Tactics Tuesday: Tips & Tricks for Using the Veer-myn in Deadzone
8th Aug 2017
Rob Burman
In the latest Tactics Tuesday, Andrew Sharp of the Deadzone Rules Committee guides you through some tips and tricks for getting the most out of the Veer-myn faction.
Faction overview
The Veer-myn are the underground race of much maligned space rats. Previously thought of as nothing more than a nuisance, they are now ready to strike at the soft underbelly of the GCPS. They are experts in secretive and shadowy warfare, infiltrating into and utilising GCPS infrastructure and machinery. Then with no warning they suddenly appear from the shadows, often cloaked in clouds of thick smoke or using lethal toxins to rain fire and death on their unsuspecting enemies.
But how do they play and what are the key units? Since Deadzone 2.0 first came out, the Rules Committee has worked how to make the Veer-myn faction more competitive and we’ve recently released the V2.0 Beta faction list, which can be found here. The comments below are based on how the Veer-myn play now. If you tried them before and didn’t do well, please do try again as they are very different beasts now!
Strengths
Speed! The Veer-myn are the fastest faction by far in Deadzone and as the map is small they can put real pressure on an opponent very quickly indeed. The key is surviving round 1 and 2. After that you should be in amongst you opponent’s models, targeting the weakest to bring them down and hopefully it’ll all be over by round 4.
What’s more, some cheap troops and specialists allow a relatively large strike team to be deployed. Plus, a good range of indirect weapons and some Tough (literally) fighters allow the faction to compete with the best.
Weaknesses
They are not very resistant and don’t have a strong shooting element. It is very likely you will be very exposed on rounds 1 and 2 with little you can offer in return. Smoke Grenades is essential here to protect your very vulnerable models from being sniped off early in the game.
You have some really good fighters in the Veer-myn faction but you will still struggle against the best ones in some other factions. They really are an aggressive, fast and combat oriented faction and this can become a weakness against certain opposing faction builds.
Unit guide
Leaders
Brood Mother: A strong leader but she’s vulnerable due to a large model size alongside good, but not amazing, stats. Her new ‘splat’ command dice ability is very powerful though, and can improve the fighting quality of many models at once.
Progenitor: A good steady model with lots of weapon options. It’s a good idea to load him out with an indirect weapon so he can remain hidden but still contribute to the game. He has a ‘splat’ that can be very powerful indeed, especially as reactivating models is not limited to once per round. This means you may have a model make an extra couple of cubes of movement in a round on top of their already fast movement, which is potentially deadly.
Master Creeper: A new leader option for the Veer-myn. The Scout ability allows for good positioning and the same access to Blast as the Creepers. Main benefit comes from the ‘splat’ that allows any model to use a blast attack, which will pin and throw models around.
Troops
Nightcrawler: The only real high volume shooting the Veer-myn have. Not the best, but Weight of Fire can be useful and the ability to pin models prior to another model attacking could be critical.
Nightstalker: Cheap, fast and brutal. These little fighters are good at taking out size 1 models but even with a strong fight stat (4+) they will die very quickly if exposed to pretty much anything. They are good at disrupting and jumping onto objectives in round 1 and 2 to get an early lead.
Specialists
Maligni: Weapon specialists able to provide much needed fire support, cover with Smoke or close up flamer attacks.
Night Terror with Scythes: The biggest and best fighter in your list. Fast and Tough abilities allow this model to survive, but the large base size and spread of the model makes hiding it very hard indeed. They can go toe to toe with some of the best fighters out there, like Teratons, and will grind out a result even if it takes 3 rounds. Rampage can be a pain but is often overrated as a negative effect.
Night Terror with Spitter: A powerful Armour Piercing weapon on a model with an average shoot stat, which could really could put some fear into a Strider if you get lucky, or can throw a couple of command dice at it. The Night Terror can also fight quite well and due to Tough and its size it will stick around.
Creeper: Scouting forward and using Blast from their Det Pack (Prox Lock) are the keys here. Their main role is to disrupt an opponent and threaten from the start of the game. Although don’t expect them to survive long if you use this tactic.
Rat Swarms: Another new model these are far from great fighters but with high speed, Agile, Tough and a very low profile they can often be moved up the map undetected to then engage in fights where at size 2 they will often be rolling 4 dice. Their fight stat is average, so they may take time to kill things, but locking models down is a real strength, as they are very durable due to the Tough ability. Also at size 2 they can get to all those limited access parts of a map that the large models may struggle with.
Nightmare: The slowest model in the faction but powerful and with a range of weapon options and fighting styles.
Vehicles
Rumbler Weapons Platform: A good reliable weapon that has area effect weapons options (Suppression and It Burns!) that negate its average shoot stat to a degree. The size 4 means it will stick around for a while, but limited views due to terrain will be a problem.
Tunnel Runner: A new model that should allow some fast movement and good shooting. It’s expensive (the most expensive thing in the list) but with 1 armour and size 4, it should stick around for a while. Also a not bad combat option because due to its size, you should always be rolling at least four dice in close combat.
Tangle: A bunch of blind albino psychic rats, what’s not to love, right?! Well a few things I’m afraid. The psychic abilities are great, but the inability to get extra dice from items and height makes it very difficult to perform the aggressive Stun ability. Much more useful is Invigorate, which you can use to get more utility from your models and can really make your fast models work well by getting them across the board in a single round. Add to this the Progenitor’s ability (if you take him) and you could be running riot from round 1. Yikes!
Weapons and items
The grenade launchers with Smokescreen and Toxic Smokescreen are your friend. They allow you to counter the biggest weakness the Veer-myn have: inability to survive against shooting armies. By dropping smoke in bottle necks on the map, on objectives you intend to move into, and on or even near enemy shooters you can really protect your models. It often doesn’t matter if you miss the target as the -1 dice the adjacent cubes get is still very useful.
Conclusion
The Veer-myn have a number of play styles but the key thematic and in game strategy comes from coordinated smoke and rapid movement. Literally hiding in the shadows before you strike. They will quickly die if exposed to shooting and even in combat expect to take losses as they are not supermen at all.
Playing the Veer-myn well is actually quite a combined arms approach, relying on coordinated Smoke or Toxic Smokescreens to prevent shots, hiding, rapid advancement and careful use of Blast or Suppression to aid the fights from your bigger models. Not to mention the possibility of getting more utility from each model with the Tangle or Progenitor’s special abilities.
Either way they are an incredibly fun faction to play and are now very competitive as well.