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Darth Vader, Champion of the Sith Set: Champions of the Force Date Reviewed: June 20, 2006

Rating: 3.0 Ratings are based on a 1 to 5 scale 1 being the worst. 3 ... average. 5 is the highest rating.

Sith Dragon	Darth Vader, Champion of the Sith Imperial Cost: 50 HP: 22 DEF: 22 ATK: +15 DAM: 20 Double Attack Force 4 Force Grip, Block, Deflect CE: Once per turn, each Follower within 6 squares may reroll 1 attack at +4 ATK and +10 DAM. If the result of the rerolled attack is a miss, the attacking character is defeated. We kick off the new Champion of the Force set with the man, Darth Vader. Stat wise this isn't one of the better Vaders, but he has more going for him than most of the others. At 50 HP, This Vader is the second cheapest of the Vaders, so it will give you more room for support. The rest of the stats are very good for a character at this level, and keeps him equal to most of the other top Jedi. For 50 HP the double attack is standard. Force 4 is also very typical for a Vader. He has his standard grip for 10 DAM, but now we see something that has been a long time in coming. Out of this set we are finally seeing more Jedi with defensive powers. This Vader has both deflect and block, which can be a huge plus on any character. This Vader has some staying power. The most interesting part of this new Vader is the commander effect. It has a great perk with a horrid downfall, but is very typical of Vader's perform or die attitude. Any follower within 6 can reroll any attack, hit or miss, with a +4 ATK and +10 DAM. Keeping characters within 6 can hurt movement, but with Mas Ameda and his booming voice, Vader's effect can reach all corners of the board. The downside to this power reroll is if they miss they are a goner, so its a risk you generally don't want to take unless the shot is either a sure thing or you HAVE to hit the character. Taking this shot with something like and Aurra or AT-ST could be very risky, but could pay off. Luckily the Empire has some built in help. If you run Rebel Storm Emperor Palpatine you get that extra reroll if you miss the boosted shot. In my game play, though, I have lost count of the number of times someone has rerolled a high percentage shot, needing a 4 or lower and the reroll is a 3, so his CE isn't without risk. 100pt: This Vader can't dish out the damage that other versions can. He can make a fun squad to play, but do not expect him to be very competitive. 200pt: Vader can get his support here. I would suggest running Emperor Palpatine with him just in case you get that miss on the high percentage hit or die shot. Other than that, its up to you on how you want to build around his CE. You can use characters like Aurra and Boba since they won't miss very often, although it will be a BIG hit to your team if you miss. Running Lower cost stormies means you will miss more on the reroll, but it wont hurt your squad as bad. Darth Vader, Dark Jedi at least had the ability to let a death mean something, where this Vader they just die, but Darth Vader, Champion of the Sith is a better, more well rounded character than most of the other Vaders.
vornargith	Darth Vader, Champion of the Sith Cost: 50 HP: 140 DEF: 22 ATK: +15 DMG: 20 Abilities: Double Attack, Melee, Unique Force 4: Lightsaber Block & Deflect, Force Grip Commander Effect: Once per turn, each follower within 6 squares may reroll 1 attack at +4 Attack and +10 Damage. If the result of the rerolled attack is a miss, the attacking character is defeated. The Good: This new Vader’s commander effect is an invaluable asset to squads of grunts with good attack scores. Elites and dark jedi-types benefit from the +10 damage, and the additional +4 to hit. There is the possibility of losing a character when using the ability, so you need to make sure the character’s base attack justifies the risk. Characters with force points are  a bit safer since they can use a point to reroll the attack in the event of a miss. Another Champions of the Force figure, Mas Amedda, amplifies Vaders ability – removing the 6-square restriction. The Bad: Nothing to note about Vader himself. The Ugly: Vader will not work in small squads. He needs Mas Amedda to “boom” his commander effect. Thrawn or Veers are nice compliments to a squad that can effectively have a +14 attack bonus and +10 to damage with accurate shot. But this is only possible in a 200 point game. He’s a solid combatant and has a few defensive force tricks, but is not powerful enough to last on his own ... one-on-one with Darth Maul Champion of the Sith and Vader will lose quickly. Rating: 100 pt …. 2/5: Vader is not used to his full potential 200 pt … 5/5: Vader+Mas Amedda + Veers + Elites and Heavy Troopers = Imperial Victory
Kevin	Champions of the Force is out, and we have reviews on some of the new sith for you this week. First up is...wait...another darth vader? Yes, sadly its true, there is another Darth Vader in this set. and i've still yet to get even one from any of the sets *tear* anyway, the stats. Darth Vader champion of the sith. Cost: 50 Hit Points: 140 Defense: 22 Attack: +15 Damage: 20 Special Abilities: Double Attack (On its turn, this character can make 1 extra attack instead of moving. ) Melee Attack (This character can attack only adjacent enemies.) Unique Force Powers: Force: 4 Force Grip Force 1, replaces attacks: sight; 10 damage. Light saber Block Force 1: When hit by a melee attack, this character takes no damage on a save of 11. Light saber Deflect Force 1: When hit by a non-melee attack, this character takes no damage with a save of 11. Commander Effect: Once per turn, each follower within 6 squares may reroll 1 attack at +4 Attack and +10 Damage. If the result of the re-rolled attack is a miss, the attacking character is defeated. For