Erfworld 66: page 60

[scotty new]

Wow, great strip! It feels good to see that Parsons potential is being recognized even though Stanely is already taking credit for his actions. At first I thought Parsons did this to leave the seige units unprotected for a final swipe but now i think he will attack Ansoms group. I dont see Ansom leaving the stack to save his own *boop* but Vinny might convince him to do otherwise. Alot of people have already mentioned that its to early for Ansom or Vinny to get croaked and I believe thats true. However I could see Ansom getting kidnapped. That would lead to a couple of interesting situations which have also been talked about by everyone and their mother. Who would take charge of Jetstone and would anyone in Stanely's camp become attuned to the pliers. I like someones observation that the pliers would be the appropriate size for Parsons. I wonder if thats just a coincidence. Also I wonder if he were to become attuned to an archen tool if it would some how relinquish the power that Stanely has over him( Personal opinion, Stanely is a huge *boop* bag.). I was re-reading the comic and noticed how Lord Manpower the temporary was in the field giving orders instead of safely inside gobwin knob like Parsons is doing. Why would he and the rest of the currently uncroaked warlords be out on the lines when they have the uncroaked for that. I understand that usually when a leader is out on the lines their soldiers respect them alot more but I dont think spidews give a boop who gives them a fighting bonus. Just my opinion

[Waldgeist]

I'm really looking forward to seeing the effect of dwaconic (?) fire on gumps and the forest around them... Maybe it will be sufficient just to burn the whole hex down. The Jetstone troops can't run from it anyway. According to the map in panel 4 Parson has nine red dwagons (6 A + 3 B). That will be some nice OMGWTFBBQ...

[Freerefill]

The "pincer" thing has come up a few times.. I'd like to comment on that.

I think there are two dynamics we have to be concerned with: the overworld dynamic and the battle dynamic. Similar in spirit to a random encounter, where there are certain rules governing what you do in one area as opposed to another. The overworld turns may exist, and move and all that matter, but what of the more particular battle dynamic? Very early on we see that the Marbits bought an extra squad of ax-men and were able to flank Lord Temporary's spidew army. This means that it's not a direct one-on-one style attack, like say in Advance Wars. Position and timing are crucial; it's not about sheer numbers and strength (further question: if this is so, where does Mathamancy fit in?). Thus, with Ansom in a pincer formation, yes, while on the overworld map this matters not, since both sides of the "pincer" will attack at once, but within the pinched hex, Ansom will have dwagons coming in at all sides and so he would have to split his forces up.

Ansom is now in a very bad position, and although I would love to think that Parson is gonna throw 43 fully-healed dwagons onto that one little forest hex and completely boop all of them and retrieve the Arkenpliers, that would be kind of a buzz-kill and wouldn't save the day; Parson would still have to defend Gobwin Knob. Attacking the forest hex would be interesting though, since we know Ansom isn't gonna surrender and leave his troops there but he also isn't going to let Stanley get the pliers.. He would definitely give the pliers to Vinny and have him flee. Of course, Ansom is too much of a character to croak. There's too much left to explore with him. If Parson does ravage the hex, does that mean he'd capture Ansom?

Spoiler

Show

"Nice dungeon, I like what you've done with the place. Though, once I take it over, I think it'll look better done up with some royal radishes."

I think there's more to it than this. Ansom's got some fliers on the way, no doubt. He'd have to in order to save his own boop, as well as Vinny's, Tarfu's, and all of those forest units. What does this mean for Parson? If he hits the rest of the siege, those dwagons are gonna be hurt and they won't make it back to Gobwin Knob in time, so Ansom's fliers can wipe them out. Unless, of course, Parson attacks the fliers when he attacks the siege. That would be very entertaining from his standpoint, forcing Ansom and Vinny to stand by and watch as their fliers get decimated, Jillian possibly re-captured, the Archons croaked, and the remainder of the columns siege gone.. but that would leave all the dwagons injured, and on Ansom's next turn, he could quite possibly croak them all. What it seems to boil down to is this:

Parson has three targets:
1: The remaining 60% of the siege towers. Once gone, it's a hit-and-run game, knocking out the remainder of the column before it gets to Gobwin Knob.
2: Ansom. Very nice target, albeit heavily defended. Ansom is the moral leader of the coalition and if he's gone the alliance will be severely weakened. Also he has the Arkenpliers, capturing them would add a whole new dimension to Parson's plan.
3: Fliers. Where are they? Close enough to get near the dwagons, so the dwagons are close enough to get to them. With the fliers gone, Parson has air superiority, a very exploitable strength.

