Book 2 – Page 52

[Lightbender]

I loved the Star Wars reference.

[effataigus]

However, my take on it is that whatever's left in the air, belonging to GK, has even less chance of survival now if JS chooses to unleash the AA artillery still available. As well as the JS fliers, which have no reason to be put on hold now. ("No more parley attempts. Let's croak each other!")

Indeed! If this were an action movie, we would have just seen 10 minutes of people pointing guns at each other's heads... GK just chopped off it's own hand to get uncuffed from the chair, and now it's a good old-fashioned knife fight! Even Parson is jumping into the fray

[Itzal]

I kinda miss the old Star Trek version of the portal

[Sygerrik]

Man, I want Ace Hardware to turn so badly. Him and Cubbins are the only Jetstone characters I would not be happy to see dusted, though I doubt Cubbins is going to make it. Nobody appreciates Ace on the Jetstone side, but Parson would see his potential immediately.

Also, I wonder how strong Dwagons are on the ground? Probably still pretty strong. This is not a good place to be for Jetstone; their archers are going to be out of arrows and their Casters out of position, and the GK army is going to be stronger than ever and inside their defenses.

Remember, GK is going to be minus a few Decrypted units and plus a BUNCH of pikers, archers, and at least one Warlord.

[fractal]

Too bad Tramennis doesn't think to try to parley with Parson now. JS and GK are temporarily at a stalemate and the outcome is in at least some doubt, so this is his best chance to get Parson's attention. We know Parson doesn't actually want to slaughter everyone he meets, so there's room for discussion, although Tramennis may be unhappy both because he's lost what he thought was his strong bargaining position, and because negotiations with GK haven't worked well in the past. Unfortunately, for those same reasons, Tramennis isn't even going to try, and of course Parson thinks that all Royals are like Ansom and Slately.

[Tubal-Cain]

"Hot damn, okay!"

Is this the first time Parson swore in Book II? I wouldn't put it past me to completely miss it having happened already.

Damn (and crap) aren't considered curses by Erfworld, I don't think. Could have sworn Parson said "damn" in book 1. He cursed at the end and wasn't censored, but he hasn't cursed (in-comic) since.

I got the impression that they were. IIRC, the whole boop thing started as a joke when The Giant asked them to avoid excessive swearing while Erfworld was hosted at his site. If' you're going to do that, may as well be as broad as possible in your definition of swearing.

For what it's worth: Book II use of "crap"
And BS
And finally, God damn

[Syal]

I'm not getting why people assume the ground forces would be more effective than the arrow volleys. Presumably the archers have leadership, so the only difference is Gobwin Knob not having the ability to hit the archers back, and fewer Jetstone bodies in the end.

[Beeskee]

"Hot damn, okay!"

Is this the first time Parson swore in Book II? I wouldn't put it past me to completely miss it having happened already.

Damn (and crap) aren't considered curses by Erfworld, I don't think. Could have sworn Parson said "damn" in book 1. He cursed at the end and wasn't censored, but he hasn't cursed (in-comic) since.

I got the impression that they were. IIRC, the whole boop thing started as a joke when The Giant asked them to avoid excessive swearing while Erfworld was hosted at his site. If' you're going to do that, may as well be as broad as possible in your definition of swearing.

For what it's worth: Book II use of "crap"
And BS
And finally, God damn

Plenty of uses of "crap" in book 1 without censoring, that weren't references to crap golems or yellow dwagons. Heck, Wanda shouts it very near the beginning. But yeah I haven't seen anything worse than that in Book 1. I thought there were a few instances but I'm looking through and can't find any.

When I said he hadn't cursed in book 2, I meant like, F-bombs, lol. BS and GD are pretty mild compared to the last page of Book 1

[GaryThunder]

I think the references to "significant forces in the battlespace" by charlescomm refers to: Queen Jillian's Charlie sponsored Faq force and the various recon units watching Hagar and some of the others...

But why would Charlie not want either side to know about Jillian? Jetstone clearly knew about Jillian. And six Archons doesn't qualify as "significant forces" even given how broken Archons are.