those of you who don't know, this is vader version number 5 (if you count anakin skywalker sith apprentice, 6) So, you have your options on which vader to pick. So, why choose this one over any of the others? That's actually a good question. He has one less defense and attack then jedi hunter vader, one more then just darth vader, and he is sadly one of the only two (3 if anakin) versions of vader with only a double attack. So, he has average vader stats but is also the second least expensive (though 50 is costly). Force power wise, this vader has an ok amount with 4. He is also built quite defensively for a vader with Light saber block and deflect. Lets not forget that pathetic force grip of 10 too. So why pick this vader over any other? The commander effect. This vader has one very nice, though double edged, commander effect. This is more the movie vader. "you have failed me for the last time" comes to mind. an added 4 attack and 10 damage is very very nice, but you miss, it dies. So, be careful if you use it. Wouldn't want boba fett rolling a one and missing, giving your opponent an extra 50 points. 100 point: There are better vaders. For fifty points, he isn't as good as he needs to be. I'd say slightly over cost in that respect. But, there is his commander effect. I see that having great potential in a fight...but not so much in 100 point. 2.5/5 200 point: here you can actually use that commander effect. Stock in stormies and pray or put the emperor (rs) with boba and blast the crap out of everything. Still, there are many other vaders. and with the storm trooper army, I would use dark jedi instead. 3/5
Robert	Darth Vader, Champion of the Sith (CotF) Faction: Imperial Cost: 50 HP: 150 DEF: 22 ATK: 15 DMG: 20 Unique Melee Attack Double Attack Force 4 Force Grip (Force 1, replaces attacks: sight; 10 damage) Lightsaber Block (Force 1: When hit by a melee attack, this character takes no damage on a save of 11) Lightsaber Deflect (Force 1: When hit by a non-melee attack, this character takes no damage with a save of 11) Commander Effect: Once per turn, each follower within 6 squares may re-roll 1 attack at +4 Attack and +10 Damage. If the result of the re-rolled attack is a miss, the attacking character is defeated.   Hello, fellow players, and welcome to "Sith Week."  All of the pieces we will be reviewing this week are big brutes of the new set, Champions of the Force, and what better way to start things off than with one of the buffest ones of all: Darth Vader!   For starters, his stats are not too shabby.  For costing 50 points, he has 150 HP (more than Jedi Hunter), 22 DEF (1 point lower than JH), 15 ATK (1 point lower than JH) and the casual 20 DMG.  He basically can hold his ground for a long period of time, and has both a decent offensive and defensive.  Good right off the bat.   For his effects, he is Unique (obviously), Melee Attack (once again, obviously), and Double Attack.  Too bad it isn't Triple Attack, but that's where we'd want Jedi Hunter.  As for his force powers, he can defend himself from most attacks, and has Force Grip.  Nothing else to say here.  It's good, don't get me wrong, but if we want some heavy force powers then we have Jedi Hunter.   However, Jedi Hunter doesn't have this: a Commander Effect.  That's right, this Vader is more of a team player than an army of one like Jedi Hunter.  Basically, you beef up your troopers via rerolls, but if you still miss then they die.  Risky, but effective.  Picture this:  Thrawn + Darth Vader, CotS + Mas Ammeda + Lots of Stormtroopers = WOW!!!  You will be giving +3 ATK and +3 DEF to the troopers via Thrawn, plus the ability to re-roll with Vader.  So, if you add a normal Stormtrooper's attack points (4) plus Thrawn's ability (+3) and finish it with a re-roll (+4) then you have an 11 ATK Stormtrooper that can do 20 DMG if hits.  Personally, I like to use Elites instead, though.   So, in a 100 PT squad, I suggest to stick with Jedi Hunter.  However, he doesn't do too bad of a job nonetheless.  As for 200 PT, if used correctly, he will dominate alongside Thrawn.  So, here are the ratings, folks!   100 PT: 2.5/5 (would be higher if JH didn't exist) 200 PT: 4.5/5 (in right squad)   "May the force be with you."
Ten-Eyed Man	At long last, we have a version of Darth Vader that properly represents both the combat prowess and the casual attitude towards human life that we all remember from ‘The Empire Strikes Back.’ Supplying the combat prowess, we’ve got numbers that are strictly better than Darth Vader, Dark Jedi’s (the version most similar to Champeen o’ da Sith). We’ve also got both Lightsaber Block and Deflect, with a decent four Force Points to power them (you can also drop FPs into Force Grip if you’re, you know, into that sort of thing). The Commander Effect is obviously the really interesting part of this figure, though. Like all the best teachers, Vader understands that making mistakes is part of learning, so he lets his followers try again whenever they want. Of course, like all the best teachers, Vader also understands that students who fail should be annihilated without hesitation. +4 Attack and +10 Damage are hard to turn down, though, especially on a deeply expendable Stormtrooper. If you’re a risk-taker, you can also apply this bonus to such people-shooting luminaries as Aurra Sing and Boba Fett, but remember that at least 5% of attack rolls will end in disaster. For 50 points, we couldn’t have asked for a better commander-type Vader than the newest one. He may not be the combat monstrousity that Jedi Hunter is, but he’s certainly no slouch, and that Commander Effect will no doubt result in some great stories (“...and after Mace betrayed to my side, I gave him Vader’s reroll and he rolled another ‘1’...”). Overall rating in 100: 4.5 Overall rating in 200: 5