Erfworld 66: page 60

[tomaO2]

In the The Comic is Late, and Will be More Late! thread, pclips states that this comic is done and only awaits the Giant to add it to the website.

He also gave some spoilers that we can now begin to speculate and talk about for the upcoming page. So with this in mind...

Spoiler

Show

[Scrubbed. Please don't abuse the text options and spoiler tags.]

Alright then, let's get the party started.

[TigerHunter]

I hate you.

[kpenguin]

Alright, what could he do with a map? Ooooo! It shows where the dragons really are.

[Winged One]

You fail.

[tomaO2]

It probably means that we're going back to Parson and to have him explain to the Tool his plan and it'll show us where the dwagons and stuff are. If it was going to stick to Ansom, I really doubt that he could bother going all the way back to consult the big map again before he finished deciding what to do with his forrest units.

[ChowGuy]

It probably means that we're going back to parson and to have him explain to the tool his plan and it'll show us

exactly where all of Ansom's units came from, and how they got where they are now in the Donut of Doom.

But not where the (missing) Dwagons are.

[kpenguin]

But not where the (missing) Dwagons are.

Care to explain why not?

[ChowGuy]

Care to explain why not?

Beats me. But it was the most fascinating thing I could think to say.
And that my whole life will be a success if I can become half as devious as Rob.

[Vladimir]

[FONT="Comic Sans MS"][COLOR="Purple"]I the The Comic is Late, and Will be More Late! thread, pclips states that this comic is done and only awaits the Giant to add it to the website.

He also gave some spoilers that we can not begin to speculate and talk about for the upcoming page. So with this in mind...

I hope you booping die.

[SteveMB]

Beats me. But it was the most fascinating thing I could think to say.
And that my whole life will be a success if I can become half as devious as Rob.

Forget it. (tosses powder)

[lavidor10]

Love Ansom's expression on the last panel.

[throx]

Love Ansom's expression on the last panel.

I was going to say the same thing - it's priceless isn't it?

That comic was well worth the wait.

[Maxymiuk]

"Ha! Well I did!"

"...
Yep. You did.
You got him, Tool."

Looks like Parson is taking Wanda's advice to heart.

[Pepz]

Man, I can just imagine the way Parson says the last Tool :)

"yeah, you did"
Dude, I did all the work, and my trap worked because you're a
"Tool"
Tool

[Dwagon]

Damn Stanley's so stupid... I really hope Parson gets a way to free himself of his grasp and kick him in the boop.

Ansom's so screwed... I wonder what Parson will do on his next turn. Attack Ansom, or go for the siege again. Or both? Probably Ansom but since we don't have the big picture it's hard to tell.

[Mr. Dragon]

I know already I'll be ninja'ed countless times while I write this down, but this is how I see it developing:

Spoiler

Show

Vinny(Vinnie?) uses a good deal of bats do explore the area looking for the wounded dwagons' stack (so much places they can be, after all, and it is still Ansom's turn).

The wounded dwagons are found (major moment for lolerf: "Oh hi. Is is on a lake, deceiving ur scoutz" and "Oh noes, thei fundz us"), and Jillian is dispatched at once to distribute area-wide punishment in shape of stabbity death.

Here the plot forks: either we see that Wanda's grasp on Jillian's mind is strong, and the barbarian girl screws up the alliance turning on them (or something similar), and so the Alliance is in for a world of pain next turn, or the dwagons are fiercely pwned and the Tool is going to be really really pissed.

Moreover, I wouldn't be surprised at all if Ansom and Vinny took part in the uber-pwnage of the dwagons, occasion that could provide countless plot-hooks (from the golden classic "Jillian betrays Ansom and kills Vinny in the process", to any wild speculation we could ever conjure, hereto comprised Miko going Blackguard and/or Death Knight while disclosing what V's gender is and what the heck is the CitD supposed to be).

Edit 2/3: Besides, just to provide some evidence that the things I've said make any sense, I cannot help but notice that if Jillian can make it to the central hex without having to cross an hex full of B-dwagons (which I kind of think it was implied in Ansom's remark concerning the fact that she and her fliers could reach the center of the Donut of Doom), with one but move more exactly the same moves she could make it to the lake, no matter where she is now (because hexes are not an opinion ).

Edit 1: fw00t! I've not been ninja'ed ftw! Though I reckon a good deal of the things I've said had/may have already been said in the past few days/weeks. But still, no ninjas! Go Team Mr. Dragon!

[Airshark]

I sure hope Parson has something big planned, because his tactics are needlessly complex. He could simply have stacked all his dwagons, wounded and otherwise, over that lake hex. Next turn, he could strike the siege again with impunity.

And Ansom does have reinforcements. He has Jillian and the Archons. I gather that Parson's plan is to smash Ansom's force next turn. Given that, it's obvious to me what Ansom's best move is: he attacks one of the two 4-dwagon stacks adjacent to him, and flies Jillian and the Archons into his stack to bolster the defense. Parson probably doesn't have the forces to guarantee victory against that force, at least not without very sizeable losses. So he'll hit the siege instead.

Which means that he'll kill all of Ansom's siege, but it will cost him seven dwagons, instead of zero. Very bad strategy, unless he's got some other trick up his sleeve.

