Erfworld 55, Page 49

[Dolohov]

This particular page is a thing of beauty.

I love the look on Vinnie's face when the bat gets it -- how strong is that link, anyway?

[Pokemaster]

I smell pwnage in the air, and it smells great.

[20thLevelGeek]

Go Parson! Go Dwagons! Good to see some action! (and Leeroy of course)

Parson is also pretty smart in that he is attacking the bears first. They are the ones pushing the towers. Take out the bear and you take out the both the towers ability to move, and a future very very nasty combatant.

[ErikZ]

I just hope Parson wins this battle.

[terror_drone]

I thought Erfworld was good...




















Now I Love it.

[Estelindis]

Nice. Even though I'm totally rooting for Ansom & Co., it was good to see Parson packing some punch.

[denelian]

i don't normally get on the Erfworld threads...

but i have to say - this comic takes a certain amount of genius.

it glows. or i do after reading it. or something.

[Pronounceable]

Finally Parson is getting some action. This is what he wanted in the first place.

Let's see how Ansom handles a crisis. Everything has been going rather well for them so far.

[katana2665]

oh man that was good...nice to see some action and how the impact of WoW
has added to our culture...cool stuff

[Vreejack]

Here's the Bat*21 reference.

[Vreejack]

This particular page is a thing of beauty.

I love the look on Vinnie's face when the bat gets it -- how strong is that link, anyway?

It's probably just a one-way video link. Vinnie is smart enough to realize that if Stanley's dwagons are attacking the column then they have a big problem. I think the surprise of the attack and the realization of just how much trouble this is going to cause are what made him stress like that.

Is he lying in his coffin to make the link? The pink background was more sort of Ansom's thing, I thought. There is certainly enough pink around but I hope Vinnie doesn't have a pink pillow in his coffin.

[Blood]

-JENKINNNNNS!

Hah. Nice one.

[the_tick_rules]

what's the leroy thing a joke about?

[Stonedef]

Love the look on Zombie Jenkins's face.


How can the tool claim he's not evil?

I doubt that most people who are evil think they are in fact the bad guys.

[Stormbright]

I've been a passive consumer of this comic, but when I saw a previous thread by pclips (the writer, judging by response?) I thought I'd post in appreciation of this cute and much needed comic excursion. I'm guilty of calling Erfworld "too intellectual" to some of my friends, but that's just because it DOESN'T carry a punchline every page. Guess what? That just demonstrates confidence, and gives us fans something more to look forward to when the punchlines do arrive. I for one am constantly looking for that glimmer of hope that I get when I see Erfworld on top, becuase I'm dying to know what's going to happen next. So, Rob, Jamie, thank you both for this.

Now, onto the comic. I get that Vinnie is perhaps the smartest member of the Coalition, and the only reason why the deception failed. How long before Parson figures this out, or are we to assume that hitting the bat(s) is evidence of this? Regardless, What about Vinnie in the page? He's perched on his coffin, looks to be in full sunlight, and it's already been determined that there are no "night" turns. Are we exposing some weakness of the vampire in the Erfworld setting, or am I just fishing here.

[Kian]

I don't mean to bring anyone down or anything, but didn't Leroy get his entire team killed or somesuch? Might not be the most auspicious battlecry one might want to use when enacting a complex, elaborate plan....

[Gez]

I thought uncroaked warlords were just robots, functionally speaking, only able to relay orders but without personality or free will -- but Uncroaked Warlord Leeroy is obviously enjoying what's happening!

Also, I think the radar vision is inside Vinnie's coffin. he's just climbing out.

Pay more attention to the details. You can see the palate up, and the tongue down. It's in the Dwagon's mouth alright. That's still the Bat*21 cam after all...

[SteveMB]

I'm guilty of calling Erfworld "too intellectual" to some of my friends, but that's just because it DOESN'T carry a punchline every page. Guess what? That just demonstrates confidence, and gives us fans something more to look forward to when the punchlines do arrive.

Even if there isn't an obvious punchline, there are always a few other things that engage my interest. For example:

Now, onto the comic. I get that Vinnie is perhaps the smartest member of the Coalition, and the only reason why the deception failed. How long before Parson figures this out, or are we to assume that hitting the bat(s) is evidence of this?

I don't think it's evidence of anything other than a general order to take out any scouts they run into in order to minimize Ansom's warning (That didn't entirely work because of the "bat-cam", which Parson probably doesn't know about -- even if it was known to Jillian, and therefore now presumably known to Wanda, we've seen that Parson is still not fully up to speed major details on Team Stanley's intel).

Of course, how much good this information will do Ansom now is another question.

Edit: We know from Parson's Klog #5 that he's been familiarized with Ansom's battle plan. Did he zone out on or forget about the "Ansom has no Lookamancers" part, or did that fall between the cracks when he was briefed? (I'm guessing the latter; I believe that Wanda would have chewed him out a bit more if she'd specifically told him that earlier and he didn't know it until reminded.)

Regardless, What about Vinnie in the page? He's perched on his coffin, looks to be in full sunlight, and it's already been determined that there are no "night" turns. Are we exposing some weakness of the vampire in the Erfworld setting, or am I just fishing here.

Insofar as Vinnie resembles a vampire (albeit a vampire who has no problem being out and about in daylight, necessarily so given that units don't move at night), my read is that he's a parody of the "good-guy vampire" characters that have been showing up in various media.

