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I decided to test out Zahndrekh and Obyron today, using stand-ins. I was pretty underwhelmed, but I think that may be due to my tactics, and I'm hoping for some advice. My army:

Nemesor Zahndrekh - 185
Vargard Obyron - 160
10 Warriors (Obyron's unit) - 245
Ghost Ark (following Obyron and warriors) - 115
10 Warriors (embarked) - 245
Ghost Ark (carrying warriors) - 115
5 Wraiths w/ whip coils - 225
Destroyer Lord w/ SW and MSS (joined with wraith unit) - 160
Doomsday Ark - 175
Spyder - 50
3 Scarabs - 45

Total Points: 1490

Game 1: Myself and 1500 pts worth of Grey Knights vs. 3000 points (2 players with 1500 each) of Dark Angels. Since Zahndrekh wasn't part of a unit, I kept him in the back by himself. On turn 2, I used Obyron's mantle to DS behind enemy lines. My 10 warriors got their shots off, which were only marginally effective. On the Dark Angels' turn, a couple of blast templates on Obyron took out most of the unit, with single shots picking off the rest. Res saves failed, unit was wiped without Obyron getting to do much.

Zahndrekh pretty much stayed close to my Doomsday Ark for most of the game. Got assaulted, died, resurrected, and killed the enemy... but that was about all he did. I did use his Adaptive Tactics ability to give my Destroyer Lord and Wraiths Furious Charge a couple of times, which just makes that unit more insane than it already is.

Game 2: More of a fun experiment than an actual game. Same list as above, with the same 1500 points of Grey Knights, against 1500 points of shooty Tau on a completely open board - no terrain. Again on turn 2, Obyron and the warriors DS'd into enemy territory and got pulverized. I had enough sense to have Zahndrekh get into the empty Ghost Ark this time, where he continued giving Furious Charge to the DLord/wraith unit.

So, I have 2 questions. First, how can I better utilize Obyron (specifically his Ghostwalk Mantle) without getting him pwnd the moment he arrives? Secondly, Zahndrekh seems pretty lame except for Adaptive/Counter Tactics. Is there a better way in which I could be using him that makes him worth the 185 points?

ive used them with some decent results. i fins keeping zandrekh back, out of the fight works well, since you dont need LOS to use his abilities. hide him in a big blod of warriors, or something.

for obyron, i like putting him in a unit that will get up close and personal and kick some stuff around. i found the use for him was my "stop hitting yourself" squad. basically it was obyron + overlord w/orb MSS WS, and 5 lords with WS/MSS. you could always sub in zandrekh instead of the OL to get the "free" orb... but the lack of a WS and MSS on him makes him less fighty and more support in my books.

the above squad is pretty durable, and can only get nastier with the additon of phase shifters and other toys. obviously it gets EXPENSIVE as all heck pts wise, but in its basic form you can dish a pretty good hurt, and give obyron a chance to actually do some nasty. i would avoid using the veil to DS in, instead what i found works well, is use the phased reinforments to bring in a monolith or something, then port in "behind" it, out of LoS if possible. on your turn you can move and assault. obviously vulnerable to that initial shooting attack but if your sneaky you might be able to catch someone off gaurd with it.

its always best to have multiple units in your opponents deployment zone. a single unit, as you have found, will quickly be beaten down. if you have 2 or 3 or more units, then while your opponent might be able to deal with 1 unit, he wont be able to deal with them all.

I have a list where i use Zahndrehk and obyron, plus the addition of 2 more veilteks (1850 pts) and i use immortals rather than warriors.

Zahndrehk starts in reserve in a nightscythe, as do several other units, and when zahdrehk appears, he jumps out of his Nightscythe in the enemies deployment zone, Obyron gets a pinpoint deepstrike, and my other units with veilteks also take the opportunity to use their veils.

The result is quite often my opponent not being able to handle the combination of 4+ units in his backfield, plus fliers. and those 4 units will stand a much greater chance of being able to take out a juicy target, or targets on the turn they arrive

so, 1 unit is dead meat, 2 or more are more likely to stand a chance