Parson can obliterate any one of these three targets with his remaining dwagons and have some left over. It's hard to imagine, though, that he'd go with something so basic like an all-out assault, since he would lose valuable units no matter what.

He has enough dwagons to split them up and take out two targets, with losses of course. Those options:
A: 1 and 2, siege and Ansom. Bad idea, since it leaves him open to Ansom's fliers on their next turn.
B: 1 and 3, siege and fliers. Good idea, since Ansom is stuck in the forest and moving in the forest will suck his move up. A dwagons can hit again same way and return to the safety of the lake, B dwagons can skedaddle and hit the fliers. Ansom is too far away to protect them, and it would give Parson air superiority.
C: 2 and 3, Ansom and fliers. Very good idea, assuming there's enough dwagons to take out such heavy forces. B dwagons go and take out Jillian and the Archons, A dwagons do the same swap sort of deal and whittle away Ansom until they destroy all the forest units and take the Arkenpliers. Then the dwagons can just hang out anywhere, safe from forest units and flying units, and hit the siege the same way on the next turn.

I don't think Parson has enough to split his forces three ways and take out all at once. That, though, is only because I don't know the full strength of Ansom's fliers and/or how many are where. It wouldn't take much to croak the gwiffons and re-capture Jillian, but that plan is far-fetched given the unknown attributes of the Archons (though, the way Jillian treated them, I'd imagine they aren't particularly a threat). If only a few dwagons would suffice to take Jillian, the rest of Ansom's fliers are too far away to be of help, fewer A dwagons are needed to take out the remainder of the siege (higher move, more health) and the remainder of the dwagons are enough to take out Ansom.. Parson could have this entire battle won on his next turn.

Finally, I'd like to join the club that loves Ansom's expression on that last panel.. someone should make a lolerf with that.

[ChowGuy]

I was re-reading the comic and noticed how Lord Manpower the temporary was in the field giving orders instead of safely inside gobwin knob like Parsons is doing. Why would he and the rest of the currently uncroaked warlords be out on the lines when they have the uncroaked for that. I understand that usually when a leader is out on the lines their soldiers respect them alot more but I dont think spidews give a boop who gives them a fighting bonus. Just my opinion

Because that's where Stanley expects his Warlords to be. Tactics and strategy aren't big with him; all he's concerned with is appearance. It's not so even much for his own troops benefit, as to impress the enemy. He tells Wanda "So? Pick the most handsome and dashing one left and make him a Warlord." And later, even after she's convinced him to spend the Schmuckers on "A strategy genius, not an ornament." he still wants first of all "...a guy who'll shock and awe them just standing on the city walls, commanding the fight."

[scotty new]

Good point, That supports my " Stanely is a *boop* bag " case.

[ChowGuy]

If he hits the rest of the siege, those dwagons are gonna be hurt and they won't make it back to Gobwin Knob in time, so Ansom's fliers can wipe them out.

Unlikely that they can't do both since the original plan states "Dwagons can reach capital next turn, so we hit the siege surically and bring them home."

Fliers. Where are they? Close enough to get near the dwagons, so the dwagons are close enough to get to them. With the fliers gone, Parson has air superiority, a very exploitable strength.

Actually only a few fliers are presently "close enough to get near the Dwagons" (or even to give air cover to the column). But as we know most if not all the Dwagons have greater move then even Jillian's "top Gwiffons" (56 vs 44 is a big margin) it's probably a moot point. Again though, not a likely target, or he would have noted that in the original plan.

Ansom. Very nice target, albeit heavily defended. Ansom is the moral leader of the coalition and if he's gone the alliance will be severely weakened. Also he has the Arkenpliers, capturing them would add a whole new dimension to Parson's plan.

Very possible. And given we know the Dwagons can attack and move on within a turn, close enough that hitting them enroute to the seige, thus taking out both without splitting forces, may be an option if they can do so with sufficient reserve strength to finish the job.

