The Book of Zettian Guards

[Zealot]

I'm looking forward to playtesting the whole 300 point combo of
Deathwalker 9000, Zettian Guards, and Warden 816

If I work Ornak in with some gruts than I have Deathwalker and Warden both attacking on turn 1, The gruts and ornak on turn 2, and the zettians with a range boost on turn 3. Whole army moved and attacking every turn

[NecroBlade]

Originally Posted by Zealot

I'm looking forward to playtesting the whole 300 point combo of
Deathwalker 9000, Zettian Guards, and Warden 816

If I work Ornak in with some gruts than I have Deathwalker and Warden both attacking on turn 1, The gruts and ornak on turn 2, and the zettians with a range boost on turn 3. Whole army moved and attacking every round

[T-bomb]

Sonlen is a wet blanket on the DW9k, zettian, warden 816 army unfortunately. But before he comes out I'm definitely going to play those guys at our next weekly heroscaping!

[RichardD]

Are the Zettians still the only two-man squad? I find that it hurts their viability a lot - lose one man from a three-man squad and you lose a third of your capability, which is tough, but lose one half of a two-man squad and it's often not worth wasting an order marker on that unit for the rest of the game.

[KCU_Master_2009]

I've been instructed that when I play with these guys to use them last because of their life. Or else they'll be struck down and I won't have back up once my other army members are destroyed.
I love that they have 7 defense but it stinks they only have one life...
How do you all play your guards?

[Revdyer]

Originally Posted by KCU_Master_2009

How do you all play your guards?

I'm afraid that at this point, most people would have to answer, "I don't." The lack of enthusiasm for the Zettians is due, exactly, to the reasons you've discovered...they don't do much and they die too easily.

[Sherman Davies]

Originally Posted by KCU_Master_2009

I've been instructed that when I play with these guys to use them last because of their life. Or else they'll be struck down and I won't have back up once my other army members are destroyed.
I love that they have 7 defense but it stinks they only have one life...
How do you all play your guards?

Just to be clear, all squads have only one life - when a squad figure takes a hit, it is removed from the board.

To answer your question, the only time I see the Zettians played is when I play with my young cousins, who have the RotV and Marvel sets courtesy of yours truly. They love the high defense and have just recently learned about their synergy with Deathwalker 9000, and they love that combo.

[Dredd Stev]

The metagame does place these two guards in a low ranking. I however like to expand my thoughts a little and focus on situations where a unit can enjoy some success...

Low point games: These guys have a huge defense, and in lower point games there are fewer chances that someone will bring a defense by-passer. Still there are a few options that still scare the two-man squad, DeD and Murphy being such options.

Start zone set up: If your zone is close to height that these guys can get to, consider drafting them, with height they can pack a decent punch, their biggest problem is getting to it.

Support: Some of the other figures that boost these guys the most ALSO get no love due to basic metagame considerations. DW9k and Warden 816 both have "glass jaw syndrome" and can be hard to fit into an army. With both of them however the Zet's have a fair bit of anti-hero potential, and all three cards have staggering defense and a fair bit of offensive pop. Their biggest concern is common swarms, and 9K's splash attack CAN help with that. But Splash damage can be easy to avoid, so it depends on the map if there will be sufficient "clogging points" for the SA to have any great impact on swarms.

Just a few thoughts... I like to draft these guys every now and then and they generally do pretty well, they just have to be used in the right situations, and you need some sort of anti-swarm support to go with them.

[MalignantT]

As was said earlier, I think these guys are alright for early game sniping or end game clean up. If you put DW9K out first, hold the Zets back. I prefer to put two markers on the Zets and two on 9K, mixing them up enough so my opponent doesn't really know who to target. The whole tin-foil armor is always a problem, but 7 def is usually enough to last a good long while. 9K is such a target that I think the Zets do good cleaning up everything on their way to get just him.

Maybe "Embrace the Suck" is why I like these guys.

I might be a little too in love with themed armies, but an all evil Soulborg army, with DeathWalkers 9K and 8K, Reavers, Zets, and Warden 616, while a bunch of metal walking around with no turn-bonding ability, is still an acceptable movement, good range, high defense army, with the rats running melee interference and the Warden tearing up figures like Drake (or at least putting a dent in Drake's armor/life before 816 gets himself killed).
510 will get you the lot with rats x2, which I think is pretty decent, or for an even 500 get Marcu & Isamu to fill the void for janitorial duty.



One of my big wishes for the game (cue Jiminy) is that some official ruling would come down the pipe to make these Uniques Squads from the original master set into some Common Squad, or alternative Unique Squads, for us lunatics who have 5+ sets of the RotV.

[Snotwalker 8000]

Like any unit, they can have their moment of glory here and there. Not often, mind you, but it does happen. In a game a few months ago, they were the absolute VIPs for my opponent. I simply couldn't kill the tin cans, and their rolling tore apart my army. Anything's possible.

The key is obviously pumping up their attack in some way... either with height, glyph, Tae, or viking spirit. (viking spirit is the best option) When throwing down two base attacks at 3 and then 4, at range 7, with a base 7 defense, they can be a real threat on the field. Just don't waltz them up against a wall of 4th Mass and expect them to live... As an end-game unit, they're not half-bad... But they do need the Warden to speed them up a bit... Or just go with a 30pt Tarny Tim for a speedy viking spirit.

Granted, there will almost always be a better option, but nothing is more satisfying than seeing the Zet Twins rock a game now and then.

But yes, I'm certain we'd all love to see another future unit release to boost the Tweedles again. (Warden helped, but even more help would be great!)

SW8K

[nyys]

I'm constantly looking for a reason to play these guys, but every time I get halfway thru the army build a different unit makes more sense for 70 points (or 70 more points).

Looks like a natural fit to include Warden 816 with the Zettians, but it seems to eat too many points to quick IMO.

[N-Scaper94]

Awsome team to add to your army! Zettians are good if used well.