A disclaimer as we begin – I am
no expert in tactics for 40K and am much more a hobbyist. Having said this, I
have dedicated a reasonable amount of time over the past month to how to use
harlequins in 8th and watching several battle reports to get a feel
for them. I also played a game with them recently that gave me further insight.
This will try to address a few things that I learned.
Overview
First turn is key. Already it is
becoming clear that this is a factor in 8th, even more so for
Harlequins, who rely on their speed and hard hitting ability to turn things to
their favour early on. When it comes to staying power, they have the advantage
of a 50/50 chance everytime, but are pricey, low toughness models and thus
don’t really have any staying power. Thus it’s ever more important to get where
you want to be and do what you need to do fast.
In general, all units will have a
4++ and can pretty much ignore cover making life very easy when deciding where
to go and what to do next. Everything is darn fast in the army, with the
infantry moving 8”, bikes/skimmers 16” and the solitaire at least 12”. Added to
that, all the non-vehicle units have the rising crescendo rule, meaning they
can still advance, fire assault weapons (in the case of the bikes) and then
charge in the same turn. This makes their threat range greater than that of 24”
and, when added to rules such as blur of colour (for the skyweavers) and the
Solitaires psychic boosts they are ludicrously fast. Rising crescendo has
another perk, in that you can fall back from combat with impunity and still
shoot and charge in the same turn. Extremely good assuming you or your
opponents survive 2 combats if you charged, or if you’re locked and losing
badly against a counter-charge by one of their elite melee units. Simply leave
the combat, fusion something then charge something else.
Close combat weapons choice is a
tricky one for the same reasons that choosing between power axes, swords and
mauls can be. They are all good for different situations and you will only have
the option to run them on Troupe Masters, Players and (compulsory) on
Solitaires. The Troupe Master is wasted if he hasn't got at least a power
sword, and the Troupes I would tend to upgrade 2-3 of the models leaving the
rest as ablative wounds. The standard weapon will still cost you 1 point and
has no benefits so bear this in mind when allocating points to upgrade them.
The 3 meaty weapons are the kiss (s4, ap-1, dD3) at 14 points, caress (s5 ap-2
d1) at 9 points and embrace (s4 ap-3 d1) at 6 points. There's no real right or
wrong as to which is best to take but I tend to steer towards the caress as the
middle ground. Perhaps a mixtue, say 1 of each per Troupe is a good way to
experiment and naturally different weapons will be more or less effective
against different units). Remember, the most effective way to increase your
damage output is going to be to have a Troupe master nearby and increasing the
hitting strength of your army by rerolling wounds.
A word on leadership, I
personally wouldn’t worry about taking anything that bolsters your leadership
as if we assume a unit is no larger than 5 models in the whole army, the lowest
leadership value is 8. Even if you only had one man left in that unit having
taken 4 casualties that turn, you still have a 2/3 chance to pass and at worst
would lose one more.
Try to deploy as close to the
enemy as possible taking advantage of LOS blocking terrain. Cover is totally
irrelevant for an army of ++ saves so unless it blocks LOS, just go for it. You
should aim to keep units as small as possible – best way I’ve found is to put
5-man Troupes into starweavers with a character then some bikes, which at 1500
points should only leave you with 5-6 units on the table, which can immediately
jump out if need be.
Warlord traits wise, whichever
you choose you’ll likely be putting it on a Troupe Master or Solitaire.
Inspiring leader is not so useful as you will not really need it with MSU. In
terms of the others, legendary fighter means you will get an extra attack when
you charge (most of the time) and tenacious fighter gives you a 6+ feel no
pain. I would choose legendary fighter personally – Harlequins aren’t known for
their resilience but making hard hitters hit that little bit extra hard is
useful. Command rerolls are very useful for when you fail a ++ save that kills
a character or miss that all important fusion shot. Counter-offensive too is
very useful as once you’ve wiped the floor with the first enemy units you may
well find yourself being charged. Chances are that insane bravery won’t be very
useful if you are running MSU.
Units worth taking
Troupe Master – take at least one
and keep near your troupes. The reason for this is he grants rerolls to wound
for units within 6” in the fight phase – this is essential for a CC army with
low strength. This chap should be tooled up with a fusion pistol for certain
(to take advantage of his BS2+) and a close combat weapon of your choice. High
attacks and wounds make him semi-resiliant, but I would avoid going toe-to-toe
with any close combat units / characters without backup.
