103 The Battle for Gobwin Knob, Page 93

[Twisted Otaku]

I read the 'cask' thing totally differently. I thought they were referring to a 'cask' of drink (like wine or whiskey, for example); indicating they will have a long drawn out discussion over a large number of drinks. Such as some men do. And as to the length of time, they are at war you know, and Ansom is planning/organising it; so he may well have knowledge of Vinny being away longer than he's let on to the audience yet.

I also have a feeling that there was no afterlife, and that this was mentioned somewhere in the comic.

I thought the same thing about the 'cask' comment, just men drinking and talking after a hard battle, or to sort things out with eachother. Also, looking at comic # 79 http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0079.html it does seem there is some sort of after life. This 'City of Heroes' is probably alot like celestia ^_^

[Grey Watcher]

Standing in Sandra(end scene) costume and saying "you're the one that I want" - priceless!

Now someone need to say "better shape up"

...Idless

Actually, I found that one quite cringeworthy, myself. Admittedly, I'm not a fan of the show, though.

"Look at me, Commander Z?"

[zillion ninjas]

Panel 6?

Best. Face-off. Ever. Even better than the print-ad.

And Archons in school-girl outfits? I think we're going to have some new blow-up requests soon... But are they going to switch from corporate buzzword attack names to anime attack names?

[MrEdwardNigma]

Don't forget Stanleys dwagons are the only GK air units, so it effectively evens out. Unless Sizemore can summon up, i dunno, flying crap golems?

Gigantic flying suicide crap golems... now THERE'S a thought...

He'll need some monkeys to throw those.

[Ikol_777]

Do all the other commanders know why Vinnie and the air force are leaving?
Did he tell the Jetsone home base the plan? If not and Ansom is captured or killed will they punish the "traitors"
Here is my prediction.
warning spoilers

(\spoiler\)
1. The other allies will see that even Ansom's most loyal ally abandons him along with all the mercs.
Whether they think this is because they think he was the traitor or he thinks they can't win is irrelevant.
2. The alliance fragments in the meat grinder that is Parson's defense.
3. Ansom is captured or killed in battle.
4. The new kingdom of FAQ run by Ansom's friends come to avenge him.
5. Jetsome also sends another army.
(/Spoiler/)

[ralphmerridew]

Was Wanda's spell (or nonspell) broken or just disrupted earlier?

Jillian had the FreakOut because she ultimately ran into Ansom vs. Wanda. When she runs into Stanley, Wanda will still be allied with Stanley (specifically, croaking Stanley would disband Wanda), but Jillian won't be allied with Ansom. If the spell is still active, she won't have the same conflict and may be unable to attack Stanley.

[fendrin]

1. The archons aren't wearing fuku (japanese schoolgirl outfits) or petticoats (which are skirts that go under other garments)... they are wearing poodle skirts. Right in line with the Grease motif established by Jillian and Vinny.
   
2. Jillian and Vinny's costume change indicate that the plan to go after Stanley predates Parson's thinkagram, so he's not sending them away out of rage-inspired stupidity.
   
3. I think Ansom is carrying something, and that is what we we see in silhouette in panel 2. Notice how his radish is blocked in panel 7. You can also see it in panel 3. I'm not sure what it is, but it seems to consist of something smooth and round with bumps on the top, and something long, thin, and wrapped in cloth.
   
4. There seem to be 3 factions going after Stanley, with the following breakdown (as posted by Ben):
   • 15 CharlesComm
   • 29 Transylvito
   • 19 Barbarian (i.e. Jillian and co.)
   For a total of 53 units (with more expected). Thus, the uni-pega-taurs and the orlies must belong to one of those three factions. They were in the coalition prior Charlescomm, so they are either Transylvitonian or Barbarian. Jillian's mercenary force seemed to be exclusively 'human' and gwiffon. I think, then, that they are Transylvitonian.
   
5. There is bound to be a power struggle between Jillian and Vinny. They both have strong opinions, and they are essentially sharing authority. That's a bad combination. Vinny will have actual command over the second coalition, but Jillian knows where they are going.
   
6. The persisting relationship between Ansom and Jillian tells me that one of the two of them is going to be croaked or captured. Likely Ansom. That will set up Parson's opposition in the next part. Jillian and Vinny, having forged a friendship through their experiences on this mission, form the heart of a new coalition aimed at rescuing / avenging Ansom.

[Arkenputtyknife]

- Parson's friends wake him up from the dream he's been having since the beginning of his series...