[VariaVespasa]

Well he seems fairly proud of the "all alone, isolated, and with no hope of reinforcements" thing, so I'd have to think he's thinking bad thoughts about the forest units and as many warlords as dont have the moves to escape, although finishing the enemy seige remains a good and important option. But if he can finish the forest units and thus ensure the safety of future donuts I'd guess the seige, being slow-moving, will still be hittable the turn after this one. Perhaps he has the strength to hit both, although I'm having some doubts since thats at least 3 warlords in the Ansom stack at the moment, and a large enough force to take out 19 dwagons, even wounded ones. We'll see though. Maybe even tomorrow, with luck. :)

I wouldnt be surprised to see that Ansom and Vinnie have enough personal moves left to escape though, even if that means abandoning their troops. Wanda and Sizemore went to get the Perfect Warlord spell without troops so it seems that command units can move independantly without a troop escort if they want to. I give less for the elf warlords chances of escape though. He may be forced to sell himself and his stack as dearly as he can.

[ClericofPhwarrr]

I hate you.

SOOO much.

[Mr. Dragon]

Wanda and Sizemore went to get the Perfect Warlord spell without troops so it seems that command units can move independantly without a troop escort if they want to.

I agree with you, it would make loads of sense if the warlords had their own independent move score. Though, the time Wanda and the "turd guy" ( ) went to buy the spell, they used a kind of Teleport, so I don't know if your example fits. Plus, we were never told, nor I think we have proofs that hint us in that direction, that 'mancers (as Wanda and Sizemore are) count as warlords. Methinks that they don't have a leadership bonus, which I would say is peculiar to the warlords.

[Haruspex]

I wonder what happens if Ansom actually gets croaked? Does the attacking army automatically lose? Speaking of which, have we been told what Vinnie's rank is in relation to Jillian?

[zorac]

The attack has served its purpose and Parson doesn't need to hit the siege anymore, as long as he can capture the Arkenpliers. (If Tool attunes to them, presumably the balance of power shifts.)

Getting Ansom and/or Vinnie is a bonus. Especially since Ansom being captured sets Jillian up for such a nice crisis of conscience. (Rescuing Ansom from Wanda, plus the guilt of not being there to save the day.)

[Scientivore]

Woohoo! Since Parson has a nearly omniscient view there (at least with regard to unit stats), we now know:

• Ansom and Vinny were not just using the commanders' "our" on Page 56 when discussing how it would use up almost all of their move. They're booped.
• Parson appears to be planning on going for Ansom and pliers. However, he has such a roundabout way of explaining everything, he could just be leading up to point out that...
• The Alliance air force has to split between protecting the forest brigade and the siege units because the few that can reach the forest brigade will be needed to provide air cover for Ansom. So, although Parson doesn't know it...
• WebinDora is about to be majorly peeved by Ansom calling Jillian to his side. Again. As if she could still be trusted, after everything. Therefore...
• The siege units will not be protected by Jillian, her best gwiffons or the three Archons.

Plus, we were never told, nor I think we have proofs that hint us in that direction, that 'mancers (as Wanda and Sizemore are) count as warlords.

According to Klog #4, all warlords and casters can see unit stats. 'Mancers are not warlords but they're special like warlords.

[Lycar]

Hm... why waste a perfectly good trap ? After all, he could use the same tactic as with the siege train: Have his air force attack and kill off enemy units until they are low on hits, but before suffering any actual casualties, he just disengages.

That way Ansom's units would suffer appaling attrition at no cost to his Toolship whatsoever.

Except maybe the chance to lay waste to the entire siege units in one fell swoop.

Maybe the forest units aren't very important for the battle of Gobwin Knob eventually, but they are enemy units and if you get to whittle down enemy strength for no cost, it is a good thing to do this if you don't have better options.

And yes, with the fores units decimated, the fort-formation tactic remains viable. Now PArson could try to do hit-and-run guerilla attacks on Ansom's fliers.

If he would actually manage to leave the coalition air forces irrelevant eventually, he would practically have won by virtue of sheer airspace dominance.


Lycar

[Mr. Dragon]

According to Klog #4, all warlords and casters can see unit stats. 'Mancers are not warlords but they're special like warlords.

Jolly good point indeed. If they share this, it's extremely likely that they share the same rules for moving (only atop/with normal troops, or not), whatever these rules are.

[Capt'n Ironbrow]

About the Arkenpliers... Parson has the correct size to ply with them, rather than use it as a big bludgeoning weapon... What would the Tool do if he couldn't but Parson could attune to them? And why should the Tool carry/use all the tools himself, he only has 2 arms ;)

[VariaVespasa]

The attack has served its purpose and Parson doesn't need to hit the siege anymore, as long as he can capture the Arkenpliers. (If Tool attunes to them, presumably the balance of power shifts.)

Getting Ansom and/or Vinnie is a bonus. Especially since Ansom being captured sets Jillian up for such a nice crisis of conscience. (Rescuing Ansom from Wanda, plus the guilt of not being there to save the day.)

He still needs to kill the seige at some point to protect GK. Otherwise winning the pliers will be a phyric victory. It no good getting the pliers now just to lose them, the city and himself in a few turns. Stanley can fly out with the hammer, but Parson cant and he's gotta know that. So he must still win the overall fight, which includes waxing the seige.

[Pheldagriff]

I'm glad it slowed down again a bit

[Cruiser1]

I sure hope Parson has something big planned, because his tactics are needlessly complex. He could simply have stacked all his dwagons, wounded and otherwise, over that lake hex. Next turn, he could strike the siege again with impunity.

Parson's set up the forest ring back when he assumed that Ansom had Lookamancers too, and can see all units like he can. Once he realized Ansom has to physically scout, that changed everything and he could quickly change tactics and use the forest ring as a diversion.

[SteveD]

Well, I think its safe to assume that Jillian and the Archons are going to come to Ansoms rescue in some form?