Shadowseer - your only Psyker and, IMO, worth
bringing every time. It is also you most expensive unit. With a comparable
profile to the Troupe Master (minus a couple of attacks) and a few pieces of
wargear included in the profile, a Shadowseer is still almost double the cost
of a tooled up Master. However, it does bring a few tricks along that will
benefit the army as a whole so make sure to keep other units nearby. First
though, the standard wargear is a hallucinogen grenade launcher, which can
cause d3 mortal wounds at 18" if you roll higher than the units leadership
on 2D6. Added to smite as a standard power (more on others in a moment) and you
have the capacity to put out up to 6 mortal wounds per turn! It can also equip
a neuro disruptor (no fusion) but I wouldn't bother. The other weapon is a
mistave, s+2, ap-1, dD3, effectively a force stave and reasonable melee weapon.
Now we get to the interesting
part. Its shield from harm ability grants a global -1 to wound rolls against
the shadowseer and any Harlequins within 6". Given their relative
fragility, this can be crucial in turning those S6+ wound rolls from 2+ to 3+,
S4 from 3+ to 4+ and S3 from 4+ to 5+. It is a level 2 psyker and can use the
phantasmancy powers, which do the following. Twilight pathways is WC6 and the
most useful IMO. A friendly unit within 3" can immediately move as if it
were the movement phase, including advancing! A great way to get first turn
charges off. The second power, fog of dreams, is WC7 and targets an enemy unit
in 18". If successful, that unit must -1 to its to hit rolls. Great for
softening up a threat that will be a challenge in combat or that you expect to
lay down heavy fire on you next turn. Lastly, Mirror of minds is WC8 and allows
you to pick on an enemy unit within 24". Each roll a D6 and so long as
your roll is equal or higher then you inflict a mortal wound. Repeat until the
unit is destroyed or they roll higher. Might get lucky and inflict some damage
and don't forget that a command re-roll can be useful here.
Solitaire - the solitaire fills a unique
niche in the army list (and thus only one can be taken) and is effectively a
super Troupe Master with the same stats except for 12” move (!) and 8 attacks
(!!). Comes with a Harlequins kiss and caress as standard and has the same
rising crescendo rule/flip belt as the rest of the army. That on its own is
pretty formidable, but the Solitaire also has a 3++ save for extra durability.
Lastly, the blitz rule now means that the Solitaire can make a once per game
blitz move in order to add 2D6 to its move and increase attacks to 10. (this
doesn’t stack with twilight pathways) Unless you’ve been significantly
outmanoeuvred I would try to use this for your first turn alpha strike as for
several reasons. Firstly, a 3++ is great but he’s still only T3 with 5 wounds
and so will go down pretty easily still. Secondly, there’s no reason not to
advance all the time due to lack of ranged weaponry, so it’s likely you’ll get
into charge range with 12 + 3D6. Being able to switch between the kiss and
caress is useful to tailor it to targets, and ideally try to get a Troupe
Master in 6” too.
Troupes – MSU seems to be the way
forward as mentioned above. I tried with larger squads but they just didn’t
work as well, lacking the staying power. These chaps will likely make up the
majority of your army and should be tooled up as seen fit. I would tend to take
units of 5 and keep 2-3 of the models tooled up and the others bare – this will
allow you to remove ablative wounds while retaining the maximum effectiveness
of the unit, whereas spreading the weapons around the models would mean tough
choices early on as the casualties mount up. 2 fusion pistols seems about
right, and the same for close combat weapons of your choice. Their 4 attacks
each make the CCWs very cost-effective, but you need fusion wherever you can
get it for anti-tank/monster in this army and so have little choice on that
front. That being said shuriken pistols are far from shabby when you roll the
occasional 6, but avoid the neuro disruptor (mentioned below). Incidentally,
don't forget every unit has prismatic grenades which at d6, S4, -1AP are worth
a shot.
Starweavers – Reasonably fragile
with only T5 and 6 wounds but there are a few tricks that help it to survive a
bit longer. Firstly, a 4++ and -1 to hit against it in the shooting phase.
