Setting aside the curse Alex was possibly under, David sat pensively for a moment, trying to recall everything he knew about goblins.
In his timeline, they were the first things to cross over from New Eden, too, and that meant there were enough encounters later on to have a detailed plan of attack.
The only difference was that last time, the first few encounters had been a tad later, and they had been kept under wraps for a lot longer. He wondered what sped up the change this time around.
"We are going up against goblins, I'm almost certain. The easy way to win against goblins is to kill as many of the small ones before going up against the Hob."
Jack looked at him with attention. He was quite used to battle briefs, but he was usually giving them.
"What is a Hob?" the old man asked.
"A hob is their leader. We call them Hobs in the gaming community. Their full name is Hobgoblin. They are bigger, stronger, and more violent prone Goblins."
"What about taking him first? Killing the leader first is always a viable strategy in war."
David shook his head.
"This isn't your typical enemy. You aren't fighting humans here, so you can't assume they will act the same. Killing the Hob first would be terrible in this case."
Jack frowned.
"And why is that?"
"Because Hobs inspire fear in the goblins. Which means the goblins obey their every command. But Hobs are stupid. They have no sense of tactics. Letting them control the goblins is better in most cases."
"If they inspire fear in the small ones, wouldn't killing it make us the big bad, effectively killing enemy morale?"
Jack's reasoning was sound. If he were fighting a human troop.
But these weren't human.
"No, old man. You are looking at this wrong. These aren't insurgents, or soldiers of medieval times. Killing the Hob first will only give us more trouble."
"You keep saying this. Explain your reasoning."
David locked his gaze on him.
"Because the goblins are much smarter than the Hob. If the Hob goes down first, it goes from a battle of brawn, to a battle of brains."
Kary interrupted him there.
"I understand your reasoning. But wouldn't we win in a battle of wits against goblins? I mean, they are rarely depicted as smart creatures in any game."
David sighed loudly.
"That's because, in games, the goblins are meant as introductory monsters. Trust me, woman, they aren't. I've seen what goblins without a Hob do. It is not something we want to see."
"In that case, what should we do?" Jack asked.
He would much rather be taking point in any battle he went, then letting a young and reckless young man like Mr. Magnus. But he didn't know what they were going against, contrary to David.
"Like I said. We kill as many of the goblins as we can while staying safe. Then we take on the Hob. The goblins are weak, and even firearms can kill them. Even a well-placed shot from a good rifle might kill a Hob."
Jack squinted at his insinuation.
"What do you mean by this? You make it sound like the monsters, later on, won't be killable with guns."
David nodded his head once.
"That is exactly what I am saying. But that is an issue for later. For now, let us focus on the goblins. Killing the little ones won't be too hard, given that they will huddle around the Hob until he orders them to fight."
David looked at the table before him, which had a switch. He recognized the instrument, as the table in his hideout had the same function.
"May I?" he asked Jack, pointing at the switch"
The old man simply waved at the switch.
Taking it as an acknowledgment, David flipped the switch. The table's surface receded, revealing the digital display under it.
He rapidly opened up a sketch program, placing pins on a blank surface. One pin was larger than the others.
"As I show here, The Hob will stay in the back, safely, for as long as he can, trying to have his underlings kill the enemy. Hobs may be violence-prone, but they are also lazy. As long as he stays there, we can safely pick off the goblins."
He moved around the smaller pins on the canvas, keeping them bunched up in a circle or pointed formation.
"Goblins will try to keep huddled while under the leadership of the Hob. They will act in unison, which makes them dangerous foes to take down alone, but as a small group, we should be fine."
Jack raised a hand to interrupt him.
"What weapons will they be using, and what surprise might we encounter?"
David pulled out a generic image of a goblin from the net.
"As you can see in this image, goblins tend to use very short swords, or daggers. Fighting them is like fighting a child wielding a kitchen knife. Their movements will be crude, but dangerous nonetheless."
The mental image almost made Guo laugh. But Jack took this seriously.
After all, if the threat level was as benign as a child with a knife, any adult with a semblance of survival instinct wouldn't get caught or killed by them.
David continued his explanation.
"As far as tactics, as long as the Hob is alive, the most we have to concern ourselves about is watching our six. Goblins like to mob their enemies and hit them from all angles simultaneously."
"Up to now, you have painted a picture of fighting them while the big one is alive. What happens on the off chance that there is none, or that he is dead already?" Jack asked.
David looked gloomy for a second.
"If we get there, and something has killed the Hob, our problems will be many. Goblins are incredibly shrewd, and their small bodies allow them for very furtive movements in a forested environment. Fighting a goblin camp under those conditions is like walking into Viet Cong territory."
Kary gulped. Given how they had just used that exact tactic in New Eden, a few days prior, to take down enemies in a hundred-to-one fight, she knew how dangerous that could be.
"We will want to avoid that at all costs," David said, with a grave tone.
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