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I participated in my first 40K tournament ever, interestingly enough with my newest army. I have no idea whether the tournament guidelines are standard, so I'll explain what they were.

The tournament had three games per player, arranged so there were Primary and Secondary Objectives. All six Eternal War scenarios were used in three pairs. Success over the opponent in the Primary Objective yielded 4VPs. Success in the Secondary Objective yielded 3VPs. First Blood, Slay the Warlord and Linebreaker generated 1VP apiece, giving a total of 10VPs that could be earned maximum. We also had a list limit of two detachments. All deployments were standard long board edge due to space.

Game 1 had the following Objectives:
Primary Objective: Purge the Alien
Secondary Objective: Big Guns Never Tire

The lists:

Harlequins
Primary Detachment: Harlequin Masque
TROOPS
Troupe (9) w/ 8x SP, 8x Embrace, Haywire Grenades
- Troupe Master w/ SP, Embrace, Starmist Raiment [Warlord: 4++ save]
Troupe (9) w/ 8x SP, 8x Kiss
- Troupe Master w/ Kiss, Crescendo, Haywire Grenades
Troupe (6) w/ 5x Neuro-disruptor, 5x Caress
- Troupe Master w/ ND, Storied Sword
ELITE
Shadowseer w/ ML2, Laughing God's Eye, SP [Veil of Tears, Peal of Discord, Fog of Dreams]
Shadowseer w/ ML2, SP [Veil of Tears, Shards of Light, Dance of Shadows]
Death Jester
FAST ATTACK
Starweaver
Skyweavers (3) w/ 3x Haywire Cannon, 2x Zephyrglaive, 1x Star Bolas
HEAVY SUPPORT
Voidweavers (3) w/ Prismatic Cannon

Formation: The Heroes' Path
Solitaire w/ Cegorach's Kiss, Haywire Grenades
Shadowseer w/ ML2, Mask of Secrets, SP [Veil of Tears, Peal of Discord, Shards of Light]
Death Jester

Blood Angels
Primary Detachment: Blood Angels Specific
Dante [warlord]
Sanguinary Priest
Assault Squad (10)
Death Company Assault Squad (10)
2x Land Speeder (1)
2x Scout Squad (5)
Storm Talon

Imperial Knight
Imperial Knight w/ Rapid Fire Cannon (Lg Blast), Heavy Stubber

Night Fighting Turn 1 by Dante's request.

I won the right to deploy first. I placed the Kiss Troupe w/ the Enigma-less SS and a DJ in a ruin down the middle of my deployment zone. I placed the Warlord Troupe with the Laughing God's Eye SS in a ruin 10" W of the right board edge and 10" from my long board edge. The Voidweavers set up 12" from my long board edge and 16" E of my short board edge. The Skyweavers set up behind the ruin where the Warlord Troupe deployed. The Starweaver w/ the Caress Troupe set up behind the Kiss Troupe ruin. I declared the Heroes' Path infiltrating.

He deployed the IK 4" from his long board edge and 8" E of the center line. One Scout Squad sat on a hill 2" from his long board edge and 10" W of the right short board edge. The other Scout Squad deployed in a ruin 8" E of his left short board edge and 7" from his long board edge. Everything else went into DS reserve.

I put the solo DJ up against a very tall windowless building 14" from his left Scout Squad and 6" from the left board edge. The Solitaire set up behind the SW corner of that same building. The Mask SS set up behind a building on the opposite side of the board, 16" from the right board edge and on the latitudinal midline.

He failed to steal.

TURN 1
Harlequins
The solo DJ moves 6" NW to get LoS on the left Scout Squad. The Solitaire moves 6" N to hug that building wall without exposing himself to the left Scout Squad. The Voidweavers move 12" NE to get LoS on the left Scout Squad (too far to shoot at the IK NE of their position). The Warlord Troupe moves 6" N towards the building behind which the Mask SS stands. The Kiss Troupe advances 6" N from their ruin. The Starweaver moves 12" E towards the SE ruin where the Warlord Troupe started. The Skyweavers move 12" WNW towards the Kiss Troupe.

