So, I usually deal with Vader by not dealing with him, just ignoring him, as much as I can.

However in a recent game I realised that I had to kill him because I could not get 18pts from the objectives.

So how is your plan when this happens? How do you kill Vader, not just some damage, but actually killing him?

I have found Pierce and Blast to be pretty effective against Vader. If you don't have those things and you know you MUST kill Vader then focused fire from all your troops is the way to go. If you make Vader roll enough, even with 2 dice he is bound to get a few crappy rolls. You can't half ass it against him though. Once you start you can't let up. Ive seen him go down in a single round when focused on.

Stun, Pierce, Blast, Command cards that take away dice. CHEWIE CHEWIE and MORE CHEWIE

If you have board control over Vader it helps a lot. Vader cant take on a lot of attacks. Also Vader is super slow if you take away his officers.

Strain does a number on him as well, if your trandos can get in close and spread out after attacking they can avoid brutality and get some auto damage on him. In a game last night I was able to strain out my opponents deck mid turn 2 and Vader fell shortly after. It's a big mind game with him he's powerful but you just need to find ways around his dice. Pierce is another biggy as mentioned above.

Elite Sans, especially focused, can pay the hurt on.

I got Vader Bleeding and Stunned tonight. Shut him down hard.

I think you have to take out the Officers first. This will not only slow Vader down, but it will also decrease your opponent's activiations. If you can get the activation upper hand, you can save your big hitters after Vader activates.

chewie, stun, that card that lets you remove defense die if the opponent didn't have los on you, the machinegunners, royal champion, royal guards, vader vs two royal guards will get decimated. at least one of them will stun him.