Too bad Trammenis doesn't think to try to parley with Parson now. JS and GK are temporarily at a stalemate and the outcome is in at least some doubt, so this is his best chance to get Parson's attention. We know Parson doesn't actually want to slaughter everyone he meets, so there's room for discussion, although Trammenis may be unhappy both because he's lost what he thought was his strong bargaining position, and because negotiations with GK haven't worked well in the past. Unfortunately, for those same reasons, Trammenis isn't even going to try, and of course Parson thinks that all Royals are like Ansom and Slately.

This isn't a stalemate. I don't know why everyone keeps thinking that GK's force went from being pinned in the airspace to being pinned in the Atrium. It's been clearly established that once units are in the garrison, they can hit any part of the garrison - including the tower, where Slately is - with impunity. GK's on the offensive. And really, neither side is thinking parley at this point.

Plus, remember, Parson knows bugger-all about Tramennis and his unusually non-Royal diplomacy proclivities. He has, and had, no reason to think that negotiations with Jetstone would be anything but a waste of time on his part. Ugh, I still remember all the howling arguments like "But if Tramennis called down an Archon and had it send a Thinkagram to Parson telling him that he was really REALLY sincere about parley, it would have worked!" Not a chance. Nothing Tramennis could have said would have convinced Parson to get on the phone with him.

[Beeskee]

I think the references to "significant forces in the battlespace" by charlescomm refers to: Queen Jillian's Charlie sponsored Faq force and the various recon units watching Hagar and some of the others...

But why would Charlie not want either side to know about Jillian? Jetstone clearly knew about Jillian. And six Archons doesn't qualify as "significant forces" even given how broken Archons are.

Charlie didn't want RCC2 to know that HE had forces in the battlespace. Remember, RCC2 members were forbidden to deal with Charlie.

[fractal]

Too bad Tramennis doesn't think to try to parley with Parson now. JS and GK are temporarily at a stalemate and the outcome is in at least some doubt, so this is his best chance to get Parson's attention. We know Parson doesn't actually want to slaughter everyone he meets, so there's room for discussion, although Tramennis may be unhappy both because he's lost what he thought was his strong bargaining position, and because negotiations with GK haven't worked well in the past. Unfortunately, for those same reasons, Tramennis isn't even going to try, and of course Parson thinks that all Royals are like Ansom and Slately.

This isn't a stalemate. I don't know why everyone keeps thinking that GK's force went from being pinned in the airspace to being pinned in the Atrium. It's been clearly established that once units are in the garrison, they can hit any part of the garrison - including the tower, where Slately is - with impunity. GK's on the offensive. And really, neither side is thinking parley at this point.

Why do you assume that I think GK forces are trapped in the Courtyard? They're not. However, this is a stalemate, at least as long as JS keeps shooting arrows. Parson's plan is to wait the arrows out, and JS can't really attack when their own Courtyard is experiencing such terrible weather.

Plus, remember, Parson knows bugger-all about Tramennis and his unusually non-Royal diplomacy proclivities. He has, and had, no reason to think that negotiations with Jetstone would be anything but a waste of time on his part. Ugh, I still remember all the howling arguments like "But if Tramennis called down an Archon and had it send a Thinkagram to Parson telling him that he was really REALLY sincere about parley, it would have worked!" Not a chance. Nothing Tramennis could have said would have convinced Parson to get on the phone with him.

Yes, I know that, and I know that neither side is likely to consider diplomacy now. They both have good reasons, and I'm not placing blame. I just said it's too bad, because now that Parson has shown his hand (mostly), negotiation is at least theoretically possible. (It wasn't possible at all before Parson had demonstrated his exploit, because an ignorant Tramennis would never have been willing to make Parson a good enough offer.)

[wonmean]

"Oh snap!"


This just keeps getting better!
Thank you for all your hard work!

[Kyrt]

Why do you assume that I think GK forces are trapped in the Courtyard? They're not. However, this is a stalemate, at least as long as JS keeps shooting arrows. Parson's plan is to wait the arrows out, and JS can't really attack when their own Courtyard is experiencing such terrible weather.

