Erfworld 55, Page 49

[TiamatRoar]

LOVE the art on this one.

Vinnie's expression is priceless. Ditto for Leeroy's (Wow, is Leeroy's expression based on Parson's feelings or do Uncroaked have emotions?)

I suspected that the bats had a telepathic link ever since Julian told Ansom that the bats were needed for short recon. Wonder if Parson realizes the bats' abilities (the fact that there was a lone bat scout out there should at least give Parson some clue that the bats have some scout ability)

And it's nice to get a look at the other commanders in the coalition (we already saw the Marbit commander and the elf commander. Don't think we've seen those other ones before. ...at least, I THINK we've seen the marbit commander before. Those marbits all look alike!)

I hope Parson's plan at least exceeds somewhat. It'd be nice for the guy to get a break finally (and it won't screw up the suspense because even if Parson wins this little battle, it doesn't mean he's won the war by far)

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.

Wow, I never realized that. Also, notice that Vinnie is a HALF vampire (He only has one fang and one pointy ear. ...well, he has two pointy ears in this strip. Maybe that's an accident). That's also a trait that most good guy vampires have (Blade and Angel were both half vampires, weren't they?)

[Aerysil]

Doesn't that battle cry herald everyone else on your team getting killed?

Maybe I'm remembering it in the wrong context.

[SteveMB]

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.

The main aerial force (except, apparently, a few doombats and perhaps some other light scouting forces) is off rescuing Jillian.

I wonder if the other coalition leaders will have a few words with Ansom about that decision, and what he'll have to say in response. If he's confronted on a touchy personal issue by someone who isn't a friend and isn't as diplomatic about it as Vinnie, things could get real ugly real fast....

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.

We aren't certain that Jillian knows of Parson's existence; the post-interrogation chat cut away before Wanda got into the details of the spell. In any case, you're correct that pulling off a surprise like this is sufficient indication that Stanley isn't as bereft of leadership as Ansom claimed (another reason for the rest of the coalition to have second thoughts about Ansom's leadership).

[Earendill]

Great strip for sure.

I agree with Steve that Ansom will be in trouble. He made a major tactical mistake when completely removing the air cover of the main column and he did it mostly on an irrational basis. If the coalition members blame him for the disaster they are entitled to and this will complicate his relation with Jillian and Vinnie even more.

On the other hand, it is now clear for everybody that Parsons used an unusual way of thinking a battle, exploiting game mechanincs, and will manage to do little more that destroy the siege engines + a few care bears ( I liked them.... ) It's no small feat hovewer he traded the surprise effect of the new competent warlord for that. A good deal ? we'll sure find out.

[Unguided]

Brilliant strategy by Parson, attack the seemingly worthless short recon units first and then attack the siege engines. Ansom is effectively playing under a very restrictive fog-of-war while Stanley and Parson aren't, therefore he will be forced to guess what happens (unless he has more hats).

[reljo]

Doesn't that battle cry herald everyone else on your team getting killed?

I'm guessing there's some extra smugness in Parson's grin because of the ironic fact that this battle cry precedes a very carefully planned out attack with minimum casualties :)

SteveMB:

I wonder if the other coalition leaders will have a few words with Ansom about that decision, and what he'll have to say in response. If he's confronted on a touchy personal issue by someone who isn't a friend and isn't as diplomatic about it as Vinnie, things could get real ugly real fast....

Totally. We'll see how far Ansom's leadership goes.

We aren't certain that Jillian knows of Parson's existence; the post-interrogation chat cut away before Wanda got into the details of the spell. In any case, you're correct that pulling off a surprise like this is sufficient indication that Stanley isn't as bereft of leadership as Ansom claimed (another reason for the rest of the coalition to have second thoughts about Ansom's leadership).

I think it's fairly safe to assume that Wanda told the whole story to Jillian (I really though that panel had a foreboding feeling to it). I can't really guess how much will Jillian's info influence the current situation. This attack is probably enough evidence for Ansom and his coalition to realize that Stanley suddenly has a master strategist. However, to Wanda and other Erfworldians, Parson is quite peculiar - a human, but huge by their standards. I'm wondering how much will Jillian's story of a summoned huge human brilliant strategist influence Ansom and his coalition.

EDIT: and as Earendill mentiones, Parson has a very out-of-the-box way of thinking. This enables him to turn the battles in his favor way more than the others, and adds another dimension to how other people perceive him (huge, from another world, knows this world and sees it as a game)

[Mr the Geoff]

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...

Bat*21 was the downed pilot on the ground. The spotter plane was Bird Dog.

[Chocowatte]

Lo all! First time poster here and brain's a whirrlin'

I feel a subconscious channelling of J. R. R. Tolkien... hehehe.

The latest Erfworld, page 49, reminds me of Smaug (where is Bilbo and Bard when you need him? No lucky arrow info = marbit muchies).

Let's see... the thrush (bat) (carrier of information) gets eaten... doesn't tell Bard the Bowman (the marbit) about the unprotected left breast... Marbit uses his lucky arrow on Red Dragon Smaug (fire breather). Arrow sticks but does pretty much nothing. MMmmmm mmmm... Toasted Marbits. (Poor poor Laketown/columns)

Break out your copy of The Hobbit and try reading the attack of Smaug on Laketown with those panels in the back of your head...