Please God, not the “it was all just a dream” ending. Almost anything would be better than that. The rest of Phrozt's ideas were good, though.

Tin Foil Hat Alliance (TFHA) Theory:

Spoiler

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… Stanley will be driven off, and Side Awesome (Jillian + Vinny) will be forced to rebuild FAQ when Charlie's contract ends and they need to marshal new forces to rescue Ansom. Meanwhile, Parson will mysteriously become the Lord of Gobwin Knob, and launch a new campaign - allied with Ansom or Charlie - to stop Stanley!

How does Parson get past (a) the threat (real or imaginary) of his existence being ended by the PLOT spell if he disobeys Stanley; and (b) Stanley's claim to be able to end his existence with a thought?

Breaking an alliance takes a great deal of trust. If by chance a Jetstone stack without a warlord came in the way of Vinnie and company, the Jetstone would automatically attack.

Maybe. As I recall, the auto-attack would certainly happen if the two sides were at war with each other. However, it's not clear that being non-allied is equivalent to being at war in terms of Erfworld mechanics.

PS: Archons in sailor fuku! YES!

Look again. They're 1950s-style American outfits, as seen in many period TV shows and movies, not seifuku.

I think Stanley's going to get to Faq first and establish the city as his new capitol.

So you think Jillian's wrong about her analysis of her home ground? She seemed pretty confident that she could get to him before he reached Faq. And she has 2 moves to play with before Stanley can move again.

[ReccaSquirrel]

I think the only way Parson is going to be able to break away from Stanley is if he gets his hands on the Arkenpliers. While I do feel that he will liberate them from Ansom, I don't see him killing Ansom.

[PePe QuiCoSE]

Maybe. As I recall, the auto-attack would certainly happen if the two sides were at war with each other. However, it's not clear that being non-allied is equivalent to being at war in terms of Erfworld mechanics.

Stacks without a leader are forced to autoattack when in contact with units from non-allied capitals

edit: oh, and i am with the people that believe that Ansom is going down, and hopefully the arkenpliers will be caught for the time Wanda gets back to herself

[zillion ninjas]

The archons aren't wearing fuku (japanese schoolgirl outfits)

Bah. I suppose next you're going to tell us there's no Santa Claus?

Jillian and Vinny's costume change indicate that the plan to go after Stanley predates Parson's thinkagram, so he's not sending them away out of rage-inspired stupidity.

True, but we don't know when he got the idea to break the alliance as part of that plan. Although that probably predated Parson's call as well, since it doesn't look like Ansom had the chance to contact Charlie and Don King between this page and the previous one (when Parson's call was cut off).

Thus, the uni-pega-taurs and the orlies must belong to one of those three factions. They were in the coalition prior Charlescomm, so they are either Transylvitonian or Barbarian. Jillian's mercenary force seemed to be exclusively 'human' and gwiffon. I think, then, that they are Transylvitonian.

The only problem is, unipegataurs and orlies aren't theme-appropriate for Transylvito (mafia/vampires and bats).

[SteveMB]

I think the only way Parson is going to be able to break away from Stanley is if he gets his hands on the Arkenpliers. While I do feel that he will liberate them from Ansom, I don't see him killing Ansom.

Parson does seem to prefer the option of capturing Ansom, judging from the discussion when they had Ansom's boops in a vise earlier. However, he's pragmatic enough to "croak, not capture" an enemy if he considers the latter option unfeasable. (He probably hasn't had time to think about Wanda's protests against that order, but he must wonder what was up with that.)

[Rollin]

Parson's going to be shocked when dawn comes and he discovers it's not his turn.

[3Power]

Why are so many people convinced if stanley dies parson will disband? We know from the FAQ incident that units whose side is destroyed become barbarians, like Jillian.

[Oracle_Hunter]

How does Parson get past (a) the threat (real or imaginary) of his existence being ended by the PLOT spell if he disobeys Stanley; and (b) Stanley's claim to be able to end his existence with a thought?

Elementary!

Spoiler

Show

At some point, Parson will be forced to contradict Stanley's orders and will discover, likely through force of will, that he can control his own actions and not poof - if need be.

Alternatively, Stanley may actually "abandon" Gobwin Knob (either through a Charlie-engineered technicality or by having established a new Home City and then immediately losing it) and Parson will find himself occupying a Gobwin Knob while technically being the "leader" of a band of Barbarians. He immediately tries to establish a New Side and - to everyone's surprise - succeeds!

