The Book of Zelrig

[Master of Disaster]

Originally Posted by The B.I.V.

"Army Ideas" link is broken on front page, FYI.

Taking Zelrig to our NHSD tourney today. I'm sick, sick, SICK of Minions and Mezzos! I think Zelrig is by far the best (and possibly only) counter to Mezzos. Since they can only move 2 figs per turn it makes it that much harder to spread them out. Just send Big Z to the start zone and start burning massive amounts of Exoskel markers every turn 'til he dies. Should even the odds and enable the rest of your army to meet the mezzos on an even footing.

He's not super effective against Minions (since their high defense is still enough to withstand his Majestic fires) but that's what the rest of my army will be for. I'm thinking of taking 10th foot...

Braxas counters both mezzos and minions.

[CrazyTankster]

Originally Posted by The B.I.V.

"Army Ideas" link is broken on front page, FYI.

Taking Zelrig to our NHSD tourney today. I'm sick, sick, SICK of Minions and Mezzos! I think Zelrig is by far the best (and possibly only) counter to Mezzos. Since they can only move 2 figs per turn it makes it that much harder to spread them out. Just send Big Z to the start zone and start burning massive amounts of Exoskel markers every turn 'til he dies. Should even the odds and enable the rest of your army to meet the mezzos on an even footing.

He's not super effective against Minions (since their high defense is still enough to withstand his Majestic fires) but that's what the rest of my army will be for. I'm thinking of taking 10th foot...

Exoskeleton markers can't be used for special attacks I believe. So unless you kill every mezzodemon you'll still need a back up plan for the surviving mezzos.

[The B.I.V.]

Yeah, both of your comments make sense. I used him anyway and didn't run into any Mezzos, so whatev...

[Fourshadow]

A nice Zelrig complement are the Protectors of Ullar(x2) and Atlaga for 495 points. Z takes care of the common squads and the Protectors take out the heroes very nicely.

[Serenity]

Zelrig
C3V and SoV Custom Synergies

Spoiler Alert!

Synergy Benefits Offered

Synergy Benefits Received

Synergy Imposed

NHAH SCIRH CULTISTS : DRAGONKIND ENMITY
As a Dragon, Zelrig provides the Nhah Scirh Cultists one additional attack die when he is targeted.

[Astroking112]

I just recently acquired Zelrig and am excited to try him out in a tournament format, but unfortunately the link for Army Ideas in the first post seems to be broken. What kinds of figures do people think complement him the best?

So far I'm leaning towards taking around three squads of rats to tie down the opposing army and potentially keep him alive for longer (along with giving him some more targets in the form of my own rats if need be), and then I think that a durable hero would be the next priority since Zelrig will likely be focused down very quickly.

If anyone has any better ideas for a competitive army featuring Zelrig, I'd love to hear them.

[NecroBlade]

Personally, I don't think Zelrig needs a screen to keep him alive longer. Your opponent is going to try to play around his ability and spread his units out, so Zelrig's purpose is to bomb as many units in their start-zone as quickly as possible. Once they've moved out, he's a really expensive single-attack hero. For these reasons I'm also not a huge fan of him with Greenscales. That said, Rats could theoretically help tie up multiple units to set up more Z-bombs: engage a Rat between two enemies then target the Rat! Alternatively, use VC's Nhah Scirh Cultists: they're more threatening on their own, and more resistant to Z-Bombs!

[Astroking112]

I guess I'm hesitant to fully devote 185 points to a starting zone nuke, so I was hoping to get some more value out of him or at least make him a little more durable. Knowing my luck, I'll whiff the roll of three attack dice and end up wasting him altogether without more support.

I did consider the Greenscales, but I see few reasons to justify choosing Zelrig over Nilfheim as their Lizard King, especially in a double-blind match. Nilfheim just seems to be much more versatile to me, whereas Zelrig is far more reliant on the enemy's troops and positioning.

I like the idea of using those Nhah Scirh Cultists, but unfortunately they'd need Order Markers to create the screen, whereas rats can move while Zelrig does his thing. They're also a fair bit more expensive, decreasing the appeal of potentially sacrificing them to take out the enemy.

As for the tank to survive after Zelrig falls, the tankiest hero to come to mind is Q9. I hate the idea of taking both Q9 and rats after hearing of their infamy, however.

[flameslayer93]

I got three ideas.

1. Maybe more rats then? You can also use Krav or maybe the Marro Warriors after Zelrig goes down. By then the rats should be nice and spread out.

2. You could use the glad/blast combo to help. They can move a whole ton of them per Order Marker and still get potshots in.

3. Put Zelrig behind a wall of Cathar Spearmen. The Cathars punish figures who try to spread too much thanks to their spears, and Zelrig provides ranged support. If figures do start clustering around your Spears, you can start setting large fires.

[Astroking112]

I've never used rats en masse before, so I wasn't sure if taking more than three squads of them would be effective. I think that having twelve rats is already a lot, but then again, they're cheap enough that throwing a couple of more in shouldn't be a problem.

Nice suggestion with the Glads and Blasts. They're an effective army all on their own, so I could easily see taking a couple of them with the remainder of the points. Unfortunately, you can only afford two squads of each and Zelrig with 500 points.

I love the Cathar Spearmen idea, but unfortunately I don't own any. I'll have to fix that sometime.

[Sir Heroscape]

Originally Posted by Astroking112

If anyone has any better ideas for a competitive army featuring Zelrig, I'd love to hear them.

Best Zelrig build imo is Zelrig with Marcus, Sacred Band(or Legos), and 10th Reg. It will largely be depending on the point total format, but you should be able to get around 2 squads of each as a solid secondary army after the initial Zelrig round 1 strike. BUT I will say this...it’s not about WHO you play with Zelrig as much as HOW you play with Zelrig. I’ve owned Zelrig ever since he came out and have played with and against him enough to feel confident when I say this...HE IS ONLY MOST EFFECTIVE AS A ROUND 1 STARTZONE BOMB. Round 1 all your Order Markers HAVE be on him, and usually Turn 1 of Round 2. Some maps you can reach the startzone turn 1 but a lot of maps it will be by turn 2 which means you’ll get 1 or 2 shots in AT BEST before having to retreat and/or get in a vulnerable position just to get an extra shot in. After that initial strike, try your best to retreat him and get him out of the way until mid or late game. Whoever your 2nd force of units are, get them out as quick as possible and if Zelrig has done enough damage you may have the edge you need. Putting too many OM’s past Round 2 on Zelrig though will limit your attacks and position, so you’re completely depending on his ability to produce in the first round.


@podunksarmy will attest to what I’ve said as he runs Zelrig at just about every tournament he comes to in Utah, and does a masterful job of running him. The last one he attended he placed 3rd with Zelrig, Nakita Agents, Pelloth, Drow Chainfighters X3, Marcu

[Astroking112]

It certainly looks like his success will largely be reliant on how much damage he's able to deal before falling, but I find it difficult to believe that he'll be able to deal enough damage to justify spending nearly 200 points on him, especially if the enemy is able to spread out their starting zone spaces a little bit. I'm sure that it's something that needs to be seen to be fully believed, especially judging from this thread and his rankings.

I'll have to try him out in a variety of formats, from using a screen and relying on him a little more to focusing on the coveted Z-Bomb and building a functional army with what little points are left. Thanks for the additional information!