Enjoy! Lovin' me some Erfworld!
~Chocowatte
P.S. Got the man himself yellin' it from Blizzcon still stuck in my head... LEEERRROY JEEEENKINS!

[BarGamer]

Way down on the list, but my 3-4th favorite expression was the look on the archer's face when he realized he WASN'T going to give his "life for Jetstone" by aggroing the dwagons. Those warlords are paying off twice! (Or maybe he will, if the dwagons have a tad more move/actions left. Or in later turns.)

[SMDVogrin]

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...

OK, the Cliff's Notes version for those folks who never saw the movie or read the book:

BAT-21 was the callsign for an Electronic Warfare reconnaissance flight during the Vietnam War. Col. Iceal Hambleton was the Radar operator on that flight, and when the plane was shot down with a Surface-to-Air Missile, he was the only one to bail out of the plane. He parachuted down, behind enemy lines, and was trapped there for weeks because the USAF couldn't get rescue choppers in to pull him out, due to all the defenses in the area. He was eventually pulled out after they had him move out of the immediate area, giving him directions on where to go by telling him to "play" particular holes of golf courses he had played on (one of Col. Hambleton's hobbies was golf, and he was known for carrying a compass along with him to know the layout of the course). It's all a true story, and one heck of a tale for those who want to read about it.

A neat reference, given the "radar vision" of the Bats and the fact that they are Anson's Recon force.

[Sinsie]

http://video.google.com/videoplay?do...43693602998196

For anyone that hasn't seen it yet. Great comic btw.

[GreatWyrm]

I love the expression on Vinnie's face, booping priceless.

[kreszantas]

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.

Well Stanley position is that Ansom is bringing the Arkenpliers to him and he has the "titan's" backing on this, any disruption or delays in this process will cause Stanley to flip. Stanley's posistion has been and always be "I will handle Ansom's turn myself" so there is a lot of things that Parson could screwing up with scenerio. Ansom may be SO cautious that he pulls back and allows a full regrouping by Ansom, in turn would make use of dwagons far less effective with a regrouped force.

[dakiwiboid]

Nice one.

Helpful links for interested readers:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leeroy_Jenkins
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bat*21

A notable reference from the Leeroy Jenkins wiki is this one:

"In the webcomic Erfworld, "Sir Leeroy Jenkins" appears as an "uncroaked" (magically animated after having "croaked" in battle) warlord."

[factotum]

and will manage to do little more that destroy the siege engines + a few care bears ( I liked them.... ) It's no small feat hovewer he traded the surprise effect of the new competent warlord for that. A good deal ? we'll sure find out.

Without the siege engines, Ansom has no way to get through Gobwin Knob's defences. He would have to either send his men up ladders over the wall--a risky proposition when your opposition has dwagons!--or send them through the tunnels under the city, where all sorts of nasty surprises could wait...

[happyturtle]

On the other hand, it is now clear for everybody that Parsons used an unusual way of thinking a battle, exploiting game mechanincs, and will manage to do little more that destroy the siege engines + a few care bears ( I liked them.... ) It's no small feat hovewer he traded the surprise effect of the new competent warlord for that. A good deal ? we'll sure find out.

True, the surprise is gone, but if Parson hadn't done this, there wouldn't be a competent warlord for the rest of the battle. So not much of a loss to Team Stanley.

[Eco-Mono]

I get the feeling that Count Doombats is going to be the recurring thorn in Parson's plans. I mean, first he picks up on the "damsel in distress" feint, then this.

Eh, I'm not complaining. It's good to have antagonists.

[Quikngruvn]

Judging by Vinnie's expression, Parson just saved himself from being disbanded. 'Course, it helps that Wanda's getting the Tool in a good mood in the first place....

'Sides, Parson's gotta pull out some sort of success, and fast, to turn the tide and avoid being disbanded. Wouldn't be much of a story otherwise! [/metagaming]

[Caledonian]

He clearly has the highest Wisdom of any of the characters thus far.

Perhaps Count Doombats needs to be paid a little visit by our "associates".

[Dwagon]

We're pretty sure Jillian knows about Parson, since Wanda told her about the spell she cast. Check it out on page 36

http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0036.html

On a side note, nice to see some action !

[Gdrad]

The thing to remeber about Strategy games and scouts. Is that you usually can assume that once you see someone, they can see you. Once he encountered the bat, Parson probally understood that PART of his force was seen. In fact it may work to his advantage, because then ansom suddenly has no idea where all the dragons he saw went, why he is only seeing a strikeforce, and thus might make a mistake on what units to send out.

Example: In most RTS games. There is fog of war. Most of the map is black, except for an area around each of your units and structures. If you have a force in an area, if they get wiped out you lose your view of that area. Some units make better scouts, owing to high speed and maneuverability or low cost.


Also, looking back. The comic on how recently popped units know everything explains why the Tool is so shocked by Parson's lack of knowledge. Now that Parson is starting to show how good he is, once he knows how stuff works, their relationship should be interesting to watch.