In any case, it is likely that Parson is able to circumvent some of Erfworld's Rules, a fact that will come to the fore in the future.

So says the TFHA!

[Eldritch_Ent]

If Stanley dies, wouldn't that just mean Parson'd become a barbarian warlord himself, as Stanley has to specifically disband Parson to kill him, right? I mean, he already left Gobwin Knob without disbanding anyone, And with Parson being chief warlord, he'll be next in line to rule, so...

[SteveMB]

Why are so many people convinced if stanley dies parson will disband? We know from the FAQ incident that units whose side is destroyed become barbarians, like Jillian.

"When the city fell. Shouldn't you have disbanded?"

This question implies that King Saline IV's units should have disbanded when the city fell and Saline was croaked. Sizemore's reply indicates that the reason this didn't happen is that Stanley was Saline's Heir (and thus the side was not left without a ruler when Saline croaked).

We know that Jillian was Banhammer's heir, so she (and other Faq units such as Wanda) were not disbanded when Banhammer (presumably) was croaked in the dwagon attack.

[TheWombat]

Parson's going to be shocked when dawn comes and he discovers it's not his turn.

No more likely Parson is going to be angry when he finds out that somehow units moved at night. He has been told that it is impossible for that to happen, period. I'd guess it's a property of Translyvito or Vinny himself. But either way, it's not something that Parson or Stanley is prepared for.

[Rollin]

No more likely Parson is going to be angry when he finds out that somehow units moved at night. He has been told that it is impossible for that to happen, period. I'd guess it's a property of Translyvito or Vinny himself. But either way, it's not something that Parson or Stanley is prepared for.

One would think that if anyone could move at night it would be a Vampiwe. But it doesn't seem to work that way:

...and ally with Transylvito. This will put your new turn at dawn, before Stanley's.

It seems inescapable that Stanley's turn, thus Parson's, will no longer begin at dawn.

[Generalissimus]

If they are to break their alliance with Jetstone (whose highest-ranked in the column in Prince Ansom, making him the leader of the coalition) and ally with Transylvito (whose highest-ranked member I presume to be Vinny), then presumably Jillian (a barbarian currently allied to Jetstone) will presumably be mechanically under the command of Vinny.

But she can break her alliance at any moment. And, by directing all the questions to her, Ansom has appointed Jillian into a position in which she may be considered the unnofficial leader of the New Coalition... What if she disagrees with Vinny?

[kreszantas]

What many are forgetting is the fact that when Charlie disconnected on Parson this was most likely the call by Ansom to the plan change. Did Charlie get back in touch with Parson. No... so therefore Parson is actually the odd man out in this aspect with 1) Stanley's meddling and 2) Ansom changing boats mid-stream (but was actually planned) to this "actual" change in plans that Stanley started when he bugged out of GK.

All Parson did was cause Ansom to behave in a manner that "Parson" thought would be better for "HIMSELF and GK" not Stanley. Remember that the term tool in our language is disrespective and shown with little regard. So Parson could really care less about that part of things, but losing the hammer that is quite another.

[enthar]

Regarding Jillian's "Thank you for that".

It seems that Ansom was carrying something (helmet and sword? Pliers?) and gave them to Jillian in that panel. Magic items/artifacts from his personal stash to increase their chances of defeating Stanley and offset Stanley's own Artifact bonus, would be my guess.

--
Enthar

[fendrin]

Bah. I suppose next you're going to tell us there's no Santa Claus?

There isn't. At least, not that we've seen in the comic so far. Although he'd likely be a stuffamancer.

True, but we don't know when he got the idea to break the alliance as part of that plan. Although that probably predated Parson's call as well, since it doesn't look like Ansom had the chance to contact Charlie and Don King between this page and the previous one (when Parson's call was cut off).

I think that the coalition splitting was probably Jillian's idea. It's likely the only way her troops would ever be able to catch up with Stanley, who has both a head start and higher move. I had other ideas before about terrain movement penalties allowing a knowledgeable unit to take a faster route, but that doesn't make much sense with flying troops. Hmm, that gives me a TFHA-level idea...

The only problem is, unipegataurs and orlies aren't theme-appropriate for Transylvito (mafia/vampires and bats).

What does plaid have to do with gobwins? Nothing, yet gobwins are a city-less ally of the Plaid tribe. Don King may have made the unipegataurs an offer they could not refuse, and now they serve Transylvito.

