Erfworld 130 The Battle for Gobwin Knob, Page 117

[Eugenitor]

Regarding the puns: In some possible universe, perhaps there is someone who sees everything in our world as a pun, even if we don't recognize them as such. "Sofa-King" means nothing to Erfworld, and "Sofa-King <adjective>" is just something that he happens to like to say.

Regarding Wanda and the Arkenpliers: This conversation was done to death the moment they were introduced.

Regarding Ansom's foolhardiness: Bravely into battle went the six hundred.

up into Charlie who wants his tool

Juvenile quoting FTW :)

[Ragn Charran]

People are assuming, I believe, that the completed sword boosts his bonus to put it on par with his strategic and tactical skills, comparable to other chief warlords.

Especially considering that "Leadership" is one of the three qualities specifically stated to be "fixed" by the sword.

[Zolem]

Wild guessing: maybe the view will change and an enemy of Stanley & Parson will become the protagonist of the next chapter, with Lord Hamster as unstoppable and feared enemy warlord.

That would be Sofa King awesome! Seein things from another sides point of view would put that whole 'there's no right side in war' idea smack out there. The guys we rooted for last chapter are now decending on a helples city-state filled with Magenta shirts.

[Lamech]

I have multiple ideas for antagonists:
1) Translovito, they work by bonuses, and swarm tactics it appears. Now tell me they wouldn't want two artifacts, and a sword that boosts leadership. Specifically Vinny, he will want revenge.
2) Charlie, assuming he can attune to the arkentools, or find someone that can, I think he will want GK's resources. And of course, those two casters will aid him as well. In fact, if he finds out who summoned Parson I think he will stop at nothing to capture her.
3) Jillian, she spent a good amount of time warlording. Perhaps she can lead some sort of defense against Parson.

This may be Ansom's last hurrah. And I think the climax will come with Charlie and his archons, so their is no gaurentee Ansom won't simply die a pointless death.

[Eugenitor]

And I think the climax will come with Charlie and his archons

This.

What exactly is stopping Charlie's swarm of high-powered fliers from yanking the pliers from Ansom and throwing his broken, twisted carcass to the ground below?

Wanda: "Hmph. Wanted to uncroak."

[Noemz]

What exactly is stopping Charlie's swarm of high-powered fliers from yanking the pliers from Ansom and throwing his broken, twisted carcass to the ground below?

That could be bad for Charlie's reputation, given that Jetstone recently employed his services.

"Pay for mercenaries, get ganked when the contract expires..."

But then, if Parson had paid him to do it...

[AgarwaenTheTire]

I don't think anyone's mentioned this but Ansom ran off and attacked before the rest of his siege arrived. That alone makes me think he's sofa-king booped.
The other warlords didn't think they could break through his original troops with the siege he's got now.

Also what if him or the first siege unit is taken out by Wanda's undead Archon. With luckamancy, the rest of the alliance might just think Parson's got a deal with Charlie. Ansom will be trapped on the walls waiting for siege that will never arrive...

There's still a chance I suppose, but seems like Ansom will be held for ransom.

What exactly is stopping Charlie's swarm of high-powered fliers from yanking the pliers from Ansom and throwing his broken, twisted carcass to the ground below?

It's not his turn.

[Lamech]

There's still a chance I suppose, but seems like Ansom will be held for ransom.

Ansom is a powerful warlord and Parson has a thinkamancer, and a croakmancer. If he dies or is captured he will work for Parson. He will not be ransomed back.

[Zolem]

Ansom is a powerful warlord and Parson has a thinkamancer, and a croakmancer. If he dies or is captured he will work for Parson. He will not be ransomed back.

Unless the ransom is the RCC leaves.

[AgarwaenTheTire]

Ansom is a powerful warlord and Parson has a thinkamancer, and a croakmancer. If he dies or is captured he will work for Parson. He will not be ransomed back.

Bah, logically I agree.. But Erfworld does seem to have a no pun or word-play left behind policy.

[Sieggy]

If I were Wanda, I'd just have a mob of uncroaked bum-rush Ansom off the inner side of the wall if he gets off the flying twinkie. If a few dozen go over the edge with him, no biggie. Perhaps they can break his fall . . .