Secondly, auto-advance 6” to make a 22” move out of danger if need be. Combine
this with a range of 24” on its 6 assault weapon shots and you can move
yourself away from harm and still fire hitting on a 4+ to a decent range. The
real purpose of the starweaver becomes clear in its supporting role. Being used
as a transport to keep your deployment model count low and help gain first turn
is one of its most useful roles, as well as providing relative safety to your
troupes should you lose first turn. Supporting up close is another key role,
allowing fusion pistols to do ‘drive-by’ shooting by way of open-topped (while
again keeping passenger relatively safe) and being able to tank overwatch fire
for its passengers should you be expecting high volumes when charging (it's no slouch in combat either). Lastly,
it is excellent for running off and grabbing objectives while the troupes get
stuck in or evacuating troupes when need be. An excellent unit and I would
recommend one per Troupe if you’re going down the MSU route.
Skyweavers – another excellent
unit, though beware charging anything with D3/3 damage weapons as they will
kill them off very quickly. 3 wounds a piece, with a 4++, -1 for enemy shooting
at them and an auto-6 to advance. As with the voidweaver below, I would avoid
taking anything other than the shuriken cannon on them as the haywire is a
heavy weapon and will incur a -1 to hit penalty, plus can’t be fired if you
advance. Star bolas are nice but as they’re grenades you will have limited
range and again can’t use them if you advanced. The best upgrade is the zephyglaive,
giving you +1S, Ap-2 and 2 damage. I would outfit as many bikes as you can with
this in the hope that you will get into CC first turn and start wreaking havoc
with their 3 attacks each. (strangely less than a player) It may be worth
leaving a bike or two as ablative wounds and I would take a maximum of 6 per
unit.
What best to avoid
Neuro disruptors – slightly more
expensive than fusion pistols but with no advantages save for range. Avoid.
Death Jester - this is a model I
want to love but am finding it tricky to, thus he doesn’t really make the cut
I’m afraid. Points wise he’s about the same as a tooled up Troupe Master and
comes armed with a shrieker cannon. First the pros: he can target a character
even if it’s not the closest and has the same flip belt, holo-suit and rising
crescendo as the other infantry. Now the bad. The Shrieker is a standard
shuriken cannon which is widely available on your vehicles anyway. The alt mode
fire is a single S6 AP0 D1 shot which, unless you roll a 6 (making it -3AP) is
fairly mediocre and certainly not going to inspire fear in many characters. If
any attacks should slay a model (in the unlikely event that you use him to
shoot regular infantry instead of sniping) then you do get the (back to the
pros) benefit of inflicting D3 mortal wounds. Lastly, if any models flee from a
unit in the same turn the Death Jester attacked it (note, you don’t have to
even hit or attack in the shooting phase even) then you can choose the first
model to flee.
So, he’s a bit of an odd one.
Most of his rules seem geared up to benefit you if you are attacking squads,
but then he has the ability to snipe characters. The ant-infantry ability is
good, but then you need to really roll a 6 to wound or rely on your opponent to
fail an un-modified roll to benefit from the mortal wounds. Also, choosing the
model to remove from the board is all well and good, but they are unlikely to
fail the morale check from the Jester alone. Perhaps targeting the unit with
another of your units first to mount up the casualties before attacking with
the Jester and hopefully forcing that morale check is best.
I
expect a point reduction or rules improvement when the real Codex comes
out.
Saying that, he did win me a game
by being pretty much the only thing left on the board at the end, but that was
only because he was so crap I didn’t really do much with him nor was he even
worth my opponent shooting at him!
Voidweavers – effectively the
same as a starweaver, you are sacrificing an ever useful transport ability for
the ability to shoot an extra weapon. Sadly, this weapon will be of the heavy
variety and thus will be shooting at -1 should you move. All weapons have a
range of 24”, which begs the question if you can get into that range anyway why
are you not simply deploying models with fusion weaponry to destroy big
nasties. I don’t think that they have the staying power nor firepower to go
toe-to-toe with long-mid range firepower that other armies can put out, and
thus you’d be better off pouring the points into other units.
