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I've wanted to make a Harlequin army for years, but I could never find quite the right combination to really make it feel right. Now, with the new Allies rules, I'm giving it another go, and I'd really like some feedback to make sure I'm hitting my goals and expectations in the right place with a new, largely unfamiliar army.

Before I get stuck into the thick of the list, let me explain what I want from this army: I want something that is fluffy, fun to play (MOST important!), and at lease semi-viable (I'm not looking to wreck face at tourneys, or anything - I just don't want to get tabled every single time I sit down to play, either). I want to play this as a kind of 'sustained harass' style of army, with the Venoms picking at the edges of an enemy force and the Wyches only moving in to fight things once they're either weak enough, or out of position enough, to be finished off. I'm using Wyches as the core Harlequin troopers due to the 4+ Invul dodge, Fleet, Combat Drugs, and Power From Pain rules, which I think offer the closest simulacrum to the Harlequin abilities available in a Troops choice.

Here's the current list:

HQ:
[80] Succubus w/Razorflails, Haywire Grenades (walks with Harlequins)

Troops:
[175] 5 Wyches w/Venom transport, Haywire Grenades, Hekatrix, Agonizer, Phantasm Grenade Launcher, Splinter Cannon, Night Shields
[175] 5 Wyches w/Venom transport, Haywire Grenades, Hekatrix, Agonizer, Phantasm Grenade Launcher, Splinter Cannon, Night Shields
[175] 5 Wyches w/Venom transport, Haywire Grenades, Hekatrix, Agonizer, Phantasm Grenade Launcher, Splinter Cannon, Night Shields
[175] 5 Wyches w/Venom transport, Haywire Grenades, Hekatrix, Agonizer, Phantasm Grenade Launcher, Splinter Cannon, Night Shields

Elites:
[116] 3 Kabalite Trueborn w/Blaster x3, Venom, Night Shields
[116] 3 Kabalite Trueborn w/Blaster x3, Venom, Night Shields
[250] 10 Harlequins w/Harlequin’s Kiss x10, Shadowseer

Heavy Support:
[185] Voidraven Bomber w/Night Shields, Flickerfield, Necrotoxin Missiles x2

Allied HQ:
[210] Eldrad Ulthran (walks with Harlequins)

Allied Troops:
[120] 5 Pathfinders

Allied Fast Attack:
[223] 5 Shining Spears w/Exarch, Skilled Rider, Withdraw (always reserve)
__________
2000 points

Eldrad comes in as a High Shadowseer, and the Succubus Warlord is the High Avatar, both of whom footslog with the Harlequins (the Elites choice ones). The Pathfinders (Mimes) camp an objective and provide covering fire while making use of the new Precise Shot rules to eliminate any annoying wrenches they can reach. Anti-Tank comes from the Voidraven, Blasterborn Venoms (modeled as Death Jesters), and the Haywire Wyches. Most of my anti-infantry dakka comes in the form of an alpha strike from the Voidraven, followed by sustained double Splinter Cannon fire from the six Venoms. The Shining Spears (I know they're not great; but how can I run Harlequins without jetbikes? ) will fill two roles: first, they'll hunt troublesome MCs, and second, they'll provide assault support. If one of my Wych squads gets bogged down in an assault that they can't win (or can't win fast enough), I slam into the assault from the side with the jetbikes - S6 AP3 attacks, then just Hit & Run away. My overall goal is to ignore objectives for most of the match (Eldar are good at taking them, not holding them) and to focus on whittling down my opponent and pulling them out of position as much as possible (which I already know I'm pretty good at doing). Then I can make a dash for the objectives in the last few turns; hopefully, they won't have enough left to disgorge me from all of them.

What do you guys think? Is this viable enough to keep from getting my face slammed into the ground? Is there a huge gap I'm not seeing? Is there a way to reorganize it to provide more power, utility, fluff, or fun? Thanks in advance for any help you can provide!

illegal list, You can not run special character as an ally :(

Zachar wrote:illegal list, You can not run special character as an ally :(

Where exactly in the rule book does it say this?
I read this before the rulebook was out, but haven't seen it mentioned since. And i've just read the allies section, and didn't see anything saying you can't take allies special characters.

Zachar wrote:illegal list, You can not run special character as an ally :(

I'm afraid I can't find this anywhere in the rule book, either. It doesn't seem to be in either the Allies, rules, or the Special Characters sidebar.

So, how does the list look? Will I get what I'm wanting out of it?

That harlequin unit is going to attract a lot of fire having all of your characters there, also I don't know but I'm sure there might be confrontation as to which dex your taking the harlequin from.

Either your using them as part of your main dark eldar force, in which case Eldrad can't walk with them or you are using them as a selection from your Allies in which case the succubus can't walk with them.

Never been a fan of shining spears

Sasa0mg wrote:Either your using them as part of your main dark eldar force, in which case Eldrad can't walk with them or you are using them as a selection from your Allies in which case the succubus can't walk with them.

On page 112, under the heading "Battle Brothers": "Can be joined by allied Independent Characters" - so it doesn't matter which dex the Harlequins are from, both ICs can still join them. The only thing Allied ICs can't do between these two lists is get in transports.

Sasa0mg wrote:That harlequin unit is going to attract a lot of fire having all of your characters there...