[Chewy]

The "pincer" thing has come up a few times.. I'd like to comment on that.

I think there are two dynamics we have to be concerned with: the overworld dynamic and the battle dynamic. Similar in spirit to a random encounter, where there are certain rules governing what you do in one area as opposed to another. The overworld turns may exist, and move and all that matter, but what of the more particular battle dynamic? Very early on we see that the Marbits bought an extra squad of ax-men and were able to flank Lord Temporary's spidew army. This means that it's not a direct one-on-one style attack, like say in Advance Wars. Position and timing are crucial; it's not about sheer numbers and strength (further question: if this is so, where does Mathamancy fit in?). Thus, with Ansom in a pincer formation, yes, while on the overworld map this matters not, since both sides of the "pincer" will attack at once, but within the pinched hex, Ansom will have dwagons coming in at all sides and so he would have to split his forces up.

I believe your going to have to reread the first comic. It states

And so the Marbits could afford one extra sqaud of axemen

*Edit how do you use the box spoiler tags? I can seem to only get this scratch one.

Nowhere in the comic was it stated that the axemen was brought in after the initial 2 stacks were already engaged. So it cannot be assumed that the flank was done in the overworld map and instead the Marbits managed to flank Manpower in the tactical map with the axemen positioned with the initial stack. If you also look closely at the second to last panel you can see that the Marbit Axemen is actually the left arm of the main army as you can see the center arm near the top.

To further rienforce this point why did Ansom not flank the dragons then? If there was this battle element of attacking with 2 or more stacks simultaneously Ansom should have also employed this agianst the 3 dragons, however he did not which further proves that this battle element does not exist or is not actually employed as coventional tactics of the Erfworld. The latter is highly unlikely as shown by the Marbits that the warlods of Erfworld do know the value of flanking also by the fact that Stanley knew what the word pincer meant without needing Parson to explain the word.

So I ask agian what tactical value does this pincer movement even give? The comic has shown no tactical use of this trap other then to lure Ansom away from the main column.

[Surfing HalfOrc]

Also to metagame or metastrip this story, only if Ansom wins the siege of Gobwin Knob does the story end right now! Ansom has a few key things going for him that would let him win in the next few moves, and Parson is diligently getting rid of them.

Ansom's siege towers directly threaten Gobwin Knob, since they can lob hate and discontent OVER the walls, and cause destruction from outside of the walls. The ORLYs and Jillian's Top Gwiffins would be outmatched in a stand up fight against Stanley's dwagons, and the rest of the troops would run into the wall. With no Redcloak and his trusty Titanium Elementals, it doesn't seem as if Ansom can penetrate the walls directly.

Which means Ansom has to drive his Marbits under the walls, and into the teeth (literally!) of Stanley's gobwins. A very bloody battle, one I'm sure Ansom or any other commander would prefer to avoid. In real world terms, it's a lot of dead troops, in game terms its a lot of victory points.

But if Parson is able to eliminate the siege equipment, he will take the game/war to stalemate. Taking down Ansom and/or Vinny? Might be enough to drive the Coalition back a ways, and give Stanley the breathing room he needs to move out and begin recapturing the cities he has lost. Or sue for peace with King Stately. (BTW, what strip mentions King Stately by name? I only know of the King from reading the Wikipedia article.)

Parson has his own concerns. Stay, and become the greatest warlord of all time, but have to remain subserviant to Stanley, or find a way back to his own world and his wonderful job at Kinkos. Two really crappy choices.

[ChowGuy]

If he hits the rest of the siege, those dwagons are gonna be hurt and they won't make it back to Gobwin Knob in time, so Ansom's fliers can wipe them out.

Unlikely that they can't do both since the original plan states "Dwagons can reach capital next turn, so we hit the siege surically and bring them home."

Fliers. Where are they? Close enough to get near the dwagons, so the dwagons are close enough to get to them. With the fliers gone, Parson has air superiority, a very exploitable strength.

Actually only a few fliers are presently "close enough to get near the Dwagons" but we know most if not all the Dwagons have greater move then even Jillians "top Gfiffons" (56 vs 44 is a big margin) it's probably a moot point. Again though, not a likely target, or he would have noted that in the original plan.

