Unit Guide - Darth Vader

In this Unit Guide, we welcome a new blog writer, Milos, to the ranks of The Legion Archives. Milos is a legendary Vader player, recently taking him into Single Elims of Invader League Season 8. Milos will be taking you through Darth Vader in 3 separate articles.

1. Commander v Operative

2. List building around Vader

3. Vader's Battle Deck

There are currently 2 different Vaders you can include in your Imperial force. We will look how best to use these different Vaders, how they are different and how best to upgrade each one of them.

First let us look at the key differences between Commander Vader and Operative Vader.

Commander Vader: Has 8 wounds, the keyword Compel: Core Trooper and an extra force slot. Two important things to also mention is that Commander Vader has a command slot upgrade and a courage value of -, which means he cannot be panicked nor suppressed.

Operative Vader: Has 2 training slots, a ranged weapon and the most important benefit of Vader being in Operative form; his maximum speed of 2. It is also worth taking notice that Operative Vader is 15 points cheaper at their base cost.

Which Upgrades should you bring?

We will begin with Commander Vader; he has one command slot and 3 force slots. There are a few Command upgrades you could choose that are efficient and worth taking, which one you take depends on your list and your play-style. The best ones are Vigilance and Improvised Orders. An honorable mention should also go to Esteemed leader.

Vigilance: An exceptionally good command upgrade if you have a reliable source of dodges, e.g. Portable scanner and Force reflexes. Vader has 3 Command Cards that give him dodges during the round. However just relying on these dodges are not enough, as one can expect to be attacked at least once or twice a round, expending the dodge you just obtained, meaning you have nothing to use vigilance on. A great way to fix this is to bring force reflexes or a cheap unit with a portable scanner equipped.

Improvised Orders: If you do not have the points to bring some reliable sources of dodge tokens, a nice alternative is Improvised Orders. Vader is very order hungry, meaning you often won’t have orders on other units that might want/need them. Improvised Orders can help you with trying to get the unit you want to activate at the right time.

Esteemed leader: This card gives you a different approach on protecting Vader, giving all friendly corps units within range one Guardian 1. Keep in mind, however, that this is pretty restricting, Vader often operates on his own and wants to get ‘up close and personal’, meaning it is hard for your corps unit to stay within range one.

Force upgrades

Let us look at what Commander Vader wants to take in his Force upgrade slots. These upgrades are highly effective and commonly used because they work so well.

Force push is a must take on any force user, it is awesome for objective play and at getting you in and out of melee. What more is there to say. Saber throw is a solid force upgrade, giving Vader a ranged attack of 3 red dice with Impact 3 and Pierce 3, which is a great weapon for taking on armored units. This force upgrade is interchangeable with either Force Reflexes or Force Choke, If you feel like you have enough ways to deal with armor. Burst of Speed, a more recent addition to the game, is amazing for Commander Vader. Earlier Vader was easily messed around because of his slow speed. BoS combined with Implacable (Vader's 1 pip Command Card) allows him to move at Speed 3, three times. This is great for smashing into the enemy lines or for taking an objective piece at the end of the game.

Operative Vader works in different ways than Commander Vader. Operative Vader is faster and is also a lot more flexible.

Yet again, it is strongly advised to take Force Push. With Operative Vader's ranged attack you can place units in awkward spots and reach them much more easily. Instead, you can take out heavy weapons and unit leaders with Force choke to really annoy the enemy and make units drop boxes, hostages or ensure they are no longer touching an objective.

Another choice one can make is taking Burst of Speed instead of Force choke, increasing Vader’s speed even more for one round. However, since Operative Vader’s maximum speed is Speed 2 it is not always necessary to take Burst of Speed.

Training upgrades

There are a few options for the training slot. By far the most popular ones are Tenacity and Seize the Initiative. An argument can be made for Into the Fray if you do not plan on divulging Vader's 3 pip; Darkness descends. The upgrade will give you surges from instead of the reliable 2.

Tenacity: We take tenacity to get 6 red dice in melee once Vader has a wound. Getting that extra red attack dice can make a huge difference. This can often mean the difference in wiping a squad or leaving 1 model alive.

Seize the Initiative: This can be very useful when you take a non-Vader command card in your deck. This happens more with Operative Vader as you as you need a commander when you bring him. Both Vaders need their orders; a Vader left in the dust can often decide if he lives or dies that round. Seize fixes this by giving Vader an order the time you are not able to otherwise.

TO summarise

Commander Vader is a slow but steady unit, fitting very well with a lot of units, he is very tough and that courage '–' means nothing is panicking off the board on his watch. The most recent changes to Commander Vader is why you would take Commander Vader over Operative Vader; Compel: Corps and a Command upgrade slot. Compel: Corps is a huge deal, it often helps with objective play and better positioning of your units. Because of Courage '-', suppression almost does not mean anything to your army.

Having a Command upgrade slot means you don't have to bring an officer to follow Vader around the board.

Operative Vader has his own flashy skills; his main one being his maximum speed of 2, which gives you greater flexibility and threat range. This flexibility does leave some room for mistakes, mistakes you would not make with Commander Vader who is so laser focused because of his limited movement. When you can master Operative Vader however, you will be a force to be reckoned with.

How to master the force within you

I will now run through some tricks and plays you can do with Vader to get the most out of him.

This is obviously not the only way to run Vader, but this is often how his games play out.

Vader's Turn 1; Darkness Descends is played and you get that juicy Reliable 2, making him a lot tougher. You often want to activate him last, like many force users and if you have Vigilance with you, try and put a dodge on him, so he can bring it with him next round. Take a safe route, placing him behind line of sight blocking terrain or heavy cover. You need to decide this early what Vader's goal will be; what does he have to do for you to win the objective? This will come with experience and practice. Vader is excellent at defeating any force user and most trooper units. Be confident - be brave. Turn 2; you often play a card to bring Vader into the action; New Ways to Motivate Them or Fear and Dead Men can be played to storm in mostly unharmed. Chase the biggest threat and if you are not able to get into melee this round that is fine but place yourself in a position where you are either guarding an area where the objective is or position Vader in a way where he can Implacable next round and rush in, either via Burst of Speed or Operative Vader's Speed 2.

Turn 3 can often be the deciding turn. Play Implacable or Master of Evil, as you are already in the midst of your opponent's army, or this will get you there if you aren't. It is important to chase the biggest threat.

The last 3 rounds are too difficult to predict, so this is where your experience comes in, make sure you keep the objective as your number one priority and play Vader accordingly. Master of Evil is one of the weaker cards for Vader, there is still power in this Command Card because of the dodge token you get and it is an amazing card when in a duel with another Force user, or when you need to close the gap between you and your opponent. It is also one of 2 cards that gives an order to other units too, which is really handy.

Vader's Might is probably the best objective influencing Command Card out there, you can place units within range 1 and height 1 of their original location. In combination with force push and scatter you can screw with your opponent's objective play a lot. It is a good card to save for the last round, placing something away from Vader or closer to Vader, often deciding the game for good.

So, all in all either Vader is an excellent take for any Imperial list. He takes practice, but once you get there he is a piece to be reckoned with and capable of both laser focused objective play and Death Star like obliteration of the enemy force. Until next time....