Editing Star Wars: Legion/Tactics/Empire (section)

====Darth Vader====

Vader is an absolute glacier, with the slowest movement speed a unit can have, and being melee only without using force powers it's going to be a few turns before he's doing any damage. ''However when he does, it is the most terrifying and destructive force you could ever imagine.''

At <s>200</s> 190 points (as of the 10/27/21 update) he's a good chunk of your army as well. But, what he does, he does well; with 8 wounds, a red defense die, and '''Immune: Pierce''' [[awesome]]- he's difficult to take down. Deflect allows him to send wounds back at his attackers if you spend a dodge token, so be sure to have a dodge available if he's likely to take a lot of enemy fire to make your opponent think twice.

'''Master of the Force 1''' lets you ready an expended force upgrade token. What's that? Vader activates and dodges FOR FREE EVERY TURN? that means he has a 3+ save on a red dice, and has a 1 in 6 chance to send lasers back at your enemy. Terrifying. Finally, '''Relentless''' gives a free attack action after he moves, but as you only get one attack action per activation (free or not) be sure to use your other action on something productive like <s>''Saber Throw''</s> double moving towards the enemy (Saber Throw is also an attack action). 

Once in combat, he can attack with an amazing six red dice with Impact 3 and Pierce 3, sure to tear up whatever he comes in contact with. He can be equipped with three Force upgrades, so be sure to give him ''Force Reflexes'' for that dodge token as well as ''Saber Throw'' for dealing a bit of damage before he closes the distance. His final benefit is his infinite-level Courage: this means that he will never be Panicked, and the same applies to units within 3 distance of him as well, ensuring you get the most out of those Stormtroopers.

Lastly, the 10/27/21 rules update made some major changes to Vader. It added that he can take a single Command upgrade. It also added that he has Compel for Corps troopers. This means that when a Corps unit at range 2 or less of him activates and rallies, if the unit is suppressed but not panicked, it can take a suppression token to make a free move. This essentially makes your units into [[necrons|plodding, fearless death machines]], as they still get to move and do something else with their remaining action. And with Vader's Courage rating of "-", units within range 3 of him never panic. This is going to make Snowtroopers especially attractive as Vader's companions thanks to their Steady keyword, meaning they are effectively immune to suppression (except they still get the cover bonus!). But even Shores and Storms should find this helpful. Of course, all this power means Vader is going to be even more of a fire magnet than he was to begin with.

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Upgrade Cards
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'''Force Power Upgrades (x3 Slots)'''

'''Unaligned Powers'''

''Battle Meditation'' (10 pts.) - Allows you to choose one of your orders to be issued to any unit, if not mentioned on your card. It's situationally useful- for example, if you're worried about not being able to issue an order to a certain unit when you absolutely need it, or you know you're using the deployment scenario like Disarray that can result in part of your army being distant from the rest, but HQ Uplink or Long Range Comms aren't available.

''Force Guidance'' (10 pts.) - Exhaust this to allow you to give a surge token to up to 2 friendly units at range 1-2, as a free action. If you're a big fan of surge tokens, go for it. Otherwise, there's probably better Force powers to take.

''Force Push'' (10 pts.) - Exhaust as a free action to choose an enemy trooper unit at range 1, make a Speed 1 move, even if engaged. Very useful as it can be used to push an enemy's face closer to Vader's lightsaber.

''Force Reflexes'' (15 pts.) - Exhaust as a free action to gain a Dodge token. This is practically an auto-include for any Sith or Jedi because of Deflect, and Vader is no exception.

''Saber Throw'' (10 pts.) - As an attack action, you can throw a melee weapon at Range 1-2, halving the number of dice you get. Thanks to Relentless, Vader can make a double move and then still whip 3 red dice of Impact 3 and Pierce 3 pain at someone. It's difficult to pass up this one.

'''Dark Side Powers'''

''Anger'' (5 pts.) - After you suffer 1 or more wounds, gain an Aim Token. It's ok.  If you don't take Saber Throw (let's be honest, why aren't you taking Saber Throw?), it's of extremely limited usefulness thanks to Vader's slow speed.  Additionally, Aim tokens aren't as valuable to Vader since he's always throwing red dice, which already have a very high probability of hitting (each red die has a 75% chance of either a hit or a critical- if you've got surge tokens, that jumps to 88%).  If you do take this, don't forget that when you suffer a wound for Implacable, it also triggers the effect.

''Fear'' (3 pts.) - After your rally step, you can give an enemy unit at range 1-2 a suppression token. It's low cost and works well with other suppression effects like Master of Evil, Palpatine's lightning, mortars, etc.  But if you're not looking to play the suppression game, it's not all that useful except as a mild nuisance.

''Force Choke'' (5 pts.) - Exhaust as a free action to choose a non-Commander, non-Operative unit at range 1 and inflict one wound.  Can be useful to finish off that lone trooper who's irritating you, or to pick off a wounded Wookiee Warrior before they charge your lines.  Just don't expect a lot out of it.
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Command Cards
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(3 pip) ''Master of Evil'' - [Darth Vader & 2 Units] - When Darth Vader is issued an order (during the command phase), he gains one dodge token. When Darth Vader activates, every enemy trooper within range 1-2 gains 3 suppression tokens. - oh what's that? you have rebel troops all around Darth Vader that have been focus firing him for the last turn or two? got him down to 3, maybe 2 wounds? SIKE. All those troopers are going get some serious [[rape]] thrown their way. Seriously an awesome card to use Vader's strength in an explosive fashion, because if you're within range 1-2 of any troops anyways, you're going to kill them. 

(2 pip) ''New Ways To Motivate Them'' - [2 Troopers] - When a friendly non-Darth Vader trooper unit with a face-up order token activates, it may suffer 1 wound to perform 1 free action. - All around, much more utility than push. It already gains you the 2 nominations that you get from the generic card, but now you have an added option of suffering a wound to perform another action. All things considered, usually it's primary uses come during the late game, when you need to double dash troops out to objectives, or when you need a squad to move, aim and pulverize a runaway rebel team.

(1 pip) ''Implacable'' - [Darth Vader] - At the end of Darth Vader's first activation, he may suffer 1 wound to shuffle his order token into the order pool. During Darth Vader's second activation, he performs 1 fewer action. - [[SMASH]] that's the sound of Darth Vader spending one very good turn literally curb stomping anyone he's close to. It lets him decimate squads he's in melee with, or throw 2 sabers. OR BOTH! the options aren't limitless, but your power sure will be. The 10/27/21 update also added that Vader gains a dodge token when he activates - that's two free dodge tokens on top of the two you'd get from Force Reflexes...
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Tactics
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*'''Another Blaster magnet:''' 
Seriously Vader really will cop a huge amount of fire power once he starts to get closer, your opponent knows he's going to rip his units to shreds if you close the distance. Keep your Stormtroopers near and support him, otherwise he's toast.

*'''[[Distraction Carnifex]]:''' 
Despite his hefty price tag, he soaks up so much enemy fire it might be a good idea to just charge him at your enemy as a distraction from speeders or [[Sentinel|AT-STs]]. Use this in conjunction with Stormtroopers with concussion grenades and grappling hooks to get in the enemies face. No matter the range, everyone is scared of Vader. Use that knowledge when you plan your lists accordingly.
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