Ansom. Very nice target, albeit heavily defended. Ansom is the moral leader of the coalition and if he's gone the alliance will be severely weakened. Also he has the Arkenpliers, capturing them would add a whole new dimension to Parson's plan.

Very possible. And given we know the Dwagons can attack and move on within a turn, close enough that hitting them enroute to the seige, thus taking out both without splitting forces, may be an option if they can do so with sufficient reserve strength to finish the job.

To further rienforce this point why did Ansom not flank the dragons then?

Not an option. The point of a flanking movement is to bypass the front and attack across the short end and therefore weaker side of a line of battle. The point of a pincer movement is to attack from opposite sides, preferably cutting off a salient and giving an enemy no place to retreat. That's why, I'm sure, Parson says he'd hoped Ansom would rush into the center hex. Because the Dwagons were formed up in a ring however, neither of those possibilities however were really open to Ansom. At best he could attack the weaker hex on a broad front, and we don't know that he did not in fact do so. He could not however go around to attack from behind, as that's the hex he was attempting to get at.

Parson has his own concerns. Stay, and become the greatest warlord of all time, but have to remain subserviant to Stanley, or find a way back to his own world and his wonderful job at Kinkos. Two really crappy choices.

Or (3) Croak Stanley and become Overlord in his own right. Hey, Stanley became Overlord by regicide (sorta), why couldn't Parson with perhaps a bit of help from Wanda?


Edit: bad cut-and-paste

[Sky_Schemer]

What inaccuracy are you referring to? I only recall them being educational.

Not so much "inaccurate" as "incomplete".

[Zeku]

This has been covered and it's very simple, there's no need for these long drawn out observations.

All dragons must go home, no losses are acceptable.

The B dragons have only enough move to make it back to GK. They are the only ones who can attack Ansom, and we don't know if they will or not.

The A dragons have enough move to attack siege and make it back to GK. Siege is the only viable target for them. All of the siege must be destroyed this turn. This is because the idea that dragons may actually withdraw from battles is brand new intelligence for Ansom, and will force him to do what is (now) obvious, which is keep his own fliers close to the siege, and the siege units surrounded by friendlies. Since this is what Ansom will do, no more hit and run siege hits will be possible.

[Chewy]

Unlikely that they can't do both since the original plan

Not an option. The point of a flanking movement is to bypass the front and attack across the short end and therefore weaker side of a line of battle. The point of a pincer movement is to attack from opposite sides, preferably cutting off a salient and giving an enemy no place to retreat. That's why, I'm sure, Parson says he'd hoped Ansom would rush into the center hex. Because the Dwagons were formed up in a ring however, neither of those possibilities however were really open to Ansom. At best he could attack the weaker hex on a broad front, and we don't know that he did not in fact do so. He could not however go around to attack from behind, as that's the hex he was attempting to get at.

First off in hexbased games flanking does not mean attacking a weaker end. Thats mainly in RTS games. In hex turn based games flanking allows MORE units onto the field at one time. For example if i form a double line of 8 units I'll have 4 in front and 4 in back. With this formation assuming the enemy employs the same tactic I will only be able to bring 4 units into the battle at any given moment (just assume no tactical movement is involved). Now if try to flank and have some sort of V formation like this \_/ with 2 on each end and 4 in the center i can bring 6 units to attack the front line of the enemy and 2 units to attack the rear end of his formation while he will only have 4 units agianst my frontline and 2 units agianst my rear flankers. With this i now have all 8 of my units engaged and advantage in the front lines while he only has 6 units total engaged (agian assume that no one ever moves out of formation).

Granted its not a genuine pincer attack, but Ansom could have attacked with a broad front and easily caused a pincer oppurtunity by attacking fom the 3 adjacent hexes which would allow at least one arm of his forest units to fold into the backside of the dragons (BTW does flank damage even exist? I don't believe flank damage exists in turnbased games). Instead he opted to form a maximized stack and hit the dragons head on. Which leads me to believe that multiple stacks attacking at once does not exist as an option. That or the author booped up .

