Erfworld 71, page 65

[SteveMB]

Given Jillian's penchant for running into fights, disobeying Ansom's commands, and reckless disregard for her allies... do you really think any sort of stealth or subterfuge would help?

It's like putting a sponge on a 25-pound sledgehammer to make it more stealthy.

The theory that the Archons specialize in subterfuge is based on the fact that Ansom apparently hired them ("Somebody get me Charlie.") after Webinar's group discovered Jillian's hat and sword, but before Jillian herself turned up. At the time, he was presumably thinking of sending a rescue force in after her. By the time the Archons actually arrived, Jillian had been found, so that was no longer an issue. Presumably, Ansom had already paid for their services (and I rather doubt that Charlie gives refunds), so he gave them the most useful mission he could.

On a meta level, this is supported by the fact that the Archons are clearly a reference to Charlie's Angels, who were inflitrators and investigators rather than combat monsters (they could fight well, but that wasn't their primary ability).

That said, how much the Archon's abilities (whatever they are, exactly) help in the current situation remains to be seen. If they are focused on stealth or subterfuge, they might be useful for selectively taking out the uncroaked warlords.

[sihnfahl]

That said, how much the Archon's abilities (whatever they are, exactly) help in the current situation remains to be seen. If they are focused on stealth or subterfuge, they might be useful for selectively taking out the uncroaked warlords.

Well, apparently Ansom has enough of a high opinion of the Archons.

Unless he's an idiot, he would come to the conclusion a hunt might result in all of the units in Jillian's stack except for the five gwyphons, Jillian and the archons running out of move, leaving 9 units to face down 19 dwagons and 3 warlords.

And he has enough opinion of those archons and Jillian that those 9 have enough power to actually stand a good enough chance of succeeding to send them out. If there was no chance of success, he'd not have tried.

[Arkenputtyknife]

I don't think the casters count as warlords, do they?

No, they don't. See page 2: “…Stanley's last Warlord…”.

But I had forgotten about the line-up of five. Where are the other two?

[Halfpunch]

Well, apparently Ansom has enough of a high opinion of the Archons.

Unless he's an idiot, he would come to the conclusion a hunt might result in all of the units in Jillian's stack except for the five gwyphons, Jillian and the archons running out of move, leaving 9 units to face down 19 dwagons and 3 warlords.

And he has enough opinion of those archons and Jillian that those 9 have enough power to actually stand a good enough chance of succeeding to send them out. If there was no chance of success, he'd not have tried.

The main fault here is that Ansom also had to assume Webinar and Dora would be included in the Hunt. Their bonuses were surely weighed into any combat calculations Ansom ran in his head. Even if their bonuses aren't that spectacular they are reliable and would be able to give the Archons orders in the event that Jillian is croaked/captured (the latter being a very real and documented possibility).

I'm of the opinion that the Archons will not continue the mission if Jillian is incapacitated. At the very least they would have to contact Ansom for new orders. Even if they do continue the fight without Jillian, they are now missing out on the large bonus she gave.

Everything hangs on the most unstable person in the field right now regardless of what actions the Hunters take.

[WarforgedGoblin]

No, they don't. See page 2: “…Stanley's last Warlord…”.

But I had forgotten about the line-up of five. Where are the other two?

We know that there are at least three warlords in the lake stack. Ansom knows that 3 warlords have been attacking his siege, and they're more than likely wounded. What if Parson has the other 2 warlords in there with them, just in case? Or, what if he swapped the wounded warlords for the 2 fresh ones? In 66, he says the wounded dwags are over the lake, not the warlords. If I were him, I'd stick the fresh warlords there as "Oh boop" insurance.

[DeathQuaker]

Erm,... no? We are now at page 65 (not counting Klogs) so 2/3 to 3/4 of the way through. That still leaves the settlement of the current situation, then a wrap-up. I frankly don't see it going into another full turn, much less an extended battle - siege, tunnel, or otherwise.

Ah, point taken; we are fairly far in, more than I realized.

