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Hi Dakka,

In two short weeks, I'll be beginning my first Harlequin army as a part of a local escalation league starting off with 500pts, then scaling up to 750 and finally 1000.

What I was wondering is how do the formations stack up against each other?? What's the best one to take? and ultimately, what should I aim for at 1000 - 1250 pts?

I should probably note, people in my area play strong lists, but nothing cheesy.

Many thanks everyone.


EDIT: I also forgot to ask, what kind of tactics seem to be most effective when playing harlequins?? Spammy lists like DE? or more versatile lists like Eldar?

At 500 you are going to be extremely limited as the basic masque exceeds this once you any option available.

At 500, your best bet will be the Jest - 1 troupe, 1 unit of bikes and 1 unit of void weavers - all things you need later.

The troupe of 6 plus a transport will run you 200 points or so, the bikes another 130 for 2 with haywire and glaives. The void weaver will be 80 with the prismatic cannon. The remaining points can be spent on either extra bikes, extra void weaver or even extra quins on foot and use the transport as a gunship (though this is a bad idea IMO).

Personally, I would be adding extra bikes... ditching the haywire on them and turning them into a decent assault unit...

Cegorach's Jest

3x Skyweaver, Shuriken Cannon, Zephyrglaive

Troupe
5x Player, Harlequin's Kiss, Shuriken Pistol
Troupe Master, Harlequin's Caress, Shuriken Pistol, The Starmist Raiment
Starweaver

Voidweaver with Prismatic cannon

The extra bike in the box would be used ay 750 straight away so the model is not wasted.

3 of them are actually pretty dangerous at 500 points. The troupe is solid in that it deals a good volume of hits with plenty of the S6, AP2 attacks and potential for ID. The warlord is more flexible thanks to the caress and has a 3++ on any turn the unit runs.

The 2 skimmers provide fire support.

Hope that helps

That's immensely helpful, thank you. I'll be looking over my options throughout the week and will possibly post something over in the army lists sub-forum.

One last note, of all the characters, witch is the strongest in your opinion?? In theory, I'm leaning towards shadowseers, but in practice, that might be much different.

The quickest way to find out what you can fit is to use an army builder app.
Select the formations that have models you have (or want), and the starting cost shows up straight away.

I'm aware of this already, the question was more directed towards which of the formations are the most effective.

Thank you for your response though.

I agree that the jest is the best bet at 500pts (although I would probably drop some kisses and the starmist raiment for caresses and haywire grenades on the master).
The cast of players could also be used at low points, but I think it's a pretty bad formation (you can't use a transport, and you end up with one big unit).

To go from 500 to 750, you could drop a thing or two to fit in a bare-bone heroes' path. Maybe with the shadowseer rolling on telepathy (since he can't join any unit, the phantasmancy primary isn't that good).

Hopefully, a start collecting box will come out soon. Harlequins are one of the last factions that didn't get it (excluding the ones that don't have a plastic model range), and would benefit hugely from it. Even Militarum Tempestus got one, so I really believe in that!

If the Harlequins do get a Start Collecting Box, be aware that it will have a new Formation inside that might inform your decision on how to build your list. Then again, might not happen until well after your league is done.

I would rank the Harlequin formations from worst to best as follows:

Serpents Brood (or whatever the mounted one is called): Masque is pretty much always better. Run and Charge outweighs the remount ability pretty much all the time.

Cast of Players: Not awful, but clunky. Pretty problematic without access to the Dark Eldar Raider, which is the only transport you can charge out of that can hold the formation. The benefits rarely come into play, so it's mostly just a way to get a jester and seer in a small package.

Faolchu's Blade: Not awful, but so overshadowed by the Eldar bike decurion that its rarely seen. Harlequin bikes aren't the best thing in the codex and voidweavers are almost certainly the least useful thing. if you're going to take either, use them to unlock better benefits for your star models, the Harlequins, Solitaire, etc.

Cegorach's Jest: your best bet at small points, and what I always recommend people bring as a start. Gives a great benefit to the troupe, but if you're going to bring it, definitely go for broke on the troupe. 5x caresses, starmist raiment on the TM will give you an awesome unit.

Heroes' Path: Really awesome to add to another Harlequin formation or a Masque. Gives huge boosts to all three models involved. Only time I wouldn't include it is either if A) I didn't have the points to fit it and a Jest in a list, or B) if I was unable to since I was running a Revenge formation which includes a Solitaire.

Cegorach's Revenge: If you want to run solo harlequins, and don't care about flexibility in your list, this is a great formation for a full 1850-2000 list. I've seen people use this to great effect in tournaments, particularly with foot harlie lists.

Masque: My personal harlequin default list is a masque paired with a Path. I love the flexibility you gain from the masque, and I find the run and charge way more important than the save reroll.

 iStompya wrote:
That's immensely helpful, thank you. I'll be looking over my options throughout the week and will possibly post something over in the army lists sub-forum.

One last note, of all the characters, witch is the strongest in your opinion?? In theory, I'm leaning towards shadowseers, but in practice, that might be much different.

I find it that the Shadowseer running with a minimum troupe and nicely equipped Master is a very usefull combination. Just do not waste points on any weapons for troupers and equip seer and master only and use troupers as ablative wounds and spare attacks.

Thankyou for all your advice people, I think I know the direction I am heading with this army. Much appreciated.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
The last point I have not decided on. Is to run a list similar to what Massaen described above? Or run the standard detachment at 500 pts. (The detacment clocks in at excactly 500 without any upgrades at all)

3 troupes
2 starweavers
1 voidweaver

Vs

1 troupe (5 players + TM) (kisses + some other bit of wargear)
1 starweaver
1 voidweaver (prismatic cannon)
3 skyweavers (glaives)

Go for #2. A masque at 500 would not kill anything and would just get slaughtered. I highly, highly recommend running the Starmist Raiment on the Troupe Master of your only troupe, since you do get the run and charge. He's incredibly useful to tank overwatch.

Alright, looks like I'm set for the first block. Thanks for your help everyone.