About the ring I believe that it doesen't REALLY matter if ansom charged into the ring or not. Parson can easily create full circle to encircle Parson easily and attack from all sides IF this tactic exists.

[darkgolem]

Actually, my predictions are as such, spoilered out of respect of those who would rather guess (not that I am necessarily going to be correct).

Spoiler

Show

If you recall, warlords in the attack upon the column were switching out mounts, riding one stack into combat, then retreating to the other dragons, the wounded ones retreating (without a warlord) to the lake, while the fresh dragons went back into the fray.

It appears warlords by themselves have a LOT of move. That being the case, what if the reserve with Commander Zamussels flies to the hex, with Vinnie and Prince Ansom then joining the flying stack and flying to safety.

This leaves the troops who were with Vinnie and Ansom destroyed, the column hit, and the dragons retreating out of range, upon Stanley's turn.

One could say they were speaking previously being short on movement, but they could be referring to their troops, not themselves individually.

This has story elements which make sense too.

First, this eliminates Prince Ansom simply ordering whatsername to the column, preventing a definitive attack (later necessitating entering hte tunnels), unless Ansom retreats to the columns with the flying troops (possible).

Second, this prevents Prince Ansom and Vinnie from dying early, which would sort of ruin the story. However, I CAN see Vinnie staying behind, preventing the dragons from reaching Ansom by sacrificing himself.. which is a really great plot twist.

Just a thought.

[Chewy]

Actually, my predictions are as such, spoilered out of respect of those who would rather guess (not that I am necessarily going to be correct).

Spoiler

Show

If you recall, warlords in the attack upon the column were switching out mounts, riding one stack into combat, then retreating to the other dragons, the wounded ones retreating (without a warlord) to the lake, while the fresh dragons went back into the fray.

It appears warlords by themselves have a LOT of move. That being the case, what if the reserve with Commander Zamussels flies to the hex, with Vinnie and Prince Ansom then joining the flying stack and flying to safety.

This leaves the troops who were with Vinnie and Ansom destroyed, the column hit, and the dragons retreating out of range, upon Stanley's turn.

One could say they were speaking previously being short on movement, but they could be referring to their troops, not themselves individually.

Actually I think warlords have infinite moves and no moves at all. Meaning that they themselves are immobile, but can ride anything into battle or follow any stack into battle thus meaning they can move forever as long as the mount/stack itself has move. If you'll recall Jillian stated that her gryphon barely had 2 moves left. Even if she ran outta moves on the mount she could have easily walked her way to the main camp however she sounded worried about having so little moves. Which leads me to this theory.

[Surfing HalfOrc]

Or (3) Croak Stanley and become Overlord in his own right. Hey, Stanley became Overlord by regicide (sorta), why couldn't Parson with perhaps a bit of help from Wanda?


Edit: bad cut-and-paste

True, and Parson may well do just that. In time. But there is more to Parson than just a gamer geek. He's a long way from home, he may never get home, and he doesn't really have any friends in Erfworld. At least back home he had his gamer buddies.

Now he's in a strange place, being bossed around by a guy about the size of a four-year-old, and being asked to play a game, but with living pieces. Right now, it's just dwagons out there fighting, and the deaths he's causing are abstract. How will he react when he sees his first flame scorched corpse? How will he react if he has to send Wanda, or Sizemore, or even Bogroll out on a mission that could well get them killed?

Parson isn't a soldier, he just thinks like one. A really good one. But what happens when he realises that it's not really a game, and he's actually causing the deaths of other people, both enemies and allies?

Right now, he's running on adrenaline, excitement and novelty.

[Ubiq]

So I ask agian what tactical value does this pincer movement even give? The comic has shown no tactical use of this trap other then to lure Ansom away from the main column.

The actual goal wasn't a pincer movement; it was that Ansom would blunder into the center hex and be completely ringed by dwagons on Stanley's next turn when the warlord hex moves up from the lake. So he either had to try and fight his way back through a reinforced hex to get back to the column as quickly as possibly or try to flee the long way around. If it doesn't work, then he either has to hope that his forces can withstand 50+ dwagons or offer a deal.

As is, Ansom's in a pincer movement, which is still a pretty good situation for the Tool's forces. This way, Parson can either collapse the ring down into three hexes with warlord controlled stacks near Ansom or use a small portion of his move to surround him again while still retaining most of it to retreat if necessary.