Regardless, my original point was this: it ain't over till it's over, so I advised (the other poster) not jumping to conclusions at this point. I think I can safely say that still stands.

More like "Makes irrelevant."

Semantics. I think we're all on the same page now at any rate.

[Surfing HalfOrc]

The theory that the Archons specialize in subterfuge is based on the fact that Ansom apparently hired them ("Somebody get me Charlie.") after Webinar's group discovered Jillian's hat and sword, but before Jillian herself turned up. At the time, he was presumably thinking of sending a rescue force in after her. By the time the Archons actually arrived, Jillian had been found, so that was no longer an issue. Presumably, Ansom had already paid for their services (and I rather doubt that Charlie gives refunds), so he gave them the most useful mission he could.

On a meta level, this is supported by the fact that the Archons are clearly a reference to Charlie's Angels, who were inflitrators and investigators rather than combat monsters (they could fight well, but that wasn't their primary ability).

That said, how much the Archon's abilities (whatever they are, exactly) help in the current situation remains to be seen. If they are focused on stealth or subterfuge, they might be useful for selectively taking out the uncroaked warlords.

This is why I was so convinced that "The Hunt" meant an "Ender's Game" type move against Stanley at Gobwin's Knob. As it is right now, Options 2 and 3 are for all intents and purposes identical. Jillian was clearly flying to the rescue, and only the fact that Jillian and the Archons have stumbled upon the dwagons keeps her team from executing Option 2.

[Smiley_]

Let's see what we can make out from the situation at hand.

Jillian and friends are 1 hex away from the dwagons and over the lake. That means that they are on one of the two lake hexes to the left of the hexes seen on page 60.

All but one of the gwiffons has at least 7 move left, that being the number of move required to grab Ansom and go straight through the strong 6 dwagon hex and make it to the main army.

That amount of move, however, is enough to grab the warlords, sit them on gwiffons, and attack the wounded dwagons, as seen on page 60.

If three archons, four gwiffons(or five gwiffons if you can leave one next to the dwagon hex and pick it up again) Vinny, Ansom, Tarfu, and Jillian did attack, being all forces that could make it, they would probably croak the three warlords and the 19 wounded dwagons, but be damaged in the process.

If they did attack the wounded dwagons, the rest of the dwagons would heal at the start of the turn and be able to attack the probably wounded warlord/archon/gwiffon stack, most likely croak them, and take the arkenpliers anyways.

It may be that Ansom does not know how many or how wounded the dwagons are, and sending Jillian was another desperate attempt to save the siege. The fact that there are 19 dwagons right in front of Jillian and friends, wounded or no, might prove a problem.

Not making any predictions though.

[SteveMB]

This is why I was so convinced that "The Hunt" meant an "Ender's Game" type move against Stanley at Gobwin's Knob. As it is right now, Options 2 and 3 are for all intents and purposes identical. Jillian was clearly flying to the rescue, and only the fact that Jillian and the Archons have stumbled upon the dwagons keeps her team from executing Option 2.

Hmmm... if Jillian does bypass the dwagons, Ansom will find out that she discovered them (unless she silences the Archons somehow). His likely next move is to order the group (the original squadron, plus himself, Vinny, and Tarfu) to return to the site and fight them (both the wounded dwagons and the column are three hexes from his current position in the middle of the donut).

Perhaps Jillian will try to take out the wounded dwagons with the forces she has to prevent that.

[Halfpunch]

I love that so much now rides on interpersonal realtionships and not pure battle tactics. Bringing that up makes me wonder something, though:

Does Webinar still have the hat?

We haven't seen it since he swiped it from Jillian, and she's not wearing it in this comic. Web/Dora only went on a 2-hex-out-2-hex-back scouting mission, expecting to return to fresh mounts. What kind of arkenwrench will this throw in the geaws if they return to find Jillian gone and send Ansom a hat-o-gram along the lines of "Jillian is a traitor, has deserted stack with Archons in tow"?

