Quote Originally Posted by Sky_Schemer View Post
What's so maddening about your posts is that you speak as if you have a copy of the map on your desk and know exactly where all the units are located. You speak in such absolutes, and yet, really, none of us know much more than the tiny tiny snippets of maps that we've seen. Everything else is supposition.
Actually, I've felt that I made it clear that I didn't know where the units are, but that I was making my best guesses, based on the information presented.

Ansom is heading towards Gobwin Knob with a column of assorted forces. That was seen on both Ansom's map, and the Battle Table at GK. They are either heading east to west, or west to east. (True, they could be heading in nearly any direction, but for sake of clarity, let's stick with east to west.)

Gobwin Knob is to the West, which would put Webinar and Dora to the furthest west position of the column. Makes sense, Dora (the Explorer) and Webinar are scouts and Ranger type units. If Jillian were to escape GK, she would head east, back towards the column and her allies, meaning the first person/unit she would encounter would be Webinar and Co. Since Ansom is expecting trouble, he would want to put a couple of heavy hitter mercenary units near the front as well, hence the Archons.

Since the Siege Engines move slowly (assumed, but heavy siege units are usually slow movers in hex-type TBS games), it's logical that the siege engines are staggered throughout the column. Parson would have to stake the A's and the Donut of Doom somewhere near the middle or near the front and south of the column to make his raids. This would put them far east of Jillian's point of entry after her "escape."

Jillian's search, then run for Ansom could only have her stumble across the dwagons if somehow she ended up due south of the wounded column, or PAST the dwagons and coming back.

I dug out some of my hex map games and set up things in the most "logical" way Ansom would be deployed, based on the maps shown so far, and that's how I came to my conclusions. I'm making a lot of assumptions, but none that are radically "Over the Top" in regards to movement rates, etc.

Unless there is a major turn south in the column (could be, a mountain ridge could be just north and east of GK, running east/west as well, but it has never been shown), Jillian should have arrived at the column within one or two hexes "above"(north) or "below"(south) the main column, and began her hunt/search by heading back "parallel" and south of the column. Which means she should have encountered the Donut of Doom BEFORE finding the wounded A's.

Ansom gave Jillian his position in his "Detailed" Thinkagram, which told Jillian that Ansom was also south of the column. But Ansom had no clue where the A's were, and would not have directed Jillian to travel so far south that when she returned, she would shoot up north, and straight through the wounded stack. Ansom knew that the wounded had only so much range, and would not risk not finding them by looking too far south.

Parson could have either moved the A's furher east, and off of the lake, OR moved the Donut of Doom WEST one hex. Vinny's bats spot the DoD, Ansom charges in, Jillian comes to the rescue.



And in response to Jasdoif, yes, I keep reading, hoping that I'm totally wrong, and that there was a real reason for the slaughter.

When Rich first posted Erfworld, I thought to myself, "Giant Elvises? Sounds stoopid." But after the story got rolling, I read a few, then went back to the beginning and started reading the entire story. And it remained quite good, up until luck overrode skill and planning.