Good morning gamers,
We're looking at the other side of the coin from last time and viewing the Operative Vader profile. In many ways, this version of Vader is similar to the previous one - he hits hard, he has a lot of great keywords, and he's going to change the way your opponent plays (probably because he'll be monopolizing your command hand). At the same time, there are a lot of trades (both positive and negative) to taking this version of Vader. Let's see what he brings to the table (and what he leaves behind) from his more popular Commander variant.
Darth Vader, The Emperor's Apprentice: The Profile
Darth Vader boasts less-strong-but-still-strong combat profile compared to his Commander variant with 5 red dice and Impact 3/Pierce 3 - and unlike Commander Vader, he has a 2 black dice range 1-2 attack option that has Blast (no cover saves) and Scatter (you get to re-cohere the unit around its unit leader - which likely denies cover for your friends on future shots). While he doesn't have the innate ability to surge, access to aim tokens and occasionally surge tokens are definitely options in your list building - and against anyone with a Force slot, he gains surge-to-crit on offense thanks to Jedi Hunter. With the Relentless keyword, Vader can turn any move action into a follow-on attack action (up to one attack each turn - though he can perform two activations in a single round with Implacable). Yes, Vader is trying to deal as much damage as he can - and when he deals damage in melee, he's pretty incredible (his ranged attack is mostly to trigger suppression and bring a unit out of cover).
This version of Vader is Speed-2, which is good and might making getting Burst of Speed for a Speed-3 activation unnecessary. Having Speed-2 and Relentless means that anyone that moves to Range-2 of Vader should expect to take a hit to the face with a lightsaber - and if you want to avoid being moved towards him, you probably need to stay at Range-4 of him, which is hard to do. This version of Vader has Courage 3 instead of infinite Courage (and he's an Operative who doesn't have access to a Command slot), which means that he can't keep your units from panicking - so be sure to bring Commanders who will keep your boys in the fight (possibly with Compel to make up for what you're losing from Commander Vader). Like his Commander version, Vader has Master of the Force 1, which is great for making sure that any exhaustible Force upgrades you take can come back to you at the end of each activation (not turn - activation) so you can use them again.
With all of that give-and-take, the Operative version of Vader is slightly cheaper than Commander Vader (155pts), but he's still packing a lot of power in his profile. When you factor in the units you need to include with him to make up for what Commander Vader doesn't have, I will say that the points difference between the two is basically a wash. Let's see what kinds of upgrades work well with him.
Darth Vader, The Emperor's Apprentice: Recommended Upgrades and Command Cards
Force x2
Last time, I mentioned that for Commander Vader there are two must-take upgrades: Saber Throw and Burst of Speed. Because this version of Vader already has a shooting attack (and the Blast/Scatter on it is actually quite useful), you don't need Saber Throw - which is good, because we only have two Force slots instead of three in this profile. I generally feel like Burst of Speed is a great inclusion for this version of Vader, even though he's base speed-2. Like Commander Vader, this will ideally be used on the turn you use the Implacable command card OR the turn BEFORE you use the Implacable command card. Burst of Speed gives Vader a slight boost from Speed-2 to Speed-3, but the following activation will see him having an Immobilize token, which reduces him to Speed-1. This means Vader will spend one activation with a single action and 4" move, which is fine so long as he ends his Speed-3 activation Engaged with a unit that has already activated (making the movement unnecessary). If you do a last-first activation with Vader, popping Burst of Speed at the end of one round so he can charge someone who can't just disengage from him can see that unit destroyed/nearly destroyed by the end of his Immobilized activation, which could free him up to attack something else. If you played Implacable on that round, you'll be able to throw Vader's order token back into your pool and draw him next, getting that Immobilize token off you after you hack apart what's left of the unit you charged. If you plan to use Implacable on the next round, you'll need to activate Vader early (first?) so he can get that hit in and be mobile later in the round (though you won't have as much order control on him as you would otherwise want). I don't know that you NEED this upgrade as much as you need it on Commander Vader, but having the option for an Infiltrate deployment followed up by 16" of movement can see Vader flying into action quickly and put an unsuspecting opponent on the back foot.