If the hat is back at camp this isn't relevant, but seeing as it's Ansom's main communication channel from Jillian (leader of his air corps and primary love interest)I would assume he brought it with him...

[SteveMB]

If the hat is back at camp this isn't relevant, but seeing as it's Ansom's main communication channel from Jillian (leader of his air corps and primary love interest)I would assume he brought it with him...

Vinny's been wearing it.

[Halfpunch]

Vinny's been wearing it.

Oh yeah...I guess it has been on Vinny's head for MOST of the series including this strip...right in front of my face

So if Webinar turns out to have the counterpart, the "stunningly dysfunctional group dynamic" could get further exacerbated prior to the end of the turn

[ryos]

Couple more possibilities:

If the Archons can't see unit points (very possible), Jillian could claim the wounded dwagons aren't actually that wounded and are too strong to attack. As the only source of intel on the matter, she would probably be believed.

As another possibility, if Ansom goes to fight the dwagons, he may have the pliers knocked out of his hands and into the lake. Stanley could then send an uncroaked warlord on a salvage dive (assuming uncroaked are able to touch the things without turning to dust). This may keep the Tool happy even if all of the dwagons are lost.

[angra]

Does Jetstone know that Stanely is after the pliers? If not....

If the archons and/or Ansom convince Jillian that she should attack the dwagons, the logical thing to do, I'd think (move permitting...I think that it is) is to go pick up Tarfu Ansom and Vinny, then hit the dwagons over the lake. I don't see a benefit to (to team radish) for leaving the three out of the fight. With 4 warlords, 5 peeps 3 archons and arkenpliers, they should beat 19 wounded dwagons plus 3 uncroaked warlords., but then be stuck out over the lake, but so what. Without the warlords, team Tool can't destroy the remaining siege units, and the city should still fall.

At this point, there is no choice left for Stanely between finishing off the siege and going for the pliers. Stanley is so annoyed over the loss of 22 dwagons previous turn that he sends Parson to the battle. With 27 full strength dwagons plus whatever other warlords go with Parson, they may well beat the jetstone units. Since Parson's been sent out to die, he's in position to get the pliers...which then attune to him (sure, why not?) and he is then able to do whatever to save the city....

all in about 30-40 pages.

[Querzis]

Who says units retreat without leadership. In fact at the start of this turn we had six stacks of dwagons siting without warlords that had not retreated. and he has approximately 200 living troops... big difference.

Its the opposite, its not that I think they retreat without leadership, its that we KNOW they never retreat without leadership! http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0044.html Dragons without the 3 warlords would just autoattack the column until they are wiped out, they cant do the hit-and-run, and they cant attack Ansom group once Jillian joined them because it would be even odds (actually without the 3 warlords bonus Ansom group will probably have the advantage) so they really just need to take care of those 3 warlords and thats it.

[Freederick]

I love that so much now rides on interpersonal realtionships and not pure battle tactics. Bringing that up makes me wonder something, though:

Does Webinar still have the hat? What kind of arkenwrench will this throw in the geaws if they return to find Jillian gone and send Ansom a hat-o-gram along the lines of "Jillian is a traitor, has deserted stack with Archons in tow"?

Heh. That's a good one.

Speaking of dysfunctional group dynamics: What if Stanley goes off the deep end, having seen the failure of both Parson's plan and Wanda's magic, and then...

Spoiler

Show

One of them (probably Wanda) croaks Stanley on the spot in self-defense. This is entirely possible--after all, Ansom has hinted that Stanley came to power by regicide, as well. Then we would have Parson working under Wanda--a situation which might prove to be worse than slaving for Stanley, given her ruthlessness.

[ShiningTed]

Sorry to be pedantic, but its not that the dwagons can't be controlled and will auto-attack on their turn (they won't) its just that they can't strike an enemy stack surgically then retreat: so if each seige unit has 7 archers stacked with it, the dwagon will have to stay and kill everything before it can move on. The dwagons wouldn't be able to take down all the seige in those circumstances, and a few lucky rolls by the defenders could see dwagon casualties mount pretty quickly. I think Parson would have to stack the dwagons, hit a couple of seige stacks then bring them home (if he continues with the anti siege plan. And if Tool hasn't disbanded him. And if all the other 'and ifs' lead the comic in this direction).