Also, I think the radar vision is inside Vinnie's coffin. he's just climbing out.

Pay more attention to the details. You can see the palate up, and the tongue down. It's in the Dwagon's mouth alright. That's still the Bat*21 cam after all...

I'm pretty sure he means that Vinnie is inside the coffin while seeing the "bat-cam" image (and may have to be in his coffin to do so, either because it's a limited natural ability or because there's some magic item in his coffin that provides the link).

[Documn]

For you people who don't know who Leeroy is, here's the quick summary.

There's this video of a guild in a dungeon in World of Warcraft. They are planning their attack on the next room, and suddenly one of them yells "Leeroy Jenkins!" and runs in. After a minute or so of crappy gameplay footage, the whole group of players is dead.

Personally I don't think it's very funny. But a lot of people do.

[NecroPaladin]

Well, I think the joke here is that among other things, one of his warlords is named "Sir Leeroy Jenkins," so it's applicable. This, of course, has been stated before. I like the joke not because of the Leeroy reference, but because he's making his battle cry out of something so entirely tongue-in-cheek and irrelevant.

[Mr the Geoff]

The Leeroy joke had been waiting to come out since the warlord was introduced, but the BAT*21 gag was one I didn;t see coming. Major kudos for that one (though I may be showing my age by getting the reference in the first place)

[tomaO2]

Hurray FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT!!! Now I am excited. I love the battle and strategy if a good turn based game and I also was waiting for that battle cry to come up. Easilly my favorite comic page so far.

What would be really interesting is if by ordering Leroy to use that battle cry gave him and/or the stack some sort of extra bonus or perhaps an effect like everytime he says it a sonic boom type attack oocurs so Leroy could use a ranged attack.

Considering that magic seems to be done by using the right words like Scruby or Livingston, it seems to me that it would make perfect sense that Parson's knowledge in Earth trivia could help him cast magic himself. Using the real world battle cry with the Leroy Jenkins warlord with the correct pronunciation almost demands some sort of cool thing happening.

[Ave]

Nice. Even though I'm totally rooting for Ansom & Co., it was good to see Parson packing some punch.

Heh, what about the carebears :)
There will be lotsa skinning.

[Ave]

Here's the Bat*21 reference.

Thanks! This was the first one i was utterly clueless about. I mean, i didn't even suspect it was a reference :)

[kreszantas]

Well I am probably one of the very few thinking that this attack WILL have Parson getting disbanded, because of this statement in #32 by Stanley. That is currently one thing we are forgetting is the big picture and getting caught up in the symantecs of the story. Secondly I like the fact that Stanley & Wanda dont show in this comic as it shows the "turn based" order

Stanley, Wanda, then Parson, Sizemore etc, vs.
Ansom, Vinny, then Jillian, Webinar, etc.

Vinny has to defer to Ansom to the start of their turn to get his orders from him due to "close proximity" and is unable to without an order go on his own. Ansoms ranking is more complex since there are more commanders but my theory on it.

[SteveMB]

Well I am probably one of the very few thinking that this attack WILL have Parson getting disbanded, because of this statement in #32 by Stanley.

I don't see anything in #32 or anywhere else that indicates that Stanley would be inclined to disband Parson if he shows up with a successful fait accompli. On the other hand, I've seen plenty of indications that Stanley is mercurial, switching mood from bad to good and back again based on the latest news he's received.

If Parson pulls this off, Stanley will be thrilled. If not, Parson is toast.

[Shott]

Awesome comic. =D

[katana2665]

Another deeper meaning to the Leroy Jenkins bit is that it shows what can happen when, 1. People don't listen, 2. How even experienced players can make a noobish mistake and 3. Nothing ever works out the way you want it too.. hence...party wipe..as I'm expecting...

[reljo]

In reply to a previous post, I'd say that, so far, Vinnie is the most objective and clear thinker on Ansom's side. He's the only reason why Ansom wasn't captured (he sensed that Stanley's side had a plan to capture or croak him) and he also knows that Ansom has more motives for attacking Stanley than he cared to share with the coalition forces' leaders.

Also, things are becoming really troublesome for Ansom right now. This surprise attack will leave heavy casualties in his ranks and he won't be able to do much to retaliate. Dwagons are obviously extremely powerful, and apart from that one frame some dozen comics before, we haven't really seen a strong aerial fighting force on Ansom's side. Also, the dwagons are over heavy treas and thus can only be attacked by flying units and forest-capable ones. I'm guessing it's not a smart move to send a small part of your forces after dwagons.

So, with only a small chance of retaliation against this attack, heavy casualties and god knows what else waiting for them, it will become increasingly difficult for Ansom to sustain support and high morale amongst the troops and cl leaders.

I'm really interested to see how things will develop. Jillian knows of Parson's existance and thus Ansom will very soon know that Stanley now has a superb strategist on his side (though he can probably deduce that from this latest attack). Morale will surely drop for Ansom's troops and maybe even the whole war will be brought into question.

The best part for me is the fact that I have really no idea how the story will develop from now on. Will Parson actually stop the war? What will happen if he does? What are the Arkentools really for and why is Stanley the only one in tune with them so far? How will the other characters influence the story (I'm hazarding a guess that they're not on the cast page for no reason :)?

So many questions, so many days to wait for answers :)

[Conjurer]

Wasn't Bat*21 a movie with Danny Glover and Gene Hackman? As I recall, Bat*21 was an observation plane during Vietnam or Korea...