Just because his sum-up is so damn good, here is kagato again.
kagato23 wrote:The biggest thing I take from this update is the new factoid that at least warlord bonuses also effect defense stats in addition to attack. Which is important to know.
Though there does seem to be some folks who think this update is lousy, but the logic here is sound even tactically, considering how archery warfare worked. The individual archer-individual target is the thing reserved for legend. The less people there are, the LESS effective archery generally is. Archery was all about the arrow spam. You dont' aim for a target, you aim for a range. and when you and a few hundred more people dot hat at once, you cover a pretty good area.
When the GK units were all packed in the airspace, it'd be hard for an archer firing NOT to hit something. When there are only a few targets, and they all are small, fast fliers... well dodging becomes a factor, because they have space to move around. Now, if everybody is shooting at once, yeah, you still hit. but it's far less efficient. And most importantly, THEY DON'T have the numbers anymore. Trem put the arrow spam down already into the courtyard, where it was far less effective for multiple reasons: partial cover, a far less ideal angle, the fact that the dead became shields. Even then, from what we saw there werent that many GK units left pre-wrequeim. With the archers and arrows they have left, they can't do a spam on the remaining archons. Not to the point that they could guarante every unit was dead, especially when those units had viel (as we saw at the bridge, with a full arrow spam, vieling doesn't matter.) With what they had left, they have to aim carefully. And that puts you into the individual archer-target mode which is far less effective. Could they do it? Probably, that's been said But not without draining a lot of reasources and, more importantly at the moment, not without taking quite a bit of time. And definitly not a good way to do things when they are on the clock.
So why wasn't this the case before? Multiple reasons. First, that full arrow spam talked about before. With a dittomancer there and a full compliment of tower spells, the plan would have been to overload the airspace. Use the towers to take down big and tough leadership targets, and arrow spam everything else. Vieling wouldnt' do a thing. And yes, the units would be tough, but al lot more of those arrows would have been hitting: less chance to dodge when you got people on all sides of you. What individual targets remained after this barrage could be picked of at leisure, which is a far different tactical standpoint then where they are now. They did have fliers there at the ready as well, no doubt to take out whaever might be left after this attack.
With GK not being able to really move or counterattack in anyway, that attack would have been a massacre. Now, as Jack speculates, his plan could have worked, sure. Could have being the operative word. Tough troops, deliberate vieling and screening: yes, the command might have survived, and even been in enough numbers to defend against the fliers. But they wouldn't have near enough to take the tower on their next move. They'd have to run to survive. Attack would be unthinkable: Once they did that, they are also dealing with a whole lot of completly competent infantry that can hit them. And I'm sure after the assult their siege dragons would be down to nothing, so just burning down the tower would not work so well. And that assumes that nobody gets lucky: there was always a chance that wanda or ossamer or whomever would still be hit and downed. Jack's plan was by his own admission a maybe. Dragons are big beefy targets, and an uncoordinated fall would have resulted in surviving troops alone, unled and ready for slaughter by the infantry forces. Even if wanda fell into the atrium, without Jack there Antium would have been stabbing her actual head, and that'd be that. But now? that great infantry has been partially turned into a new GK groundforce. Now it's a battle from two sides, and the reasources left are better serviced taking on the far more dangerous Garrison threat then wasting time and remaining arrows on the presently impotent air force.
Also, Pierce alone makes this update awesome.
And now I add to it.
We have a precedence to a "single veiled person" with Stanly and Jack being hunted by the Transilvito forces.
http://www.erfworld.com/book-1-archive/?px=%2F115.jpgA couple humans that can hide anywhere in the sky with foolomancy? Nah, they're gone. That is the situation now with the Archons.
At this point in time, there is no way for the tower defenses and the remaining Outter Wall archers to out maneuver, locate, and pin down the Foolomancy capable Archons that can just fly back and forth over the grounds while veiled to the locations that are light on archery units and just avoid all the booping arrows. Wasted resources on Jetstone's part, especially when those arrows can be conserved for hitting the ground troops when they bust out of the walled in building they are currently in, hopefully getting a lucky shot like with Warlord Manpower.
http://www.erfworld.com/book-1-archive/?px=%2F002.jpgAnd since the air units can not directly attack in their current situation, they can be left for later. This doesn't change the fact that the Airspace is completely under GK control, and that it would take significant resources to completely exterminate the archons and take it back, just for the sole purpose of flying a single unit out of the battle. Taking control of the airspace will do
nothing to win the battle. And it would be splitting JS's resources.
Tactically, Tram was dead on saying that they are in trouble. GK now has possession of the Airspace and are now invading the garrison. The original plan called for taking the air space and then doing a garrison drop, which is what the situation has become under quite bizarre circumstances. I think everyone remembers the situation Parson faced when his airspace was occupied and the garrison was being invaded.
http://www.erfworld.com/book-1-archive/?px=%2F119.jpgThe Unipegtaurs are now useless, and the airspace is lost. All of Tram's forces HAVE to go against the ground incursion in order to survive, and potentially win. It's all about objectives, remember?
http://www.erfworld.com/book-1-archive/?px=%2F124.jpgTram's primary objective is to continue the ability of his side to fight and their overall survival.
That has been solved by evacuating his side's king and the irreplaceable casters.
His secondary objective is to render the enemy incapable or unwilling to take the city of Spacerock.
The best way to do that is to kill Wanda.
The second best way is to kill enough military under Wanda's command that act as her shield to force the Croakamancer to surrender.
The third best way is to kill all of the army Wanda has raised (no pun intended) within Jetstone's own walls, and Wanda with them.
Barring accomplishing those objective, Tram must pull a full retreat to help secure objective 1, having more military remaining to supply Jetstone the ability to continue fighting.
Oh, and I think Tram would consider attacking the Archons at this point as a show of contempt by doing the only thing he can do, while he can. And I think we all know Tram's views on that.
http://www.erfworld.com/book-2-archive/ ... -12-04.jpg
And I don't need to fuel it, it goes on under its own inertia. And probably will, for a while. Shoite. What have I wrought?