Ok, TFHA-level idea...

Spoiler

Show

Jillian is still under Wanda's influence, and has joined the coalition as a double agent. First she gained Ansom's trust, then she hatched this mad-cap plan to split the coalition, thereby saving her love, Wanda. She completely made up the Faq story so she could claim to be from somewhere else. The truth is that she that 'Banhammer' was really Saline IV, who had Jillian's memory wiped/altered to protect her when he was forced to make Stanley his heir. Oh, and Sizemore's memory was altered too.

I just want to be clear that while the above theory is possible, I don't think it is the case...

[Lamech]

This is going to be funny, well it should be.
1) The coalition knows Parson controls a thinkamancer.
2) Thinkamancers can cast mind control spells.
3) Jillian is in semi-control of the air forces.
4) Ansom is in a bad mood.
Anyone else see a potential problem here?


Also the fallout from the outburst still needs to be dealt with.

[TheWombat]

O.k. I think this falls under the TFHA-Level of ideas so here goes.

Spoiler

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Parson learns after-the-fact about the allegiance-switching double-move gambit.

Like me he finds this idea to be a crazily exploitable mechanic. If somehow he has the power to change his allegiance at will, he could theoretically never run out of turns. He'll take a turn at his normal time, give allegiance to another faction, get another turn, then again and again and again.

If Ansom can exploit this loophole I'm sure that Parson could find a way to do it as well.

Totally not feasible since GK has no allies, but you never know.

[Lavrikc]

Little Digression Here.

I was just wondering if there was a possibility that Stanley had secretly rebuilt Faq? I mean I know Jillian says on page 83 that Stanley didn't rebuild the cities, but what would the point of fleeing to them do if he had not?

I am assuming that rebuilding a City would cost money and since he could not take money with him when he fled he could be in a situation where he has no funds to rebuild with in the first place. Kinda doesn't make much sense.

My other question was, and forgive me if this has been brought up, Same page Jillian says her country was destroyed by a flight of dragons. On page 79 Sizemore says Stanley took him and a bunch of other casters out on a mission one day when at the same time the Gobwins attacked, could he have destroyed Faq and set it up as his alternative hideaway at the same as having the current leader of GK killed, a possible secure his hideaway before he acts?

And on topic if Don King made the unipegataurs an offer they couldn't refuse, then that still doesn't say which side the orlies are on. What kind of offer can you make to a group of fliers that have this far been used as Chaff?

[shadowdemon_lord]

Far as has been revealed so far, Vinnie's only troops are his bats, and Zamussels only troops are her gwiffons. In fact, when talking about air units in the past when reference to Vinnie helping out in a battle, they only ever mention his bats. Those unipegataurs look pretty strong, you'd think those would get mentioned to. Same goes for Zammusels and her Gwiffons. This is why I think the unipegatuars and the orlies are both Jetstone (and really, does it make sense for a kingdom as strong as jetstone to have no air?).

[Oninotaki]

hehehe 9th panel "Earth angel, earth angel~" : p

I agree, I do think that what everyone is calling unipegataurs are actually earth angels

[Overlord White]

- Vinny's forces defeat Stanley, Parson defeats Ansom.
- Because Stanley is slain, GK command disbands Parson.
- However, because Ansom is slain, his units are also disbanded.
- Vinny and Parson come to an understanding that both rulers were over their bounds, and that they didn't fully support all of their rulers' more vehement ambitions and agree to live in peace
- Parson becomes ruler of GK
- Parson's friends wake him up from the dream he's been having since the beginning of his series...



maybe?

Parson collapses some of the tunnels upon Ansom. Captures Ansom.
Thinkagrams Julian as shes about to kill Stanley, a trade is arranged Ansom for Stanley.
Parson keeps the Pliers. The Pliers seemed to be correctly sized for Parson's hands.

[dragongirl13]

*twitch* *twitch* *twitch*

JILLIAN MUST BREAK UP WITH ANSOM! THEY LOOK TERRIBLE TOGETHER! SHE AND WANDA WOULD BE AWESOME!!!

Ah, man. I really hope that Vinny turns on Ansom... Ansom SUCKS! He's like, the cheesiest, most stereotyped, most egoistic, most totally disgusting person ever!

*pant* *pant* *pant*

Okay, I think I'm done ranting now.

Good plan, but I don't know how well that'll work. If I know Parson, he'll have some good out of the box ideas.