[Chewy]

Actually, I am.

Given that the Archons are units of still-unknown capabilities, you don't know THEY don't have an AOE of some sort or a counter to a dwagon's attacks. There's a reason why Ansom hired them, knowing dwagons are out there...

Oh, and... maybe you should also take into considerationthis, this and this.

They don't always show the full details of what occurred - only the highlights that are plot-relevant.

In any of the battles shown not a single combat spell was ever shown. It makes me beleive that there is no combat spells. Even breath attacks which is considered aoe in many TBS games were illustrated have been illustrated as single target attacks. Thats why I'm factoring it out. Also i factored out a lotta things which were actually beneficial to the dragons and i still see Jillian getting croaked. Unless spells are present there is no way Jillian can win tactically.

[Scientivore]

Ah...no one from the incursion force has physically reached the column yet, that we know of. Jillian was going to ride straight to Ansom's side, but first WebinDora and then Ansom prevented her. Vinnie's been wearing a different hat -- presumably the one that Ansom used to receive messages. The abjuration-only hat is still somewhere, with somebody, but we don't know who. It must be in someone's hammerspace. Since Ansom left Jillian in command, I can't see her passing up an opportunity to boss WebinDora around and make them give her the hat back. So, I expect that it's in Jillian's hammerspace.

[SteveMB]

The abjuration-only hat is still somewhere, with somebody, but we don't know who. It must be in someone's hammerspace. Since Ansom left Jillian in command, I can't see her passing up an opportunity to boss WebinDora around and make them give her the hat back. So, I expect that it's in Jillian's hammerspace.

That assumes that she wants it. Not having the hat gives her one more excuse (it's not worth another "nominal" Thinkagram fee) to avoid communicating with Ansom until her arrival back at his side is a fait accompli.

EDIT: OTOH, she might take it just to keep Webinar and Dora from using it. Carrying it out of sight (and out of mind) would serve both purposes.


(A side note: Your credit banner is slightly over the new limit for in-sigline images (including spoilered). The one I've worked up (see below) is compliant, or you might be able to shave yours down to 468 pixels wide. The rule change doesn't affect in-post images, so it's still OK for a header post on an image thread.

Animated avatars are also out -- ah, well, Jillian would rather be flying than writing reports. )

[Arameus]

This is an A+ strip.

We have it all in this one, both meta and basic issues. As many suspected, the wounded dwagons have indeed been found, tipping the balance back towards Team Good, and although the possibility of Jillian deviating is significantly lower now, we now can ponder not only the slender options she has left, but also must now consider her dynamic with the group in light of the Archons' knowledge of her ensorcellment.

Another issue we are left to ponder is whether or not the Dwagon/Warlord stack is as indefensible as we may have been led to believe; it is doubtful that Parson has revealed his whole plan, and I can't really believe he wouldn't have had a Plan B. After all, pulling even a few fresh dwagons from the Fortress for the wounded's protection wouldn't have compromised the integrity of the illusion, nor would it have made attacking the weakest hex as Ansom did any less likely.

Planning and tactics, while very important still, seem as though they may take backseat to combat in the immediate strips; the battle against the wounded dwagons seems inevitable, and it won't be an easy fight.

We have also been granted some good character development. Jillian so far has been a very dynamic character, and a very well-done character as well. The newest inklings her dialogue gives us are welcome, as is the insight into Ansom's character. These insights may silence a bit of the debate over whether or not Ansom is as good as some might think, but evidence continues to mount that he truly is a Hero in the Greek style: flawed, perhaps even crtitically so, but heroic indeed.

The only regret I have after reading this strip is that now I must wait for the next one. Darn.

[darkgolem]

It will either be a phyrric win for Parson/Stanley or a decisive win for Parson/Stanley.