After his movements are finished, he can order one hex to attack. If it's beaten back or croaked, the next hex goes and so on and so on until he either runs out of dwagons or Ansom and company are croaked. More than one hex may or may not be able to attack a single target simultaneously (though we know from Ansom's plans that more than one hex can attack at a time else the Marbit distraction can't occur while he attacks the city), but there's no reason at all that they can't attack sequentially and a pincer movement or encircling are the two best ways of arranging that.

[AgarwaenTheTire]

I think we have forgotten a possible twist.
The Woodsy Elves (and probably the Gumps) are merely allied with Ansom. They have their own skin to look after. Suppose Vinny and Ansom still have move to get back to a more defensible position (any place not a forest hex) and abandons them. Tarfu should dissolve the alliance with Ansom. If Parson could convince them to fight on his side they could be a valuable tool against Ansom's fliers.

[Chewy]

The actual goal wasn't a pincer movement; it was that Ansom would blunder into the center hex and be completely ringed by dwagons on Stanley's next turn when the warlord hex moves up from the lake. So he either had to try and fight his way back through a reinforced hex to get back to the column as quickly as possibly or try to flee the long way around. If it doesn't work, then he either has to hope that his forces can withstand 50+ dwagons or offer a deal.

Actually the goal is not to ring Ansom either. The goal was to lure Ansom far far far away from the main column to do w/e Parson plans to do.

As is, Ansom's in a pincer movement, which is still a pretty good situation for the Tool's forces. This way, Parson can either collapse the ring down into three hexes with warlord controlled stacks near Ansom or use a small portion of his move to surround him again while still retaining most of it to retreat if necessary.

After his movements are finished, he can order one hex to attack. If it's beaten back or croaked, the next hex goes and so on and so on until he either runs out of dwagons or Ansom and company are croaked. More than one hex may or may not be able to attack a single target simultaneously (though we know from Ansom's plans that more than one hex can attack at a time else the Marbit distraction can't occur while he attacks the city), but there's no reason at all that they can't attack sequentially and a pincer movement or encircling are the two best ways of arranging that.

WHY would you attack sequentially? Just WHY? Parson's (or Stanley's however you want to see them) dragons are a mere 2-3 hexes away which is probally 2 moves and attacking probally also takes one move which explains the massive amount of battles Parson was able to do. So unless you can simultaneously attack at once theres no reason to attack sequentially at ALL since it would cost like 3-4 moves tops to attack Ansom with a maxium dragon stack. A split up stack is a weakened stack. Comic 57 is the perfect example of why sequential attacks are stupid in turn games.

[AngryAngel]

1: The remaining 60% of the siege towers. Once gone, it's a hit-and-run game, knocking out the remainder of the column before it gets to Gobwin Knob.

Actually, with the seige gone, the Coalition's Chief Warlord (Ansom or his successor) would have no real alternative but to order a retreat. Without the seige train, the rest of the army has no chance of taking Gobwin Knob, so it is far wiser to preserve them to fight again another day.

Most of the discussion so far has overlooked the strategic situation. Units are produced in cities, and Stanley has one city under his control, as opposed to eleven. Right now, his army in the field is all he's got, and he can't replace his losses (which is why the loss of even one dwagon upsets him).

The Coalition, on the other hand, has its own cities, plus the ten it took from Stanley. If the Coalition was roughly equal to Stanley at the beginning of the war, they may have as many as twenty cities. That's a huge advantage for them, one that Parson and Stanley have to do something about.

My take is that Parson should destroy the remaining seige. Killing or capturing Ansom would be a bonus, as would annihilating the Coalition army, but only if it can be done at reasonable cost. If not, he should let them retreat (with a prudently pressed pursuit to get them to move as far away as possible). Then he can turn his attention to retaking cities.

Just my two cents.

[gatitcz]

Interesting refinement of the "unused move disappears at the end of turn." Apparently, even clumsy fliers like dwagons can circle freely over inaccessable terrain such as heavy forest or a large lake even without any remaining move--making them rather formidable defensively in a system where units heal fully every turn. From my experience, that's an unusual rule mechanic for flying units in either tabletop or computer wargames--usually a unit that is "out of gas" must land voluntarily or be destroyed when it lands involuntarily.

