Darth Vader,
Unleashed
Cost - 50
Hit Points - 140
Defence - 23
Attack - 15
Damage - 20
Melee
Attack, Double Attack, Dark Armor
Force -2
Force Renewal 1
Force
Sense
Force Grip 4 - 4 Force, sight, 40 Damage,
replaces attacks
Lightsaber Throw 4 - Force 5, Line of sight,
Make 2 Attacks against target and each adjacent
character not counting cover.
Force Sense - enemy charcters lose stealth for
the rest of the round.
Hello
fellow sentients! Stilla here to review one of
the sweetest minis to come out in the new Force
Unleashed set. Today we get the Barry Bonds of
Vaders. And let me tell you, this guy swings for
the fences!
Every
Vader that has come out seems to fit its own
role in your squad. Jedi Hunter is for killing
Jedi, Lord Vader was used primarily for the "Thrawn
Swap" style squad. Imperial Commander Vader is
used for Stormie swarm squads and so on and so
on...This is what I call the "Ranged Vader."
His stats
are what you would expect from a major character
such as Vader. His cost of 50 is pretty sweet
considering all that he can do and the SERIOUS
threat this guy can be. His 140 hit points can
take a decent beating before he falls, although
he has no defensive force powers. Defense of 23
puts him up there with the elite defensive
characters and Dark Armor extends his life all
that much more. Attack rating of 15 is solid and
will hit more often that not. His stats are
solid but his real threat comes from his force
powers.
First off
is Force Sense. This power is feared by alot of
players. Ask anyone who has played Super-Stealthed
Order66 squads or Nom Boms that use fringe
characters. This power strips you opponents figs
of stealth across the board. This lets you clear
"bombs" and shoot at those pesky Sevs. Stealth
based squads are beginning to lose their
uberness with the amount of characters coming
out with this power.
Force Grip
4 does 40 damage to a character in line of
sight. This does not mean you can choke anyone
on the board. The range restriction is not
there, but you must still use standard targeting
rules for this. The Grip will not only be a
threat to grunts, but now major characters have
something to fear from it near the end of the
game.
By FAR my
favorite Power he has is his Lightsaber Throw 5.
Being able to target anyone on the board makes
this a VERY powerful ability. Since it "ignores
cover" you can hit virtually anybody. You
opponent wil have to be careful not to leave
figs adjacent for too long or they're going to
pay dearly. The amount of damage you can do with
this is just huge. The 5 force points that this
costs kinda hurts, but the Empire does have a
force battery. Even the threat of this power can
cause your opponent to make mistakes. They may
be so concerned about avoiding Vader, that they
can be vulnerable to your shooters.
As far as
what to build with him, the first thing that
comes to mind is Thrawn. Thrawn makes it so your
opponent doesn't have to make a mistake to feel
the pain. Vader getting dropped anywhere to
unleash his Grip or Lightsaber Throw is nasty. I
think he would be good paired with a power
shooter. Boba, Mercenary would be a good choice
if you use Thrawn.
All in
all, I think this guy is going to see some
SERIOUS play time. At least in my local scene.
This Vader has potential to be in almost any
format at almost any level of play. Only time
will tell how he gets used and the squad builds
that will come around with his new ranged attack
options.
Rating -
4. Different. Dangerous. Just plain SCARY!
Sculpt - 4.5. I can just picture this guy
lobbing someones head off.