Either

• A) Parson loses a pile of dragons and warlords (all die) but next turn Ansom and friends die..or
• B) Parson loses all the lake dragons, but "team good" looses some serious pieces (the archons, or most of the archons) + next turn for team evil, team good loses Ansom and assorted warlords or
• C) Jillian convinces the Archons to accompany her to Ansom, and the warlords/dragons destroy the rest of the seige and retreat to the fortress. In this case, Parson/Tool lose some dragons.

Frankly, I want to just get on with it and progress the story. If this was a 1 mile race, we would be moving a foot a strip.

[Wender]

Maybe there are no combat spells, or maybe spellcasters are rare and precious enough that there is no particular reason to send them out to croak troops and risk getting croaked or captured themselves. I suppose we will find out soon enough, given that things are about to come to a head at both GK (the marbits should be arriving soon) and over the lake.

So, circumstances appear to be forcing both sides into a confrontation that either side would do backflips to avoid: The Alliance's A-team vs. GK's elite tactical force on a wide-open battlefield, for everything. For this post I'm assuming that the Archons are capable combatants but primarily intel/infiltration, partly because it makes sense given the Angels, and partly because it makes this situation even more intractable.

It will take Ansom and Vinnie and Jillian and the Archons and anyone else they can spare (the bats?) to confront the force on the lake. They have no choice but to do this or they lose their siege capacity. If they target the warlords specifically, which I think they will do, Vinnie's bats can distract some of the dwagons, and the heavies can protect Ansom's flanks while he dusts Stanley's warlords. They will need to take minimal damage in order to make a retaliatory strike from Stanley as unlikely as possible--ideally, the surviving dwagons retreat to GK and Stanley thinks twice before trying so bold a plan again. Unfortunately, whether the Archons may seek clarification of their orders from Ansom, or whether Jillian tries to pressure him to go back to defend the column, one way or another Ansom will have to answer some difficult questions before he can move decisively. Any accusations of treason against Jillian will be doubly uncomfortable because their odds get a lot bleaker without her sword arm (never mind with her sword arm turned against them, although I don't consider that likely). As a side note it's interesting to compare Jillian's stammering under Jaclyn's questioning to her anger and condescension toward Webinar and Dora's. She respects the Archons. That will become significant shortly.

Not to be outdone, GK has seen Wanda's and Parson's plans collide head-on, with neither surviving. (Two chefs can spoil a stew, if neither tells the other exactly what they're doing.) Parson is forced to watch his precious strike force fight a defensive battle all together in the open; Wanda is forced to watch Jillian get confronted decisively and potentially ordered in plain view of Ansom to follow Ansom's command to engage the dwagons over the lake. It's impossible to know for sure, but this could be a bloodbath. If GK loses too many dwagons, or if GK's warlord/dwagon ratio drops below 1/8, I could very easily see Stanley asserting direct control, sending Wanda out to drop Parson off to lead a dwagon stack (arguing all the way) and Stanley ordering a direct assault on Ansom to get the Pliers, and to boop with the siege. I don't see that going well for anyone, but barring a miracle GK will get the worst of it.

So basically, it comes down to whose staggeringly dysfunctional group dynamic implodes first. If neither (or both), then it comes down to the even narrower question of Parson vs. Ansom (and a potentially wayward Jillian) on an open field, with Parson definitely having more to lose. Given that GK's peerless battlefield intel is offset by pitiful to nonexistent communication between the principles (the exact inverse of the Alliance, incidentally) it should take the death of at least one warlord and some rapid-fire questions from Parson to establish that Ansom can effortlessly pull out the lynchpins of his whole strategy, and at that point he'll be one or two lynchpins away from collapsing it and gaining a decisive upper hand in the siege--not least because at that point Parson will be immediate danger of demotion and/or disbanding.

This looks to be a wild, wild ride.