Move has always seemed to refer to movement between hexes. A way of simulating time&speed/stamina distance rules in a turn-based system without enforcing actual stamina rules.

[BarGamer]

If AngryAngel's right, then we've got 20 more city's worth of strips, each one chock-full of strategic and pop-culture goodness. XD

Now if you'll excuse me, I just had an evilgasm. o_o;

[Rocheforte]

You missed a word: known. As in "Huh. There are four known Arkentools?" Which, combined with the demonstrated imperfections of Stupid Meal info and the Literary Axiom of Checkov's Gun, in turn suggests (a) all four known Arkentools will be identified by the end of Chapter II and (b) tangible evidence of additional Arkentools will be given by the end of Chapter III.

And you've also missed a word: MacGuffin. The Arkentools have given us a reason for the war to exist. They have served their function. All the rest is special effects, or that's no Macguffin.

[Lamech]

One point that I don't think anyone has brought up is that Stanly or Parson might be able to uncroak the woodsy elves and Amson and possibly Vinny. If thats possible losing even several dwagons could worth it for the troops that could be gained.

[Webtron]

you studied that to the specific detail?

[ChowGuy]

Actually, with the seige gone, the Coalition's Chief Warlord (Ansom or his successor) would have no real alternative but to order a retreat. Without the seige train, the rest of the army has no chance of taking Gobwin Knob, so it is far wiser to preserve them to fight again another day.

They have a chance, it's just much harder since they have to fight their way in through the tunnels. Ansom was already planning a feint there anyway, but both he and Parson (thanks to "Prisoner") know that he has that as a fall back plan. Sizemore's been working on the defenses, but I expect that's going to be the next place the "Perfect Warlord" ... err, I mean Stanley the Tool ... needs to turn his attention.

[Cpt. Sqweky]

Vinnie is not a named character, therefore he is more expendable.

Sorry, but that's faulty logic. Following that line of reasoning, Parson is also more expendable than Sizemore. Even bogroll is more important and less expendable than Parson. But unless we are being fooled ginormous time, Parson is quite obviously the most important and least expendable character in the comic.
Just because Vinny isn't in the cast of characters page doesn't mean anything.

[factotum]

But as we know most if not all the Dwagons have greater move then even Jillian's "top Gwiffons" (56 vs 44 is a big margin) it's probably a moot point.

Just to correct you on that, it's the Orlies that Jillian brought with her who had the 44 move--her gwiffon had 52.

[Scientivore]

*Edit how do you use the box spoiler tags? I can seem to only get this scratch one.

Type out spoiler in square brackets, like so:

[spoiler]This would end up spoilerized if it weren't in html tags.[/spoiler]

Actually I think warlords have infinite moves and no moves at all. Meaning that they themselves are immobile, but can ride anything into battle or follow any stack into battle thus meaning they can move forever as long as the mount/stack itself has move. If you'll recall Jillian stated that her gryphon barely had 2 moves left. Even if she ran outta moves on the mount she could have easily walked her way to the main camp however she sounded worried about having so little moves. Which leads me to this theory.

In fantasy TBS games where some combat units can use some other combat units as mounts, my favorite implementation is where riding a mount also uses up the rider's move the same as if they were moving on foot. Once they reach zero, that just prevents them from moving on foot; they can still ride mounts indefinitely as long as the mounts have move. So, you can set up Pony Express situations like Parson did with swapping dwagons in and out. It's conceptually quirky because a warlord who walks to a waiting mount can use the mount's full move but a warlord who starts with a mount and then uses its full move can't walk away from it. However, because of the opportunity costs involved in having mounts staged and waiting, it's typically well-balanced in practice.

[djharr]

Never mind, darkgolem explained it better than I could, anyway.

David

[AgarwaenTheTire]

Something that could explain the gamble for Ansom is this line from Klog #4:
"As Chief Warlord my leadership bonus applies to all units OF my capital, ..."
If Ansom's bonuses are being applied to most of his troops, even if say Webinar immediately takes command, then croaking Ansom could be a massive gain for Parson.