All in all Harlequins are a fun
little army that rely on synergy from their characters (as many do) to be fully
effective. MSU seems to be the way forward and, though I'm sure people use
them, I personally steer clear of voidweavers and death jesters. Deployment and
target priority are key in the first turn - hit things hard where you need to
while you still have the numbers and don't be afraid to focus on one chunk of
the army, wiping them out totally before moving on to the next. Also, while the
infantry do the majority of the killing your transports are ideal to lay down
some ranged fire support while grabbing distant objective.
Don’t forget, as I did on the
first turn, that your pistol weapons will not be able to fire if you used
rising crescendo to advance. This may be important as it may mean the
difference between getting into charge range or not, making starweavers even
more attractive to protect your units. Having said that, with the help of a
solitaire, there’s no reason at least one of your Troupes (and bikes) can’t get
into charges first turn unless your opponent is particularly cunning.
Example 1500 point build:
HQ
|
Troupe Master
|
1
|
59
|
fusion, caress
|
18
|
77
|
HQ
|
Troupe Master
|
1
|
59
|
fusion, embrace
|
15
|
74
|
HQ
|
Shadowseer
|
1
|
134
|
miststave
|
0
|
134
|
Elite
|
Solitaire
|
1
|
94
|
caress, kiss
|
23
|
117
|
Troops
|
Troupe
|
5
|
75
|
2 fusion, caress, kiss, embrace
|
49
|
124
|
Troops
|
Troupe
|
5
|
75
|
3 fusion, caress, kiss, embrace
|
49
|
124
|
Troops
|
Troupe
|
5
|
75
|
4 fusion, caress, kiss, embrace
|
49
|
124
|
Troops
|
Troupe
|
5
|
75
|
5 fusion, caress, embrace
|
36
|
111
|
Transport
|
Starweaver
|
1
|
79
|
2 shuricannon
|
20
|
99
|
Transport
|
Starweaver
|
1
|
79
|
2 shuricannon
|
20
|
99
|
Transport
|
Starweaver
|
1
|
79
|
2 shuricannon
|
20
|
99
|
Transport
|
Starweaver
|
1
|
79
|
2 shuricannon
|
20
|
99
|
Fast
|
Skyweavers
|
5
|
175
|
4 zephyrglaives
|
44
|
219
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
1500
|
Example 2000 point build:
HQ
|
Troupe Master
|
1
|
59
|
fusion, caress
|
18
|
77
|
HQ
|
Troupe Master
|
1
|
59
|
fusion, embrace
|
15
|
74
|
HQ
|
Troupe Master
|
1
|
59
|
fusion, kiss
|
23
|
82
|
HQ
|
Shadowseer
|
1
|
134
|
miststave
|
0
|
134
|
HQ
|
Shadowseer
|
1
|
134
|
miststave
|
0
|
134
|
Elite
|
Solitaire
|
1
|
94
|
caress, kiss
|
23
|
117
|
Troops
|
Troupe
|
5
|
75
|
2 fusion, caress, kiss, embrace
|
49
|
124
|
Troops
|
Troupe
|
5
|
75
|
3 fusion, caress, kiss, embrace
|
49
|
124
|
Troops
|
Troupe
|
5
|
75
|
4 fusion, caress, kiss, embrace
|
49
|
124
|
Troops
|
Troupe
|
5
|
75
|
5 fusion, caress, kiss, embrace
|
49
|
124
|
Troops
|
Troupe
|
5
|
75
|
6 fusion, caress, kiss, embrace
|
49
|
124
|
Transport
|
Starweaver
|
1
|
79
|
2 shuricannon
|
20
|
99
|
Transport
|
Starweaver
|
1
|
79
|
2 shuricannon
|
20
|
99
|
Transport
|
Starweaver
|
1
|
79
|
2 shuricannon
|
20
|
99
|
Transport
|
Starweaver
|
1
|
79
|
2 shuricannon
|
20
|
99
|
Transport
|
Starweaver
|
1
|
79
|
2 shuricannon
|
20
|
99
|
Fast
|
Skyweavers
|
6
|
210
|
5 zephyrglaives
|
55
|
265
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
1998
|
Please let me know if I have made
any mistakes and I hope this has been a useful guide. Also, though I didn't read it til after I had written this article it's definitely worth checking out the 4chan article on 8th edition tactics
HERE. Cheers.
