the_tick_rules wrote:Ansom and parson both have their roles, parson the thinker, ansom the fighter. Parson is better at expoliting erf rules cause he's sees them as like D&D rules to be exploited. Erf people see them as natural rules of the world It's like our world, we work within the laws of physics but only our smartest physicists think of ways to work around them like faster than light travel and stuff.
Oh absolutely. Both have their place. Decrypted Ansom has the bonus. His place is on the field. But I strongly believe that, while Ansom might be a strong tactician against opponents he knows and is used to fighting against, Parson is a much better strategist and tactician overall, even against opponents Ansom may excel against.
There's a lot more to the difference in fighting styles than just their roles. The entire mindset is different.
MarbitChow brought up a very good point earlier. Erfworlder Commanders tend to see units as expendable. Parson is used to human beings, who are NOT expendable. When you see your troops as individuals who are not simply things to be thrown away, you use very different tactics. Another thing
MarbitChow mentions is upkeep. That's another difference. Decrypted no longer have upkeep, so in addition to being individuals and therefore not expendable it doesn't make SENSE to throw them away. They don't cost you anything. So why sacrifice valuable and useful resources needlessly?
Yeah, Parson can exploit the rules of the world, but that's only the tip of the iceberg. There's a fundamental difference in the way he thinks about damn near everything. He's used to thinking and 'fighting' under conditions that, while different, are much tougher and carry much heavier consequences than Erfworld, IMO. Realtime combat is much harder to deal with than turn-based, as Jetstone's troops are quickly discovering. In this much more forgiving turn based world, that gives him a huge advantage in NORMAL war in Erfworld, never mind breaking the rules. His ability to break the rules is the cherry on top that makes an exceptional Warlord Perfect.
Erfworlders have been doing things the same way since the Titans created them, they haven't really changed. Yes, they may be competent tacticians and strategists. Yes, there are several cases in the story where some exceptional strategies are implemented by Erfworld warlords. (The ambush on Caesar comes to mind. That was well played on both sides.) HOWEVER, I do not believe that the current 'old guard' are prepared to deal with someone like Parson, who thinks about war and most everything else in a completely different way. They are used to opponents that think like they do.
When you train in a martial art, you spend a lot of time training in the dojo with other people training in the same martial art. The first time you go out and spar against someone trained in a different art is a real eye-opener, especially if it's not their first time. It usually ends up with you getting the boop kicked out of you. Why? Because you don't know any different. You have trained against people who are trained the same way you are. You have learned to read how they react, and since they are trained like you are, you know what to expect. Yes, you can still be surprised. Yes, they can still kick your ass and you can still kick theirs. But you understand what and why and how. When you go out into the world and fight someone trained differently for the first time, you have no idea what you are seeing. Suddenly, you're a novice again, staring in incomprehension as a well trained opponent thrashes you soundly. (Speaking from painful first hand experience) That's when you come back and look at your training anew. You start to learn new lessons from old techniques, because you are seeing them differently now.
My point is this. Erfworlders have only seen one style. They have been fighting in the style that the Titans taught them. And yanno, they are pretty good at it. But now, someone brought in a ringer. And he's a Grandmaster from another style. He walked into a situation that no one should have been able to survive, much less win. Yet he did. And he's kept on winning. He sees things differently than they do, and he is kicking their asses with it. The Titans never explicitly taught them how to deal with this, but the lessons are there. They have to go back to what they know and learn new lessons from old things, otherwise they are going to KEEP getting their asses kicked. Vinnie and Tram are learning. Jack is learning. Ansom's ego keeps him from learning. Who else? We'll see...