[SteveMB]

It will take Ansom and Vinnie and Jillian and the Archons and anyone else they can spare (the bats?) to confront the force on the lake. They have no choice but to do this or they lose their siege capacity. If they target the warlords specifically, which I think they will do, Vinnie's bats can distract some of the dwagons, and the heavies can protect Ansom's flanks while he dusts Stanley's warlords. They will need to take minimal damage in order to make a retaliatory strike from Stanley as unlikely as possible--ideally, the surviving dwagons retreat to GK and Stanley thinks twice before trying so bold a plan again. Unfortunately, whether the Archons may seek clarification of their orders from Ansom, or whether Jillian tries to pressure him to go back to defend the column, one way or another Ansom will have to answer some difficult questions before he can move decisively. Any accusations of treason against Jillian will be doubly uncomfortable because their odds get a lot bleaker without her sword arm (never mind with her sword arm turned against them, although I don't consider that likely).

One possibility: Jillian decides the bypass the dwagons on the grounds that there are too many of them. When she reaches Ansom (and the Archons report finding the dwagons), he insists on going after them to (at least) take out the uncroaked warlords.

As a side note it's interesting to compare Jillian's stammering under Jaclyn's questioning to her anger and condescension toward Webinar and Dora's. She respects the Archons. That will become significant shortly.

That could be a result of the exact questioning in each case. Webinar and Dora merely rasied suspicions (Dora's skepticism of Jillian's tunnel-escape story) and unfounded allegations (Webinar's accusation that she is taking her orders from Stanley -- whatever the truth about her relationship with Wanda might be, I think it's safe to say that she has nothing but enmity for Stanley). Jaclyn nailed the issue (Jillian is under a spell) head-on (and Jillian apparently knows it, which would rule out some of the "false memories" theories).

Naturally, the latter commands more respect, or at least gives less latitude for evasion by bluster.

Not to be outdone, GK has seen Wanda's and Parson's plans collide head-on, with neither surviving. (Two chefs can spoil a stew, if neither tells the other exactly what they're doing.) Parson is forced to watch his precious strike force fight a defensive battle all together in the open; Wanda is forced to watch Jillian get confronted decisively and potentially ordered in plain view of Ansom to follow Ansom's command to engage the dwagons over the lake. It's impossible to know for sure, but this could be a bloodbath. If GK loses too many dwagons, or if GK's warlord/dwagon ratio drops below 1/8, I could very easily see Stanley asserting direct control, sending Wanda out to drop Parson off to lead a dwagon stack (arguing all the way) and Stanley ordering a direct assault on Ansom to get the Pliers, and to boop with the siege. I don't see that going well for anyone, but barring a miracle GK will get the worst of it.

The question is whether there are any dwagons left back at GK for Stanley to send Parson (or the two remaining uncroaked warlords) out to take over the surviving dwagons when their turn starts tomorrow morning. If not, they don't have any good options but to pull back the surviving dragons (though Stanley might still insist on trying to pile on Ansom's stack).

[Scientivore]

(A side note: Your credit banner is slightly over the new limit for in-sigline images (including spoilered).

Yeah, I'll probably be taking advantage of the first week or two of reprieve. I have a break coming up soon...that, and I got sucked into the TV Tropes Wiki.

[Wender]

One possibility: Jillian decides the bypass the dwagons on the grounds that there are too many of them. When she reaches Ansom (and the Archons report finding the dwagons), he insists on going after them to (at least) take out the uncroaked warlords.

Yes, I actually assume that will happen. Sorry if that wasn't clear. The hunt is over. The quarry is found. Given that Jillian doesn't have her full hunting party or any free means of communication, the only thing left to do is to report to Ansom. They have the move. Jillian will want this, so she can protect Ansom. Ansom will want it so that he can protect Jillian. Vinnie will want it for sound tactical reasons. The Archons will want it because with the lead commander there, there are no complications to their orders (so they hope--in fact, the complication remains in Ansom's head, where it is doomed to manifest repeatedly in any orders that involve Jillian). So barring a real performance from Jillian once she arrives at Ansom's hex, this is going to happen. The devil is in the details.

