I flew this list on last tourney and loved it.
Darth Vader with or without Engine Upgrade
PS11 Vader is an ace hunter. Top end. He needs EU to do his job.
If you're not putting Engine on him, may as well use Accuracy Corrector and Juke. That turns him into an uber defensive workhorse, which isn't the best thing ever but it's better than wasting actions on target locks against specific foes then fiddling with any blank dice you may roll.
And then you might as well save another point and use Juno: AC Juke Juno is only 30 points and her ability is both a Navigator effect and a huge dial expansion.
Vader is a more aggressive Soontir, and like Soontir you're best off giving him all his tools.
PS11 Vader is an ace hunter. Top end. He needs EU to do his job.
If you're not putting Engine on him, may as well use Accuracy Corrector and Juke. That turns him into an uber defensive workhorse, which isn't the best thing ever but it's better than wasting actions on target locks against specific foes then fiddling with any blank dice you may roll.
And then you might as well save another point and use Juno: AC Juke Juno is only 30 points and her ability is both a Navigator effect and a huge dial expansion.
Vader is a more aggressive Soontir, and like Soontir you're best off giving him all his tools.
Hrm? I'm not sure that AC Juno with Juke is a straight Improvement over AC Vader with Juke. Vader gets a defensive focus or a re-positioning barrel roll. PS9 gives him a higher chance of being able to shoot before needing to spend the evade token. Juno gets more movement options but at a lower PS, without the focus or barrel roll. I don't think that Juno is unreasonable here if you wanna save the point, but ...I think I'd still lean Vader.
I agree that Vader is "best" when giving him all his tools. My argument is not that AC/Juke Vader is better than VI/EU Vader. They fill completely different rolls for completely different point costs. My argument was that IF you're playing a 31pt Vader, without all his tools, I think AC/Juke is a stronger and more reliable combo than ATC/VI.
...you know, just to clarify.
Juno
Cheaper
Expanded dial
Actionless reposition (Juno's ability is arguably more powerful than an extra Barrel Roll)
Must sacrifice Juke that round to barrel roll
Vader
PS9 over PS8
Extra action for defensive only focus or for barrel roll
It really depends what you need from him.
Many Imperial lists rely on having (at least) one Ace; the question with Vader is whether he is that Ace or not. With EU, he's as manouverable as Soontir, albeit needing to be careful with his defenses. Without it (frequently being ATC-equipped) he's a ship that hits like a sledgehammer, and that's all he needs to be doing.
If you're going the EU route, you'll often want to invest in Prockets too - in for a penny, in for a pound, and this way you can take opportunistic mega-shots against hostile aces, who he can struggle to hit otherwise.
I am personally going to try atc and vi Juno for her natural dial repositioning.
Juno
Cheaper
Expanded dial
Actionless reposition (Juno's ability is arguably more powerful than an extra Barrel Roll)
Must sacrifice Juke that round to barrel roll
Vader
PS9 over PS8
Extra action for defensive only focus or for barrel roll
I've been trying to get Juno to work in an all aces list (called "B-team" using 3 PS 8 ships) and her biggest struggle is her pilot skill. Running her with PTL, ATC, and MKII makes her an absolute beast until you cross paths with a PS9+ ship and then suddenly you lose half the value of her ridiculous maneuverability. If you can find a way to make her a secondary threat she can be quite brutal but usually you have to sink points into her to make her viable and she ends up being too big of a target. I switched over to Vader with engine and have never looked back.
I'll agree that Juno can be incredibly powerful but the abundance of Aces really dials back her effectiveness, to the point where she's easily crushing those beneath her PS while struggling against the ships above her PS. It's usually just more efficient to find a point somewhere to upgrade her to Vader. If she'd been a few points cheaper than maybe she's see more play - vader's just so dang good that she might only be effective paired with him (giving you two vaderish ships).
A friend of mine took a 20 person store champ with this list:
Darth Vader + TIE/x1 + Proton Rockets + Veteran Instincts + Engine Upgrade + Advanced Targeting Computer (38)
Juno Eclipse + TIE/x1 + Veteran Instincts + Advanced Targeting Computer (30)
Omicron Group Pilot + Emperor Palpatine (29)
He is also one of the best Juno players I've seen. Always has the right move for that ship. Note the EU and Prockets on VI vader. He was hunting aces all day! Also, the list comes in at 97 points so you can absolutely get the initiative bid. Juno was pretty deadly!
He fought my store champ winning list of:
OGP/Palp
Omega Leader/Juke/Comm
Whisper/VI/Sensor Jammer/Kallus/ACD
We eventually called it a tie due to fluky dice rolls. It could have gone either way, but I did surprise him with some of my flying (and likewise, he surprised me with some of his). I'd say VI Vader definitely wants EU so you can adjust afterwards, especially if you have prockets and Palp in tow. For Juno? Absolutely VI. Makes all the difference!