In general, I think the only other upgrades you want to look at are Force Push and Force Choke - pick one of these to help Vader out. Both of these abilities are tactical ones - Force Push can be used to move a unit that has already activated away from an objective (and potentially into charge range with Vader himself), while Force Choke is my go-to way of removing those one-man Corps squads that charge Vader to keep him from killing more valuable pieces. Force Choke is also great at killing off Commandos, who are likely to use Katarn Armor and shields to mitigate your saber attacks, but you're guaranteed to kill a Commando squad in 4 turns if you just stay close enough to use Choke . . . or you can finish them off faster if you also have no better targets for Saber Throw. Push is quite a bit more expensive than Force Choke, but it's also really, REALLY good for unit control - so if you have 30pts remaining, consider getting Force Push.
There is probably a world where you'd take Force Guidance on Vader instead of Burst of Speed - and that world is only when you really want the surge tokens (ideally on Vader and an Exemplar commander who doesn't mind following him around) so Vader can access surge tokens during the round. Frankly, if you're running an Exemplar commander, chances are good that you're also getting good access to aim tokens . . . which mitigates the need for surge tokens on offense quite a bit. While you can't reset both Force Guidance and Force Push/Choke at the end of your activation, Force Guidance doesn't have to be used often to be useful. I've seen some players in my local group take Force Reflexes on Vader . . . and I don't think the dodge token does nearly enough to justify its inclusion.
Training x2
The inclusion of a Training slot is huge for Vader - not only do you get the option for Seize the Initiative so you can issue Vader an order on your New Ways to Motivate them turn, but you also get access to Tenacity (boosting you to Commander Vader's six red dice attack), Into the Fray (for those surge tokens we just talked about), and Offensive Push (which you're probably only using once, but aims are aims and they're incredibly useful). Any mix of these options, I think, is a good choice - and for 9-12pts, taking two will not make you THAT expensive!
Command Cards
When it comes to command cards, most of Vader's options are incredibly strong. Of all his options, both of his 1-pips and one of his 3-pips are auto-includes, with two other command cards being basically auto-includes for me. Implacable has already been discussed a little bit, but any 1-pip command card that allows your big piece to activate twice (for three actions total) is definitely better than any other 1-pips you might be considering. Vader's Might is particularly valuable if you don't have the points for Force Push, but even if you have Push, there's still value in being able to move two units that have already gone and moving them away from scoring positions. Finally, Darkness Descends is a great way to make sure that a speed-2 Vader begins far enough up the board that he can be threatening on Turn 2 (and sometimes on Turn 1!) OR you could choose to give him Reliable 2 and not divulge the command card on Turn 1. Either way, this is a great card to include in your deck.
There's an arguable case that Vader's other 3-pip, Master of Evil, is also an auto-include - it gives Vader a dodge token and issues orders to two other units (like to other Commanders/Operatives - especially if they have Heavy Blaster Pistols). It also gives all enemy units "near" Vader 3 suppression tokens, which is a great way to make sure that low Courage units around you are panicked after Vader has killed off the local Commander who was providing a solid Courage bubble (maybe after Implacable?). The timing for this command card is the key - and because of that, one could make the argument that a different 3-pip might be a better choice. Similarly, New Ways to Motivate Them is super good late in the game (or as an alternative first-turn play to get extra movement out of Snowtrooper super-squads) in that you can take a hit on a Trooper unit (or two Trooper units if you took Seize the Initiative) to push them a little farther to reach an important objective. I usually include these in all of my Vader lists, but I could also see an argument for leaving them at home.
Vader has a very situational 2-pip in Fear and Dead Men - in theory, it's a great option to keep in your hand as your "I may not play this one" command card, since any big hero that hits Vader is probably going to take multiple rounds to kill him off. If you get hit by Anakin once and then play this card, you are warning your opponent (especially if he's wounded) that he could lose his power piece (or severely weaken them) if they punch Vader . . . which provides an interesting dilemma for your opponent. That said, I almost never take this one as the generic Push 2-pip can be used by anyone, which is particularly nice to have should Vader die.
There are other command cards that help Vader out - if you took Director Krennic, any of his command cards are useful (though I think only Deploy the Garrison and Annihilation Looms will be included). Deploy the Garrison can give Vader a standby token (two attacks if he's near someone who's going to activate first - and you can't take suppression, so you can't shoot the standby off!), while Annihilation Looms throws out suppression on everyone on the board . . . and Vader can't receive any suppression and will keep any of your suppressed units from panicking!