If he doesn't, she can go after him with the pre-dawn patrol, and we'll find out how much damage an uncroaked Archon can dish out, along with the rest. But I'd be trying to force him down to where numbers would work against him.

Since he's silly enough to go up there alone and unsupported, in a towering rage no less, he deserves the whupping he's going to get. (one of the first things a tank commander is taught is that a tank all alone with no infantry support is meat) In any case, he's going to be up there all alone until the siege towers are placed. He should bear in mind that they have an army there for a reason.

And remember, Charlie moves last. And if Ansom goes down inside the walls, who's going to know what he does with the Arkenpliers . . ?

[Strengfellow]

So... how long until Parson Vs Ansom?

[Ragn Charran]

And remember, Charlie moves last.

Well, technically, Charlie goes first on the next day, which means that night falls between Ansom's turn and his. Which gives Parson a little more time to prepare after dealing with Ansom.

And maybe heal? I seem to recall that units heal at the start of their turn, but Jillian healed at dawn here. Maybe because she was a prisoner of GK she healed on their turn? Or does everyone heal at dawn?

[randomnondescri]

Too soon? We're talking about a comic that was supposed to only take 70 or 80 pages to tell back when it started.

I didn't realize that... Still, the way the drama is unfolding, it just seems like we haven't seen enough of Ansom for him to die yet. I think there are sides of him we haven't seen, that will either make him more sympathetic or make him a true villain who fully deserves to be croaked... I can see the story going either way.

[HamsterOfTheGod]

If I were Wanda, I'd just have a mob of uncroaked bum-rush Ansom off the inner side of the wall if he gets off the flying twinkie.

She can't. See the first panel of the current and the next to last panel in page 116? The uncroaked are spread out.

If a few dozen go over the edge with him, no biggie. Perhaps they can break his fall . . .

Yes well I'm sure you would have liked it if Ansom's head would have exploded but you know Parson was joking.

If he doesn't, she can go after him with the pre-dawn patrol, and we'll find out how much damage an uncroaked Archon can dish out, along with the rest. But I'd be trying to force him down to where numbers would work against him.

Oh he can damage the uncroaked alright as seen here and here.

Since he's silly enough to go up there alone and unsupported, in a towering rage no less, he deserves the whupping he's going to get.

It seems to me that he's doing what it takes to keep his forces together so his action is far from silly. And far from raged, he seem just determined. See his rage looks like this. Notice the difference?

(one of the first things a tank commander is taught is that a tank all alone with no infantry support is meat)

So are you saying that Ansom is a tank commander or that he's a tank?

Either way, I wonder what Clausewitz or Sun Tsu would have said if army commanders were heroes who could, Jet Li style, kill hundreds of regular troops or face of hundred foot flying, fire breathing dwagons?

In any case, he's going to be up there all alone until the siege towers are placed. He should bear in mind that they have an army there for a reason.

Well some siege is next to the wall right now. Do you see it in the panel? And on this turn, 6 times that will arrive.

I think you should bear in mind if Ansom does not take some personal action now that he won't have an army there for the expressed reason of taking Gobwin Knob.

And remember, Charlie moves last. And if Ansom goes down inside the walls, who's going to know what he does with the Arkenpliers . . ?

Ansom knows he's heading into a trap. Duke Nozzle did not need to remind him of the fact. The trap is thanks to Parson's brilliant mind.

What happens from here on is anyone's guess but it has been foreshadowed.

[HamsterOfTheGod]

So... how long until Parson Vs Ansom?

Meh...Parson's main weapon is his mind.

I still want to see Jillian vs Stanley, Ansom vs Stanley or even Ansom vs Wanda but Parson doesn't know how to use his toys.

If anything I think I'd prefer to see Parson have a warm fight with some mook and have a "Gee how did I do that moment?"

[CaptC]

A random observation: I've never known a necromancer who can't heal the undead during combat. We've seen that the authors like healers (Sizemore delivered the coup-de-grace in the tunnels via healing.) If they keep to the theme, Ansom is going to slay tons of uncroaked - and the uncroaked are just going to keep getting back up...

With Wanda dancing in the background. (Yum!)

