As you may (or may not) have read here – I recently took some harlequins as the primary detachment to an 1850 event.
If you have not read about the games they are found here – game 1, game 2, game 3 and game 4
SO… the million dollar question is – how did I go and how could I have done better?
I have several thoughts on this so thought I would provide some feedback on units singularly and then thoughts for the future…
The Solitaire was a let down for me and a triumph at the same time. I had him kill an imperial knight by himself in 2 rounds of combat as well as taking out a big chunk of guardsmen in another game while then dying to basic guardians and chaos marines in 2 others. The epitome of a glass cannon, he worked much like I expected. I think his best chance of success lies in targeting single model or very small units where overwatch is less dangerous and the attacks coming back are far fewer. I know that’s nothing revolutionary to find out but its good to see it in practice.
Would I take him to another competitive event? I hate to say it but no.
The Death Jester fell woefully short of my hopes – partly due to match ups and partly due to other things. I only really had 1 game where his special rule might have worked (and I promptly forgot it!) but I think this highlights the main issue – most competitive armies these days will be fearless/zealot/stubborn/ATSKNF or something similar. He is also really easy to kill and his short range puts him in the danger zone to often. For his points – I can take a skyweaver jetbike with the shuriken cannon and glaive. This model is more durable (4+ armour, option for 4++, T4), faster (eldar jet bike), just as shooty albeit without the special ammo and rule and is far better in an assault. In this context I should have taken 2 bikes instead of 2 death jesters.
Competitive event? nope
The Shadow Seer was a heavy usage model in my army, giving me many a trick to play. Running a decent size unit of Harlequins meant they needed the protection these models gave and combined with the spirit seer and multiple disciplines, I had plenty of options on the table. Despite that – there are still issues. You are paying a good 85+ points per seer to make them in anyway reliable when it comes to dice and they are far to easy to shut down with a serious psychic army. All the LD powers don’t help against the majority of death stars who will deny on a 4+ or better thanks to a higher level. Even the blessings are limited in application against units fast enough to close on you to get around veil of tears. Dance of Shadows and invisibility (obviously) are both very solid but you need at least 3 seers to have a chance of getting them with any regularity which ties up more points in an already expensive unit.
Competitive event? with the right build – probably.
The Harlequin Troupes performed as I expected – when they made combat with even moderate numbers – 4 or 5 would do – they tended to murder pretty much what ever was in front of them. I think the ideal combo of weapons is about 1 in 3 with the caress and the rest with the kiss. The troupe leader should always be one of the models with the caress. The counter balance to this is that I lost whole small units to the slightest shooting attacks – a single frag grenade thrown by GI Guardsman killed an entire troupe! Keeping them minimum sized and effectively disposable or running them maxed out with shadow seers seems like the only 2 options really.
The Void Weaver was as effective as I expected – as in not really. You want 2 or 3 of them and with the cost of the units in this army, its hard to justify more of them over other units. That said, it tended to get ignored in the mix as a minimal threat when the other units were options for targeting. I still don’t think the prism canon is a good option due to its low strength but the option for the blasts could help in some situations. This needs more testing.
The Star Weaver was… pure gold! Its a dark eldar venom but better. Its the same AV and hull points with the same 5++ save built in but for just 5 points more can carry 6 models instead of 5, gets an option for a single turn to have a 4++ save without jink AND trades the 2 splinter cannons for 2 shuriken cannons. The only thing it loses out on is the range – down from 36″ to 24″. Its amazing on the table and a real threat to light vehicles, infantry of all kinds and even flyers thanks to its speed and volume of shots.
And its this vehicle that got me thinking… maybe the Harlequins have a build that could work in a competitive environment. Ideally you want 4 or even 5 detachments available to do it right but I think I can make a serviceable list with 2 detachments. Its going to be even more delicate than venom spam but should be considerably more dangerous in the long run.
I will expand on this in my next post but for now I am claiming the internet nickname now.
You heard it here first…
Weaver Spam!