In the Psychic Phase, all three SSs get off Veil of Tears. Fog of Dreams fails to go off on the IK.

In Shooting, the DJ fails to wound the left Scout Squad. Two of the Voidweavers have LoS on the left Scout Squad and shoot at them but manage to kill only 1. The Skyweavers turbo-boost 36" W to get where the Voidweavers initially deployed. The Kiss Troupe runs forward 3", 20" from the IK's position where I thought it was safe because I forgot IKs can move 12" The Warlord Troupe Runs 4" N up against that building. The Starweaver moves Flat Out 10" to get behind the ruin where the Warlord Troupe began.

No Assaults.

Blood Angels
He moves the IK 12" S towards the Kiss Troupe. The Scout Squads stay put.

In Shooting, the IK split fires, shooting the Rapid Fire Cannon at the Voidweavers and the Heavy Stubber at the Kiss Troupe. The Voidweavers only lose one HP and an underslung Shuriken Cannon thanks to Stealth and Shrouded. He makes his Veil of Tears roll but does nothing with the Heavy Stubber. Shots by the left Scout Squad fail to do anything to the DJ.

In Assault, he manages to roll over 8" to get into combat with the Kiss Troupe. The HoW does nothing. The Troupe Master successfully glances the IK. The IK manages to miss all of its attacks but does cause 3 Wounds with Stomps. I make Morale and Hit & Run 8" NNE towards the right Scout Squad's position. He consolidates 1" S and turns around to face the NNW direction.

Kill Points
Harlequins: 0
Blood Angels: 0

TURN 2
Harlequins
In Movement, the DJ moves 6" NNE to get a better LoS on the left Scout Squad. The Solitaire moves 12" so he's just touching the SW corner of the ruin where the left Scout Squad is. The Kiss Troupe moves 6" NE towards the Scout Squad, w/ its DJ detaching to move 6" SE to get side armor shooting at the IK. The Warlord Troupe moves 6"NNE to the right side of the building between it and the IK. The Starweaver moves 12" NNE to the other side of that ruin and immediately behind the Warlord Troupe. The Mask SS moves 5" W towards the IK. The Skyweavers move 12" ENE towards the IK so every model is 20-24" of it. The Voidweavers maneuver 6" ENE so they're front is facing the IK and the aft is facing the left Scout Squad.

In the Psychic Phase, I get off Veil of Tears on the Warlord Troupe, Dance of Shadows on the Kiss Troupe and Fog of Dreams on the IK.

In Shooting, I manage to only knock the IK to 4HP left via shooting from the Skyweavers, splintered DJ, Starweaver and Voidweavers. The left Scout Squad is reduced to one model in the back. The Kiss Troupe runs only 3" NE towards the right Scout Squad despite the Fleet reroll. The Warlord Troupe runs 4" NNW towards the right Scout Squad. The Mask SS Runs 5" E to stay behind the same building. At the end of Shooting, I make the mistake of telling him to make the lone left Scout to run to his long board edge. Needing a 7 to get off the table, he rolls... a 5. Not only does he stay on the table, he's now 13" away from the Solitaire.

In Assault, I declare assaults with the Warlord Troupe first as it's farther and has more men to soak Overwatch shots. He kills one, leaving me needing an 11" to engage but I fail. The Kiss Troupe needs a 9 to successfully assault them and I manage only 7 for a failed charge. The Skyweavers do an Assault move 7" WSW to get away from the IK.

Blood Angels
In Movement, everything but one Land Speeder arrives from reserve. He DSs the other Land Speeder on target 6" W of the Starweaver. Dante w/ the Assault Squad arrive on target 5" S of the right Scout Squad and between the Kiss and Warlord Troupes. The Death Company arrives 3" NW of the IK and make two Dangerous Terrain tests for landing in a solo paper tree terrain feature (don't know why it was even on the table, really). The Storm Talon comes on the table 18" S between the left Scout Squad ruin and another ruin in the center of the table 3" from his long board edge to get prime shooting on the Voidweaver Squadron. The IK moves 12" W towards the Voidweavers. The left Scout rallies and moves 6" E to run away from the Solitaire.