Of course, if Wanda is out of juice from resurrecting all those uncroaked last turn, we're gonna see Ansom's gambit carry the walls. That will extend the combat until Stanley can get back...

[dr pepper]

While the Confederacy started the war with more, and better trained, troops, it did not have the manpower or industrial base to replace losses. The Union did, and Grant was the first general willing to use that to its fullest advantage.

Exactly. Industrial production was the key. There was one situation in which a union general in charge of supplies was able to bring in locomotives and track faster than the confederates could collect gunpowder to blow them up.

That's my preferred strategy for Civ, development first, military push later.

That won't help Parson here, one city under siege doesn't pop much in one turn.

OTOH, there are still a few spell points left in the air defence, might as well use them all on Ansom.

[Aquillion]

A random observation: I've never known a necromancer who can't heal the undead during combat. We've seen that the authors like healers (Sizemore delivered the coup-de-grace in the tunnels via healing.) If they keep to the theme, Ansom is going to slay tons of uncroaked - and the uncroaked are just going to keep getting back up...

With Wanda dancing in the background. (Yum!)

Unlikely. The Arkenpliers don't just re-kill uncroaked; he specifically said that they turn most uncroaked to dust. I doubt Wanda can raise dust (although you never know.)

Despite that, of course, this is still a stupid move on Ansom's part. Even his own people think that. No matter how many uncroaked he can turn to dust personally, the rest of his forces are still going to get swarmed; then he'll get surrounded and captured. Unless he has some other trick up his sleeves, he's not thinking straight.

[paddyfool]

1) Translovito, they work by bonuses, and swarm tactics it appears. Now tell me they wouldn't want two artifacts, and a sword that boosts leadership. Specifically Vinny, he will want revenge.
2) Charlie, assuming he can attune to the arkentools, or find someone that can, I think he will want GK's resources. And of course, those two casters will aid him as well. In fact, if he finds out who summoned Parson I think he will stop at nothing to capture her.
3) Jillian, she spent a good amount of time warlording. Perhaps she can lead some sort of defense against Parson.

There's also:

4) Someone else, specifically whoever has the fourth known artefact (Charlie has the dish, Stanley the hammer, and Ansom the pliers - but that still leaves one. And Stanley's going to be sure to want it).

Overall, my prediction:

Spoiler

Show

Ansom gets hit by what's left of the air defences, tries to attack Wanda but is croaked or captured by her elite uncroaked fliers. Wanda takes the pliers. The attack on the walls then fails, probably splintering the coalition. Next, everything hinges on Charlie's choice (he precedes GK in the initiative order). Either a) he might attack Wanda to take the pliers, and maybe capture Wanda to turn her into a brain-washed Archon, and maybe capture Ansom to ransom for himself if Ansom was captured rather than croaked. Or b) he might move to capture Parson & his artefact. Or a) and b). Or c) he might pull his forces out to reconsider the benefits/threat of GK's resurgence.

a, b or a+b would lead to Charlie being the next antagonist since Stanley would very much want to go after his artefacts and maybe indulge a personal grudge besides. Charlie's already hacked GK's internal communications and has seriously elite units, making him a major threat, especially if he croaks/captures Wanda. c would leave the field wide open.

Of course, all of this hinges on Ansom/the coalition's attack being unsuccessful. If it's even partially successful, Charlie would probably wait to see how Parson plans to defend the keep.

Oh, on a side-note - I have a suspicion the Sofa-king is in charge of those cloth golems. It just seems appropriate, besides the fact that the losses they took in defending the siege might be one of the reasons for Duke Nozzle being unhappy. Since said units are among the heavies, this is one more thing that would hurt the coalition if the Sofa-king forces left.

[SteveMB]

Oh, on a side-note - I have a suspicion the Sofa-king is in charge of those cloth golems. It just seems appropriate, besides the fact that the losses they took in defending the siege might be one of the reasons for Duke Nozzle being unhappy. Since said units are among the heavies, this is one more thing that would hurt the coalition if the Sofa-king forces left.

One of the cloth golems in Webinar's group has a radish emblem, implying that it's one of Ansom's units. That said, it's very possible that the siege units aren't all Jetstone (given that city assaults are essential to the Coalition plans, Ansom has presumably requested siege units from everybody able and willing to spare some).

