Book 2 – Text Updates 022

[Trotsky]

I don't think the decrypted would care if they were accused of disloyalty to Stanley or Gobwin Knob, as long as no one accused them of not serving Wanda to the best of their abilities.

But that is an *assumption*. We don't really know.

And everybody knows that when you make an assumption all you do is make an ass out of u and mption.

[kriss]

And everybody knows that when you make an assumption all you do is make an ass out of u and mption.

Poor mption, always getting his name draged through the mudd by idiots like us. And we never ask his opinion.

[Reclaimer]

I don't think the decrypted would care if they were accused of disloyalty to Stanley or Gobwin Knob, as long as no one accused them of not serving Wanda to the best of their abilities.

But that is an *assumption*. We don't really know.

All of this assumes Stanley gives a used fig what happens to these b-listers. I bet even if they somehow got a direct line to him and posed the plan, he'd just say something dismissive like "yeah, go nuts" so he could go back to watching the real show in the skies above Spacerock.

It's not insubordination when your commander doesn't care what happens to you even a little bit.

[kriss]

All of this assumes Stanley gives a used fig what happens to these b-listers. I bet even if they somehow got a direct line to him and posed the plan, he'd just say something dismissive like "yeah, go nuts" so he could go back to watching the real show in the skies above Spacerock.

It's not insubordination when your commander doesn't care what happens to you even a little bit.

B-list? I think we're down to the D-list with these guys. If they get a second apearance, then maybe C-list.

[Dancing Cthulhu]

With a warlord like Parson on GK's upkeep, RCII knows better than to make any assumptions about what GK's holding in reserve. Putting all their eggs in one easily-swipable basket would be stupid (Which they did, but that's beside the point).

Well, if they know about Parson at any rate (or much about him). I'd think the mindset at the moment would be "whatever you do, don't underestimate them again".

So I guess from Trem's position GK has one force across the bridge that can't defeat the RCCII forces as they stand (doubly so if they go back to Spacerock) and Wanda's force currently sitting above Spacerock. Plus Jillian promising to raze nearby GK cities.

And ugh, if Jillian actually does make a clean break here, she's taking the story with her, and I... I just don't want to accept that as a possibility.

I don't know if the strip will necessarily follow her progress. Maybe a quick look in, a status update back in the GK war room about cities being attacked, something like that. While I wouldn't mind seeing some Faq action (Duncan/Jillian/Megalos attacking, Ansom looking grumpy etc) I really want to stick with Trem/Wanda at the moment as well.

Haggar might not have enough move to make it back to the capital. They were half a turn from the capital to begin with, then they marched a few hexes past it, engaged, and now they're still sorta far out. Trem might ditch them, but I doubt it.

True, although if he is still worried about them turning Spacerock wouldn't be a bad place for a fair chunk of his forces. I guess he could leave them to guard the bridge. Still, if they don't have the move to get back to Spacerock they don't, but Trem still has to head back at some point before GK's next turn, so he almost certainly will ditch them if that happens.

Tramennis attacking Wanda is a huge gamble. If she survives, the war is still on and Gobwin Knob still threatens Spacerock directly. If she croaks, yeah, maybe the whole thing becomes a complete rout and GK falls. It's either a big payout or a shot in the foot.

Well, he has to make sure Wanda isn't still in a position to croak Slately. And from the looks of things the GK ground forces were never the main part of the offensive, hence Ford thinking on how they were intended to be an occupation force. It was all about Wanda and her dwagons.

Your missing the point, it's not whether Stanley and Wanda's objectives coincide, it's that Stanley's objectives are completely irrelevant.

Indeed, I expect when Stanley does see actual evidence of where the decrypted's true loyalty lies he wont be at all happy with it. I'm still curious as to how he'll react to the idea of potentially having all his dwagons/Jack/warlords croaked and decrypted by Wanda in order for her to survive.

Of course, Jetstone doesn't know about Wanda's upcoming tactic. We do, but they don't. Hence, a perfectly logical course of action (mopping up the remaining GK forces before returning to the capital), will in retrospect seem like a bad decision. Especially if Ford takes out a caster, or some flyers and archery.

Well there won't be any flyers. Personally, even though I like the little guy (in this case Ford) stepping up and giving it a shot, I hope he doesn't get to much of what he wants, if any (namely killing a caster or something like that). I would like to see Trem do some impressive leading to clean up the column with minimum losses or leave Duke Antium to take care of it while he takes the majority of the forces useful for fighting Wanda back to Spacerock.

[robak]

Trem doesn't need to take any archers or flyers with him to mop up the GK column, I would guess. He would need leadership though. Most sensible would be to take only units that cannot engage Wanda anyway (infantry) plus force multipliers (leadership, maybe the healomancer) and guard those heavily. The column doesn't have air units, so they would have to hack their way through heavy infantry to get to the high-value targets. I don't really see them making any difference at all.

[Ditto]

For those still speculatingon distance between bridge and capital, you can see Spacerock in the background in these two strips.
http://www.erfworld.com/category/book-2/page/17/
http://www.erfworld.com/category/book-2/page/18/
It's close.

[Ansan Gotti]

For those still speculatingon distance between bridge and capital, you can see Spacerock in the background in these two strips.
http://www.erfworld.com/category/book-2/page/17/
http://www.erfworld.com/category/book-2/page/18/
It's close.

Actually, Page 15 definitely seems to create the impression of multiple hexes traveled to get from the bridge to the capital. (Notice the changing scenery, road, farms, etc.) Which would support the view that one could swat the column and return to the capital, but not vice versa. Again, assuming heavies and heavy infantry have relatively low move.