliance was fighting for a thrall....

[chionophile]

I'm reasonably sure that Ansom is chilling just outside of his tent. That's the sky in the upper right hand corner of that panel.

ETA:Vinnie doesn't seem like your stereotypical vampire, we've certainly seen no indication that he sucks blood and makes people into his slaves\personal vampires. I doubt anyone would believe that type of propaganda since that's not how vampires work in Erfworld.

[Mr Teufel]

I think it's actually the ThunderCats symbol but with a bat instead of a cougar. Very clever!

Check it out...

ThunderCats = Boombats! FTW!

You know it's gotta be! Great work, Thorn!

[noralives]

I'm not even going to bother to try and analyze the sonnet, as I'm sure there are tonnes of people who understand it better than I do (I'm barely passing AP Lit), but I have to say that this is definitely one of my favorites so far...it reminds me very much of certain Calvin & Hobbes segments, and those ones were always my favorites. =)

A thought--in the trees/dwagon panel, could it be the same dwagons being pictured in the air and in the trees? in other words, it's showing the dwagons asleep and dreaming? Sounds odd, I know, but that was my first thought upon seeing it...

And Vinnie's coffin = awesome.

[Harr]

That was very well done. Certainly one of the better uses of a shakepeare quote I've come across.

And the fact that this is a webcomic we're talking about.. well, color me impressed on this one.

[5tephen]

Well, for mine (forgive me if a Shakespear academic has come along and explained it since the first page - I have only read those posts thus far) the sonnet describes insomnia.

The character speaking is declaring that they can find no solace in either day or night, because they are without their beloved. Day is reserved for toil, and night for tortured thoughts of the one they are without. This sonnet in fact, carries on the complaint begun in the previous one:

1. Weary with toil, I haste me to my bed,
2. The dear repose for limbs with travel tired;
3. But then begins a journey in my head
4. To work my mind, when body's work's expired:
5. For then my thoughts--from far where I abide--
6. Intend a zealous pilgrimage to thee,
7. And keep my drooping eyelids open wide,
8. Looking on darkness which the blind do see:
9. Save that my soul's imaginary sight
10. Presents thy shadow to my sightless view,
11. Which, like a jewel hung in ghastly night,
12. Makes black night beauteous, and her old face new.
13. Lo! thus, by day my limbs, by night my mind,
14. For thee, and for myself, no quiet find.


...but we'll leave that aside for now, because Rob didn't quote that one, he quoted this one, in which the sleepless hero expresses his hate for both day and night, for conspiring to bring him no rest. He tries to flatter them, but to no avail. They continue their relentless toil, grinding him down while he is without the one person (or in Parson's case) thing that he needs most....


Hope that helps anyone who dislikes the Bard, or finds him a little too hard.

[LTDave]

I was going to use the British formation fighting as an example as well, but I think it's just as much a matter of them never considering other options as it was that they wanted to fight honorably.

The Implication that the British were stupid to fight in lines and squares vs the Continental Skirmish formations is a misnomer.

George Washington trained his men to fight in lines and squares after the British manner BECAUSE it was the most effective way to fight and manoeuvre.

There was very little 'stupidity' on either side.

The Brilliance of the American frontiersmen shooting down the dull British in their red coats and straight lines is a USAsian Myth.

[Caledonian]

The Implication that the British were stupid to fight in lines and squares vs the Continental Skirmish formations is a misnomer.

I think you mean 'myth'.

The Brilliance of the American frontiersmen shooting down the dull British in their red coats and straight lines is a USAsian Myth.

No, I think it had more to do with the conventions of warfare.

[motorfirebox]

my thought is that Parson is going to exploit the turn mechanic. he'll send out ridiculously small units to block much larger units, the point being not to defeat the larger units but to force the larger units to waste an action attacking the smaller units. this will effectively give Stanley's side free turns, allowing them to produce more units. of course, Ansom will be able to produce more units as well--but those units will be way far away, taking a long time to arrive. Stanley's units, though fewer, will be able to engage immediately. thus, Stanley's side might be able, in time, to reduce Ansom's numerical superiority.

[Scientivore]

my thought is that Parson is going to exploit the turn mechanic. he'll send out ridiculously small units to block much larger units, the point being not to defeat the larger units but to force the larger units to waste an action attacking the smaller units. this will effectively give Stanley's side free turns, allowing them to produce more units. of course, Ansom will be able to produce more units as well--but those units will be way far away, taking a long time to arrive. Stanley's units, though fewer, will be able to engage immediately. thus, Stanley's side might be able, in time, to reduce Ansom's numerical superiority.

Prince Ansom said that he wants Gobwin Knob to engage him in the open. I can easily imagine why.

Say I'm Ansom; my avatar should make that easy. I order the siege engines to do a partial move and launch a ranged area attack on several of your adjacent units (adjacent to each other, not the siege engines). Then, I order the Woodsy and Shady Elves to do a partial move and then take out as many of your blocking units as possible with ranged attacks. If any are left, I order a full stack of Superfluous Elves to move up from the back and use the +8 stack bonus to take out a small unit without casualties, repeating as necessary with other stacks of extraneous units. Actually, the order on the Superfluous and archer elves would probably be reversed, depending on how much Move each has left and their positions; wouldn't want to end up with Superfluous Elves that can't reach anything.

In the unlikely event that any of my units are damaged, I might order the Altruist Elves to do a partial move and heal them, or with such a numerical advantage I might just ignore them. I then leapfrog the Superfluous Elves with my real forces, slowed down not at all, no casualties worth mentioning, a roughly 25:1 advantage now increased even more.

I'm not good at playing the part of Parson. Creative, outside-the-box strategies aren't my forte. Ansom? Him I can play. Competent, traditional TBS tactics? Those I can do.

[Demented]

No, I think it had more to do with the conventions of warfare.

In those days, YOU try commanding a nonlinear battle with no clear lines of sight, tortoise-slow communication, and troops that are just as liable to desert as charge. =P

Perhaps with some exaggeration thrown in there.

It's so much easier to command a battle when all the soldiers are organized in neat little lines. Most troops wouldn't be very useful outside of a formation anyway. (Those troops that ARE good outside formation... we don't call them special forces for no reason.)