Another of the Support Veterans, the Demolition Veteran specializes in minelaying. In the fiction, this is useful for blowing up ammo depots, cracking hardened doors, and area denial operations. In Kill Team, the only thing this trooper is doing is wind-sprinting towards the midboard objective to slap a mine on top of it. Further notes about the model under the cut, but first:
- Yes, I did paint the leg that's concealed under the coat. Not well, but I did it.
- Land mines like these are banned by most of the world under the Ottawa Treaty, or the 1997 Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on their Destruction. Of the 36 countries that have not signed the treaty, the US, Russia, and China are three of them.
- There is a fun animal fact for you under the cut as a palate cleanser for the War Crimes.
As with all veteran guard, the blast shield fastened to their chest doesn't actually do much to improve their defenses. They're still 7 wounds with a 5+ save with equipment that works best when they're on the front line. Escaping the blast range is mercifully simple, as planting a mine also gives the demo vet a free dash action, putting them out of the 3" blast radius of the mine. Blowing the charges requires a shoot action from the demo vet, so you won't be seeing explosions until Turn 2 at the earliest. Moreover, there isn't a dead-man switch - counter-play is as simple as planting a knife or bolt round through the demo veteran before they can hit the trigger.
The demo vet's capabilities only extend to One (1) remote explosive planted at a time, but nothing is stopping you from planting another if your opponent decides to play footsies with your minefield. My napkin math tells me that the average remote explosive will deal ~15-20 wounds with AP1. This works better with elite teams - while the Death Guard is perfectly happy sending a Poxwalker or two into certain death, your average Intercessor Squad will be loath to risk one of their limited number unless victory hinges on it.
Of particular threat is the Gellarpox Infected - their unique unit list allows for swarms of minor terrors to overrun the minefield, while the nightmare hulks all pack enough defense to tank an explosion and still have a very good chance of survival. You'd have to have a very specific plan in place bringing the demo vet to a fight against the Gellarpox, but I welcome discussion.
Speaking of the Gellarpox, as an aside - a friend of mine plans to paint a set of Gellarpox in bright pastels in a bid to make them look as harmless and friendly as possible. It seems like a tall order for the monstrosities of that Nurglite brood, but I look forward to their interpretation of the Glitterpal Invited.
Fielding a Demolition Veteran requires planning and foresight. It's by no means an auto-include, especially in missions where you need to take and hold territory. The demo vet shines brightest in strictly defensive situations - missions where you must defend a given structure or keep your CO alive turns the remote mine from a curiosity into a Problem. Pick your chokepoint, throw the mine down, and wait for someone to draw the short straw!
Fun animal fact - according to a report by the BBC in 2017, mines laid down in Yorke Bay during the Falkland War acted as unintended conservation tools. While mines are largely catastrophic for a given environment, the Gentoo and Magellanic penguins that roam the bay were too small and light to set off any of the mines! The mined areas were clearly marked and fenced off, leaving the penguins within plenty of space to waddle around, scream at things, and stare at the sunset. While the bay was successfully demined as of 2020, five species of penguins still thrive there - in addition to the Gentoo and Magellanics, there are Rockhoppers, Macaroni, and of course the King Penguin.
