Erfworld 75, page 69

[Taz]

i thought that only the wounded stack has warlords? if that's true then they're definetely taking down the wounded stack.

also, is the battle outcome either 1. dragons get wiped out, 2. jilian and co get wiped out? couldnt 61% chance of getting wiped out be followed by another 20% of getting smacked real bad before jilian&co retreat? (or something along those lines)

[dyslexicfaser]

I took their last comment to mean that though they are expensive units to field, they're worth it, not that they can only do as much damage as they've been paid or whatever. But hey, could be wrong.

Now the real question is, I think, will they be able to use those big, flashy attacks when the remaining wounded dwagons get back to full health and jump them next turn? Just because they're murdering them down doesn't mean they won't get slapped down by the others.

[datalaughing]

Stanley is gonna be mad like we've never seen the little guy mad before. They may have just lost the bulk of their dwagons, Stanley's one advantage in the battle against Ansom, and she still plans on rescuing Ansom, which might mean a lot more dwagon smacking.

[Arkenputtyknife]

The question now is, what is Stanley going to do about Wanda, given that: (1) at the start, Stanley's chances of winning were so poor that he agreed to almost bankrupt himself for a long-shot at coming back; (2) Parson delivered the long shot, raising their odds from “certain doom” to “decent but desperate chance of winning” and (3) Wanda's action screwed all that up.

She now appears to have flunked threefold: getting the wrong warlord with her megaspell (not her fault, but Stanley isn't going to see it that way); releasing Jillian back into the field, where she appears to be have done no good for the Tool and has a good chance of croaking all the A-dwagons before they heal; and relying too much on another spell (or whatever it was) that seems to have failed. Barring a sudden reversal by Jillian, I would not want to be in her clogs right now.

Recriminations next strip? Things could be getting even uglier in the situation room.

Edit:

Now the real question is, I think, will they be able to use those big, flashy attacks when the remaining wounded dwagons get back to full health and jump them next turn? Just because they're murdering them down doesn't mean they won't get slapped down by the others.

The idea is to take them all out before the end of the turn, so they don't get a chance to heal. The turn can't end before the skirmish finishes, and the skirmish can't finish until one or other side has been completely wiped out or the attackers withdraw.

The question is, when Jillian said “after I croak some dwagons”, did she really mean “some”, or did she mean “all of the ones in this hex”? And she and the Archons are going to take some hits before the end of the turn, or that 61% wouldn't mean anything.

[Midgititp]

This is really bad for Parson/Stanley/Wanda.

Silver lining for Parson is that Wanda set herself up to take most of the fall for this. So chances are Wanda is going to take the fall for this rather than Parson.

In the way that silver linings go.. that's about it... it does look like Team Stanley is down for the count. I have to admit that should this play out as it seems its going to with the complete destruction of the wounded stack, then the battle for GK is pretty much over and Parson should start making escape plans. Perhaps he can use Misty to do the veiling trick on a group of them and escape? Otherwise that paint a black hole on the mountain side and hope a train comes out plan is sounding pretty good.

Which is why I still think that somehow this can't end with the complete destruction of the stack. With the forces that Ansom has amassed there is little chance Parson can even hope to win.

[factotum]

Well, it looks like Jillian's hatred for Stanley is strong enough to counter her love for Wanda, or else the inner conflict in strip 73 was enough to break the spell, as Sizemore feared would happen. I really don't see any way that Team Stanley aren't up boop creek without a paddle at this point...

[rosebud]

So, any chance we'll get an "Inconceivable" when we switch back to Team Stanley?

And were the Archons taking out one dwagon or three?

[Gez]

Very nice effect on the synergy desintegration.

[chionophile]

So, any chance we'll get an "Inconceivable" when we switch back to Team Stanley?

And were the Archons taking out one dwagon or three?

Pretty much has to be three - no way would they win if it took all three archons to kill one dwagon. Remember, Jill took out a fully healthy one with just her and a gwiffon. Archons would be extremely unimpressive if they couldn't kill a badly wounded dwagon by them self.

[Arkenputtyknife]

And were the Archons taking out one dwagon or three?

Given that they were severely wounded dwagons and nearly out of HP, they'd better have been three or the Archons weren't worth the schmuckers.

[Jari Kafghan]

Interesting. Mostly because I don't see a way out of this with a deus ex machina that would leave anyone happy, but I am eagerly awaiting the next strip.

[lavidor10]

Spoiler

Show

I am now convinced that the dragons she was talking about last strip and the dragons she is attacking now are the dragons guarding Ansom.

It fits in completely with all the dialogue, and note that the dragons that are attacked are not seen to be wounded.

[Vargtass]

Oh dear - buzzwords to the rescue! Dwagons slain by PowerPoint? Eyaaaaaghhh...

Well, Death by PowerPoint should be familiar enough to anyone who ever attended a progress meeting...