That isn't a stalemate. Right now, Tram has the JS archers keeping the GK forces pinned down. At the same time hes continuing the evacuation he began earlier....its a question mark if that was a good idea as swarming the atrium with infantry ordered to Kill Wanda may be helpful but with Jack around, it may not have been deemed worth the confusion or risk they'd not find her before she decrypted (at which point, she suddenly gets a lot more fuel for her army)....but JS, for now, has the upper hand. And will until they run out of arrows.

I'm wodnering about the GK warlords though...we've seen Jack and Wanda. Sylvia and Ossomer are OK and we've met Captain Archer. What happened KC?

[fractal]

Why do you assume that I think GK forces are trapped in the Courtyard? They're not. However, this is a stalemate, at least as long as JS keeps shooting arrows. Parson's plan is to wait the arrows out, and JS can't really attack when their own Courtyard is experiencing such terrible weather.

That isn't a stalemate. Right now, Tram has the JS archers keeping the GK forces pinned down. At the same time hes continuing the evacuation he began earlier....its a question mark if that was a good idea as swarming the atrium with infantry ordered to Kill Wanda may be helpful but with Jack around, it may not have been deemed worth the confusion or risk they'd not find her before she decrypted (at which point, she suddenly gets a lot more fuel for her army)....but JS, for now, has the upper hand. And will until they run out of arrows.

If neither side can attack or take unfair advantage of the time spent negotiating, then I'd say that's exactly a stalemate. This is what Parson and Tramennis need to be able to talk (if they were going to do that, which of course they're not).

I'm wodnering about the GK warlords though...we've seen Jack and Wanda. Sylvia and Ossomer are OK and we've met Captain Archer. What happened KC?

It probably looks bad for him. Someone has to die to show how risky the fall was - he's our most expendable named character.

[Fug]

I read this as the first instance where Trem makes a really big mistake. Shouldn't he order the archers to get rid of the archons and Oss instead of using all their arrows? Maybe he still wants to negotiate but this seems like a big mistake to me.

[jtaylor]

I read this as the first instance where Trem makes a really big mistake. Shouldn't he order the archers to get rid of the archons and Oss instead of using all their arrows? Maybe he still wants to negotiate but this seems like a big mistake to me.

He wouldn't until Ossomer was back and restacked with the Archons. Croaking an enemy under flag of truce is something the Royals would never do, even though it might be tactically prudent.

[Squishalot]

So my guess- I think JS has a few fliers. Aren't Orlies and Unipegtaurs such? Probably rules of attacking- I mean defending- off-turn would allow an airborne Slately to breeze past any remaining GK air presence near Spacerock. Since his stack doesn't engage those of GK, maybe those won't be able to fight back either.

Actually, no. Consider. Jillian wouldn't need a screening stack if Wanda couldn't take action while Jillian flies harmlessly past.

In hindsight, the best thing Wanda could have done at the time was annihilate Jillian's gwiffon force as she flew past and decrypt it. Could have left Jillian alive if that was Wanda's biggest concern.

But yes, the ideal strategy would be to use the rest of the TDs (because they're all AA defenses only, useless against Wanda), blast Ossomer and the archons, and fly out. Whether Tram gets out as well is a separate question.

[mmooneybsa]

In the 'O SNAP' panel, Mr. Mustache has one eyebrow raised... makes him twice as awesome.

[Grimnir]

Parson's art looked great in this one. Don't know why. Maybe Xin is good at drawing smiling people or something. >_>

[atalex]

I read this as the first instance where Trem makes a really big mistake. Shouldn't he order the archers to get rid of the archons and Oss instead of using all their arrows? Maybe he still wants to negotiate but this seems like a big mistake to me.

I suspect that targeting the archons and Oss will be his next move. He can keep the archers focused on the atrium for as long as he can (or as long as it takes to enact whatever Hail Mary he intends to through) and send the unipegataurs after the archons, buffed by tower defenses and dittomancer buffs. He might even be able to take all of them out with just tower defenses. Do we know how many archons are in the air right now?