In Shooting, Dante's unit takes out the Kiss Troupe for First Blood, leaving its SS as the lone survivor with 1 wound remaining. The Storm Talon takes out two Voidweavers despite triggering Mirage Launchers. The right Scout the Land Speeder glances the Starweaver after it declares Mirage Launcher. The right Scout Squad tries to take out the Starweaver but fails. The Death Company takes out the splintered DJ with Bolter fire.

In Assault, the IK tries to charge the last Voidweaver but fails.

Kill Points
Harlequins: 0
Blood Angels: 2

TURN 3
Harlequins
In Movement, the Warlord Troupe moves 6" N in preparation of circling Dante's unit. The Starweaver moves 6" NNW towards Dante's unit and the Caress Troupe disembarks 6" NNW towards Dante's unit. The Mask SS moves 6" NE to close distance with Dante's unit and gain LoS on it. The Solitaire moves 12" so he's w/in 3" of the left Scout. The DJ moves 6" E to get into the ruin terrain. The Skyweavers move 10" ENE towards the IK so they are again 20-24" of it. The last Voidweaver moves 12" to get to the side of the IK so its aft gun is on the Storm Talon.

In the Psychic Phase, I fail to get off Fog of Dreams on Dante's unit. I fail to get off Veil of Tears on any units. Peal of Discord fails to go off on Dante's unit. I do get off Shards of Light on Dante's unit and kill one model. Amazingly, he fails his Initiative check and goes Blind.

In Shooting, the DJ runs 4" to get further into cover in the left Scout Squad's former ruin. The Starweaver wrecks the Land Speeder. The Warlord Troupe runs 5" to circle the N and E side of Dante's unit. The Caress Troupe runs 4" NNW towards Dante's unit. The Mask SS runs 4" to close within 12" of Dante's unit. The wounded SS tries to pin the unit with the Grenade Launcher. The unit loses one model but makes its Pinning check. The Voidweaver fails to do anything to anything. The Skyweavers get the IK down to 3HP left.

In Assault, the Solitaire assaults the left Scout. The wounded SS initiates a charge first to sacrifice itself to Overwatch and dies. The Warlord Troupe and Caress Troupe dual charge Dante's unit. I do the Assault move for the Skyweavers 12" W to get away from the IK and tuck a bit behind the building there. The Solitaire makes quick work of the Scout. The Dante challenges, so the Caress Troupe Master accepts. Out of 7d3 I only get 13 HoW hits, which in turn kill 3 Assault Squad models. By the end of combat, Dante's unit is down to Dante, the Sanguinary Priest and 3 Assault Squad models while I lost three Warlord Players and 1 Caress Player. He fails Morale but I chase him down.

Blood Angels
In Movement, the last Land Speeder still doesn't arrive. The IK moves 12" W towards the Skyweavers. The Death Company moves 12" W towards the general vicinity of the solo DJ and the Solitaire. The Storm Talon moves 36" ESE towards the Starweaver.

In Shooting, the Storm Talon takes out the Starweaver. The Death Company takes out the last Voidweaver. The IK takes out one Zephyr Skyweaver (makes Morale). The right Scout Squad shoots at the Solitaire but misses with its one shot in range.

In Assault, Dante's unit is reduced to Dante, the Priest and a Powerfist. I lose three models including the SS in the challenge, but make Morale. I Hit & Run out so that the Caress Troupe is just an inch away from Dante's unit and the Warlord Troupe is at the base of the hill where the right Scout Squad is.

Kill Points
Harlequins: 2
Blood Angels: 5

TURN 4
Harlequins
In Movement, the Solitaire moves 12" ESE to the NW inner corner of a ruin. The solo DJ moves to the SE inner corner of the left Scout Squad ruin. The Skyweavers move a few inches S to get LoS on the IK. Everything else is already in position.