And, to Jari Kafghan and Jax Garet: See my sig

[Zeku]

Duhn, duhn, duhnnn!

What's there to say? It was so expected that it was unexpected. All the bets are off, as they say, so let plot continue.

[elkhantar]

Yeah, by talking about the warlord here, she could be speaking of Ansom instead of the undead warlords leading the wounded stack. That would seem to make some sense, since we don't know how stacks inside an hex work during a fight.

It also fits with her previous sentence: "see you after I croak some dwagons". If it is not, well... Wanda booped up...

[Tundar]

Go go Charlies angels.

Poor dwagons though

[Ikkitosen]

Now that is some booping awesome art.

[Jari Kafghan]

I have to say I like your sig.

[Fenix]

Poor, cute dwagons

[charles]

I believe that when you have a warlord in a stack, you have to attack the "underlings" first, before you can get the warlord.

So the Archeons attack the 3 weak stack dwagons, the Gwiffons get the 4th and Gillian takes the warlord Dwagon on.

The three main possibilities I see here are:

1. Jillian is about to attack the Archeons instead of the Dwagons.

2. Ansom is the target of the "B" Dwagons next turn.

3. LEEEEEEROOOOOOY JEENKIIIIIINS!!!!!!!!!

PS: I wonder if Lady Phat will sing as she's beheaded...

[Dwagon]

Ouch...

I'm happy to see several updates in a few days. Go go go Erfworld :)

[Krelon]

Well that wasn't good. How are the writers going to deus ex this one back in line with the Parson-must-win plot? (I'm assuming that Parson doesn't just ignominously lose this campaign, because, well, what would be the point of that?)

must he? he is not even in cast of characters.

Anyway, just for the sake of speculation I can see a few options how Parson could still win.

• Jillian attacked a weak (4 dwagon) stack around Ansom (ok, not likely)
• Actually the quite high 39% chance kicks in (PLOT!)
• GK wins some allies to cover the losses (for example the Arkenhammer happens to attract a new flight of dwagons )
• Parson sends a warlord from reserve to waiting B dwagons and thanks to his watch (optimizing moves & combat) wipes out rest of the siege. Plus he finds enough valuable targets of opportunity to partially make up for the loss of those dwagons. Next we'll see tunnel fighting
• Jillian has an built-in emergency shut-down and Wanda pulls the trigger

[Idless]

The Archons are Consultants!!!

Of course they are more powerful when you pay them more... and they will use more BUZZWORDS!

...Karsil

[Free1983]

Spoiler

Show

I am now convinced that the dragons she was talking about last strip and the dragons she is attacking now are the dragons guarding Ansom.

It fits in completely with all the dialogue, and note that the dragons that are attacked are not seen to be wounded.

I disagree. The hex where Ansom ended his attack was surrounded with forest hexes only. The hex where this fight is taking place is clearly above a lake. Plus, if I'm not mistaken, Tool was very concerned about Jillian approaching the stacks above the lake.

So, it's definitly the dwagons that attacked the siege units who are getting their arses kicked.

cheers

[ag30476]

i thought that only the wounded stack has warlords? if that's true then they're definetely taking down the wounded stack.

That is correct.

[Gez]

I believe that when you have a warlord in a stack, you have to attack the "underlings" first, before you can get the warlord.

Nope.

Unless you want to argue that Marbit archery are an exception to that rule, or that gobwins don't count as underlings.

[ag30476]

Spoiler

Show

I am now convinced that the dragons she was talking about last strip and the dragons she is attacking now are the dragons guarding Ansom.

It fits in completely with all the dialogue, and note that the dragons that are attacked are not seen to be wounded.

No. The warlords are with the wounded dwagons.

[lavidor10]

I disagree. The hex where Ansom ended his attack was surrounded with forest hexes only. The hex where this fight is taking place is clearly above a lake. Plus, if I'm not mistaken, Tool was very concerned about Jillian approaching the stacks above the lake.

So, it's definitly the dwagons that attacked the siege units who are getting their arses kicked.

cheers

Maybe. But I don't see a lake.

And the warlord she mentioned in this comic could be Ansom.

[ag30476]

[*]Jillian attacked a weak (4 dwagon) stack around Ansom (ok, not likely)[/LIST]

The warlord in the stack means she's attacking the wounded dwagons.

[SteveMB]

I disagree. The hex where Ansom ended his attack was surrounded with forest hexes only. The hex where this fight is taking place is clearly above a lake. Plus, if I'm not mistaken, Tool was very concerned about Jillian approaching the stacks above the lake.

So, it's definitly the dwagons that attacked the siege units who are getting their arses kicked.

We don't actually see the terrain; just the sky.

However, each of the attacks is clearly against an airborne dwagon, and it makes no sense for the ring dwagons in the forest to be airborne -- the ones in the weak hex Ansom fought his way through were in the trees, making use of the cover like sensible creatures.