The Book of Zettian Guards
 

The Book of Zettian Guards

Rise of the Valkyrie - Master Set

Character Bio: Though these fairly small, robot-like Soulborgs travel slowly and only in pairs, they are not easy targets. Their thick, full-body armor is tough to penetrate, so they often keep advancing despite a barrage of enemy fire. But this defensive edge has its price: the weighty armor slows the Zettians down and affects their aim. To make up for this, they tend to target a single enemy and attack it in quick succession with their laser-powered weapons. An enemy that survives the attack and can find the weakness in their armor has a good chance of defeating a Zettian Guard. (Hasbro)

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-Rulings and Clarifications-

• - N/A

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-Combinations and Synergies-

Synergy Benefits Received

• - DEATHWALKER 9000 : Range Enhancement
  As Soulborg Guards with a range of 4 or more, Zettian Guards may benefit from Deathwalker 9000’s RANGE ENHANCEMENT special power.
  
  - WARDEN 816 : Guard Leadership
  As guards, Zettian Guards may benefit from Warden 816's GUARD LEADERSHIP movement bonus.

Synergy Benefits Offered

• - N/A

C3V and SoV Custom Synergies

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-Strategy, Tactics and Tips-

• - TBA

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-Heroscapers Community Contributions-

Power Ranking
Zettian Guards- Though constantly ragged on, the Zettians can make a decent end-game ranged force. Will Torin revive this RotV clunker? B-

Master Index
Mothballed? Uses?
Sculpt Poll

Unit Strategy Review

• Unit Strategy Review: Zettian Guards

As soulborgs, these guys are immune to plague and toxic skin.

You know, much as I want to, I just haven't been able to get these guys to work for me. They inevitably go down real early and end up being a waste of points and order markers. That, and they slow Deathwalker 9000 down to get the Range Enhancement. Maybe I'm just doing something wrong :?

The problem might be in moving them or in keeping them together. I have two uses for the ZG.

The first one is I use them as a last line with DW9000. They will simply stay put next to DW9000 and sit and wait for the enemy to come to them. With their 9 range they should be able to weaken the enemy enough that DW9000 can finish them off.

The second is to use them for crossfire. They have a significant amount of defense and are capable at standing alone. March one to the left and one to the right, both seeking high points.(yet, do keep them within 13 spaces of one another...most of the time) At height they can stand individually as 7range, 3attack, 8defense units. If someone stumbles into range of both of them you can mercilessly hit him with a 3 then 4 attack at range.

Other than at height these guys can set up a crossfire while standing on glyphs. This is a lot of fun; specially if you can get bonuses to defense, attack, and/or range.

Early on the ZG were a hard pick as Drake with his Thorian Speed and massive 6 attack ate their lunch but with fewer and fewer people playing Drake (due to the excess of ranged Special Attacks) they are finally becoming more viable.

Personally, I like the Zet Guards being a squad of 2. For some reason, a pair of guards seems more appropriate than a trio.

But they do need help! I would love to have seen them have a move of 5, instead of their paltry 4. Or their price could have been dropped by 10 points.

These guys still get some play in our games, and they can be effective in the end game. It's just getting harder and harder to want to draft them when we have so many better options on hand.

You have to admit, there's no one else who can find a really high defense ranged unit for 70 points. If you are facing a lot of ranged commons, they can be useful as an add-on to a more well-rounded army.

I've actually found that the Zettians make a good "insurance policy" for the DW9K.

If I know the DW will be mixing it up, I'll place turn markers 1 and 2 on the DW, and put #3 on the Zettians.

Putting all 3 turn markers on the DW is really risky, since you never know when he'll go down. However, with #3 on the Zetts, you can still have a decent third turn if DW bites it. If the DW is still standing, then you'll also benefit from the +2 range when the Zetts do fire.

Also, if you manage to get the high ground, you're probably better off firing at 3/4 dice for the zettians, rather than a single 5-spot for the DW.

Zettians give nice flexibility to a DW-based army, and it's hard to knock a 7 Defense ranged squad at only 70 points.

What DW unit doesn't work well if you have a DW based army?
Question is, how many people really feild DW (i.e. glassjaw) based armies competitively?
Not saying they can't be fun or effective, though. They're just far from my first choice.

I really think their move is fine. Their threat range is already 11, which is pretty normal for ranged units. At 7 defense they can be really hard to take down, but like all Deathwalkers, don't always play as you'd expect. Honestly, I think the reason people don't take them that often is simply because most people want their ranged units to do as much damage as possible, and there are certainly more damaging ranged squads out there.

I think the reason most people don't take them is because when it comes to range they'd like to either have more attacks (i.e. 3 to 4 member squads like KMA, AE, and 4th Line) or more survivability (i.e. more than 1 life, so a unique hero like Syvarris - I know 7 defense can be pretty tough to crack, but you only have to crack it twice! Not to mention it's easy to bypass for figs like Braxas, Grimnak, etc.)

I think Wardens Guard Enhancement is a great addition to Utgars forces!
Now the Zetts can keep up with DW9K for Range Enhancement instead of slowing him down!

When Sir Gilbert came out he instantly (okay, okay, fine - it was half a dozen playtests later) turned me from a KoW doubter to a KoW true believer. I can't help but think the Warden may have a similar effect on me with the Zettians whose seven defense I have always coveted in a squad but couldn't ever move to where it might be useful. Maps with hills are great teachers of how vast the gulf between four and five movement are and I am looking forward to a Zettian renaissance.

~Aldin, who notes a Glad/Zett/Ward/Q9 army would really deliver the hurt to a vampire army