I don't know that you really need to lean on any other command cards - but I have high hopes for what we get with Tarkin, Tagge, and Thrawn! Okay, let's wrap this up by looking at some lists!
Darth Vader, The Emperor's Apprentice: Sample Lists and Strategies
Operative Vader can only be taken in standard Imperial lists (no battle forces), so our first stop is a 12-act Imperial list that tries to make up for not having Commander Vader by taking an Academy-Trained Imperial Officer (for Courage 3), the Director Krennic/DT-F16 combo for double-Compel, and a host of Snowtroopers and Scout Troopers to fill in the activations (and the Tip-of-the-Spear Imperial Agent that I like):
- Director Orson Krennic with Trusted Agent and Electrobinoculars
- Imperial Officer with Academy Trained and Command and Control Uplink
- Darth Vader, the Emperor's Apprentice with Burst of Speed, Force Choke, Tenacity, and Seize the Initiative
- Imperial Agent with Tip of the Spear, Seize the Initiative, and Heavy Blaster Pistol
- 2x Snowtroopers with T-7 Ion Snowtrooper, Snowtrooper Squad, and Imperial March
- 2x Snowtroopers with T-7 Ion Snowtrooper and Imperial March
- 1x Imperial Death Troopers with DT-F16 and E-11D config
- 3x Scout Troopers
There are two things I don't like about this list, however: first, it has a Death Trooper squad in it (and I know those aren't "bad", but they are expensive for what they do). Second, the list has very little order control because it's order pool is going to be full of a mix of Special Forces, Corps, and probably Commander tokens. If we streamlined our order control a bit, we could get the following 12-act list by not taking Scout Troopers or the Death Trooper squad and leaning harder into Corps Troopers (I know I chose Shoretroopers - if you don't like them, you can drop the Shoretroopers/Mortars and the Defend-Officer and run a 10-act list with Krennic and two more Snowtrooper super-squads):
- Imperial Officer with Academy Trained, Command and Control Uplink, and Trusted Agent
- Imperial Officer with Defend in Depth and Electrobinoculars
- Darth Vader, the Emperor's Apprentice with Burst of Speed, Force Choke, Tenacity, and Into the Fray
- Imperial Agent with Tip of the Spear, Seize the Initiative, and Heavy Blaster Pistol
- 2x Shoretroopers with T-21B Shoretrooper
- 2x DF-90 Mortar Troopers
- 2x Snowtroopers with T-7 Ion Snowtrooper, Snowtrooper Squad, and Imperial March
- 2x Snowtroopers with T-7 Ion Snowtrooper and Imperial March
Darth Vader, The Emperor's Apprentice: Final Review
This version of Vader isn't going to support your team the same way that Commander Vader does, but he does hit hard and the slight savings you get can open up other options for you (and having him in the Operative slot feels better to me than having him in the Commander slot, since there aren't any other Operatives that I feel like I'm missing out on and with two Commander slots open, you can run Krennic and an Academy-Officer - both of whom are cheap and very helpful). Running this guy in Recon games (which I've done) requires either Krennic or an Academy-Officer - I tried running him with a LAAT/Pryce and found that having no Compel/high-Courage leaders was an absolute mistake. Now that the custom commanders are a thing, you can get a very cheap Courage 3 commander to make most of your panic issues go away, which is great when the points level is low.
Overall Unit Review: 6/5 stars. I actually like this version of Vader more - being able to get both Krennic and an Academy-Officer with Vader and a Tip-Agent feels very strong - but I think on the whole he's worse than Commander Vader. That said, he's still a FABULOUS piece and much better than any 5-star hero deserves to be. If you haven't fielded him yet, you should definitely give him a go - and I'm very curious how much this guy's stock goes up when we get the three new Imperial Commanders (Tarkin, Thrawn, and Tagge - I'm definitely adding them to my Imperial collection when they arrive)! If you enjoyed this piece, let us know in the comments below! Next time, we're returning to the Republic to review some units that I've been testing out lately, starting with a rather thematic foe to this version of Vader. Until next time, be safe out there and happy hobbying!
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