I’m enjoying Book 3 of Erfworld, (even if the writers are making it well-nigh impossible to form a link to a specific page, grrr :mad: ). I have a question about the (continued in next message because I’m not sure if spoiler spacing works for mobile devices)
that is, the hand grenade trick Charlie played on Parson in Book 3, Page 2 (linked here, at least for now). My question asks for speculation on the question of whether the energy stored in the hand grenade is constant, or is based on its size at the moment of detonation.
If it’s based on size, couldn’t Parson have had Ace resize it back down to what it was when the soldier brought it back?
And if it’s constant, wouldn’t have resizing it to the volume of, say, a house have rendered the explosion just about as diffuse as a gust of wind, with maybe some sand particles thrown in?
Click on the strip title (e.g., “Book 3 - Page 7”); it’s a hyperlink that takes you to the permanent url, not to the url of the most recent update.
As for the resizing rules and damage: think of it as an RPG. Units have a set number of wounds; weapons do a set amount of damage. If you use the weapon, it probably does its damage no matter what size it might be.
Yeah, “energy” isn’t a fundamental quantity in Erfworld; “damage” is.
Oh, okay. Thanks.
Bumping because I’ve got another one. Still spoilers going on, though.
In the episode I read this morning,
Stanley is in the middle of an apparently successful attack on Faq.
In response to this development, Queen Jillian has ordered Vanna (the Turnamancer) to accept a link with Carnymancer Charlie. It’s fairly obvious that Charlie wants to repeat the trick that saved Jetstone’s bacon (barely) at Spacerock, that is end Gobwin Knob’s turn (I presume that with no other sides in the battlespace, Faq’s turn would necessarily begin). I could see where pulling this off could make things look pretty dicey for Stanley.
But would that work? If the sides are in melee, is there any reason to suppose that such an action would have any effect other than preventing any of GK’s stragglers to enter the hex?
Ending Goblin Knob’s turn early only removes Stanley’s remaining Move; it wouldn’t have much effect on the ongoing combat (which Stanley is winning, particularly since he’s repatriating some of his own troops too).
But Turnamancy isn’t just about Turns; it’s also about causing units to turn Sides. And Charley is a Carnymancer, which involves breaking rules. Stanley is leading a force comprised of Natural Allies and Dwagons tamed by the Arkenhammer – breaking loyalties such that either of those turns on Stanley would certainly be a game-changer. Or some other application of Turnamancy + Carnymancy.
It’s not clear if Ansom reported Jillian’s order to Vanna, for Parson to guess that a Turnamancy link is incoming; if he doesn’t know, his mathamancy bracer calculations aren’t going to be terribly accurate here. In which case, Ansom is probably Stanley’s best chance.
It would also enable Faq’s forces to withdraw from the hex, if needed. If Jillian’s flyers have more move than Stanley’s (which I think is the case), then Stanley would never be able to catch up.
One other possible implication in this battle: If Ansom stacks up with a GK unit, he’s immediately repatriated. Is this possible while he’s embedded in the megalogwiff? How close does the GK unit need to get? Is it possible on Faq’s turn, or only on GK’s? And if he can be repatriated while still embedded, what does that enable him to do?
I have the sense that he can’t stack while those shackles are on him. But if Stanley were to engage and repatriate him, the shackles would likely disband.
OTOH, I also have the sense that “repatriating” a prisoner involves croaking the rider of the megalogwiff in which the prisoner is embedded. And in Ansom’s case, that would end the battle.
ETA: I do think it’s significant that Ansom is being shown withdrawing his shackled hands from within the megalo. I’m not sure if we’ve seen that image before. If he did hear Jillian’s order to Vanna, perhaps he’s put two and two together, and plans to snag Jillian’s sword, hurl it at the Turnamancer, and end the threat single-handedly.
Wanda is the one giving Orders to Ansom; she’ll make them all about her, which means he’ll be directed against Jillian specifically. Parson is going to have to specifically Order something to be done about Vanna for her to be targeted; Stanley is unlikely to think of it unless Maggie breaks her link and tells him to.
Stacking seems to be the real-world equivalent of grouping into a defensive (or offensive) position. As long as Ansom is gummed up in the megalogwiff, it’s unlikely he will be able to stack. It looks like he’s escaping, though, maybe with his chances to do so boosted by Wanda + Maggie. And as Parson’s klog recently reminded us, escaped units have move and can engage, and can even croak the Ruler of the captor side.
Which is what they were discussing in the previous episode, although the exact word they used was “claim.”
It occured to me that the highest chance of success would probably be to have Ansom grapple Jillian and drag them both overboard. Jillian’s other units are engaged, and stopping a fall doesn’t seem within the bounds of Turnamancy (even if +Carnymancy). The grapple rules of Erfworld are probably as broken as they are in every other RPG ever, and the falling rules would croak Jillian unless Fate intervenes. Loss of the valuable decrypted Ansom, but gets rid of Faq in one go.
Unlikely to happen, of course.
I really doubt that would happen. For one, the only thing he heard was “Accept that link”. It may not even register as a threat.
I wonder if Wanda can decrypt Jillian without being physically present near the dead body.
As an aside, what do you guys think of the new artist? His ‘style’ has yet to grow on me, although it is serviceable. The occasional panel and particularly the way he draws faces sometimes(Jillian in this, or Wanda in this) just seems really…ugly to me.
Corpses de-pop at end of turn unless moved. If Jillian croaks, then Stanley wins the battle, and he’s presumably learned by now the value of preserving corpses of powerful enemy units. There shouldn’t be a problem with eventually bringing an intact-enough corpse and Wanda together at some point in the future.
That said, though, I don’t think that’s likely to happen-- it’d be seriously anticlimactic. I think Ansom croaking Vanna, but Jillian somehow escaping, is much more likely.
So, yeah, looks like Charlie is going after Stanley’s Natural Allies. If the hobgobwins suddenly break their alliance, or Turn, Stanley is booped.