Darth Vader and his Stormtroopers in Star Wars: Shatterpoint - Beginning of the Civil War era!
Hello there!
This is the series in which we explain how certain units from Star Wars: Shatterpoint work!
Today we will go with the fearless Sith Lord, Darth Vader and his Stormtroopers, which are included in the Fear and Dead Men Squad Pack. With this pack, the true era of The Galactic Civil War begins!
Darth Vader, the Emperor’s Servant
Unit Card
One of the most complex character in the whole Star Wars universe got his second version (or third, if you count Anakin Skywalker 
) in the Star Wars: Shatterpoint.
On the first look at him we can see a lot of useful abilities. First of all, let’s talk about his Identity and Tactic abilities. You Cannot Hide Forever represents his never ending anger and passion. Each time he activates and doesn’t wound an enemy unit, he shuffles back his Order Card into the deck at the end of his activation. That means if he will be your last card in the deck, you are forced to activate him again and again until he wounds an enemy character.
You Don’t Know the Power of the Dark Side helps him to accomplish his goal. Every time he activates he will remove two damage counters or one condition from himself and then refresh one Force point. It’s a crucial ability as it not only makes him a tough nut to crack but also gives him fuel for his other abilities.
Speaking of them, You Are Unwise to Lower Your Defenses is a slightly better version of Riposte, which deals 3 damage instead of 2. On the other hand, Anger, Hate, Aggression is an aggressive ability that not only gives you an additional move, but also increases the amount of your attack dice by 3. However, it has the drawback – if you roll one or more blank results you receive an Exposed condition, which can hurt badly.
Icing on the cake is Perhaps I Can Find New Ways to Motivate Them which boost mobility of your army. Each time Vader wounds an enemy, your other Galactic Empire character may dash (for example, to contest one of the objectives).
Stance Card
Form V Djem So is a simple, aggressive stance for Vader. 8-12 dice attack can be a source of up to 10 damage, Strained and Disarmed conditions and some mobility/utility such as Jump and Push. However, your defense stats is this stance is pretty low, especially with Exposed condition from his second ability.
Form V Shien is another branch of his favorite Form V. This one represents more utility options and it is good to consider it, when you’re on “Vader” only activations due to his Identity ability. 7-11 dice can inflict up to 8 damage but is supplemented with a variety of conditions, Heal[1-3] and some Pushes/Disengage. Other good sides are the options to attack from range as well as much better defense.
Stormtrooper Sergeant
Unit Card
First of the no-name Star Wars: Shatterpoint characters. It fills a supplementary utility roll in the squad and may go stronger with future releases.
He has 3 built-in utility abilities. First, Inexorable Advance is kinda simple. At the start of his activation he may Advance a friendly Galactic Empire Supporting Unit, then that unit suffers one damage.
Second, Coordinated Offensive, may be a lot more devastating, especially when we get more Stormtroopers with future releases. Each time he, or any other allied Stormtrooper unit attacks, it may add 1 dice to the roll for each other friendly Stormtrooper unit with LoS and in Range to the target. That, technically, means that you’ll be adding 1-5 an attack, which greatly increases your chances to hit.
Last of his utility abilities is Imperial Firepower. You may target an enemy character that is within Range 4 of at least two Galactic Empire units and give Pinned and Disarmed conditions to that character. If used in the right time, this ability may be devastating for your opponents’ unit efficiency.
Finally, we have Only Imperial Stormtroopers Are So Precise. This ability is a small increase of Sergeant firepower giving him Sharpshooter[1]. However, you need to perform a Focus action to gain profit from this ability and this unit does not have built-in options for that.
Stance Card
Forward Assault is a simple stance that provides you with up to 6 damage and some utility tools such as Heal [1-4], Exposed and Pinned condition as well as 2 pushes with one Disengage.
Stormtroopers
Unit Card
Last on our list are basic Stormtroopers. And they are, huh, weird.
Two of their abilities require spending Force points and both of these abilities have drawbacks. Assault Tactics is a mobility tool that allows you to dash and perform a focus action after that, but if they do, they suffer one damage. For the Empire! on the other hand allows them to push away an enemy engaged with them, but after that they gain Exposed condition (note that this ability also consumes one of your Actions!).
The last ability in their arsenal is the same Innate ability that Sergeant has – Only Imperial Stormtroopers Are So Precise.
Stance Card
Assault Training is quite a complex stance for the Supporting Unit. Up to 6 damage is supplemented by Heal [2], full variety of conditions and a Push. However, they’re quite vulnerable to melee attacks.
In summary, this squad opens up your path to the Galactic Empire lists and I believe that miniatures included in will be a great part of Empire-oriented lists, especially Sergeant.
We are waiting for the more Galactic Empire expansions in the future 
If you want to start your adventure with Star Wars Shatterpoint, check our Shatterpoint Guide!
You want us to paint your favorite squad? No problem, just contact us!