In the Psychic Phase, absolutely nothing goes off thanks to a bad Warp Pool roll and bad dice.

In Shooting, the Caress Troupe uses Neuro-disruptors to take out all but Dante and give him 3 wounds, leaving him with 1 remaining. The Warlord Troupe shoots at the right Scout Squad and kills 3 (made Morale). The solo DJ takes out two Death Company models.

In Assault, the Warlord Troupe charges the right Scouts. The Caress Troupe charges Dante. The Warlord Troupe wipes out the Scout Squad with 14 HoW hits, more hits with fewer models. The Caress Troupe takes out Dante with its last attacks for Slay the Warlord. The Caress Troupe consolidates 4" S up against the ruin on the right side of the board. The Warlord Troupe consolidates 5" WSW towards the ruin where the Solitaire is camped.

Blood Angels
In Movement, the Land Speeder finally arrives, coming in pinpoint 8" S of the Skyweavers' position. The IK moves 12" N with its front facing ENE and its closest edge approximately 14" SE of the Solitaire's position. The Death Company moves 12" WNW towards the Caress Troupe. The Storm Talon moves 20" S to get right to the E of the Warlord Troupe.

In Shooting, The Land Speeder only manages 1 wound on the Star Bolas Skyweaver. The IK shoots the Rapid Fire Cannon at the Warlord Troupe, killing the Warlord and all but 3 Players and the SS. The Storm Talon finishes them off. The Death Company kills all but the Troupe Master in the Caress Troupe.

In Assault, the Death Company charges the Caress Troupe Master. He takes out 2 but dies to counter attack. The unit consolidates 1" so pretty much stays put.

Kill Points
Harlequins: 6
Blood Angels: 8

TURN 5
Harlequins
Realizing I need to kill some units, I decide the best chance is to go after the Land Speeder with the Skyweavers and the IK with the Solitaire. The Mask SS is pretty much screwed, so I arrange to maximize his Psychic attacks and charge after. The Solitaire moves 12" SSW towards the IK. The Skyweavers move to within 4" of the Land Speeder. The Mask SS moves within 1" of the Death Company.

In Psychic, nothing goes off thanks to having only 3 dice total to work with.

In Shooting, the Skyweavers deal 1 glance on the Land Speeder. The Solitaire manages to deal a glance on the IK that fails its invul save on front armor, reducing it to 2HP. The Death Jester takes its shots and amazingly scores 2 glances, wrecking the IK! It explodes but deals no damage to anything. The Mask SS tries shooting at the Death Company but deals no damage.

In Assault, the Skyweavers charge the Land Speeder. The Mask SS charges the Death Company. The Skyweavers wreck the Land Speeder. The Mask SS kills 2 but dies in the counter (barely!). His Death Company consolidates 5" W to get back into the fray.

Blood Angels
In Movement, the Storm Talon hovers and moves 12" WSW to claim an objective. The Death Company moves 12" W, 3" W of the Storm Talon.

In Shooting, he takes pot shots at everything and deals only 1 Wound to the Solitaire.

Kill Points
Harlequins: 8
Blood Angels: 9

Roll to see if the game continues and it does not.

SCORING
Primary Objective (Purge the Alien)
Blood Angels win, 9-8, so he gets 4VP

Secondary Objective (Big Guns Never Tire)
Blood Angels win, 4-0, with one objective and the destruction of my Heavy Support unit, so he gets 3VP

First Blood
Blood Angels

Slay the Warlord
Both Harlequins and Blood Angels

Linebreaker
No one.

