July 2006
[May take a minute or so to load animations on dial-up connections]
Ahh, the frumious* wightblast. Deliverer of the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat alike, this maneuver has been generating reactions from laughs to consternation for nearly nine years. Below you will find short animations illustrating a couple Frumious* Wightblasts, and links to some complete films of those incidents and other Frumious* Wightblasts.
I first stumbled upon the maneuver in the early days of Myth: The Fallen Lords during a Steal the Bacon game on the map Rest in Pieces. I don't recall who my opponents were that particular game, but on that map I would frequently meet with the players My Modem is on Fire - BMF - and Ammo (and HDK maybe? memory fails).
In one particular game I had managed to grab the ball early and bring it back to my starting spot at Rest in Pieces' northeast ponds. I sank it in the back pond and planned to defend it to the bitter end. It was quiet for a while and I had time to set up. My pus skills were undeveloped back then, so I sank my two wights in the pond in order to blast some bad guys during the inevitable massive battle for the ball at the end of the game. After blasting them I hoped to go in, mop up, and win the game. A very basic plan. Pure vanilla. Everyone expects the massive battle at endgame with probably a wight blast thrown in. It's practically written in stone now, a virtual script; it's just the way things are done.
But I discovered a better way. A more fun way. A way that keeps surprising people and taking games to this day. On that fateful day my vanilla plan was not going well. The other three teams had descended upon my position -- which was the ball -- from three sides with devastating consequences to my forces. I was forced to retreat with a handful of guys to the other side of the pond as the three titanic forces waged deadly battle for supremacy on the far side of the pond at the ball.
I had my two wights, but my "mop up crew" was now only a few ghols and a couple warriors or so. It was sudden death. I was on the far side of the pond. The time was now or never, but I was too far away and very weak. It was a desperate time, and desperate times often call for frumious* measures -- and with that thought came a plan. I would use my wights to blast the ball away from the enemy and hopefully far enough to reach my own guys! I moved my wights in tight formation to the opposite side of the ball. With Newton's 3rd law in mind I gauged the angle carefully and exploded my wights. The ball flew into the air, and, in a beautiful arc, came down behind my forces. Game over. Alas, there is no film of that game that I can find.
From then on I was in love. Born of desperation, the Frumious Wightblast is now a standard maneuver in my arsenal. It's been nine years or so since that first game. It is rare that I have a chance to use it, but that makes it all the more fun to set up and employ. It's amazingly high-percentage. People have just not countered it with a specific strategy. I suspect that with this article that may change. I hope it does.
Wightblast Gripe 4-28-06 So named because of a subsequent complaint lodged by tiger, this particular example required a great deal of accuracy, as my warriors were quite distant and few in numbers -- they were a small target. Good thing I had 3 wights in there to pop it just so! I was pretty stoked with the results, and a little hurt that tiger was so upset about it. But we're good now. The Film is here: Wightblast Gripe 4-28-06
Wabe Wightblast 12-29-00Get the Film. This one didn't require any accuracy or distance, just some foresight. You can't get much distance with a single wight.
Now when it's a bacon game on a map with ponds -- and wights are possible in the unit trade -- my mouth waters and an evil grin begins to form. Circumstance have to be right: it helps to start near a pond, it's necessary to get control of the ball first, I have to successfully get it to my pond and stick it there with good ball handling, keep other wights and thrall out if possible, and keep enemy teams interested in the ball and hopefully not as much interested in my own forces. Accuracy in launching the ball is frequently important and depends on precise positioning of the wights before blasting--something that can be difficult in the heat of battle (see the short animation "Wightblast Gripe 4-28-06," above, so named because the maneuver threw my myth pal tiger into a temporary state of disgruntlement). He and his team had whittled me down to a few guys and I had to blast that ball a long way and at just the right angle for it to reach my warrior units and for me to gain control of the ball.
I have compiled a group of fourteen films illustrating the Frumious Wightblast employed on various maps.
Download the Wightblast Film 14Pack.
For a few of the films you will need the Magma TFL Multipack from Projectmagma.net and Baron's Backyard.
*The word frumious is an adjective created by Lewis Carroll, aka Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, that was used in his poem "Jabberwocky" to describe the Bandersnatch. It is considered to be a blend of fuming and furious, but I believe that sneakiness and cunning need be mixed in as well to fully flesh out the meaning. The context in which it is used usually provides adequate clues to its meaning. This author based his name upon the adjective the first day he got online with Myth: The Fallen Lords and has kept it to this day, changing its spelling to be more name-like.
