Book 2 – Page 75

[BLANDCorporatio]

I never saw Ossomer as very interesting

Amen to that. He's a boring, unimaginative, lunk headed, stupid, initiative lacking, slow moving, pompous, pretentious, unwanted, unloved and mocked lunk of corned beef. Who'd cry if that list of appropriate adjectives piles on.

But, someone who the universe has such an obvious grudge against is bound to become the ensemble darkhorse by sheer woobishness. Ossomer is the Butters of Erfworld.

[Kaed]

Ossomer is the Butters of Erfworld.

I think I love you a little bit more for that reference. Polka will never die.

[Kreistor]

I missed you, Kaed.

Looks like some archons possess some leadership

They absolutely do.

"What was an Archon, really? A flying knight-class unit with a random special from the set of: dance fighting, leadership, and limited forms of Shockmancy, Thinkamancy, Dollamancy and Foolamancy." Summer Update 46

New Rules:

1) Screening is directional.
"He can't screen us all."

2) Archons have a physical melee attack.
"Close and engage all those casters physically." Speculated about, since they are a "Knight-class unit", but never seen. Since weapons are always visible, and the Archons don't have one, not sure what they'll use. Some have Dollamancy, though, and might create something like Ace's accessories.

3) Leaders don't count towards a stack's 8-limit.
We can see groups of 8 archers all over those walls, with leadership near but not reducing stacks to 7+leader.

Speculation: Leaders are near several stacks. Are they re-stacking with each volley to give different stacks their bonus while other stacks re-load?

We already knew ranged weapons have depleted ammunition ("and to exhaustion").

[Jinren]

3) Leaders don't count towards a stack's 8-limit.
We can see groups of 8 archers all over those walls, with leadership near but not reducing stacks to 7+leader.

Am I right in recalling that there is no hard upper limit for stack size, but merely that bonuses stop multiplying at eight? So if the leader is going to change stacks periodically, it would make sense to arrange the combat units in eights so they get a bigger bonus when the leader isn't stacked with them; when the leader does, they have a stack of nine and there's nothing strictly forbidden about that?

[mmooneybsa]

I missed you, Kaed.
3) Leaders don't count towards a stack's 8-limit.
We can see groups of 8 archers all over those walls, with leadership near but not reducing stacks to 7+leader.

Stacks don't have a limit of 8, the stack bonus maxes out at 8:

http://www.erfworld.com/book-1-archive/?px=%2F040a.jpg

Edit: Ninjad because I looked up the reference.

[badninja]

Just reading the title of this issue makes me shudder, new sides with Parson taking one come to mind. Marie's prediction is coming true but now how will the cards all fall? Nice to see how unled stacks are reacting but this is only the beginning. So what has happened to Silvia she should have taken command. Loved the update now how will it all end for book 2?

[fjolnir]

Ossomer's job is "side of beef" the fact that we see him slowly developing into corned beef is a function of pickling the character in the right seasonings (in this case self doubt and angst, but can be any emotional states) keep this up and he might actually be a pastrami sandwich or even a ruben

[Sixty]

I would suspect that screening is indeed directional, though I dunno if this entry proves it. It could simply be that the number of Archons exceeds Ossomer's maximum number of targets he can screen against at one time. We do know there is a maximum number of units you can screen against for certain attacks such as we saw in Artemis's ill fated charge.

Before that red had fully exploded into a dusty fireball, the other two opened a storm of flame down upon the Jetstone attackers. Artemis felt the searing heat, and shielded her face with her arm, but she was screened from any actual damage. Her Knights accounted for more than the maximum number of targets for two reds, but had she not felled the third, she would have been scorched.

[the_tick_rules]

Interesting seeing the archons panic.

[Kaed]

I missed you, Kaed.

Why thank you mister Kreistor.

Though as for the Archons attacking physically. That's kinda weird. I seem to recall them doing some sort of laser defense grid and wiping out the entire Gobwin Knob airforce (small though it was). I guess they are just too disorganised and without leadership to pull off their cool tricks so they're going to fly over and slap Ossomer. It makes sense in a gameplay sense - unlead units only perform basic attacks. But rationality wise, they're behaving like confused, stupid broads. I don't think ANY of the remaining archons have leadership, which I believe in this case means a commanding personality and logical thinking in addition to mechanical bonuses. So instead they just bicker and lack unity and initiative.