Final Score: 9-1, Blood Angels


CONCLUSIONS
I screwed up tactically quite a bit. I could've gotten an easy KP and First Blood had I told the last Scout to run towards my Solitaire. I also would've gotten the Solitaire engaged with the rest of the match on the other side of the board much, much sooner. As it was he had to chase down the last Scout one extra turn before he could join the others. I also screwed up when I forgot that IKs can move 12". I should've been patient and kept my Kiss Troupe in the ruin where I had a 4+ cover save plus Stealth for a 3+ cover save, not to mention Veil of Tears to ensure they wouldn't get shot. I could've gotten the Solitaire into CC with the IK a turn sooner, which in turn would've freed up my Skyweavers to get to the center of the board and start assaulting the Death Company.

I also had no idea how the Secondary Objective really worked. Though we had objectives, I was fixated on the 1VP for destroying a Heavy Support unit. I would've done a better job of orienting my units to claim objectives than I did, though the circumstances weren't great. To be honest, it wasn't until the second game that it clicked how this whole primary/secondary thing worked. That was inexperience at play, not my list.

As for my list, I didn't play the terrain as smartly as I could have. As he had a close combat oriented army and wanted to engage with me, I should've just stood pat and forced him to come to me. In truth, I probably should've gone second instead of first, too, just to get his units in the game that much sooner. I still could've focused on the left Scouts since the terrain favored me there and it would've been a stretch for him to dedicate reserve units in that direction.

Plain and simple, I the player lost this game. The list was still competitive in spite of my tactical errors. Would I have won? I don't know. As it was he was reduced to two units to my two. I think I could've gotten a push on the Primary Objective but still lose 4-2, possibly 4-3 with Linebreaker as I could afford a unit back there to claim it. Now that I think about it, i believe I completely forgot to check if my DJ was within 12" of his long board edge.

Anyway, it was a good, close match. My opponent was very impressed with what the Harlequins could do. After the game he told others about the match and engendered fear amongst them. Not bad.

My other two game batreps to be written up separately.

When you went into this tournament did you have any plan for taking out knights? I know you have the 3 haywire cannons but did you think you might be killing the knight or do you think that your skyweavers may have been better used hunting down units like those scouts? Do you think it may have been a better idea to have a larger caress unit rather than a larger kiss unit so you would have a better chance taking down vehicles?

Do you think the neuro disruptors are worth the points? You only had one chance to shoot them. Do you think the points would have been better spent on another Shadowseer or more harlequins?

Seeing as you play with kisses, caresses and embraces, which unit would you say has been the most effective and which has been the least?

I went in believing I had enough to deal with most vehicles. The only things I was unsure about were fortifications. The Solitaire is a Caress Machine on his own. Though small, the Caress Troupe has plenty of Caress attacks to deal with an IK if I needed it to. And I did add Haywire Grenades to the Solitaire and all three Troupe Masters.

I think a larger Kiss unit is still the way to go. I get 20 Caress attacks on the charge as is. I get 9 Kiss attacks with a unit of 9. Shrinking that unit's size makes them less effective against MEq armies. I'd rather have 9 AP2 attempts To Hit and subsequently Wound on 2+ than 6 AP2 attempts To Hit. Besides, they're cheaper to field en mass. I would lose points getting a larger Caress unit, not more.

The Neuro-disruptors are worth the points. It didn't come up much in this game, but they did play a big role in my subsequent two matches. Another SS is overkill, I think. A third DJ could be worthwhile.

The most effective unit by far has been the Embrace Troupe. Every game I've had great success with them, and what they do has consistently caught the opposition off-guard until it was too late. Run and Charge with them is incredibly potent. I could see replacing the Kisses with them before replacing anything else, though the loss of at least one AP2 weapon per model does give pause. There's something to be said for having at least five AP2 weapons at I6-7 every round of combat than having a potential d3 S6 AP- count of hits on the turn you charge only. The least effective unit has been the Kisses as I have been putting them in the worst position to succeed thus far. No fault of the weapon there.

So did I miss it, or did you not blitz with the solitaire in this first game? Could that have added to your solitaire's effectiveness? It might not have, but I'm just curious. Your batreps are still top-class thunder, keep em coming. I can't wait for game #2.

I actually did Blitz.. the turn he went towards the IK and saw the DJ shoot it to death.

Game #2 posted here.