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Examining the Guard Class in Heroscape Part 3: ZG and D

Posted July 21st, 2010 at 11:51 AM by Filthy the Clown
Updated September 16th, 2010 at 03:10 PM by Filthy the Clown (Added Dumutef/Death Knight build)
Besides being members of the Guard class, our next two units under the microscope (Zettian Guards and Dumutef Guards) have something else in common: they both have existing strategy guides! Therefore, I will only be glancing briefly at each unit, pointing out guardship-related strategy snippets and army builds (both proven and speculative).

Zettian Guards


The original soulborg duo is the classic example of using ranged fire to harass an approaching enemy. With a range and defense of 7 (range boosted to 9 when adjacent to the venerable Deathwalker 9000), these guys are great to prop on a hill and fire away. They have limited offensive output, but their firing can distract your opponent and draw fire away from key assets.

[View the excellent Strategy Guide]

Zettians shine at:
  • guarding glyphs or key terrain features
  • drawing enemy fire away from your assets
  • plinking away at approaching heroes (via Zettian Targeting)
  • providing a "last stand" end-game soiree, reminiscent of Napoleon's Old Guard.
Successful builds:

Ollie used the following build in the 09 TempleCon Championship:
Major Q9 180
Zettians 250
Airborne Elite 360
Rats x4 520, 24 spaces

Hendal added Zettians to a Stingers x7 + Raelin build on Day 2 of the GenCon main event, finishing in second place.


Speculative Builds:

With their high defense, the Zettians also partner splendidly with fellow Utgar disciple, Torin (and his Evil Eye defense).

Torin 120
Zettians 190
DeathWalker 9K 330
Raelin 410
Rats x2 490, 14 spaces

~Zettians provide ranged cover fire for DW9K(who provides a +2 range enhancement), as well as benefitting from Torin's Evil Eye. This works best as a ranged pod, utilizing your rats to lock down the advancing enemy.

Torin 120
Raelin 200
Stingers x 3 380
Rats x2 460
Zettians 530, 22 spaces

~Rather than standing adjacent to Torin, use the Zettians as flanks to your army core, both to draw fire away from your main army, and to attack from height. Drop the occasional OM on the zettians to ensure that your opponent tries to remove the threat, thus enabling your army core to whittle down your opponent's forces.


Dumutef Guard



Let's not forget the Dumutef guard, seldom used in today's Heroscape games, but one of only 2 members of the Guard class with a Large size (Gurei-Oni being the other guard). The large size offers immunity from a large list of attack/abilities, and it also makes for a cheap Braxas counter, especially if you can catch the queen bee on a road.

[View the excellent Strategy Guide]

What 25 points will buy you:
  • a large-sized roadblock. 5/5 stats on a road tile, with 6 move, can work in your favor by blocking road use and stalling the approaching enemy, who can then be whittled down with ranged attacks or flanking swarms.
  • a squad bodyguard. Run a Dumutef or two with your squads. When auto-threats such as Braxas, or tough squads such as the Warforged, advance on your squad assets, slow them down with your Dumutef. His double-hex size can engage a full squad, allowing you to pummel your opponent with ranged attacks, or discriminately choose your next target.
Successful Builds:

Jexik used a Dumutef in the GenCon 2008 Heat of Battle, going 4 - 1 (7th place):
1x Dumutef Guard, 4x Roman Legionnaires, Ne-Gok-Sa, Me-Burq-Sa, Johnny Shotgun Sullivan, Isamu, Otonashi

Ollie utilized 3 Dumutefs in the 09 TempleCon Heat of Battle (only going 2 - 3, but 2 wins proves that multiple Dumutef can indeed be a potent force at times):
Zombies x4, Dumutef Guard x3, Izumi Samurai, James Murphy

Onacara went 4 - 1 with:
10th Reg x3 - 225
Marcus - 100
Raelin - 80
Dumutef Guard x4 - 100
505 Points, 22 Hexes

Speculative Builds:

Werewolf Lord 140
Wolves of Badru x 4 460
Dumutef x2 510, 18 spaces

~Use the Dumutef's high movement to protect your wolf pack from auto-threats, as well as to draw fire away from your expensive squads.

Dumutef x6 150
Death Knights x3 330
Warden 420
Sir Hawthorne (or Red Wyrmlings x3) 510
20 (22) spaces

~Lead with the Wyrmlings (or Hawthorne, as you advance your Death Knights) to clear out rat screens. Then, unleash your 7-movement guards (10 move on roads!), who can tie up your opponent with their double-base, inflicting damage until the knights can join the fray. Save the Warden for clean-up duties.




Please share your experiences with either the Zettians or Dumutef Guard.


Examining the Guard Class Part 1
Examining the Guard Class Part 2
Total Comments 6

Comments

Old
Pickledpie's Avatar
Just yesterday I was using the Surprisingly Tart Heroscape Draft Wizard, and it spit out a mish-mash Guard/Wolf army for me. Ironically, the Zettians and a Dumutef were included.

The map was Road Rampage BoV version. What I tried to do early was move the Dumutef to the middle of the road and back him with Khosumet and the Anubians, and have the Zettians and Blastratrons move off to the side.

Sadly, the Dumutef fell as soon as he got up on the road to none other than Finn. That, I think is the disadvantage to the Dumutef, low life.

However, once the Zettains got up on the hill (Warden 816 is must with 4 move) they basically owned the whole map. I think they took out most of my opponent's army, including a squad of Knights, Concan, Otonashi, and most of Sir Dupuis (rolling 20 with Anubians helped with him a little). With thier awesome range, I didn't even need to use their seven defense. And I even expected them to do poorly with only 2 attack.
Posted July 21st, 2010 at 12:34 PM by Pickledpie Pickledpie is offline
Old
ollie's Avatar
Thanks for the hat tips. For successful Dumutef builds you might try Onacara's armies. He's used them a few times and done well.
Posted July 21st, 2010 at 01:12 PM by ollie ollie is offline
Old
Filthy the Clown's Avatar
Sounds like an excellent, guard-based army, Pickledpie...Dumutefs, Zettians, and Blastatrons, oh my! In a future post, I will examine the validity of guard-heavy builds such as yours (for example: is an all-guard army justified and competitive?). And thanks for the mention of Onacara's build, Ollie. I added it to the blog post.
Posted July 21st, 2010 at 02:49 PM by Filthy the Clown Filthy the Clown is offline
Old
dok's Avatar
Hendal added Zettians to his stingersx7+Raelin build on day 2 of the main event, and finished second.
Posted July 21st, 2010 at 04:48 PM by dok dok is offline
Old
Filthy the Clown's Avatar
Thanks, dok. I added the build to the blog. Looking forward to adding your successful Guard-enriched GenCon army to the blogs as well.
Posted July 21st, 2010 at 05:33 PM by Filthy the Clown Filthy the Clown is offline
Old
Filthy the Clown's Avatar
Looks like the Death Knights of Valkrill throw some love towards the Dumutef Guards. 85 points will now get you a solid, 4-hex melee core with some cheerleading for mobile Devourers such as Anubian Wolves, Marcu, and other Dumutefs.
Posted September 15th, 2010 at 06:00 PM by Filthy the Clown Filthy the Clown is offline
 
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