Also, they're women. What can you expect. :V

*ducks bricks*

Edit: Also I wanna know the mechanics for this screening thing... how many targets can a breath weapon hit before it stops working? Is it the same with Shockamancy and other magic?

[Oberon]

Yay!

Who is the Countess?

Another "mind the [leadership] gap" reference?



I hope that time has provided Xin some healing.

[SteveMB]

Yay!

Who is the Countess?

Artemis.

[Oberon]

The dead do not have "priorities", but I guess it's just training being implemented.

[Zeku]

Took me a while to figure out where we are. I didn't realize the most recent text update is actually part of the original story, and not the Wanda/prequel stuff.

I wanted to say that it's pretty cool that Xin did that extra art work. The new Wanda is looking more and more sexy. I'm not sure if that's part of the story, or just an art upgrade, but it's nice.

I don't think "book 0" should appear in the archive before book 1, since starting new readers off with a bunch of text is a bad choice. It should be given a real name, like Wandashmanda, and then placed below the summer updates.

Finally I don't understand Ossomer's role in all of this. I thought it was clear that he was uncroaked and working for Gobwin Knob? Did he just switch sides? It just seems like a confusing time for that to happen, since we haven't looked at this story in months.

[ETheBoyce]

He turned back to Jetstone on the last comic page of Book 2

[Skittles]

O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!
The comics have come back!

[Lamech]

O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!
The comics have come back!

That's actually probably withdrawal induced hallucinations. It happens with the better web comics out there sometimes. The actual post was one saying he had to delay for another week due to ferret related complications.

[EthericSentinel]

Ferret-related? Are you sure you haven't confused Erfworld with Sluggy Freelance?

More seriously, I certainly enjoyed the comic. I'm a little unsure whether the archons giving orders are those with Leadership, or whether they are just shouting suggestions without Leadership to speak of. Either way, it's certainly a good way to get us bacck into the fray, with the craziness of war and of Erfworld war in particular vividly displayed.

[LTDave]

So, here's my thinking:
If Ossomer turned back to Jetstone and was de-decrypted when Wanda went into the Magic Kingdom, then perhaps:
All of the decrypted have stopped being so and returned to their regular sides.
So the Archons are actually back to being Charlie's units, and so call out to him when they get hit.
The Dwagons that were cwoaked and fell to the floor and then de-crypted are back to being regular dwagons...
And basically every City that Gobwin Knob has conquered these last however many turns are now ungarrisoned, or at least greatly weakened and vulnerable to attack.
Perhaps.

[Saladman]

I can't buy your strong-form case LTDave. Ossomer's is the only livery change we've seen, so the rest are at least nominally GW units. And being de-decrypted is likely impossible (amounting to real resurrection in Erfworld terms, above and beyond the normal capacity we've seen from an Arkentool which is itself already breaking the known rules), and certainly in no way implied by the comic. He's just... a free-willed decrypted. He ran up against his true loyalty, without any time for indoctrination and while Wanda was (possibly, depending on how the MK works) out of Erfworld proper.

I could buy a weaker-form statement of some general loss of control. Either from being in the magic kingdom or some kind of backlash to Wanda from Ossomer breaking control. (I realize those ideas have been hashed out on previous threads, but its relevant if people are jumping over it to other theories.) It seems pretty clear to me the decrypted archons are still acting for GW, but that might be only from habit and momentum - perhaps they could now return to Charlie's side with an effort.

The leadership question -is their disarray explained by Cubby getting every single Archon with the Leadership special, or are Leader Archons arguing among themselves- is my big curiosity right now. My guess is he did not get them all: Archons gain additional random specials as they level, meaning there are likely many with Leadership. That in turn means that commanders are arguing among themselves, which would support the idea that Wanda's control has slipped to some degree.

Or perhaps Wanda just never established a clear chain of command or contingency plans. A significant failure in its own right, but a separate issue, and less likely given the very big hint of Sects.