[Erk]

I think it's fairly safe to assume that Wanda told the whole story to Jillian (I really though that panel had a foreboding feeling to it). I can't really guess how much will Jillian's info influence the current situation.

What? Why is it fairly safe to assume that Wanda is an inept enough commander and interrogator that, after a fruitful intelligence session, she casually blabbed one of her side's biggest aces in the hole?

It sounded to me like she was carefully stepping around what the spell actually did, especially since she slightly changed the component magical types of the spell itself when describing it.

I imagine we'll find out soon enough anyway. When ansom goes all "WTF", if Jillian doesn't mention this to him we can pretty safely assume she doesn't know what the spell did.

[Jonzac]

You guys miss the BAT 21 reference to a downed aviator in Vietnam...a scout in an OV-2 Bronco (short range, little attack like the bats). He was shot down and then chased by ground troops.

Bravo on the military reference.

[Reutan]

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.

Wait, are you saying hes taking out the people pushing the towers? And with the number he has, could it be a gank. Well dang, if the towers were the defensive structures, we'd have a nice DotA reference too.

[reljo]

I stand corrected :)

My opinion is based mostly on a hunch -sort of an emotional look on the situation. I somehow felt that Wanda could have simply let her guard down. She's got emotions too (frustrations mostly :) so maybe she's not coldly rational all the time. You can see how uncharacteristically relaxed she behaves and talks in the last few panels, and venting is the moment when you say a lot of things you don't usually intend to. And there's always that foreboding feeling in the last panel :) It could also be that she has some sort of plan.



Oh well, we'll find out soon enough :)

[SteveMB]

I stand corrected :)

My opinion is based mostly on a hunch -sort of an emotional look on the situation. I somehow felt that Wanda could have simply let her guard down. She's got emotions too (frustrations mostly :) so maybe she's not coldly rational all the time. You can see how uncharacteristically relaxed she behaves and talks in the last few panels, and venting is the moment when you say a lot of things you don't usually intend to. And there's always that foreboding feeling in the last panel :) It could also be that she has some sort of plan.

The comments about Stanley "yelling all of this garbage at me" certainly sounds like venting about the Tool, and is harmless enough in itself (as long as the Tool doesn't find out -- another reason to erase Mung's memory of everything but "the screams for mercy"). She may have gone on to describe the results of the spell, for any of several reasons (carelessness after she's gotten on a roll in her venting, a psychological ploy to undermine Jillian's confidence in her side's imminent victory, a bit of propaganda if and when Jillian reports it back to Ansom, or some hidden agenda that has yet to come to light).

Edit: Revealing a fact that isn't going to be secret for long anyway (Ansom is going to know that Stanley found himself a good military mind the first time they attempt something clever) might be a subtler psychological ploy to encourage Jillian to trust Wanda or to enhance the credibility of disinformation (assuming the mention of "Lookamancy" instead of Predictamancy was deliberate, or that other misinformation was part of the ongoing offstage chat).

[Erk]

You guys miss the BAT 21 reference to a downed aviator in Vietnam...a scout in an OV-2 Bronco (short range, little attack like the bats). He was shot down and then chased by ground troops.

Bravo on the military reference.

What do you mean "you guys miss"? there have been at least 5 references to it already.

[Vreejack]

http://video.google.com/videoplay?do...43693602998196

Of all the stupid videos I have ever seen from WoW I have no clue as to why that one became famous. Here's another view from that same event:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H_PTI...elated&search=

[Vreejack]

The comments about Stanley "yelling all of this garbage at me" certainly sounds like venting about the Tool, and is harmless enough in itself (as long as the Tool doesn't find out -- another reason to erase Mung's memory of everything but "the screams for mercy"). She may have gone on to describe the results of the spell, for any of several reasons (carelessness after she's gotten on a roll in her venting, a psychological ploy to undermine Jillian's confidence in her side's imminent victory, a bit of propaganda if and when Jillian reports it back to Ansom, or some hidden agenda that has yet to come to light).

Note that we do not know exactly what Wanda told Jillian about the spell. Jillian might know about Parson, or she might not. Wanda could have told her anything, and her unguarded appearance at that point after the interrogation could simply have been a ruse. How will the alliance take it, though, when--after their siege weapons have been destroyed and their column mauled--Jillian drops her bombshell. Will they all decide to go home or will they decide to stay to destroy this new warlord?

[SteveMB]

Note that we do not know exactly what Wanda told Jillian about the spell. Jillian might know about Parson, or she might not. Wanda could have told her anything, and her unguarded appearance at that point after the interrogation could simply have been a ruse. How will the alliance take it, though, when--after their siege weapons have been destroyed and their column mauled--Jillian drops her bombshell. Will they all decide to go home or will they decide to stay to destroy this new warlord?

One other point -- at the time, Wanda had every reason to assume that she'd been successful in summoning the "perfect warlord". The last thing she'd learned about Parson up until her attention was diverted to her "surprise treat" was that he recognized this exact tactical situation and had spent months thinking about it. Sure, he had some... oddities... as a result of Stanley not hiring a Findamancy specialist to cast the spell, but Wanda was probably expecting as much, or worse.