Pretty please? With the new FAQ, the Shadowseer now has Stealth and Shrouded, and you still have to roll spotting distance to hit them, and Eldrad's Fortune makes that re-rollable. So, 4+ re-rollable cover save in the open, and 2+ re-rollable cover save in terrain (if you're even in range to shoot them). Any guns they spend shooting at the Harlequins are guns that aren't shooting down Venoms, and the Harlequins can soak up more shots than the Venoms can. In my eyes, if this unit is drawing fire, then it's either a net gain for me, or I'm so far behind that I've already lost and nothing can save me.

Sasa0mg wrote:Never been a fan of shining spears

I've heard that a lot from Eldar players. Can you elaborate on why? By my understanding, the only things the Spears can do well (if and only if they have Hit & Run) is MC hunting, Tank hunting (which the Haywyches and Blasterborn do better), and assault support (which is where I plan on using them most). And by 'assault support', I mean using them to slam into units that are already in assault with other squads of mine (read: Wyches, so no Overwatch vs the Spears), deal their charge damage, then Hit & Run away. Is this an okay way of using them? Do you think I have enough support for them in this list that they'll be fun in just enough games that I won't hate them and smash them against the table?

I like the list, and it seems fairly strong. your using everything in both books disposal to the maximum (wyches as tank hunters, snipers, harlies as IC transports.

I dont really know much about shining spears, but they are cool models so i say go for it.

The harlies are great now with their stealth rules. they are the biggest buff the eldar books got in the new rules and with rending id say they are one of the best all around units in the game now.

I dont understand the phantasm grenade launchers. i dont have my book in front of me but they dont seem that useful anymore, but i very easily could just be missing something.

Thats interesting I really didn't notice that. its a shame about the transports though :O

When I say fire power I mean templates xD but you have a point there that unit will tank some fire nicely.. enough that I might steal the idea :F!

Well I used them waay way back and they just seemed like regular jetbikes with some more fire power at a very heavy points cost.

I personally would favour the reavers over spears and double the numbers at that. For me it just comes down to them being very point heavy for a jet bike when for 225pts you could run 3 wasps or hornets, 10 reavers or even more hellions or scourges.

I never hated mine but for there points they were never as big an impact on the game as I would have liked and given the alternatives its just more of a personal opinion regarding those.

meneroth2 wrote:I like the list, and it seems fairly strong. your using everything in both books disposal to the maximum (wyches as tank hunters, snipers, harlies as IC transports.

I dont really know much about shining spears, but they are cool models so i say go for it.

The harlies are great now with their stealth rules. they are the biggest buff the eldar books got in the new rules and with rending id say they are one of the best all around units in the game now.

I dont understand the phantasm grenade launchers. i dont have my book in front of me but they dont seem that useful anymore, but i very easily could just be missing something.

Thanks very much for your feedback! I really appreciate it, and it's good to hear that the list might be as fun to play as I hope.

As for the Phantasm Grenade Launchers, they serve both a fluff and mechanical function. By fluff, they're appropriate for the Hekatrix as a Shadowseer. Mechanically, they both make my small Wych squads a little safer against being assaulted (which I hope will never happen, but will undoubtedly occur at some point) and, most importantly, the new rules for Defensive Grenades help protect the Wyches from Overwatch. Defensive Grenades give the unit Stealth against any ranged attack originating within 8" - which will probably be 80% of all assaults ever. With Stealth, the Wyches get a 6+ cover save in the open, but if they charge through cover (which they can do without penalty due to the offensive grenades) then they get a 4+ or 3+ cover save (depending on the specific cover) vs the Overwatch shots! I think this will go a long way towards making the MSU's more survivable, even after the addition of Overwatch.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

Sasa0mg wrote:Well I used them waay way back and they just seemed like regular jetbikes with some more fire power at a very heavy points cost.

I personally would favour the reavers over spears and double the numbers at that. For me it just comes down to them being very point heavy for a jet bike when for 225pts you could run 3 wasps or hornets, 10 reavers or even more hellions or scourges.

I never hated mine but for there points they were never as big an impact on the game as I would have liked and given the alternatives its just more of a personal opinion regarding those.

I had noticed that... but the problem I ran into when considering the Reavers was: what would they do? Reavers are pretty bad in assault (sure, they get Hammer of Wrath hits now, but all their attacks are still S3 AP-, and how many people like getting Guardians in CC?), their guns aren't great, and the best harass they can provide is in the form of Bladevane hits... but the AP- on Bladevane hits makes them pretty firmly anti-infantry, and the Venoms just do that so much better. I like the Reavers plenty, I just feel like they have no role to fill in this army - if I were to switch the Shining Spears for a 10-strong unit of Reavers, I think I'd just drop the Jetbikes entirely and get another Wych Venom. My hope is that the Shining Spears, while rarely if ever earning their points back, can help my army get out of a few tight spots or tricky situations that would otherwise table them. Having used them before, do you think that reasoning is sound? Or am I missing something?

P.S. What are Wasps or Hornets?

Doomaflatchi wrote:
P.S. What are Wasps or Hornets?

They are Forge World units.

Fizzics wrote:They are Forge World units.

Ah, thank you! Are the rules for them available online, or are they only in Imperial Armour?

http://bit.ly/LtADyb