[TheJustWiseSage]

Okay, here some reasons why this attack right now could be a good idea:
Parson is weak now. Weaker than for a few turns. He has croaked a lot of units, but he had losses to. Marbits and Golems, maybe spiders and knights. His Dirtamancer and his Croakamancer presumably have no juice now, probably his thinkamancer, too.

Just a point to note, it was said that Wanda raised ALL the dead in the tunnels, that implies that his own dead Marbits, spiders, etc would have been raised too.

[Eugenitor]

It's not his turn.

Doesn't matter in this case- since Charlie's already in the city, he can be considered to be defending it.

The RCC already thinks Parson hired Charlie, anyway.

I expect a lot more of this comic is going to continue with Stanley vs. Charlie, with Parson caught in the middle. (Charlie does NOT want Stanley's dwagons + Parson's mind against him. He just doesn't.)

[DevilDan]

I expect a lot more of this comic is going to continue with Stanley vs. Charlie, with Parson caught in the middle. (Charlie does NOT want Stanley's dwagons + Parson's mind against him. He just doesn't.)

He may have expressed no interest in the arkenhammer, but at least some people think that he is interested in the arkenpliers. Again, we only have Charlie's own word on what his motivations are. So far, his actions bear out his words.

We don't know what the RCC thinks of Charlie at the moment; the fact that it hasn't been mentioned would lead me to suggest that they don't think that they will have to fight him, possibly. The RCC knows that Charlie had his own turn that day, and tomorrow they'll find out that Charlie is still nominally his own side when his turn begins anew.

[SteveMB]

He may have expressed no interest in the arkenhammer, but at least some people think that he is interested in the arkenpliers. Again, we only have Charlie's own word on what his motivations are. So far, his actions bear out his words.

Even if he's not interested in the Arkentools for themselves, he could pretty much name his own price if he acquired and sold them. That's a fairly obvious motive for a mercenary.

We don't know what the RCC thinks of Charlie at the moment; the fact that it hasn't been mentioned would lead me to suggest that they don't think that they will have to fight him, possibly. The RCC knows that Charlie had his own turn that day, and tomorrow they'll find out that Charlie is still nominally his own side when his turn begins anew.

Leaders, at least, seem to be aware of whose turn it is (at the very least, a later side would know that its turn has begun, and that the previous side's turn has therefore ended, when it gets its automagical maintenance).

As for the Archons hanging out in GK airspace, they are a major complication even if they just sit and observe -- the Coalition is forced to consider the question of what Charlie is up to and how to deal with it if necessary.

[Calmness]

So this means we finally get an Ansom-Wanda confrontation, right?

[Nemal]

while this post was made a while ago, no one seems to have noticed the mistake: Parson has a lame bonus. that means that Parson leading an attack wouldn't work, his bonus just isnt powerful enough.

We know that he -had- a lame bonus.

Note that the sword he got supposedly boosts his Leadership bonus, as can be seen from the back of the luckamancy charms box...

[fendrin]

Speculation on an unlikely scenario:
Ansom is not about to attack the uncroaked on the walls.
He is going to talk to Charlie.
He has the pliers out because he is going to offer them in exchange for the archons wiping out the uncroaked.

Speculation on a more (but still not very) likely scenario:
Parson only has the uncroaked jetstone troops on the walls because he intends to collapse the wall on top of the attackers. True, he will lose a large number of troops, but they will be gone soon enough anyway.
Obviously this will create an opening to the courtyard, but it will hopefully wipe out enough of the enemy to make the attack on the dungeons and/or tower more difficult.

[docstrange]

Ansom will turn the undead to dust as quick as he can swing a pair of oversized pliers - but the rest get their "hitsies", and whatever is the equivalent of a natural 20 in Erfworld will happen often enough to hurt.

While Ansom is focused (as he so often does) on the fight at hand, well, a lot of other things can happen.

I assume, though, that his plan is to hit the walls, slay as many as he can, and then retire to safety so he can heal up before his next turn.

[DevilDan]

I assume, though, that his plan is to hit the walls, slay as many as he can, and then retire to safety so he can heal up before his next turn.

Interesting. I assume that he means to punch through, which is why he wants all the siege units behind him.