That could be a result of the exact questioning in each case. Webinar and Dora merely rasied suspicions (Dora's skepticism of Jillian's tunnel-escape story) and unfounded allegations (Webinar's accusation that she is taking her orders from Stanley -- whatever the truth about her relationship with Wanda might be, I think it's safe to say that she has nothing but enmity for Stanley). Jaclyn nailed the issue (Jillian is under a spell) head-on (and Jillian apparently knows it, which would rule out some of the "false memories" theories).

That could be. I think Jaclyn bringing up the "intelligence she received" and the spell made Jillian wonder exactly how much they know. At any rate, if the Archons seem to confirm Webinar's and Dora's suspicions it will be much harder for Jillian to pass it off as poor teamwork or bad chemistry or jealousy. I think Jillian will be forced to confront what she's been skirting around, and Ansom will be forced to confront the questions he's avoided answering. All at exactly the wrong moment.

The question is whether there are any dwagons left back at GK for Stanley to send Parson (or the two remaining uncroaked warlords) out to take over the surviving dwagons when their turn starts tomorrow morning. If not, they don't have any good options but to pull back the surviving dragons (though Stanley might still insist on trying to pile on Ansom's stack).

If not they can send a dwagon back, from the party platter if necessary, and assuming they have the move. I don't suppose they'd like that much, but if it were important to Stanley and Wanda to keep one dwagon around GK at all times, and if Parson hadn't done so, no-one has pointed that out in all their staring at the battle map. Then again, that could just be because the principles in GK are cagier than a zoo.

I definitely see Stanley agitating for an attack on Ansom. He doesn't really care about Gobwin Knob. He does care about getting the Arkentools. After Wanda and Parson have both failed, they will have their work cut out explaining why Stanley should see things their way instead of his way.

And so the best hope either side has is that the other side implodes. Whee!

[sum1won]

How about...

They sell the mathmancy item to get the archons? Eh? Eh?

Something like that, anyways.

[the_tick_rules]

i'm gonna guess by stanley's reaction the warlords are there.

[SteveMB]

That could be. I think Jaclyn bringing up the "intelligence she received" and the spell made Jillian wonder exactly how much they know. At any rate, if the Archons seem to confirm Webinar's and Dora's suspicions it will be much harder for Jillian to pass it off as poor teamwork or bad chemistry or jealousy. I think Jillian will be forced to confront what she's been skirting around, and Ansom will be forced to confront the questions he's avoided answering. All at exactly the wrong moment.

Yep -- it's all coming to a head right at crunch time. This should be most... interesting.

If not they can send a dwagon back, from the party platter if necessary, and assuming they have the move.

I'm pretty sure they don't have the move for a round trip in one turn (or else Parson's original plan could have simply had the raiders return to GK immediately, avoiding any window of risk or vulnerability). By the time they can get other warlords on site, Ansom will have a whole other turn to retrieve his air cover and/or redeploy ground defenses to protect the siege train.

I definitely see Stanley agitating for an attack on Ansom. He doesn't really care about Gobwin Knob. He does care about getting the Arkentools. After Wanda and Parson have both failed, they will have their work cut out explaining why Stanley should see things their way instead of his way.

And so the best hope either side has is that the other side implodes. Whee!

Indeed. This is a nicely done transition from "situation dominated by tactics" to "situation dominated by personalities" -- the former makes the premise of Erfworld substantive rather than just cosmetic; the latter is a basic component of good storytelling.

[discnerd]

I only count seventeen dwagons (some are specks) in the last panel. Are we to assume that the other 2 are in there behind the ones in the foreground, or did Parson leave 2 A-dwagons out from the plan to ferry the remaining 2 warlords forward if necessary? Does having only 17 wounded dwagons to fight cause all of the "Can Jillian and company destroy the entire stack?" discussion to shift to the yes column? If Jillian defects, wil her adoring gwiffons follow her? I suppose we'll find out the answers to some of these at some point in time.